Every stage of childhood / parenthood has its challenges. Someone said that babies are God’s way of telling people what the world looks like at 2:00 AM! You get out of the stage of having to get up at 2:00 AM to change diapers and you get into the stage of the “terrible twos.” This lesson is not really about child discipline. There are some really good books that I would recommend to parents. Nearly anything John Rosemond writes is good as well as James Dobson.
But, there is no “cookie cutter” approach to raising children. Children are so unique, so different from one another that what you do at home to raise your children and what I do at home to raise my children can be, and probably will be, very different. But, there are principles in the Bible, the only real “users manual” for children there is, that will help us create a Christ-centered home and have a family that honors God.
Let’s take a few moments to meditate on Psalm 127…
THE LORD MUST BUILD THE HOUSE – 127:1-2:
Verse 1 begins with the idea that the Lord, Jehovah God, must build the house. Otherwise, it is vain to labor in building it. The second part of verse 1 broadens the idea to a city.
Notice how often Solomon uses the word “vain” in this text. In verse 2, I think Solomon uses the word “vain” in a slightly different sense. Solomon says that, assuming you have the Lord in your life, in your plans, the center of your family, it is not necessary to “rise up early.” It is not necessary to “retire late.” It is not necessary to “eat the bread of painful laborers,” if God has built your house.
God will provide (vs 2b). Why should you allow the Lord to build your house? Because He will provide. He will take care of you. Keep Jesus in the center of your heart, your plans, your thoughts, your actions, your home, and God will take care of everything else.
These two verses are another way of saying what Solomon said in Proverbs 10:22: “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.”
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THE LORD GIVES CHILDREN – 127:3-5:
“Behold” is a word the OT writers use to draw your attention to something extra special. Solomon says children are a “gift,” a “heritage” (Hebrew word) of the Lord. In a parallel thought, Solomon says the “fruit of the womb” is a reward.
Children came from God and we, as parents, have the obligation to send our children back to God. That’s the idea behind verse 4. You send them out into the world, and ultimately, you try to send them back to Jehovah God who gave them. One man said it is likely that children will be “a handful before they are a quiverful” (Kidner, 442).
Then verse 5 summarizes Solomon’s thoughts. Every child is a blessing.
A man who has the proper view of children, verse 5b, will not be ashamed when he speaks with his enemies, his adversaries, in the gate. This would be in a court of law and he is not ashamed in the court of law because his children have been raised properly and they will be a blessing to their dad and their mom. If we have children simply to please ourselves, whether physically or emotionally, then we could not care less what happens to them when they die. But if we have children in order to help populate heaven, around the throne of God one day, then we want to have a home that is built on Jesus Christ and His teachings.
Your efforts to build your house on the Lord will not be in vain and will not put you to shame. Do it.
Paul Holland
