Family and Blessings

Psalm 128
1Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!
2You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!
6May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!

This morning’s entry comes to you from the place I call home, even though I haven’t lived here for decades; The Black Hill of South Dakota. What makes this trip even sweeter is that I’m here with my entire family. Both daughters and their families are here with me, which includes my 5 grandchildren. Then I open the Word to find the psalmist extolling to joys of being surrounded by family. These words ring with truth through my heart.

 As the Children of Israel went on their pilgrimage up to Jerusalem, they took their children with them. It was a family affair as they taught the next generation what it meant to worship the living God. Not only were the children reciting these words with their parents, they would also go to the Temple and offer their worship to God alongside of mom and dad. And while I never made a walking pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I did sit alongside my mom and dad every single Sunday as they taught me how to worship. And now I have the joy of seeing my daughters do the same thing with their children – every Sunday. They are also following what they were taught as they daily talk about the Lord to their children so that the next generation will know God too. It is a beautiful pattern and while it may be lost on many today, it is not lost to all of us. We are teaching the next generation how to fear and love the Lord, and it is the best gift that we could give them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more