I'd invite you to reach down and grab them and turn with me to Psalm 128. Psalm 128. So we're taking just a hopefully just a one week break from our journey through the gospel of John and just going to look at what God's word tells us here in Psalm 128. This is the word of the Lord. a song of degrees. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord Yahweh, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord Yahweh. The Lord Yahweh shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel. Let us pray. God, we thank you for your good word. Lord, we thank you for encouraging us in your Word to walk in your ways, knowing that you bless your people richly. God, we ask now that you would bless us through the ministry of your Word. God, that you would strengthen me to only say that which is true, that you would strengthen all who hear me, Lord, that they would be hearing from you. God, that you would pierce their conscience, that you would speak right to their heart, that you would break them where they need to be broken, and that you would gently bind them up and comfort them where they need to be comforted. God, we ask your abundant grace to fall down upon us, that your Holy Spirit would be poured out on us afresh right now. God, if I begin to speak something contrary to what you want me to say, Lord, I pray you will divert me, that you will lead me only to say that which is true. God, bless us now as we hear. In Christ's name, amen. You may be seated. This is a song that we have sung many times, and now it'll be, I think, exciting to walk through it a little more slowly and study what God's word tells us here. If you look at the beginning of our Psalm, just before verse one, and a lot of times we just start reading in verse one, but if you look just before verse one, you'll see where it says in the translation I read, which is the King James, a song of degrees, or in some modern translations, it might say a song of ascents, ascents like ascending, going up. Well, Psalms 120 through 134, in fact, are all listed this way. They all start by saying a song of degrees or a song of ascents, and those The fancy typographical word is superscripts. Those superscripts, because the little words come above the main text, they are actually part of the Bible. Most of the headings you see in your Bible are not original. They're something that a translator put in to let you know what the text was about. But these superscripts are part of the Psalms. They were put in there by whoever wrote or compiled the Psalms, either to let them know how they should be sung or to what tune they should be sung to, or maybe just to give a little bit more context. But that is part of God's Word here. And all of these psalms from 120 to 134 are listed as songs of degrees. So just like the Psalms form the basis of our worship here as a church, that we sing them every week, so also the Psalms were Israel's hymnal. That was what they sang in worship. They sang the Psalms. And I'm sure that this psalm and many other psalms were sung at various times of worship, whether family worship or various festivals and Sabbath days. But even though they might have been sung anytime you wanted, and that's fine, the songs of ascent or the songs of degrees, they were particularly to be sung by God's people as they made their way up to Jerusalem to present themselves before the Lord. This was a specific time we could think of in the liturgical calendar of Israel that they were to sing these psalms. There were three great feasts. each year, which the Israelites from all over came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord their God. There was Passover, and that's commemorating how God delivered his people out of Egypt and passed over them in mercy and did not destroy the firstborn sons as he did of the Egyptians. And it was a yearly festival. There was Pentecost, which of course we don't think about the ancient Israelites celebrating Pentecost. We think that's more of a church festival, but actually the apostles and the disciples of Christ were gathered in the upper room to celebrate Pentecost, not knowing that the Holy Spirit would fall upon them on that occasion. And then there was the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Booths, which we no longer celebrate. And as our old covenant brothers and sisters would ascend to Jerusalem, they would sing these songs, Psalms 120 through 134. And they're songs about ascending to the mountain of the Lord. They're about having the privilege of entering God's holy temple, entering into his presence, the privilege of praising God and him hearing our praises. And as we'll look at today, some of these Psalms were about the good life. the blessed life that one receives when he fears the Lord. And I think we can say with a very high degree of confidence that Jesus himself sang this Psalm many times. He sang Psalm 128 as he made his way to Jerusalem. Not only do we know that Jesus was righteous and his parents also, the Bible tells us, Mary and Joseph were righteous. And therefore, he obeyed everything in the law and they taught him to obey the law. He would have been raised to do that. But specifically, we learn from Luke chapter two, that every year, Jesus' parents made a point of obeying God and making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to attend the feast of Passover. And Luke describes how Jesus, when he was 12 years old, he went up with his parents to Jerusalem, and instead of going home with them right away, he stayed days longer than their planned trip so that he could spend more time in the temple. the word of God who inspired this psalm and who treasured this psalm and who sang this psalm as they were going up to Jerusalem with his fellow Israelites. As we'll learn this morning, this same word, Jesus Christ, he also fulfilled this psalm. Well, what does this song of ascents say? What does God's word have for us today? Look with me now at verse one of our text. Blessed is everyone that fears the Lord Yahweh, that walks in His ways. Verse one here is a helpful introduction to the remaining five verses of this Psalm. Psalm 128 shows us what the good life looks like. It doesn't matter where you go, in time or in space, everywhere in the world, as long as there have been people here, humans have at all times and in all places sought the good life. Everyone wants to be happy. I heard someone say in some lecture about marketing that that's one of the reasons that Coca-Cola is such a successful brand. It's not because it tastes necessarily any better than anything else, but it's because they focus their marketing over the past 50 years on relating their product with happiness. And if they can make you make in your mind and in your heart some emotional connection between their product and happiness, that you'll want it. Everyone wants to be happy. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. Everyone wants the good life. Now, for some people, they might think in their heads that the good life is primarily a life of ease, a life of relaxation, a life of comfort free of any inconveniences. Some might think that the good life consists in an abundance of money, being able to buy whatever you want. or in earthly relationships, having that perfect romantic connection or having all the children you wanted or having the best friends you could possibly imagine. Now, all these things are ways that God blesses us in the good life. These are happiness and freedom from distress and relationships and prosperity. These are things, many of which will be mentioned in this Psalm, but they're not the basis of the good life. God tells us that the truly good life is to be found by fearing the Lord Yahweh. And then when you fear the Lord Yahweh correctly, he blesses you with many of the things you would have wanted if your desires were rightly ordered to begin with. That word blessed, or like we sing in our Psalm, blessed, blessed the man that fears Jehovah, that could also be translated as happy. Happy is everyone who fears Jehovah. This is a theme that runs throughout the Psalms, and in fact, runs throughout the entirety of the scriptures. Those that fear God are the truly happy ones. I think we can see that this is so true today in our churches. A lot of people want to look for a good church. And there are a lot of churches that preach good doctrine. But as Elizabeth and I had been searching for churches over the past couple years, one thing that we reflected on after we would leave a church service, we would say, you know, those people were really happy. They wanted to be there. Or maybe sometimes What a strange vibe. No one seemed overly excited about worshiping God. And I think we can all who have visited churches say that. There's a true happiness when people truly worship God in spirit and truth. Happy is the one who fears the Lord. This psalm harkens back to Psalm 1, which I know many of our children have recently learned with Miss Rebecca. Psalm 1, blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. Blessed is the man, happy is the man who delights in God and his word. Now, when I say that this word blessed can also be rendered as happy, I don't really mean what Coca-Cola means when they say happy. They think they have an idea of what happiness is. They're good at making money, but they have missed the boat. By happy, I don't mean a fleeting happiness just based on our circumstances. No, what the Bible is referring to here is a deep abiding joy that you can have even when you're sorrowful, God's word tells us. We can be sorrowful yet rejoicing. The world views happiness as really just a subjective, fuzzy feeling that we have. And that's, I mean, that's generally a fine way to use the word. I'm not saying you're wrong if you think of that when you say that you're happy today or you ask someone if they're happy. But it's certainly not the whole story. Christians might feel down in the dumps sometimes. They might feel like just everything's just going away. They didn't want it to go. And they have a deep sadness in them. But nevertheless, if you are in Christ, you remain. in an objective position of blessedness. And you have a well of happiness that you can call on, even if you don't feel it at the moment, you can know it and you can trust that God has a good plan for your life, that God will never give his people second best. God has a special plan for every one of his own children. And sometimes it isn't to have that fuzzy, mushy, worldly Coca-Cola type happiness. But no matter what his plan is, we can remind ourselves that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And we can ask God to restore to us the happy feeling, knowing in our minds that we are truly happy in Christ and truly blessed. We have an eternal and secure happiness. We have a hope that will not put us to shame and we will spend all of eternity glorifying and enjoying him, enjoying him. We will spend eternity being happy in Christ. The great Puritan theologian, Matthew Henry writes this about this verse. He says it is here again and again laid down as an undoubted truth that those who are truly holy are truly happy. Jesus, in fact, in his Sermon on the Mount uses the Greek equivalent of this Hebrew word for blessed or happy, same meaning in Greek, blessed or happy, when he says these things. And some of these might be confusing, but let's just listen to them. Blessed or happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn. for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for your reward is great in heaven. for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Listen to that, Jesus said, you're happy when you're poor, you're happy when you hunger, not because you're poor, because you're hungry, but because that is a reminder that God will fill you, that God will satisfy you, that God will give you riches. spiritually, and as we'll see in the Psalm, very often materially. And in this life, God satisfies you. You don't only have to wait until heaven to have heavenly joy. You don't have to wait until eternity to begin experiencing the joy of eternal life. That's something that God wills for his people to have here and now. Here and now, Jesus says, even when you are persecuted, even when you don't see relief yet, rejoice and be exceeding glad. because you have a great reward in Christ. Even amidst genuine, heart-rending mourning, there is an objective happiness for the people of God. And this blessedness, it's not something that we generate from ourselves or obtain on our own. It is a gift from God. God is the agent in this transaction. He is the active party. We are the recipients. We are the patients. We are the ones who cannot do anything to gain the happiness for ourselves. You can see it today. People are clamoring for happiness, doing everything they can for happiness, and they're empty and hollow without Christ. all the money in the world, all the wonderful relationships, all the great jobs, all the lands and anything you want. Without Christ, it's empty and hollow. But with Christ, we can be exceeding glad with his good gifts that he gives us. Now this doesn't, when I say that God's the active one and we are passive, that doesn't mean that we don't have an active role to play though. We have an absolutely active role to play in obtaining happiness, but it's done the way that God commands us. The one who, our psalm tells us, fears the Lord is the one who is blessed. The one who walks in the Lord's ways is the one who is blessed. This is just one example of these twin truths of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. If God does not choose to bless you, you will not be blessed, no matter what you try to do with your life. But if you want to be blessed, you still have a role to play. If you want to be blessed, then you must fear the Lord and walk in his ways. God's word tells us that his law is a light to our path, and we are to walk in the light that that law gives us, seeking true happiness in Christ. As Ephesians 2 tells us, we are his, that's God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Why are we created by Christ? To glorify him through our good works. God's the craftsman, he is the workman. We are just the vessels. And He's the one that, before we were even conceived, prepared specific good works for each of us to accomplish. The good works you do come from the Lord and from His goodness. Nevertheless, God's word is clear. You are still responsible for your actions. You are still commanded to fear God and to walk in his ways. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility. These are two abundantly clear truths in scripture. And sometimes our brains and our hearts just have a hard time understanding how they can work together. We have to be okay in our theology in living in tension, so long as it's not tension with God's word. If the tension's just in our mind, we just have to trust the Lord and know that we will one day understand. He will work it out, whether in time or eternity. But there is no tension in God's word here. So we must strive for righteousness, knowing that God is the one within us, empowering us to fear him and walk in his ways. And let's get back to our text at hand here. The Psalm begins by reading, blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, Yahweh, that walketh in his ways. The word of God here is written in the third person. Blessed is everyone, everyone. Blessed is everyone that fears God. Anyone who fears the Lord is blessed by him. But then in verse two, the Psalmist transitions to writing or speaking in the second person. So in the King James, it says, thou, or as we would say today, you. So he goes from it, blessed is everyone. And then he says, you shall eat the labor of your hands. You shall be happy or blessed, and it shall be well with you. This is personal, you. You, this is second person singular. You, individual person, you shall be blessed. Matthew Henry, who I just quoted a few moments ago, he continues by writing this. He says, we are encouraged to apply it. He means this truth about happiness and holiness. We are encouraged to apply it to ourselves. Verse two, happy shalt thou be. Thou mayest take comfort of the promise and expect the benefit of it, as if it were directed to thee by name. If thou fear God and walk in his ways, happy shalt thou be. That is, it shall be well with thee. Whatever befalls thee, good shall be brought out of it. It shall be well with thee while thou livest, better when thou diest, and best of all to eternity. Matthew Henry says it will be good for you while you're alive. It will be better for you when you die. Think of how against the worldliness of happiness that is. And it will be best of all in eternity. And I would say that this is the point where the psalm really begins to, I think, raise some eyebrows, especially amongst Christians who are coming from a similar evangelical and maybe even reformed theological place as we are. What do I mean by that? Well, the psalmist writes this. He says, you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. You shall be blessed and it shall be well with you. Now we could easily say, yes, yes, of course we will. Like Matthew Henry just said, we'll be blessed in eternity. Of course we will. We get to go to heaven when we die. But sometimes I think in our circles, we can feel uncomfortable saying that we'll be blessed physically and materially in this life if we fear the Lord. But clearly that is what is in view in this Psalm. That's by no means exclusively what's in view, but earthly prosperity is in view here. And in our day and age, we have seen such abuse of the biblical doctrine that God delights to bless His children in this life. And we know it's true, but sometimes we can be a little uncomfortable, I think, when the Bible talks about this. I think many of us, especially the adults in the room, have seen people on the internet or on television saying things like, if you sow financial seeds by donating money to their church or their ministry, that God will in turn bless you with new cars and promotions and healings from terminal illnesses. And we've seen books written like Your Best Life Now, New York Times Bestseller. I don't know how many copies that book has sold, but it has done great damage to countless numbers of people. But just because there is abuse of the doctrine of prosperity does not mean that we throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Your best life now is a great lie. Our best life is the life to come. But your good life now is an absolute truth. The Christian life isn't meant to be one of a wrinkled brow and suffering needlessly and incessantly. Our life is a life of blessedness and happiness, even when we suffer. And Jesus says there will be suffering, but even then we will have blessing. We need to believe that God's word is true and that his desire is to prosper his people. He promises us things in scripture that we need to believe. Like that verse to the children, Ephesians 6, one through three, children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Sometimes parents, sometimes we stop there. Cause we just, we need them to obey so bad. And they're just being so disobedient. And we're like, let me give you some of God's word. Children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. But what does it say right after that? This is the first commandment with a promise. Children, if you obey your parents and the Lord, God will give you a long and happy life. Isn't that a wonderful truth? And Paul says, it's a promise. Moses has it written on the tablets that he received from God on Mount Sinai as part of the covenant that God made with his people. that God wills good for his people when they obey. And we need to believe God. We need to believe what his word says, and we need to believe what his word says prosperity is. Is prosperity only driving nice new cars and having the perfect relationships and perfect jobs? What does God's word, and specifically here today, what does Psalm 128 tell us the good life generally looks like? What does the good life generally look like? Well, first the psalmist tells us that thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, or you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands. We see here a similarity as well as a contrast to the curse that God pronounced on Adam for his sin in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, God says this to Adam. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. God doesn't say here in Psalm 128 that the blessed man will be unaffected by the curse of Adam. He doesn't say you'll be zipped out of this world that often is a valley of tears. Rather, he tells us that you will prosper within and despite the enduring conditions of living in a cursed world. Being blessed is in contrast to being cursed. God's children in this life, however, do not escape all the consequences of the curse of Adam. but all of their experiences in this life are ultimately for their good. And while we don't see the complete undoing of the curse until eternity, we are not living a hopeless, helpless, curse-laden existence either. We are living an existence of blessing that will conquer the curse. And so we still have to work hard, we still have to sweat, we still get tired, and yes, we still die. But God will bless us with eating the fruit of our labors. Secondly, the psalmist writes this, thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. Psalm 128 opens by pronouncing blessing on everyone who fears Yahweh. Whether that everyone includes a man or a woman or a child, whether you are red, yellow, black, or white, whether you live in ancient Israel or in 21st century America, you'll be blessed. But then it goes from everyone. Then in verse two, the psalm becomes much more personal and direct to the reader, offering assistance to you, you who are hearing my voice right now. God will bless you if you obey him. And then in verses three and four, we see a focus on the you in question, clearly referring to a man, a man. And really when you look at the previous verses through the eyes of the ancient Israelites, you realize that the man was likely in view there as well. It is the man like Adam, who works in the field to provide for his family. Men are workers and providers. And it is the woman here in verse three who stays home and raises the children. Well, if you didn't think that an assurance of earthly blessings on those who love God was controversial, then here comes a couple more hot button issues for our culture today. The man's supposed to work, the woman's supposed to be at home. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. What the psalmist is saying here is that the good life is not only one where your labors in the fields are fruitful, but also where your home, and specifically your wife is fruitful as well. And like the fruit of your hands labors mentioned in verse two, the fruit here can most certainly refer to fruit that is not harvested until eternity. This absolutely includes fruit that we will not see until the new heavens and new earth. But the fruit that's in the forefront here is children. And we know that because the second half of the verse, by children, physical children in your house. Thy children, like olive plants, round about thy table. This is not a hard word to interpret. It's very easy. He is a happy man who fears the Lord, eats of the fruit of his hands' labors, and has a faithful and fruitful wife. The preceding Psalm, Psalm 127, tells us, Behold, children are a heritage or a gift from the Lord Yahweh. The fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy, or blessed, happy is the man that has his quiver full of them, or happy is the man who fills his quiver with them. The imagery in both Psalms communicate the exact same truth. Having a wife and several children is a blessing from the Lord. And today in our culture, we see such pushback against this idea. It's so abundantly common today, even in evangelical churches, to hear young couples advise, I've heard it many times, advise that they should not marry too young. they should wait a while to have children, that they should not rush in to those big adult responsibilities. I'm very grateful we have some people in our congregation very disobedient to those cultural norms. Thank you, Noah and Greta, for being great examples here. And to be clear, sometimes delaying marriage and childbearing can be a wise decision, but putting off these blessings should not be our default position. Rather, intentional delay should be the exception. Nevertheless, it's assumed today, at least in many parts of the Western world, that you don't get married until both husband and wife have at least received a bachelor's degree. and possibly more schooling, and they've both begun to establish themselves in their careers, respective careers, and then when they get married, it's assumed that they will delay having children until some indeterminate time when they are both ready. Until said time, and often even after the children are born, both parents will continue to work outside of the home, and the kids eventually go to preschool or daycare and then elementary school and so on, often becoming heavily involved extracurricular activities, such that time together as a whole family becomes less and less and less and just fades away. I saw something on Facebook the other day, I'm in a Facebook group of just a bunch of dads, it's just dads, of all different backgrounds and convictions and things, and someone posted on there, you only have 18 summers, make them last. I thought, how ridiculous is that? I don't only have summers. I have 18 or more summers, falls, winters, springs. But that's what our culture thinks like. I only get time with my kids in the summer because they're so busy otherwise with the demands of the world. Here in these two Psalms, 127 and 128, we see quite the opposite picture being painted. We see that the blessed and happy man is the one who is married young and has many children. Now, someone might say, well, many children is subjective, James. Are you saying you have to maximize the fertility of your wife? Otherwise you're in sin as a man. That you need to take every effort to have as many children as possible. No, that's not what I'm saying. And I don't think that's what the psalmist is saying here either. But the images of a quiver that's intentionally filled with arrows, or a dinner table that has children all around it, speak to the happiness and blessing that many children bring. Who would go into battle intentionally with an empty quiver? I don't think anyone would. That seems foolish. And you'll notice that the psalmist refers to the children of the blessed man here as olive shoots. Olive shoots are olive plants. Olives and olive plants in the Bible, they represent many things, none of them bad. They represent wealth, fruitfulness, harmony, and beauty. But today in the West, in America and in other Western countries, we're trained to think that children are a burden and a cost, that they will be consumers only and not producers. In fact, Some recent estimates that I found put the cost of raising a child from birth through 18, not including college, at about $310,000. And this was actually from a couple years ago. And so with the way inflation has been, it's got to be much higher. Maybe we could say $350,000. Now we can go straight to thinking, wow, $310,000, that is expensive. But when we approach childbearing and rearing through a biblical lens, we ought to really sit back and think, $300,000? What a bargain. What a deal. You're telling me that for $300,000, I can bring an immortal soul into this world. And I get to love this child and spend time with this child and teach this child and point this child to the Lord. And then like an arrow knocked to the bowstring and pulled all the way back, I get to shoot this child out into the world so that he or she can do serious damage to the kingdom of darkness. so that she or he can make a dent in the gates of hell. I think we should say, what a steal. What a discount, $300,000. What else can $300,000 buy? Can hardly even buy a house these days. Maybe a string of decent cars for the rest of our lives that eventually will in turn fail us and be portioned off, crushed and melted down. Maybe $300,000 could buy you a lifetime supply of your favorite snack food or your favorite drink. Maybe you could just have garages full of Coca-Cola, seeking that happiness that the world pretends to offer. All those things could eat up $300,000, but they are nothing compared to an immortal soul and the spiritual and physical fruitfulness that that child may in turn produce. Now on another note, I'm pretty confident that children are not actually that expensive usually. At $300,000, that would mean that a family with three children would spend almost a million dollars on their kids alone by the time they turn 18. And there are a lot of three-child families that I know that don't even make a million dollars in 18 years. So I don't know how they come up with that number. I think they must be thinking just like the world. Well, I've got to buy them all these different special things and get them all the best new things and put them all the travel programs and competitive programs and private this and that. I think that number is heavily inflated, but even if it is correct, it's still a bargain. Think of the generational fruitfulness. Don't even think about just that child, which we would all say our children are worth a lot more than 300 grand. Think about their children and their children's children. And think about 10 generations from now. Think about the prayers that we pray that our children may become thousands of 10 thousands. $300,000, that's nothing. Massive return on investment. Further, back in our Psalm, where is this wife? And where are these children of the happy man? Look at verse three with me. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Well, the wife and the children are in the happy man's home. The translation here that I read, by the sides of thine house, it's not as clear as most other versions give it. I think the modern versions do a better job. where it might often be said the wife can be found within your house, but really a more descriptive and helpful rendering would actually be in the innermost part of your house. That's what the Psalm's really getting at here. Where is your wife? She's in the innermost part of your house. That doesn't mean she's hidden away, not allowed to be part of the world at all. The wife of the blessed man is, as Titus 2 describes, a keeper at home and a lover of her husband and children. She loves her husband and children. She's happy. And she's a stark contrast to the promiscuous woman of Proverbs 7, who God's word tells us, her feet do not stay at home. You see the contrast there? The happy man has a happy wife in the happy home. The unfaithful man has the promiscuous wife whose feet do not stay in her home. You won't find this wife in another man's house. She is planted where her family lives. And the children are there at the dinner table, involved in family life, talking with mom and dad, not at school and extracurricular activities for 12 and 13 hours a day, five days a week. Now, similar to marrying young and having a lot of children, being a homemaker or a stay-at-home wife and mother is quite out of step with our contemporary culture. I'm so very thankful that this is not the case in our church, but in much of society and in many, many of our churches, girls are not even raised today to be homemakers. They're raised to be career women. And often girls are given the impression that submitting to one's own husband and taking care of one's own house and children is somehow inferior to submitting to a boss. a boss that doesn't love you and won't lay down his life for you, that somehow submitting to your husband is inferior to that. We even see a strange cropping up of the curse of Adam here. Adam was told that because of his sin, he would have great difficulty in providing for his family. Eve, on the other hand, was told that she would bring forth children in pain. Now it's natural. to try to escape the consequences of our sins. Men want to minimize the difficulty of their work and maximize their profits. They want to avoid the sweat and the thorns and the thistles. That makes sense, and that's not wrong. That's a good instinct and impulse that we men have to try to minimize the difficulty and maximize the profits. That's a good thing. Women also want to avoid the immense pain of labor. That also makes a lot of sense. I've told my wife many times, I know at least one reason my God made me a man, because I couldn't do that. Women have a inner strength. Yes, they're the weaker vessel, but they're strong in a different way. And in those specific ways that women are strong, I don't even think men are fit for that particular type of strength. But what is strange, as in the last several decades especially, as women particularly have had increasingly great success at reducing the intensity of the curse which God placed on them, they have in many cases, as their labor and delivery has gotten better and better, they have in many cases gladly and eagerly taken on themselves the curse which God placed on the man. That is, generally speaking, labor and delivery can be safer and less painful today than they've ever been in any preceding era of human history, and we can thank God for that. But more wives are also working outside of the home amidst the thorns and thistles and seeking to provide for themselves and their families by the sweat of their brow than ever, ever before. See how that's so interesting. As they begin to, in one way, take dominion over a certain aspect of their curse, as they begin to have relief, why is it that so many women have taken on gladly the curse which has been given to men? And I want to be clear, while some women do prefer this new arrangement, and want to have full-time careers outside of the home. Many do not. I'm not laying this problem at the feet of women. In fact, the passivity of men is more abundantly to blame here. We have failed over and over in the West at leading sacrificially and strongly our families. Many women would love to be full-time homemakers, but because of the demands of their husbands, the lack of sacrifice their husbands are willing to make because of societal pressures, because of how their parents have raised them, because of broken homes where there is no husband present, because of many reasons, even though many women want this abundant life in Psalm 128, they have to go work in the proverbial field. or feel like they do. This places an enormous burden on wives and mothers today, because while every family will have their own rhythms and ways of dividing up labor, there is still, even in pagans, an enduring expectation, just in the way that we were made, that tells us that women should be doing their work at home. So even while they have these careers, who are the ones that are still most often expected to bear the lion's share of domestic duties, such as raising the small children and cleaning the house? It's still the women. Even when they have a full-time job, it seems impossible. And I know in some of your minds you may be thinking, is James saying that women can't have jobs? Or that women always have to be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen? Once again, that's not what I mean. Rather, what I'm saying is that repeatedly the Bible presents women being homemakers as part of the ideal life on earth. A man provides for his family and a woman cares for her home and raises godly children. This doesn't mean she's never involved in business. Doesn't it mean she has no involvement in enterprise or that she can't or shouldn't work to increase the revenue stream for the family in one way or another? Or that she can't have friendships or hobbies or obligations outside of the home? It doesn't mean that at all. Think of the Proverbs 31 woman. She considers a field and buys it. She's doing work. She knows the people in the community. She's serving even her servants. I mean, the Proverbs 31 woman is a great example here to say, no, whatever bad thing you think patriarchy is, it's not that. But this is what it does mean. Psalm 128 is telling us that the woman's heart is in the home. That's where her heart is. And her base of operations is in the home. And her tasks revolve more directly around the members of her family than her husband's typically do. She is working most assuredly by the sweat of her brow, but primarily it is in the home among the olive shoots, the good wealth giving plants, not primarily in the field among the thorns and the thistles. Adam was made. with a task that was outward focused, but Eve was made as a helper meet unto him. Eve's task is the man, Adam's task is the field. Continuing on in our text, the psalmist writes this, the Lord shall bless thee out of Zion and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children and peace upon Israel. This is a benediction. This is a prayer for and a pronouncement of blessing upon God's children. May you live the good life, the psalmist prays. May you be happy with God's good providence for your life. And may you see the flourishing of the kingdom of God here on earth. May you live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. May you see your many children provide you with many more grandchildren and may there be peace in the church and in society. Remember how we learned that the Jews who sang this song did not live in Jerusalem. Jews were scattered everywhere when these psalms were written. They didn't live in Jerusalem mostly, but they sang this psalm while they were on pilgrimage, marching to Jerusalem, which is the earthly Zion. Zion in scripture can either mean Jerusalem itself, the city, or it can refer to the heavenly city, that we are eagerly seeking. And these faithful Jewish pilgrims, they would sing Psalm 128 as they were traveling both spiritually and physically to Zion to present themselves before their God. They were acknowledging that no matter where they lived in this life, If they were blessed, their blessing would come from God and from His holy habitation, and that they would seek the presence of God throughout their lives. And no matter where we live today, no matter what our home and work lives look like, no matter if we feel like we match up to this picture or not, we should be seeking Zion. We are on the pilgrim's progress up toward the celestial city, just like those Jews singing Psalm 128. We are yearning for the coming kingdom of God. We should be eagerly desirous to see this kingdom visibly advanced in our lives. To see Christ's lordship increasingly acknowledged and his church obtain increased peace from outside threats and increased harmony within. God does not want us to live miserable lives here on earth. We will have sufferings. We will have sorrows, that is for sure. But we must rejoice and be exceeding glad for our citizenship is in heaven. Now, as we near the end of our time together, I wanna offer you what I hope is a word of encouragement. Perhaps you're listening to this sermon and you aren't living a life similar to the one described here in Psalm 128. It's not because you're not fearing the Lord. It's not because you're not walking in His ways. You're just not seeing this general picture of blessedness being played out in your life right now. And maybe you're thinking, does this mean I'm not blessed by God? And as the apostle Paul might say, by no means, by no means does it mean that. The same Jesus who sang this song is the same Jesus who was not married to a woman while here on earth. He did not have any natural born children. He did not live to old age. He did not see peace to Jerusalem. He did not see many of these blessings, but he is most assuredly a blessed man. He is the only one who truly with his whole heart, mind, soul, and strength feared the Lord and walked in his ways. And he will eat the fruit of his hands labors. Jesus will receive the fruit of his labors. His labor was to live the perfect life that you and I were called to live and to bear the sins of the world on the cross, offering up a perfect and acceptable sacrifice to God. And the fruit of his labors is an inheritance of nations. eternal glory, and a throne that is above every throne, and a name that is above every other name. God is right now, through us, preparing a kingdom for Jesus, made up of the redeemed nations of the world, redeemed sinners from every tribe and tongue. And what about being married? That's so crucial to the good life presented here in Psalm 128. And we just said Jesus wasn't married while he was here on earth. but we know that Jesus's bride is the church. He purchased us with his blood and he is making us his. And where is his wife to be found? Where is the church to be found? The church here on earth gathers every Lord's day to hear of the love of her husband, Christ, and to anticipate the day when we will join him forever. in his perfect eternal home in the new heavens and new earth in the heavenly Jerusalem. Christ is right now sanctifying his church through what we're doing right now in this moment. He is cleansing us. He is washing us with the water of his word. And for children, what about children? The blessed man has children. Through Christ, God is adopting a multitude of children, which is greater than the number of the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. And his children, all of God's children, growing on that wonderful olive tree that is the kingdom of God, all of God's olive shoots will gather with him one day and sit down at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at a heavenly feast and commune with him forever. And then finally, when Christ returns to receive the bride prepared for him, there will be true peace for the kingdom of God on earth. And further, I hope that is encouraging in itself, that the truly blessed man didn't experience these ordinary ways of Psalm 128 blessing. But even if you do not have a spouse in this life or physical children of your own, and you're thinking, yes, but that was Jesus. What about me? What about me? You can still have a loving home and a fruitful life here and now. While children are primarily the fruit that is in view in this Psalm, not everyone's fruitfulness will look the same. God has a specific good and glorious plan for each of his children. And we don't always get to pick. In fact, we don't ever get to pick what that plan looks like. And sometimes we think we would have picked a better plan, but God in his infinite fatherly wisdom always picks the best plan for us. That's a hard word for us to hear a lot of the time. But the apostle Paul, think of him. The Apostle Paul was perhaps the most joyful man, second to Christ, that ever walked the face of this earth. He had no physical earthly children of his own, but he most certainly had spiritual children, like Timothy, who he calls his true child in the faith. He had those who he had become a father to. Perhaps God has gifted you with singleness, like he did the great missionary to India, Amy Carmichael, who became mother to hundreds of girls and boys in India. They called her mother. That was her identity, was as a mom. Like our sister, Corrie Ten Boom. She's another one of our great heroes of the faith. God used her in so many amazing ways, and we can look at her life and think at all the different stages of her life, how did God use her to give her a Psalm 128 life? For a long time, up until her 40s, she did not have a husband, and she lived in her father's house, and she made that house a home. She was a homemaker, and she loved the people that came in the door. And she served her father and her mother and she worked with him in his business. And that was the first stage of her life. And then in her heavenly father's good providence, she became a prisoner for Christ in chains like the apostle Paul under the evil Nazi regime. And she loved there as a mother making even those prison barracks a home where people could find comfort and solace in Christ. And then later after release, she served God's wider family, bringing the message of forgiveness through Christ as a writer and a teacher. Perhaps that's your story and perhaps not. Perhaps someone might be listening to this story one day that is bereaved of his or her spouse. And maybe God's will for the widow or the widower is like that of the prophetess Anna, who was able to be completely devoted to God's kingdom. Anna was not found daily in her earthly husband's home. She was in her heavenly husband's home. That's where she lived. She lived and spent her time in the temple of her God, which today we could say would be like a life devoted to prayer and to worshiping and serving in the local church. perhaps even raising up scores and scores of spiritual children who don't have parents who will point them to Jesus. I don't know what everyone's situation is because I don't know God's good and perfect plan for anyone's life. But I know that God has a good plan for your life. And if you are trusting in Christ, if you believe that he died on the cross to take away the guilt and power and punishment of your sins, if you believe that he rose again in complete victory over sin and death, then you will not miss out on the good life. We've talked a lot about the good life. That's what this psalm is about. That's what it's describing. But even without a spouse and children, even without success at home, and work even with no profitability that you can see in your earthly mind in the fruit of your labors. You can experience a taste of this good life through communion with the Lord and with his church. Don't you think Paul had a good and blessed life? He most certainly did. And he didn't enjoy much of the earthly blessedness described here in this Psalm. That's not to minimize any hardship or sadness that you're going through now, any discouragement that you're experiencing. Some people have extraordinarily difficult lives that I don't think anyone in this room could even imagine. That from the world's perspective, bear little or no fruit. But as Doug Wilson says, even if you miss the hors d'oeuvres of the good life here on earth, as described in Psalm 128, even if you miss the hors d'oeuvres or the appetizers of the good life, through Christ, you will most assuredly be present for the banquet in heaven. Even if you miss these good and earthly blessings that you want so badly, if your hope is in Christ and his finished work on the cross, you will have the immeasurably better blessings of eternity with our Lord. Let's go to this loving father and ask for his blessing on us now. God, we thank you for this word. Lord, we know it's a good word. We can look around and see the goodness here, that there are many olive plants in this congregation. growing on that great and glorious olive tree, which is your church, God, that we know you have made husband and wife one that they might provide a godly seed for your kingdom. We thank you, Lord. God, but we know that this psalm can also be very difficult to hear, Lord, because we know sometimes we want more children. or we're married and we have children, but there's disharmony in the home. God, or we're not married yet and we so eagerly and desperately want to be. God, it is a good word to us that you've given us. And I want you to remind each person's heart that it is no bad thing to want what you have described in your word as blessings. God, it is good for us to call on this Psalm and ask for your blessings. But God, I just pray that no matter what type or form of blessings you give to each and every one of us, that even those who will have the just best possible earthly representation of Psalm 128, God, that not a single one of us here in this room would put our hope in these blessings, that we would not look at the gift and value the gift more than the giver, that we would not look at those wonderful, good creation blessings that you sent and forget about you, the creator. God, I pray that when we receive gifts and Lord, when we are denied the gifts we want, that we would look upward to you and find our satisfaction in you, the giver of all good things. the one who blesses us immeasurably with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, the one who has promised us, Lord, for all of us who are in you by faith in Christ Jesus, that our destiny is to be at your right hand where there are pleasures forevermore. God, we thank you for the many blessings you have given this particular congregation, for the many wonderful blessings that we can look at and see, for the children, for the happy homes, for the godly lives of our little children, of our single adults, of our married adults, God, and for those of us who have lost our spouses. God, we thank you for these good gifts, and we ask your continued blessing on our lives, and that we would continue to walk in your ways and fear you. In Christ's name, amen.