Father’s Day

A Lasting Legacy

Father’s Day – Psalm 127

Crosspoint – Dave Spooner – June 20th, 2021

 

Intro:

  • Often in preaching on Mother’s Day preachers are encouraging to the moms and then on Father’s Day, we beat up the dads. Today, I want to provide encouragement and hope to the dads. And since we are in a series on proverbs, I selected a psalm written by Solomon. Solomon only wrote two psalms that we know of, psalm 72, a prayer asking God to help him and bless his rule and kingdom. I imagine Solomon wrote this at the beginning of his reign. The other psalm he wrote is the one we are turning to this morning, Psalm 127. I imagine Solomon writing this psalm near the end of his life when he looks back upon the years passed.
  • In Psalm 127, I see him drawing some conclusions as he reflects upon his name, his work, and his family. We can learn from his life what we are to do with our lives, and as we continue to spend our days on this earth.
  • In the first section of this psalm, you will notice the word “vain” as in ‘it comes to nothing’. It is a terrible feeling and a terrifying thought that your life and work will amount to nothing. The same ideas are captured in the book of Ecclesiastes, and Solomon reflects on life and finds so many pursuits produce nothing . . . The conclusion of Ecclesiastes (Eccl 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.) God wants to save you from living life in vain, and the wisdom of God points us to the path that will be satisfying and fulfilling.

 

Honor the Lord in your life

Ps 127:1a ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

  • The house that is in view here is the family name of the person, for example, the house of David or the house of Solomon. This is about the legacy of a name and the result of a life.
  • Often people live their lives so they will be remembered when they are gone. This is why they will give money so that their name will be written in stone (Carnegie Hall, Puri Park, Javon Bea Hospital, John A. Logan College).
  • The desire to be remembered is not necessarily a bad thing, and a lasting legacy can be a wonderful and desired thing, but we must remember if the Lord is not in it, no matter what we do, all of our efforts will come to nothing.
  • If you are trying to build a name for yourself and do not have the Lord building it, your building will fail, and it will fall.
  • The way you have the Lord build the house is if you honor the Lord, He will honor you. With your thoughts, with your time, with your money, with your energy. 

Honor the Lord in your work

Ps 127:1b

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 

  • This was city building, this was the work of the King, and he is talking about our work as he was talking about his. If you try to build or do anything of value, anything that will contribute to society and make a difference means caring for it and protecting what you have built. We protect our work, we protect our company, we protect our clients, we protect our brand. There are and will always be people who want to take it all down.
  • Unless the Lord watches over it, it does not matter how many people you have looking to guard it, it will be brought down.
  • We work, and we slave to make something of ourselves, but it is in vain if we are not honoring the Lord with it.
  • To build a lasting legacy in our work, we need to honor the Lord in our work, and Lord help me do what is right, Lord help me with your wisdom, Lord grant us favor, etc.
  • Some of us live what the following verses describe

Ps 127:2a

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;

  • Some of us work our tails off because we are anxious, we are worried if we don’t, it will all fall down . . . and here is what the Lord gives those who trust in Him.

Ps. 127:2b

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

  • I saw a t-shirt that said, “Jesu took naps, be like Jesus.” And there is some truth to this shirt. Remember Jesus in the storm when the disciples were freaking out, what was Jesus doing? Napping. Why? Because He trusted His life to His Father so He could rest at ease.
  • How many sleepless nights have you been up because you were worrying about something? The good news is that God is working when we are sleeping and sometimes sleep is an act of faith that says we are trusting in God to do what needs to be done. God often came to people in their sleep (Solomon, Joseph, Peter, Paul).
  • Did you even notice in Gen. one, when the days are counted, it says, “there was evening and there was morning, the first day”? Now you would think it would go, “there was morning, and there was evening, the first day.” The way that God put it all together is that we rest first, and then we work after. The first thing of the day is not when you get up; it is when you go to sleep. Even to this day for the Jew, the day starts and ends at 6 pm.
  • God gives us His rest first, and we rest as an act of faith, knowing that what we did is enough and trusting the Lord for the rest because He wants us to rest. 

 Honor the Lord in your family

Ps 127:3-5

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

  • God expects us to leave a legacy or heritage from our decedents, from those who follow us. This is your children and those to who you have invested in and are giving your life to. Your life is for you but, it is not about you, and those who you give yourself to, in turn, will be a guard and blessing to you.
  • Often our dependents are a handful before they are a quiver full. They take a lot of work and investment – giving time to them when all you wanted to do is have time for yourself . . . but by doing so you are investing in the future, and if you are doing so because you are a child of the King and want to honor your father who does the same for you, then you will be blessed and have a good defense against the “enemies” at the gate, and these enemies come in different forms, from disease to deceivers.

Conclusion and Communion

  • Dad’s you can’t do it all. You are not enough; it is okay. Trust in the One who is enough; trust in His goodness and grace to work on your behalf. Just make one aim, to honor the Lord in what you do, how you live both in your home and in your work, and trust God to take care of the rest and to give you rest while you are taking care. Choose this day, whom you will serve, as for me and my house; we will serve the Lord.
  • Communion