A Heavenly Harvest
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Title- A Heavenly Harvest
Title- A Heavenly Harvest
Passage- Psalm 127
Introduction
I don’t want to pick on them too much because I say things that are similar but...
I get a kick out of gardeners that either show you what they grew or offer you some of what they grew and in the conversation say “I grew these in my garden”
-It is sort of splitting hairs but the gardener did not take part in the growing…he took part in the
-Tilling and planting and watering…the seed did all the growing…the farmer was in instrument in the process but did not do the actual growing.
Attention- This often is the case in parenting....
Problem- We can have a wrong focus on who is actually doing the work and who is the one to be the instrument being used.
CPS- All human labor is in vain unless it is in keeping with the Lord’s sovereign purpose and will.
Human labor is in vain unless it is in keeping with the Lord’s sovereign purpose and will.
And parenting is no different
Bratcher, R. G., & Reyburn, W. D. (1991). A translator’s handbook on the book of Psalms (p. 1073). New York: United Bible Societies.
Interrogative (CPS in a question) What can we learn from this Psalm to guide us in our parenting?
Transition In this want us to see two truths to either get us on the right track in our parenting or get us back on the right track.
The first truth we find is that....
I. God Is The Source Of All We Have
I. God Is The Source Of All We Have
Explain
This opening verse is, in Hebrew poetry, parallel
There are parallel thoughts
The first phrase of the first line is parallel to the first phrase in the second line
The second phrases are parallel as well...
Slide
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Psalm 127
The first phrase “Except the Lord build the house” has the idea of producing something...
And this morning we are focusing in on Mothers and parenting...
The truth is that in parenting…and I am sure in Mothering…we too often look to our own power and wisdom to complete the task.
And we see in the second phrases of this verse that the result of our labor apart from the Lord is vain…pointless
The second line of the first verse “Except the Lord keep the city”…here we understand that not only is it God that gives it is God who keeps
Slide
Now, if we do not struggle with the truth that God gives us all we have and that he is the source of everything we have…and if we are honest, we may struggle thinking that we are the ones to keep things right...
Now don’t get me wrong, we play our part in life but it is God who gives and keeps....
I don’t want to over simplify this but in life we have two main objectives…Love and obey God and love and serve others
The rest is God’s responsibility
As humans it becomes too easy to use ourselves to keep, especially our children, where we feel they ought to be
We try to use:
-Our goodness in place of God’s
-Our resources in place of faith in God
-Our emotions in place of the love of God
-Our wisdom in place of God’s
When we parent in this way we are worshiping our desires in place of God…we become idolators
-We love the comfort of now over the potential of what difficulties could produce
-We love the control we feel more than trusting God and walking in faith
-I can admit from personal experience that parenting without abiding in Christ is a worship problem.
And verse two tells us what toe results of my worship problem is…vanity....
the result is nothing, in all my toils and labors early in the morning until late at night....it results in nothing
How would you feel if you worked all day, from sunrise to sunset and all you had to eat was bread....
Thats how it feels to parent outside the power and guidance of God
You toil and labor and put in long hours only to be met with sorrow....
Without the Lord all work is in vain…but with the importance of children the stakes are even higher when it comes to parenting...
We need to abide in Jesus Christ and allow Him to work in and through us as parents…and in the last line of verse three we see the results of allowing God to work in your family....
“For so he giveth his beloved sleep”
Two things to quickly point out…the word giveth carries the idea of giving freely…without limits
I do not believe that these verses are teaching that we just turn our children over to God and we do nothing....on the contrary....we have an immense amount of work to do in our children…the amount of work may not differ but the product does...
What does he give his beloved? His beloved is refering to those who love and obey him....like
Slide
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Slide
If you keep his commandments what is the result.... “sleep”!!!
And especially in the early years....sleep is like gold
Someone once said “People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one”
But the idea here is not just physical rest....Mom’s know all too well those nights where you either can’y get to sleep because your mind just won’t stop....or you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep....
This sleep is referring to both the body and the mind.
When we keep our focus on God and Him alone he can give us that peaceful rest.
Let me once again condition this with the truth that if this happens to you it doesn’t meant you are not trusting God and walking in faith or that trusting God and walking in faith will guarantee you peaceful sleep.
This is a generality…there are seasons in life that are exceptions.
But in the big picture of our lives....if we trust and obey we will enjoy that peace and rest
It is God who is the source of all we have.
Yes we work…but as the Psalmist points out in the second half of the first phrase....our works, aside from the Lord, are pointless.
And that even.....or especially....includes parenting
It includes being a Mother...
It includes being a father, grandparent, step parent, foster parent, spiritual parent....
Friends, we live in a society that prides itself on what it can accomplish through its own means
The reality of the situation is we do nothing apart from God...
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
This has been proven over and over in my own life....when I choose to not abide in Christ and go under my own power and wisdom it never goes well....at least until I turn back to Him and repent and start abiding again.
In fact we cannot even
O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself:
It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Even the paths we take in life are not of our own direction…God is a part of that...
But listen to this
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
It is not me that works of my pleasure..
It is God that works in me
God works. We see that from the creation account in Genesis…If God works then there must some kinds of work that are meaningful.
Here in verse 1 we see that God is the one working…there is human effort but God is the one producing results.
Psalms, Volume 3: (Psalms 107–150): An Expositional Commentary Three Encouraging Truths
Part of what God does is work in, with, and through those who are working for him and in his name.
Calvin: Commentaries 3. Social Ethics: The Use of God’s Gifts
He is making the general statement that whatever effort, wisdom, or industry men expend in looking after a family or in protecting a city will be ineffectual unless God from heaven orders a prosperous outcome.
Refute
Apply
Transition
But trusting and obeying does not just produce peace and rest.
Explain
The second truth we find is that....
Illustrate
Refute
Apply
Transition
II. God Rewards Our Work For Him
II. God Rewards Our Work For Him
Explain-
Slide
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:
And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Here again we see some parallels...”children” is parallel to “Fruit” and “Heritage” is parallel to “reward”
Slide
The toil and labor of the first verses that is contrasted with allowing God to work through our trust and obedience is now showing us the rewards of it
Slide
The rewards are an inheritance and our wages.
The first idea here is connected to our heritage…another word would be our inheritance....which is something a Father gives.
The second word is “reward” and the two terms together show teach us that when we trust and obey we are given a gift that is from the Father.
Slide
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
So are children of the youth.
The next verse uses a simile to picture that reward....
-”Arrows in the hand of a mighty man”
Slide
-I cannot picture anything but a weapon that is useful against an enemy attack
I cannot help but to think of the battle that is raging in this country over children…born and unborn
-There are more issues in society facing our children than ever before in history
-They need to be like a finely tuned arrow in the hand of an expert soldier.
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-That arrow, the soldier in the face of the enemy only had one shot
-When it comes to our children we get one shot
-We want them prepared and ready for the battle they will face…how?
The psalmist makes a wise suggestion, teach them while they are young....”So are children of the youth” children that are trained while we are still young.
-This again is a wise point but a bit of a generalization…it is never too late to pour into our children
-Depending upon their stage in life it may look differently but as long as you and they are alive you have the opportunity to prepare them for whatever is next.
Slide
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
They shall not be ashamed,
But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Verse 5 “
Slide
Here the psalmist is referring to whatever number of children the Lord has chosen to give you....
There is discussion of how many arrows a quiver hold and how many children to have....
After you have spent you life raising your children in obedience and trust in God you can send them on their way in confidence and in joy
Where does the confidence and joy come from....parenting in obedience to God and walking in faith with him.
Not blindly…we have the Scriptures to guide us…but in faith none the less
shares this comforting truth with us....
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
We can have children that are a joy and a blessing....we can send out our children in confidence…but we will only do so if as parents and as Mothers we parent in obedience and in faith.
Illustrate-
Apply
Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition
Visualize Audience Implementation
Final Statement
Closing Hymn
137- It’s Just Like His Great Love