“The House that God Builds”
(Psalm 127)
Mother’s Day
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson KY
(5-2-10) (AM)
Take your Bibles and open to Psalm 127.
While you’re turning there, I’m going to ask a couple of our ushers to help set up a map here. And we’ve got some close-ups of the map we’ll display on the wall. After next week we’ll display this map somewhere in the church building. I’ve got it up here right now just to share with you a little bit about how God is working through Henderson’s First Baptist Church membership. Every member is a missionary and our missional members have put together a Missional Action Plan (MAP) to indicate how they will be missional in reaching the 4Cs of Acts 1:8, taking the Gospel to the Community, Commonwealth, Country, and Continents. Everyone who brought forward a Missional Action Plan two months ago in our special morning service in March indicated where they were committing to advance the Gospel by either praying, giving, or going to these four areas. In the weeks ahead I’ll be sharing snippets here and there from some of these Missional Action Plans. Right now I just wanted you to see this World Map and a close up of some of the visuals we have.
The first slide is a picture of the entire map and what we’ve done is we’ve taken push pins and placed those pins where individuals are praying, giving, or going. These pins are not like one per member, but they fairly represent where the majority of our members are working. The white pin represents where members are praying, the black where they are giving, and the red where they are going. And when you get a chance to look closely at this map you’ll see it also has four lists to represent these majority areas of Community, Commonwealth, Country, and Continents.
So here’s the map of the entire world. Then the next two slides show the Eastern hemisphere and then the Western hemisphere. Next week we’ll focus on the Eastern hemisphere. Today, we’ll zoom-in on the Western hemisphere (next slide) and what you see here is an extreme close-up of the first two Cs, Community and Commonwealth.
Here are just a few ways First Baptist Missionaries, our Missional Members, are taking the Gospel to their Community and Commonwealth. Community: Jail Ministry, FAITH Evangelism, The Answer Center, Marsha’s Place Crisis Pregnancy Center, Salvation Army, neighborhood outreach projects, inviting unchurched mother’s to MOPS, Vacation Bible School, witnessing at work, distributing tracts, and many more. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Lynch Mission Trip, work in conjunction with FBC in Grayson, KY, giving to the Eliza Broadus State Mission Offering, Disaster Relief, International Equestrian Games, KY Children’s Homes, Oneida Baptist Institute, and many more. Let’s praise God and celebrate what He is doing through our missional membership.
Have you found your place in Psalm 127? It’s Mother’s Day so we’re pausing our study of Luke’s Gospel and focusing-in on a psalm that is especially meaningful to families, Psalm 127. Verse one tells us Solomon is the author and this psalm, a psalm of ascents, a psalm believed to be sung as the children of God ascended the hill, went up the hill to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Listen for what Solomon teaches us about families.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
- Pray.
Introduction:
I want to speak to you this morning about “The House That God Builds.” When I was a child I remember a book I had about the popular British nursery rhyme, “This is the house that Jack built.” How many of you have heard that? It’s one of those cumulative tales that starts with, “This is the house that Jack built” and then it says, “This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built,” and then, “This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built” and on and on it goes telling us about other characters in the house that Jack built like the cat that killed the rat and the dog that worried the cat and the cow with the crumpled horn and the maiden all forlorn, etc., etc., all these people in the house that Jack built. And it’s kind of funny, you know, you have all these random characters and events and you never really read anything about Jack! It’s just all this other stuff going on in the house that Jack built.
Well, today’s family is a bit like that in that we are houses full of people and activity. And if we’re challenged to find the builder of the house in Jack’s case, we’re equally challenged concerning the builder of the house in our case. Solomon says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” So I want to share with you this morning about “The House That God Builds.” What does this family look like? What does it look like when God is first in the family?
**When God is first in the family:
I. We’ll have a Godly Home (v. 1)
One of my favorite American Poets, Edgar Guest, said “It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house to make it home.” Having a house does not necessarily mean we have a home. A home means so much more than a house. A house is just a building.
I remember hearing Tony Evans many years ago. He said, “Some people think a new house will make them happy.” He said, “No it won’t! The same people are people are moving in it!”
That’s a reminder that a house is different from a home. What does a godly home look like? It is a home where God Himself is the foundation of everything that takes place inside. That’s the meaning behind verse one:
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;
Solomon is not talking about hammer and nails here. He’s not talking about the physical foundation of our homes. He’s talking about the spiritual foundation of our homes. Unless the Lord builds the house, that is, unless the Lord is “number one” in all we do as a family, then we’re living in vain; in emptiness. They labor in vain who build it. If God is not the spiritual foundation of all we do then our work is vain or empty, our putting up a fence around it is vain, our painting it is vain, our putting a gold knocker on the door is vain, our filling-up the house with furniture is vain, our hanging art on the walls is vain. It’s all vain unless the Lord builds the house, unless the Lord is the spiritual foundation of all we do as a family. Solomon reinforces this idea with respect to the communities in which we live. Second part of verse one:
Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
Cities in the Ancient Near East had walls around them and guards positioned at the tops of the walls to keep watch over the city, especially at night when the city was most prone to attack. So it was very important that the guard stay awake through the watches of the night. If the watchman saw the enemy advancing he would yell to alert the soldiers of the city to prepare for attack. So Solomon says, “That’s all fine and good, but security will mean nothing without the Lord. And you never have to worry about the Lord staying awake!”
David conveys the same idea in Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of our Lord our God.” Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. When God is first in the family, we’ll have a godly home.
How do we make sure that God is first in the family? There are so many ways, but let me share with you just two very simple and practical ways to make sure God is first in the family, to model Christian homes.
Dads, take the initiative and pray with mom. Kids see this. They watch mom and dad pray together. Dads, you can do this! Whenever your family is together, in the morning just before everyone leaves for work or school, or later in the day or in the evening, at some other time when your family is all together just say, “Let’s have our prayer.” Then join hands and pray a simple prayer like this: “Dear God, thank You for this day. Forgive us where we’ve failed You. Protect us. Help us live for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.” When you do that, God will honor it! I guarantee it. Those little children will see mom and dad praying together and they’ll learn because they’re watching.
If you’re a single mom, then you take the lead in your home until God should answer your prayers for a godly, Christian man to come into your life. And by the way, don’t ever settle for anything less than a godly, Christian man. Amen?! So pray together as a family.
Secondly, parents, take your kids to church. Don’t send them to church. Take them with you. And take them every Sunday. Our kids never had a chance. Before I was in the ministry we took them to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday evening, and every Wednesday. Some of you are going to think this is crazy, but the Sunday after each of them was born, they were in God’s house. We just got right on it. They never learned what it was like to sleep-in on a Sunday. There is no substitute for a family worshiping together and later in the day, talking about what each person learned in Bible study and in the worship service. So pray together and take your kids to church. Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it. When God is first in the family we’ll have a godly home. Secondly, when God is first in the family:
II. We’ll have Godly Hopes (v. 2)
Verse 2 describes the opposite. Look at it again:
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Do you know what verse 2 describes? Verse 2 describes the typical American family. Here’s the typical young family of today. Mom, Dad, rising up early, rushing off to work, rushing kids here, rushing kids there, working and running around, trying to become the next successful whatever and then rushing home and rushing the kids here and rushing the kids there. Finally, late at night eating or meal and then, unable to sleep because our minds are still racing. That’s verse 2. Total discontentment.
And you can be very wealthy and be like this. The verse may even suggest some measure of earthly or material success. You get up early for work you sit up late to work, you’re earning all kinds of money, but you’re always worried about the next dollar or how that investment is going to do so you lose sleep over it. It keeps you awake at night. And you can’t even enjoy the fine food you eat once you sit down to eat it. It’s eating “The bread of sorrows.” In all your pursuits, dreams, hopes, and aspirations you have left God out of the picture. You’ve embraced the American Dream, but you’ve let go of God. That’s verse 2.
See, it’s always been tough. It’s not just today. It’s always been this way. Psalm 127 is like 3,000 years old, okay?! So it’s always been tough. Marriage has always been tough.
Someone said marriage is composed of three rings—engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering. One pastor visited a children’s Sunday school class and asked them what God said about marriage. A little boy said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
It’s always been a challenge to be a mom and a dad and to raise a family. Let me share this with you . One of our Ladies’ Bible Study groups passed around a sheet of paper. These are anonymous comments. At the top of the page it says, “It’s Tough Being a Woman Because…” Let me read some of these to you. It’s tough being a woman because…
- Of the many roles we have in life
- Competitiveness
- Of how we define “body image,” which makes us so hard on one another!
- Raising kids in this world for God’s glory is so HARD!
- We are expected to be everything to everybody
- Keeping everyone where they need to be and on time
- Expected to run the whole house—cook, clean, kids, emotions, not feeling as if you “look” the way society says you should
- Never being able to take a break, because when you do you feel guilty and think about all the things you need to be doing!
And my favorite:
- Having so many roles, wife, mother, student, (employee), and those crazy hormones!
It’s tough being God’s woman. It’s tough being God’s man. It’s tough being a godly family, but by God’s grace we can do it when we have godly homes and godly hopes. What does it mean to have godly hopes? It means…
- We’ll put God first before anything we do and any decision we make
- We’ll measure success not by what we have, but by Who we know—our Lord Jesus Christ!
- We’ll live not for this world which is passing by quickly, but for the Kingdom of God
- We’ll honor God through our treasure, our time, and our talents
When God is first in the family, we’ll have a godly home, we’ll have godly hopes and, thirdly:
III. We’ll have a Godly Heritage (vv. 3-5)
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Those of you who have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I hope you’ll memorize this psalm!
Children are a heritage from the Lord. Solomon says children are a reward from God, a blessing from God. Not everyone is blessed with children. Those who have children must know that these precious little ones are gifts from above.
Then Solomon says in verse 4 that our children are “like arrows in the hand of a warrior.” He says in verse 5, “Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” The quiver, of course, is the pouch into which are placed the arrows. And children are as important to us as arrows in the hand of a mighty man. Whether you have one arrow, two arrows, or a dozen arrows in your quiver, each is a blessing and the more, the merrier. That’s the idea here.
Why? Well, there is strength in numbers. Verse 5 says, “They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” The idea is that there is more strength to oppose the enemy with a large family than with a small family. There is strength in numbers. But that strength will not mean anything unless the Lord builds the house and unless we raise those kids to the glory of God.
I remember doing something the day both of my boys were born. I remember going downstairs at the hospital there at North Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Georgia, going down into the chapel and kneeling at the altar and, in so many words saying, “God, this is your child. Thank you for entrusting me to care for him for awhile. I dedicate Him to you. Use him for your glory.”
And unless God calls home His children early, and He reserves the right to do so, perhaps to spare them harm and difficulty in this world, but unless God calls them home early, one day we’ll send that arrow off to do its work.
The time will come when we’ll take that arrow out of the quiver and we’ll place it on the bow and we’ll pull it back and release that arrow to do the very thing it’s designed to do, to fly free and reach the target is was trained to reach. We’re training up children and one day we’re going to set them free and send them off into the battlefield.
So let’s get them ready for the battle! Let’s train them up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6) and train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). And when the day comes, we’ll gladly send that arrow overseas into the mission field, or planting a church in a big city in America, or somehow or other living and working for God’s glory in whichever way He has ordained. And we’ll release that arrow and watch it fly.
When God is first in the family, we’ll have a godly home, godly hopes, and a godly heritage.
- Stand for prayer.
A Godly home begins by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…
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