God's Word For Good Dads

HANOVER BAPTIST CHURCH

JUNE 18, 2000

J.D. Traylor, Pastor

“God’s Word for Good Dads”

Psalm 127

Sometimes Dads are honored as guys who can do no wrong, but in reality, sometimes Dads

do dumb things. A week ago our son Michael and I stopped at a grocery store and the items

we purchased were placed by the store employee into a couple of bags while I wrote out the

check. I really wasn’t paying all that much attention to the bagging process; I just noticed

Michael pick up a bag and carry it out, and I turned to go out, just thinking we had all the

merchandise. We got through the automatic door and Michael noticed I was empty-handed,

so he turned and asked if I was bringing the second bag.

I responded that I didn’t realize there was a second bag, so I wheeled around to go retrieve

that second bag, as just as I turned around that door was just closing, and I walked right into

the door! I didn’t think it was funny, but Michael sure seemed to get a charge out of it, and

couldn’t wait to get back to our house and tell everybody else about Dad’s blunder.

Sometimes Dads do dumb things; sometimes they look bad; sometimes they even embarrass

their kids. Dads need God’s help, don’t they? Let’s look at Psalm 127: “God’s Word for

Good Dads.”

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders are in vain. Unless the Lord

watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise up

early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat for He grants sleep to those He

loves. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him, Like

arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the

man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they

contend with their enemies in the gate.”

Now we have 4 DYNAMIC PRINCIPLES FOR THE HOME, and I wonder if we

might consider these truths from God’s Word, especially as pertaining to Dads.

Truth #1 is this: We must seek God as the One Who can build our homes.

Now every home has a builder, someone who was responsible for the actual construction

from floor to roof, someone who brought it together and made it a livable residence. In a

spiritual sense, God must be the Builder of our homes. He’s not working with hammer and

nails, but with intangible materials like love and faithfulness and character and leadership.

He desires to lay a foundation, put up the framing, and do the finish work. God needs to be

the stated Leader and in the position of Headship in each household, Psalm 127:1 says,

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”

If you, dad, want your home to stand firm, you need far more than what you alone can bring

to the situation; you must have help from God above. Church Swindoll said this: “work,

strive, fret, worry, plan, strain all you wish, but if the Lord is not the very center of your

home, all your additional effort to make it strong is futile and worthless, Mom and dad. . . .at

the foundation level of instruction on a happy home, Christ must be first.”

When a person employs a contractor to build a house, they inspect the qualifications of the

contractor, and then they sign an agreement with the builder. You and I need to see that

God and God alone is qualified to be our master Builder, and we need to sign on with Him,

and dad, that especially begins with you. Dad should set the tone by agreeing that the Lord

Himself should be the overseer and the Center of that Dad’s home, and Dad should lead the

way as the spiritual leader, a man who loyally follows Jesus himself and encourages

everybody else in the family to do so.

If a dad wants to lead his family properly, he first of all must himself be a faithful follower

of the Lord Jesus. So we begin with this basic statement: We must seek God as the one

Who can build our homes.

Truth # 2 is this: We must See God as the One Who Provides what Every Home

Needs. This is an outgrowth of our first conclusion about seeking God as our Builder.

When Jesus is our Builder, when Jesus is the Nucleus of the home, what will that home

have? Just what it needs.

Psalm 127:2, states “In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for He

grants sleep to those He loves.” You can’t pay for sleep; you can’t buy rest that you need,