Psalm 128 focuses on family. Now, the focus here is on family, but that does not exclude anyone else in the congregation. Understand that, right? Because whether one is divorced or whether one's marriage is broken, whether one is single or whether one is not married, the point is that all contribute Right? As members in the church to the strengthening, all are part of the family and all contribute to the strengthening of the family as God would lay out before us in this Psalm. It's a beautiful Psalm, a wisdom Psalm. And a Psalm that's also needed in our day and age. Psalm 128. Let's hear God's word. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in his ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy. It shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house. Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion. May you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes. May you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel. God's word on family. So congregation, what do we see here? If you read through this psalm, you see a garden. What's the garden here? Fertile soil, a vine, a very fruitful vine, and small green olive shoots. That's the language that's used here. And you see a table. That's the piece of furniture mentioned in this psalm. And really all this is a happy picture, or you could say a delightful picture of the Christian home, the home that belongs to Jesus. a home set apart by God and a home for God. And what makes this psalm so different is that it's so different from what you see in the world today. Isn't it? What's really, really pushed today is the individual rights, the rights of mother and the rights of father, sometimes to the, to the cost or to the expense of the home, to the children at home. Many cases, children don't feel wanted, do they? Or they are disposed of, maybe through abortion. They're not seen as a reward from the Lord. Or they are brought to daycare centers because mom and dad have no time for children. The psalm here has a very different picture here. The home of the world, the home that you see in the world, is not really a garden, isn't it? But it's kind of like barren ground. It's like a wilderness filled with, you could say, contaminants in the soil. You know, if the soil is contaminated, it doesn't really grow anything, does it? Except for weeds. And you see the sad, sad effects in the world from Genesis 3, 17 and 19. God's word is so true here. It comes so loud and clear, the sad effects in our culture today. God's curse on the ground of creation. That's really seen in the family, isn't it? But now the Christian home, of course, does not escape. No Christian home escapes the sad effects of Genesis 3. I think there's many of us here who have seen the sad realities of sin in the home. Harsh, I think, if we're honest. It's something that Christian homes experience. Do you know what the difference is? The difference is, if your home belongs to Jesus, you belong to Jesus and so do your children. And that's not something that the world can claim. That's the difference. The difference is, as Christian families, we're called to trust in the Lord and to walk in his ways. The Garden of Eden, we know from the Bible, is no longer man's home. But you know what? The Christian family is now a garden of the Lord, as we see here in Psalm 128. A garden. Sometimes a messy garden, right? but it's a garden that God nonetheless is cultivating. He's the head gardener, right? He's the one who's the head of our home. He's the one that is working hard in the garden. The soil is rich, right? Because it's out of the soil of the resurrection of Christ. And it's fertile. And in that soil, he nourishes us with the promises of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen for you. There's nothing we can do to give the gift of faith to our children. But you know what? The Lord does, and he uses means. He uses his word. So in light of Psalm 128, what do we see here? The Lord. He's the gardener. the main gardener, the main character in this psalm, and you see him nourishing, cultivating the covenant family, the Christian family, with the promises in Christ. That's what it's all about, depending on the promises of Christ. It's a wisdom psalm. It's a psalm that speaks of blessing. Blessing of those who walk in the ways of wisdom. When you walk in the ways of wisdom, there's blessing. So what we see before the psalm is, first of all, what does a blessed home look like? A home that is blessed. What does that look like? That's what we see in verses 1, 2, 3, and 4. And we realize that there is no way we can live up to that. We don't have strength in ourselves. Where does the source of this blessing come from? look to the Lord, verses five and six. But we're going to first of all see what this blessing looks like. What does a blessed home look like? What is that blessed home? And if you look at verse one, it's not one that has a lot of money and property. It's one that fears the Lord. Simple. One that fears the Lord. Verse one says it all. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord. That person is blessed. What do we mean by fear here? Children don't think it means that we have to be afraid of God. That's not what it means, but it simply means one who walks in his ways. That's the next part of verse one. To fear the Lord means to walk in his ways. That means to walk in the light of his word. You know, it's not enough to say, I'm a Christian, but the Lord wants us by faith to practice what he says in his word, doesn't he? He's saying that he will be blessed who does what? Who walks in his ways. In other words, who practices what the word says, who puts it into practice, who obeys from the heart, giving thanks to the Lord for calling him, for calling, for bringing him into Christ. That's blessing. Blessing is to walk in the ways of the Lord. And you know, one of the big, big ways the Lord's blessings comes to expression is in the family. In this Psalm, as you see in Psalm 127, the Psalm before this Psalm, You know what? Blessings are not related to things. The world wants us to think that if we have a lot of things, we're blessed. Well, they may be blessings, but you know what's a blessing? When people live in a right relationship with one another and with the Lord. That's the family. First of all, the blessed man in this psalm is not the man who has all kinds of wealth and property, though he may have that, but he is blessed who has a Faithful wife and well-adjusted children. Disciplined children. Really important. That's what's brought to the light here. Now, we look at ourselves this morning and say, um, look at my failures. We know from our own home how often every day our children had to be disciplined. And I would ask my wife, so what did you do today? I disciplined all day today. The garden sometimes looks really messy. But that's why we're going to come to the source of the blessing. But this is the blessing. Faithful wife, well-adjusted children. And to know that the Lord can accomplish that by his grace in our families. You know, the blessings of the Lord are seen in three areas. In verses 2, 3, and 4. In the area of work, wife, and children. work, wife, and children. If you look at verse two, the area of work, that's the first area of blessing. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. So when you eat the labor of your hands, labor suggests this doesn't always go easy. Labor, it can be heavy. It can be hard. Work can be hard. It can be frustrating. It can be a lot of sweat. But you know what? It's the Lord who blesses it. It's the Lord who blesses his work in two ways. What are those two ways? You shall be happy. That's the beautiful result of fearing the Lord. You shall be happy and it will be well with you. What does it mean to be happy? Does that mean everything's always going well? No, it doesn't mean that. But it means that the breadwinner has something to do, has the strength to do it. You can thank the Lord each morning that God gives you life and health and strength, and that you get something in return. That's also a blessing, isn't it? Yeah, that's the blessing of work, but there's more to it than that. happy, you shall be happy. What the Lord is saying here is he not only gives you the work and the strength to do it, but he gives you the ability to enjoy it. To enjoy it also with the family or with the congregation, the Church of Jesus Christ. Because you know what? It's through the work that the head gardener, as he's cultivating his garden, he's cultivating the family, he's building up the family. Because he's building up the family, he's building up the church. Because what does the church consist of? Members of families. It consists of families of all kinds. Right? He's blessing that. And he uses the church to support the family. Also, the Christian school. Really, really important. Right? There the children in a Christian school are taught to fear the Lord, to walk in His ways. So important. Those three things. Because that's the bottom line, right? The blessing is in the fear of the Lord. And this is the way the Lord builds His kingdom through the family, in the church, and also Christian schools. And you are happy about that. And it shall be well with you. boy, we accept this as God's way, it will be well with you. The family, the church, the Christian school, the means God uses to keep us faithful, to keep us from generation to generation to generation to generation. I don't know how often I've heard so many parents say they're so sad that they've lost their children to the world. It happens. It happens. And those things are beyond our circumstances. And yet the Lord shows the importance of the fearing the Lord, teaching the fear of the Lord to our children, that they may be brought to fear the Lord in the context of the church from age one month all the way up. Yes. It will be well with you. The opposite is also true. If we depart from the Lord, from the ways of the Lord, it will not be happy. It will not be well. And God's people to whom God was writing this also had those experiences, those sad experiences in her life. If you look at her history, back in Deuteronomy chapter eight, God gave a warning. He says, don't forget me. Don't forget the Lord. When you have lots of food, when you have beautiful homes, when you have prosperous businesses, God says, don't forget me. But if we have our first love for things, for possessions, for material goods, for homes and cars, What matters most then is not the kingdom anymore, not the church anymore, nor the family. And what matters most then is like one ad. I think it used to be an ad anyway. I want more. I want more. But you know what? None of those things bring happiness, do they? Cars, home, possessions. As a matter of fact, you forget the Lord, you forget the church, you will not be happy. It will not go well. The home begins to crumble. Relationships fall apart. And we become a slave. Can you imagine? We become slaves. We're always against slavery. We become slaves to the world and to the gods of the world. Blessing. Blessing. The blessing of the Lord is seen in three areas. Work. Children. A faithful wife. Well, that brings us to the second part. Work is one. Something to be shared with the family and with the church and for the building up of the kingdom. That brings blessing. That brings happiness. That brings well-being. But there's a second thing. Verse three. faithful wife. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your home. Yeah. Faithful, fruitful. And the image here is the image of an Eastern home, a home from the East. And I think some of you may be acquainted that from India, flat roofed, the homes are generally flat roofed. And generally at least in Israel at that time, there would be an open court in the center. So there'd be walls on each side of the court, but in the center was a court that opened up to the skies. That was the garden in the center. What happens is that the grape vines would then be planted within the court, and those vines would be sprawling all over the walls around the courtyard. bearing clusters and clusters of grapes all over the house, spreading its vines. That's the picture here. And what the psalmist wants to convey to Israel then, and to us today too, is the scene of the fruitful wife in the covenant home. This is something we can teach our children and grandchildren, the ways of the Lord. But it's a scene of the fruitful wife in the covenant home. And her fruitfulness is first of all seen in her disciplined children. Disciplined children. But there's more. Her fruitfulness is also seen in her kindness, in her affection, in her hospitality, in her diligence, in her busyness. And she joyfully fulfills, by God's grace, her role as helpmate to her husband, as Genesis 2 brings out, in her calling as wife, as calling as mother at home. But if she has no husband, of course, the Bible says that the church then is to more or less take the place of the husband and be an encouragement to the wife. to the mother in the home. We should always remember that. But in marriage, it's the husband that's called to encourage his wife in her task and to bring out the best in her. Because you know what? Motherhood is really not valued in the world, is it? Motherhood, the scriptures elevate it. The scriptures elevate motherhood to the highest calling. One of the most important callings in the world. You know, many things can be said about mothers. I mean, this is not a Mother's Day sermon, but many things can be said about mothers. Mothers, you who do have the most important calling in the world. Difficult task. And sometimes you think, is it worth it? It's hard. It's painful. Disciplining all the time? It seems so... It seems like nothing. It seems like I have no value. But you know what? What does God say? That's what matters. God elevates your office, your work. You are so many things. As mothers in the covenant, you are channels of life. You're the key to your child's emotional stability with your love, with your presence, with your guidance, with your instruction. Sometimes I think mothers feel guilty and they buy kids, their children, all kinds of toys and gifts. They go out to a lot of places as a way to try to replace nurture and love, but it doesn't replace it. It does not replace it. Proverbs 31 says, the mother watches over the ways of her household, and then her children rise up and call her blessed. Isn't that beautiful? You see the work of God in this. Yes. Picture also her children in the home. Verse three, children like olive plants all around your table. What is that? It doesn't say branches. Branches are kind of stiff and fixed and set in place already, but all of shoots, tender shoots that are young, so fragile, they need to be nurtured, they need to be watered, they need to be cultivated. Sometimes they need to be pruned. You may call that spent, right? Disciplined in the ways of God's word. Need to be led in the ways of God's promises. You know something else about tender shoots? If you walk into a garden sometimes with a tender shoot, you step on it and it breaks off. Tender shoots are so fragile. They can be so easily broken. But you know what else? They can easily go wild. Knowing the sinful nature that's passed on from generation to generation. To what we said before, the first word a child learns is no. No. And boy, if we let that go, they will not be blessing. All you have to do is not discipline them, and then they go wild all over the place. No, they need to be pruned, they need to be cultivated, they need to be nurtured, they need to be pruned. And having said that, we know the family is not a piece of equipment that needs to be straightened out once in a while with a sledgehammer. No. The family's not an organization with a chief executive in a line of command. It's a garden. It's a garden. A workplace of the Lord, where the head gardener nurtures, cultivates, cares for all of Shoots, primarily through parents, especially through mom, especially through mom. That's the picture here. Now, boys and girls, there's something for you too. Boys and girls, yeah. The importance of listening. Listening to your moms and dads, really, really important because, not just because they're older, but because who put them over you? You know Enosh? Who put your mother as your mother over you. I'm not just talking to you, but to all the children. God did, right? Jasmine? God did. Yeah, that's why we listen. That's the way the Lord wants us to walk in his ways. It starts from a really young age. This is where you're gonna learn to respect. This is where you're gonna learn discipline. This is where you're gonna learn to pray. and so forth. Think of the table. What's the center of the home? The Xbox? The television? The cell phone? I see so many people doing that all the time in their homes. Oh, there's no blessing in that. No. Where's the blessing? The table. Does everyone have a table in their home? Yes, everyone has a table. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful gift from the Lord. And now God says, use it. Sit around it. Olive shoots all around your table. Matter of fact, sit around it, talk. At the end of your meal together, eat together. At the end of your meal together, take a Bible passage, take your Bibles. and read. Moms and dads, you can read with your children. It can be a short passage, a longer passage. You pray with them. Maybe you can say a few words. You can ask them, how did your day go? What was school like today? Did anybody bother you? Do you have any questions? Follow the communication. Communication, talking with your children. The Lord talks with us, his children, and he wants us as parents to talk with our children. Talk, talk. Really, really important. Communicate. Yeah, you know what? And the beautiful thing, when you belong to the church, the church can help you. They can't replace this. That belongs, first of all, to parents. But the church can help in this. The school, the Christian school can help in this. It's all God's way of nurturing and instructing children. But he uses especially mom and dad, especially take the time. Don't say I have no time today. Every day, take time, read to them, talk with them, speak with them. Notice verse four. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. See, begins with fear, ends with fear. And this is what blessing looks like. And now you say, boy, this is not me. This is not my family. We've had times of that in our family too. Just like you fall so far short. You think, who can do all this? You can't. You can't do this. You can't. You can't bring about all this to happen in a good way in your children. But God can. He's sufficient. He's able. God says, now do it. Walk in my ways. Trust me. You have it before you. You have the map. You have the instruction. The source of blessing, verses five and six, is from the Lord himself. That's where trust comes in. But if we don't trust the Lord, neither are we going to walk in his ways. If we trust the Lord, it's going to show by walking in his ways. It's going to show in the family. Do you believe the Lord? Walk in his ways. The one who brings you into the church, the one who brings you into a relationship with Christ, supplies you with all the resources to walk in his ways. So yeah, let's look at the source of the blessing. Verses five and six. Where is your help gonna come from? Where's our help gonna come from? It's gonna come from the Lord. Verse five. The Lord bless you out of Zion. The Lord is optimistic, but he says, but you have to trust me. The Lord bless you out of Zion. May you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children's children. It's more than a promise here. There is a promise, but it's a benediction. It's like the Lord is raising his hands above you and three benedictions. There's three of them. The Lord bless you. May you see the good of Jerusalem, and may you see your children's children. Children's children is grandchildren. May the Lord bless you from where? From Zion. What's Zion? May the Lord bless you from Zion. We know from the Old Testament, Zion was seen as the city of David. What was the city of David? Jerusalem. What was in Jerusalem? The temple. What was the temple? That's the place where the people of God went to worship. Today we would say Zion is the church of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you from Zion. That's what he's saying here. From Christ himself. This psalm is called the Psalm of Ascent. What does that mean? Well, it was a psalm that the church, the congregation of Israel would sing. They would sing this psalm as they were climbing up the hill, ascent, climbing up the hill to Jerusalem, where they would come to meet together to worship God. They would sing that psalm along the way. Families, individuals, singles, whatever their status in life, they would walk together and sing that song together. And as they traveled, These psalms that they sang would mirror their joys, their sadnesses, their fears, their hopes, their struggles of faith. And on the way, they were passing villages and homes, and more families, more people, more members would join them on the way and sing the psalm. I think we can expand the metaphor here. The family is a garden, but the church is the garden of the Lord. Isaiah 5, if you look at that chapter, there we hear the song of the vineyard. And that song is the song of the house of Israel. And there God calls her the garden of his delight. It's here in the church where the Lord nurtures and strengthens our faith with his promises. The one who fears the Lord is a member, is a member of the church of Jesus Christ. That's why I fear the Lord. Here in the church, here in the church, we come together as singles, as unmarried, as families, whoever, and we come with all our griefs all our sorrows, our pains, all our sins, shortcomings. And here the Lord blesses us. It's in the church, from Zion, from Christ. In the church, he blesses us with healing from Christ through his word, single or married. And here the Lord nurtures us as a greater family. Here he prunes us. so that we may bear even more fruit, so that we may be encouraged to nurture our children again at home and cultivate them. Yeah, yeah. Hey, children, really important, not only to grow up listening to your parents in the home, but to be part of the church community, because the Lord uses both of them to raise up children in the covenant. Yes, here we witness God's grace in our lives. We witness it in healed marriages. You witness it in a prodigal son who returns back to the fold, one who maybe has walked away for years from the Lord and comes back by the grace of God. God's grace is so powerful. Yes, here we receive strength to continue to discipline our children from the word of the Lord. He gives us refreshment. He gives us renewed energy to continue in his way. Oh, don't skip church. you'll be at a great loss. You miss out on the blessing, and you miss out on the blessing for the home. It's from Zion, Christ. Here we go to him, the vine dresser, the head gardener. It's a day of rest. It's here from Zion where we receive the benediction. The second part, may the Lord bless you from Zion. That's still the first part. From here, you see the fruits of repentance and faith, and we go back to our homes, renewed, strengthened, and ready to go on with the work of the Lord and bringing up our children in the fear of the Lord. So important. It's from here he blesses. He's the source of blessing. Two more things briefly. There's more. May you see the good of Jerusalem. When the Lord blesses from Zion, you will see the good. You will see the good of the church. You'll see the goodness of God's word to you. That's his benediction. And finally, the psalmist concludes with the final benediction. May you live to see your children's children. And the point is not that you live old enough so that you can see your grandchildren. The world enjoys that too. But there's something more here that's talking about. May you live to see your children's children walking in the ways of the Lord. Isn't that what you want? Parents, grandparents, wouldn't you just love and pray to see that not only your children, but your grandchildren walking in the same way of the Lord." That's the point here. May you live to see your children's children. Proverbs 17.6 says, children's children are a crown of the aged and parents are the pride of their children. Wow. Isn't that a beautiful thing? When parents are the pride of their children. Yeah, that's a blessing from the Lord. That's what this Psalm speaks about. It ends with these beautiful words, peace be upon Israel. You know what? The blessing of the Lord announced here is the way of peace. That's the way of peace. May the Lord's peace be upon us all here. May the Lord bless us. May the Lord, by his grace, give us the strength to walk in his ways. Amen.