Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

What Christ has accomplished for us upon the cross was sudden and decisive providing us with eter- nal freedom from the condemnation of our sin and the bondage of Satan’s kingdom; “He took it (our sins) and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.” (Col. 2:14, 15) Now we are given the privilege to choose what kind of seed we will sow into life: • Evil seed- it is usually sown with a false sense of happiness but always reaped with tears and sorrow: “Don’t be misled. Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death.” (Gal. 6:7, 8) • Good seed- many times it is sown in tears with great difficulty but always reaped with surpass- ing joy! “But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.” (Gal. 6:8, 9)

The joy and songs of the ‘sudden’ times must ‘sustain’ us in the long seasons of sowing and reap- ing!

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch

3 Spurgeon 4 Spurgeon

PSALM 127: UNLESS THE LORD BUILDS A HOUSE Raising Godly Children

This is the first of two ‘domestic’ psalms that unveil keys to establishing a happy and enduring home. While the Word of God encourages hard and vigorous labor, we must recognize God as the senior part- ner in every level of our lives and learn to rest and relate intimately with our children and families. It has a deeper layer of meaning when applied to the building of the ‘church’, the house of God. Christ is seen as the ‘Beloved’ of the Father, the one who ‘Bestows’ rest and the one who ‘Blesses’ children. This is the central song of the ‘Songs of Ascent’, 7 precede it and 7 follow. Several of the main thoughts of 127 ‘ascend’ out of Psalm 122: the building and protection of the city and the blessing on the family. It is out- lined in two contrasting sections:

I GOD GIVES REST- 1-2 Resting in Your Labor II A GIFT FROM THE LORD- 3-5 Raising Strong Children

INTRODUCTION:

“A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.”

(See Introduction to the Songs of Ascent). There are several reasons that strengthen the claim of Solomon’s authorship of the psalm. First of all is the use of several words that did not come into use in the Hebrew language until the time of Solomon. Secondly is the ‘Proverbs-like form of the Psalm…a dou- ble string of proverbs.’ 1 There is a popular connection between this psalm and Proverbs 10:22; “The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” Other parallels to Solomon will be explored later in the psalm.

I

GOD GIVES REST - 1-2 Resting in Your Labor

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” (1)

The first sentence refers to the building of a family unit: ‘ …in the widest sense applies to the estab- lishment of a family, which is illustrated in the erection of a house.’ 2 It must be done in God’s way or the strivings of the young family will come to nothing. Solomon built a palace for himself and his family:

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