People of God, I enjoin you to turn with me to Psalm 127, this morning's text. Psalm 127, and actually it will also include Psalm 128. Not meant to be a bait and switch, by the way, but upon looking at it, it seemed appropriate. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat. For he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born. in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor. Blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house. Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem. And may you live to see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel. Thus far the reading of God's holy, inerrant, and inspired word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we prepare to examine your word, Father, we also ask that you examine our hearts and let us see what is within. And Father, not that we might be morbidly crushed, but instead that we might know who we are and then know who you are in a better way. And in that way, we might even more so want to mortify our sin and even more so want to live a life that is a picture of thanks to you. Father, as we look at your word this morning, we see that its theme is your blessedness to your people. And Father, may we leave this place knowing that those whose faith is in Christ Jesus truly are blessed. We have much to be thankful for and we have everything to look forward to. Father, may you encourage us with that truth, especially in these difficult times. Holy Spirit of God, we look to you to do your work, to go forth and to feed your sheep, for this fallen man cannot do that. But Holy Spirit, we know that you can and do, even using the weakest of vessels, which you have pleased this morning to use. and Holy Spirit of God if there are any here who are not trusting in Christ as their Lord and Savior we pray your mercy on them this very morning give them faith to believe give them faith to see their sin give them faith to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ we ask these things in his very name Amen In the Psalms, we often see an Old Testament picture, an idealized picture of what it means to be blessed by God, to be loved by God, because after all, isn't that really what to be blessed means? Ultimately, it means to be loved, loved by God. In Psalms 127 and 128, God is giving to us eternal truth. Eternal truth expressed in temporal, earthly terms. In these psalms as well as in others and in other parts of scripture as well, we see a temporal picture of eternal reality. And what is that eternal reality for God's people? God's love for his people. People of God, remember that, if nothing else. If you are in Christ this morning, you don't have to try to earn God's love. He has freely given it to you and proved it by sacrificing His one and only beloved Son for you and for me. If that isn't love, then there really is nothing that can prove real love. As we start off taking a look at these psalms, the psalmist compares and contrasts the difference between what God's blessing is and its opposite, his cursing. The difference between blessing and cursing depends on one's relationship with God. The first couple of verses of Psalm 127, although in Psalm 127 it does not say, Cursed is the man, or cursed are the people who do not fear, who do not trust in Yahuwah God, or the Lord Jesus Christ. By the picture that the writer draws for us in the psalm, in these couple of verses, you and I can see what being cursed by God looks like. for the disobedient, in other words, for the unbelieving. All that they do amounts to nothing. All their ambitions, all their hard work, all their exercise of natural gifts and abilities, all their sacrifice in their work, all of it comes to naught. It all comes to a bad end. As Jesus says, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? I know, and you probably do as well, a lot of people who don't trust in Christ and they work very hard to make a living for themselves, to make a name for themselves in this perishing world. What's that going to get them at the end? Nothing. A few people might remember them until what? Until those people pass away. And if these people are great enough, they might be in a history book. But what can happen with that? Maybe they will be erased from history because it won't be politically correct for them to be remembered anymore. What a legacy, huh, for the unbeliever. All their work, like smoke, vanished away. Now, at the end of verse 2, we read this. In the Hebrew, it will say, thus, or on the other hand. And then it continues on with, contrary to the unbeliever, at the end of the day, God gives sleep to those he loves. Or in an alternate reading, he gives to his beloved ones while they sleep. You see this picture that the psalmist is drawing for us. The unbelievers work, they struggle, and it gets them nothing. But for those that God loves, it's not that we just sleep and everything comes our way, but we can sleep at the end of our day. We can take a momentary pause from our toil and enjoy what we have worked for. And even if it all went away, we know this much. he will give us more in the age to come. Such that when we look back 10,000 years, perhaps 10 million years, 10 billion years from now, it will really be a distant memory. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says this, Seek you first his kingdom and his righteousness. And all these things, what things? All these things that unbelievers toil for, work so hard for, it will be added to you. You get that picture? You seek him and what you need, he knows about, and he will add it to you. Just don't forget your mission. Seek his kingdom and his righteousness first. Then in verses 3 through 5 of Psalm 127, the psalmist then expands on God's love to his beloved and what that looks like. Because really, isn't that what we're seeing here? What does blessedness look like to God's people, at least with Old Testament pictures? And what is it but this? That God has only good in store for you and me, believer. God has only good in store for you and me. In fact, everything must be worked out for our good and our salvation, right? And so the psalmist draws upon a picture of a house. And kids, when he says a house, we're not talking about a building. We're talking about a household. Because typically even whether it's in Hebrew or even Greek or even in English, A house can mean a structure, but it also can mean what? A household, a family. And that's what we're talking about here in Psalm 127, as well as 128. The psalmist draws us a picture of a household, a family established, built up, and protected by God. And this household, the basic element of assembly of his church. And as we look at this household, we can see various elements here. The head of the house that you see in verse 4. I'm reading, when I read out of my text here, it's out of the DUV, the Dale Uninspired Version. It's a little bit more wooden than perhaps the NIV, but hopefully you'll get the gist. Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of youth. What is this head of household? He's not just a man, as we might read in some translations, but he is a mighty man. That's how the Hebrew would bring it out. And what is a mighty man? Well, in some translations, that might be a warrior. But you see, a mighty man doesn't just have to be a warrior. A mighty man can also be a very wealthy man or a man with great influence or a man with great power. So you can see what we're talking about is not your everyday, ordinary man. but instead someone who is known by the community. And that's this picture of one who loves God. That's the picture God is drawing of this man, this man of the house. And this man, this man is not just a newbie, a noob. He's not just starting out in life. And at the same time, this man is not retired. He's not gone from the scene. kind of remembered, but that's it. No, the word that we see here in the Hebrew would be he's a man at his peak, verse 5. Blessed is the man at his peak who has filled his quiver with them, with what? The sons of his youth. So this picture of God's people, this household, well, this head of the house is a man of well-knowledge, of renown. He's looked upon in the community as somebody, and even more so, he's in his prime. So he's ready to do things. Ready to do things to bring fame and renown to God himself. And God has given this man a family. And what he's given in this family, he's given to him something that his family needs as well as the society that he is in needs. And what is that? Children. They are the heritage. In other words, the family's name in the future. That's what heritage is, isn't it? A name in the future that God has provided. And these children? Well, they're just not kids. You know, it says children are a reward from God, And that is true. But we're not talking about just any children here, just as we haven't been talking about just any man or any family. What we're talking about are children that are a reward from God. Well, what does it mean that they're a reward from God? To be rewarded from God, especially in the Old Testament, reflects someone who is following after God and loves God. And God blesses him. He rewards him. And so these children are a reward from God. But it's not just having children that makes them the reward. No, it's what kind of children are they? What kind of children makes them a reward as we see them here in this Old Testament picture of God's blessing to a believer? In verses 4 and 5, they're like arrows. They're weapons in the hands of a mighty man. And he has a lot of them. And what about them? They will enable him not to be put to shame when they contend with their enemy at the gate. You get that picture? What are these children like? Well, at the very least, you can see that they are on their father's side. They love him. They may not always agree with him, but they love him. And therefore, if someone's going to contend against him and the family, they're going to have to contend against them. And they are the children of his youth, and they are capable. And they will stand with him, and they will take on his and God's enemies. That's the picture we're seeing of a blessed family, a covenant family. By this picture, God points us to the reality that we, who are trusting in Jesus Christ, having been God's beloved, we have a heritage, a name in the future. What is that future, that name in the future that we have? In Revelation chapter 24, we read this. They, that means us, will see His face, God's face, His name will be on our foreheads. What does that make you think? No matter what you think you are now, no matter what you think your future will be, your true future believer in God is this. You are a child of God, a child of the King. You will see His face, the Lord Jesus Christ. His name will be on your forehead. That's how we will be known, children of God. Now, we've seen an example in Psalm 127 of what being blessed looks like. What does it mean, then, to be blessed? What does it mean? We've seen what it looks like. Well, what's the meaning behind it? Well, that's why I decided to go ahead and append Psalm 128. And also, I'd have to let you out early. can't have that. As we take a look then in Psalm 128, in verses 1 and 4, what does it mean to have God's favor, to have God's blessing, to have God's love? It means having the fear of God. What do you think about the fear of God? Does it mean you're afraid because he's going to whack you on the head? No. Kids, the fear of God means this, the reverence of God. The love of God. Kids, have you seen that sometimes when your parents look to your Auma or your Umpah and you can see that respect and that love? Well, that's what we're seeing here. The fear of God. Reverence of Him. And what does that lead to? To wanting to live a life seeking to love Him. How do you show your love to Him? How do you show it? Well, of course we all know. It's striving to obey the rules of his house. What are the rules of his house? Well, in short, we call that his law, don't we? So people that love God seek to please him by obeying the rules of his house. We seek to obey his law. And it's not a burdensome thing because we do it out of love for him. To be blessed by God means to have a true love for Him, to desire and strive to obey Him. That's what blessed really means, people of God. And because we are blessed, then, more and more, little by little perhaps, we can obey better and better the command of God that we read earlier. you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. In other words, with every bit of your being. Well, in verses 2 and 3 in Psalm 128, we see another picture that the psalmist draws for us. What did he draw for us before but those that are protected by God? And here we see another picture of eternal life of those who are blessed by God. And that's again in earthly terms and the psalmist shows us something that we can all relate to. It's a sweet domestic scene. Kids, what does that mean? It's a family scene. And you know, even back then, family meant a lot just as it does today. And so when the psalmist draws us a picture of a family that's so pretty, so beautiful here. What's he doing? He's drawing us our attention to it and showing us that this is the future and the reality and perhaps even the present of those who love God. Those whose faith is in Jesus Christ and only Him. What the psalmist here in 128 is showing us is a household that is fruitful. fruitful in all their ways. What's the commandment of God even before sin? Be fruitful and multiply. Can you see this picture then of God restoring what we had lost? And you can see it in this domestic bliss here. What does this family do? They enjoy the reward of their labor. Unlike the unbeliever who toils and works so hard and is afraid to sit down because he or she is going to lose a few moments and maybe lose some profit. No. Not the blessed family. Not the family that trusts in God. They enjoy what they work for because God gives it to them. They enjoy the rewards of their work. It's the opposite of the unbeliever. And you know, what does the unbeliever get but what God promised curse-wise to those that would not believe him. You can see it in Leviticus chapter 26. You will sow your seed uselessly for your enemies will eat it up. Have you seen pictures of that? How the unbeliever builds a great empire and never enjoys it. You can probably think of a lot of examples even now and I need not bring them up. But that's the reality of those who do not trust in our Lord. At the end of their life, they will have nothing. And in the future, they will have no remembrance. But in addition, as we look at this family that is trusting God, what else do we see? Well, we see with the head of the house again, the man experiencing the joys that are a part of the blessed life. Look, verse 4. For thus he will be blessed, the man at his peak, with the fear of Yahuwah. What do you see but one who trusts God? He's at his peak always because he fears the Lord. The Lord blesses him. And yet there's more. His wife, who is in the heart, in the very center, because that's what the Hebrew would tell us in its wording, at the very center of the house, what is she? Well, his wife is a source of such joy to him and to the family that the writer likens her to a vine. Yeah, a vine. A vine that brings forth wine that gladdens the heart of man. Do you see that picture? That's the picture of this blessed family whose wife is the heart of it. But there's even more. sons, and all children of this family. They bring honor and profit to this house, to this estate. And then how does he compare that? He gives us an example. Just as cultivated olive shoots grafted unto wild olive trees improve the quantity and the quality of the yield of that tree, These children improve the quantity and the quality of the estate of that family, of that house, of that household. And all of this then combines to give us a picture, a picture of the prosperity of the house of those who fear, who love Yahuwah God. People of God, if your faith is in Christ, that is your reality now. God means prosperity for you. And you might say, well, I look around at my circumstances. It doesn't quite match up. But you see, your present circumstances are temporary. They're for a short time. But God's love for you and for me is forever, even now. And like we know, he's got only good in store for us. As Psalm 127 started us off with God's expression of love towards the integral unit of his church, in other words, the family, the close of Psalm 128 completes the picture of Yahuwah God's blessing to his corporate assembly, to his church. In verses 5 and 6, we're basically reading a benediction. May Yahuwah bless you from Zion and you see good on Jerusalem all the days of your life and see sons of your son, shalom upon Israel. That's a benediction. The benediction to the believer is from God in the midst of his people. Yehovah bless you from where? From Zion. Zion, the church of God. And why is he doing it? it's for good of his people to all of God's church in Jerusalem. May you see good on Jerusalem, the center of God's people. And with it, that church is growing and growing. May you see the sons of your son. That is church growth, isn't it? It's expanding as you see the sons of your son. As the church grows, by God's blessedness, It lives in rest, the shalom, the true peace of God. The prosperity of the Psalm 128 points us to goes well beyond anything that we can experience in this fallen age. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come, in Revelation chapter 22. Come, and let the one who hears say, Come. And let the one who is thirsty, come. Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. The ultimate picture of prosperity is God's smile upon you and me. Where there is no want, there are no tears, there are no regrets. To be blessed by God means to be loved by God, to be in his favor and thus to cause us to want to love him in return. Are you blessed this morning? Do you want to love him for all that he's given to you? These Old Testament pictures of God's blessings in Psalm 127 and 128 and elsewhere are eternal truth expressed in temporal, earthly terms. They are earthly expressions of the eternal life that we believers possess in part now and will possess fully in the age to come when Christ renews all things. What does the Apostle Paul remind us of as we slog at times through this fallen world? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. We are blessed now and forevermore. That is our reality. That is our heritage to have Christ's name on us. So then, whatever earthly, tangible expressions of God's blessings that you get now, thank Him for it. Enjoy them. That's what they are there for. He's given them to you, believer. So give thanks for them and look forward to their fuller expression in the age to come. For instance, concerning the blessing of Leona's baptism, which for me is a blessing, I pray for the day when she stands before God's people to profess her love for him and her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Present blessing, looking forward to a fuller expression. And then, for the day when all my house might stand anew in the new Jerusalem, I pray for that as well. The future, the future I have to look forward to. The full expression of God's blessing to me and my house, to you and your house, to this, God's house. The expressions in Psalms 127 and 128 point you and me to better things to come in Christ. So people of God, as we enter into the rest of this week, strive to live in that reality. Let's pray. Father, we pray you would enable us to do that very thing. to take your truth and take it in, to really believe it and to live it. Father, help us not to believe our circumstances and the things around us, but to know that you have ordained all things for our good and it glorifies you. Oh, Lord, help us to believe it no matter what we see. Lord, may our desire be to thank you, to live thankfully for the blessings you have given us that we enjoy now and that we have to look forward to in Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.