Children Who Won't Wander (Psalm 126-128 Series

Charles Swindoll puts it this way: Work, strive, fret, worry, plan, strain all you wish, but if a relationship with the Lord is not the very center of your home, and obedience to His word doesn’t guide every decision, no amount of your additional effort can preserve it from falling apart. (Encouragement for the Daily Grind)

And don’t miss the promise of verse 2: “God gives sleep to His beloved!” That’s good news, isn’t it? Some young mom needs to hear that this morning! You want to sleep better? Let the Lord build your house.

Now, in verses 1-2 Solomon moves from talking about godly households in general to being godly parents. According to 1 Kings 11:3, Solomon had three hundred wives and 700 concubines. So I’m guessing he knew something about young uns, don’t you think?

Verses 3-4 read,

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children[a] of one's youth.

The Hebrew word for son is ben, and daughter is bat, so, point number 2 is Behold, your Bens and Bats! What does Solomon, arguably the foremost expert on parenting, say about sons and daughters?

Children are a gift, (heritage). They are also a reward from God. Your kids aren’t a burden or a punishment. They are a reward. Maybe dads needed to be reminded of this at this point in the pilgrimage!

And, according to verses 4-5, they are like arrows in the hands of a warrior. How are children like arrows?

1. Arrows must be shaped and sharpened. Nobody picks up a stick and says “Hey, this would make a great arrow.” Our children start off in a state of sin. Every one of them is just a 7 pound 3 ounce bundle of iniquity.

• Psalm 51:5—surely I was sinful from birth; sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

• Psalm 58:3-- The wicked are estranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

• Folly is bound up in the heart of a child (Pr. 22:15). They need boundaries and they need direction.

So moms and dads, its our job to shape our kids. To sharpen them. You are the primary disciple maker for your kids.

2. Arrows must be aimed (what target are you pointing your children toward?). It’s easy to get obsessed with aiming our kids toward the wrong target. How are you defining success for your kids? Is it athletic or academic excellence? Nothing wrong with that. But is that THE target?

3. Arrows must be released (huge for helicopter parents. Huge for in laws). In order for our children to do what God has called them to do, we have to let them go! We sharpen them. We shape them. We aim them in the right direction. But at some point, we have to nock them to the bowstring, and we have to release them into the world. Psalms says that parents are blessed when they have a quiver full of arrows. But no one is blessed if they stay in the quiver!

We’ve looked at the TROUBLE of Psalm 126, and the TRUST of 127. So, one last time, look at your chart, and tell me what you expect we are going to read about in Psalm 128? Right. TRIUMPH.

Psalm 128 shows the result of letting God build our house. Let’s see what it says about the Blessings we receive from the Builder