Lessons from Psalms #6 - A family that follows the Lord

There are some beautiful pictures in the Psalms of what it means to just love God and build a home around serving Him as a family.

Psalm 127 opens with 'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it'. We do spend most of our lives creating our own home and family, but we have to recognise that everything we have comes from God. Our children are 'a heritage of the Lord' (v3), not one of our achievements. The question the Psalms often seem to ask is: what are you doing with the gifts God has given you?

Psalm 128 gives a picture of gospel prosperity (not prosperity gospel!!). 'Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours.' (v1-2) It's a principle, rather than a promise, that those who love God will live a life of blessing, though not one free of suffering. It's interesting that the picture of the godly family and their blessing is not one of isolation, but one that is part of the community of God's people: 'May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.' (v5) We're not meant to hide away trying to create the perfect home and family; we're meant to live out the gospel in community together, teaching our children by practical example of what it means to love God and others.

Psalm 1 is often described as the key to the Psalms, and the message is clear: following the Lord brings true joy and prosperity, whereas wickedness leads to judgement and destruction. I love the picture in verse 3 that the righteous person is 'like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither'. I've planted some trees in my garden recently and I was told that the main reason young trees die is lack of water. I am constantly amazed that I can pour basinfuls of washing up water on those trees and they soak it all up and seem thirsty for more! Good job I live in Wales where it rains all the time. But it made the picture in the Psalms more real to me, that if a tree is planted by streams of water, it never dies, because it always has replenishment. If we are truly going to live righteous lives and build godly families, we will constantly need refreshing from the Lord to do that. We will be constantly giving to others, so we need to be finding our nourishment in God. We can't follow God's ways and be good parents without completely relying on His strength and power. Ask God to bless your home and family, and then be prepared to obey Him.

Lessons from Psalms #5: Creator

'Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens...
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?' Ps 8:1, 3-4

'The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.' Ps 19.1

The Psalms are full of praise for God as Creator. There is such a sense of awe when the writers look around them, look up at the stars, and just see God's fingerprints. In Psalm 90, attributed to Moses, you can see the influence of Genesis 1-2 on the way he looks at God and on man's place in creation:

'Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.' Ps 90.2

That's what creation does: it shows us God's infinite greatness and puts us in our place. So often I feel like I'm running the show, and it's all about my plan, my progress and my achievements. But I'm missing the bigger picture.

'Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away...
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.' Ps 90.10-12

Our lives are so fleeting in comparison with eternity, yet so often our hearts are rooted to this world instead of the next. This Psalm is a great reminder that though our lives are plagued with the restrictions and realities of death and time, we can find true satisfaction in receiving His mercy and plough our energies into work for Him that has value when done with the right motives: to serve.

'Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days...
establish the work of our hands for us –
yes, establish the work of our hands.' Ps 90.14,17

In the image of our Creator, we too can create. We can enjoy permanence through His everlasting nature. If I'm looking for my meaning and value in my work (whether in my job, or as a parent, or any other capacity), I'm never going to be satisfied. I'm never going to rest. But if I find my meaning in being a child of God, I can give my work 100% and then rest, knowing that He is God, not me.

When writing to the Corinthians, Paul tells them 'Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.' (1 Cor 15:58). He doesn't promise that we always get the results we want, but he tells us that it's worth giving God our best, because He sees and values a humble spirit that longs to please Him. So much of finding earthly contentment lies in seeing ourselves as God sees us, and not judging ourselves by the world's standards. Only then can we find the peace we crave.

Lessons from Psalms #4: God is Enough

'The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing...
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.' Ps 23:1,5-6

'I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.’
...Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance...
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.' Ps 16:2, 5-6, 11

Do we really believe that God is enough for us? That's the challenge of the Psalms for me. Time and time again, the different writers lift their eyes from circumstances that are less than ideal (in fact, mostly times of rejection, political instability and turmoil), and find in God a stability and fortress. They find in Him all they need. Can I say the same? How much am I content with God as God? Or do I just feel content in God when He gives me a nice house to live in, a happy family, a good job?

Psalm 84 is all about longing for the courts of the Lord. The stand-out section for me reads:

'Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.' Ps 84:5-7

Baka, or Baca, is 'the thirsty valley'. It's like a desert place where only a certain type of balsam tree will grow. God's people make it a place of springs - they show faith which dares to dig blessings out of hardship. It's not that the place itself magically transforms when they get there.

I can see the spiritual barrenness around me and pray for streams of living water from on high to refresh the land, but sometimes I feel that challenge from the Psalmist: I need to start digging deeper. When I'm finding deep refreshment in the Lord, that will flow out to others around me.