The Compassion of the Father (Psalm 128)
The Compassion of a Father
Psalm 128
INTRODUCTION:
In five weeks, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I love turkey. Mashed potatoes. Stuffing. Deviled eggs. I love being with my family. I love pumpkin pie. Pecan pie. How many of you would say that Thanksgiving is your favorite holiday?
One Thanksgiving afternoon, while waiting for the expected feast, two sisters went outside to play. They were a bit mischievous and found something that looked like fun to do but it then led them to doing something they were told by Dad not to do. Dad came into the backyard and found evidence that they had disobeyed. So, he called them to him and explained to the girls that they would have to go to their room and neither would be allowed to eat Thanksgiving dinner until they told him who was the one who disobeyed.
The girls went to their room.
A while later, the girls heard their mother calling them for dinner. Not knowing what was about to happen, they went and took their usual places around the table. The girls noticed that daddy was not seated at the table as usual and asked, “Where’s daddy?”
The mother explained, “Daddy said that you girls could not eat Thanksgiving dinner with us today until one of you came to him and confessed your disobedience. Since neither of you came, Daddy decided that he would take your punishment himself - and so he will not be eating Thanksgiving dinner with us today.”
That story illustrates well the love that God, the Father, has for us. You see, family, sin will be punished. It must be punished. The nature of God requires for sin to be punished. We will either experience that punishment ourselves, which will be an eternal torture in hell, or we can allow Jesus to experience that punishment for us on the cross. Jesus stood in our place and offered Himself to be punished in our place.
The compassion of the Father allowed that substitution to take place. We are going to study a psalm today, a psalm which pictures God as Father: Psalm 128.
THE BLESSING - 128:1:
The psalmist (we do not know who it is) begins with a word of exclamation - “How!” This word is designed to draw our attention to what he is about to say. It is similar to saying, “Wow!” “Blessed” - our men’s leadership enrichment study last month began studying the beatitudes of the sermon on the mount. Or at least, we began studying the word “blessed.” We looked up most of the verses in the NT to read where the word was found and how it was used and that took nearly two hours as we had a lot of discussion on most of those verses. The word “blessed” means “being a recipient of divine favor.”
You and I are blessed in every way in which we are “recipients of divine favor.” In this verse, the psalmist writes that we are recipients of divine favor if - “who” - we “fear” the Lord. This “fear” is the attitude of the heart. It is a deep respect for Jehovah God for Who He is and for what He has done for us. “Fear” refers to the attitude of our heart which changes how we live.
We are also “recipients of divine favor” if, based on our fear of Jehovah God, we “walk in His ways.” That’s the obedience part. This refers to our behavior. It takes more than loving God to be pleasing to God. It takes more than sincerity to be pleasing to God. It takes obedience. It requires us to walk in His ways.
There are behaviors that God condemns and you and I must condemn those same behaviors and not practice them ourselves if we want to be “recipients of divine favor.” There are also behaviors that God commands us to do and we need to do what Jesus commands if we want to be “recipients of divine favor.”
HAPPINESS - 128:2:
God does not just drop His blessings on us out of the sky. From the very beginning, in the garden of Eden, God has required man to work. Many, many of our blessings come from work and that’s the point here in verse 2.
We eat the fruit of our hands when we enjoy the results of our work. This is an agricultural society so they literally enjoyed eating the fruit and vegetables that they themselves had planted. But in a broader sense, the fruit of our hands refers to the enjoyment we get when we receive the benefits of our labor.
We go out to eat at a restaurant - that’s eating the fruit of our hands. We go out to see a movie or we go to a pumpkin farm. Maybe we go to the Henry Ford Museum. We do fun things like that because we are enjoying the fruit of our hands. We set aside money from our paycheck so we can take a vacation once a year or twice a year. That’s enjoying the fruit of our hands.
When we do that, we enjoy some relaxing time away from work, away from the stresses of work or the hustle and bustle of life and we are happy. Time off is refreshing and provides renewal. It is well with us when we get away, whether it is for a day, a weekend, or a whole week.
CHILDREN - 128:3:
In this verse, the psalmist turns his attention to children in the home. Your wife is fruitful like a vine, probably a grape vine, and bears children. Children are like olive plants around the table. I’ve told you one of my most enjoyable experiences is having the family around the table, playing games or just talking. Whatever we’re doing, laughing is usually a part of it.
Ana likes to play music when we’re sitting around the table. That’s a memory I associate with Ana. Jewell likes to prop one leg up on the chair.
Children are a blessing from God. You are a recipient of divine favor if you have children. One child or five. They are a blessing.
BLESSING - 128:4:
Again, the psalmist uses another word to draw our attention to his comments - “Behold!” In a society which heard the word read far more often than they would read it themselves, the word “behold” would draw their attention to what was about to be said. Our attention drifts so often, so frequently, so “behold” draws our attention back to God’s word.
“Behold!” the psalmist writes, "thus shall man be blessed who fears the Lord.” If you want to be blessed, if you truly want to be a recipient of divine favor, you must fear the Lord. Have a deep respect for God that compels you to put Him and His commandments at the center of your heart so they will be at the center of your life.
PROSPERITY - 128:5:
If we as individuals will fear God and walk in His ways, He will bless us as individuals but the blessing will have a broader impact on our larger community. “Zion” is a term for the city of Jerusalem, the capital of the nation of Israel. The Lord would bless from Zion, from the center of His people, probably referring more specifically to the temple that was in Jerusalem.
And when the Lord blesses, the favors will be felt in the city of Jerusalem itself and God’s people will see / experience those blessings, throughout your days.
There is an ancient proverb that says:
If there is righteousness within the individual, there will be happiness within the home.
If there is happiness within the home, there will be harmony within the nation.
If there is harmony within the nation, there will be peace in the world!
LONGEVITY - 128:6:
As you all know, both my parents have passed away. I miss them mainly for the sake of Jewell and Ana. They were not here to see Jewell graduate from high school or to see Ana graduate from high school. They will not see the girls get married; they will not hold great-grandchildren in their arms. I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry that Jewell and Ana, as young adults, will not be able to talk to their grandparents and ask them questions about their own lives and history.
There is a third word used here in verse 6 to draw our attention to what is being said: “Indeed!” Indeed, the psalmist writes, if we fear God and walk in His ways, we will be “recipients of divine favor” - blessed - so that we will be able to see our grandchildren. Seeing your grandchildren is a great blessing; seeing your great-grandchildren is an even greater blessing! The patriarch Job was able to see his great-grandchildren, the fourth generation (42:16). I have a picture on the Powerpoint of four generations from the church in KY where we lived; four generations.
Longevity is a blessing from God. “Peace be upon Israel” is a request to God by the psalmist that the blessings showered on the individual for his faithfulness to God will have positive repercussions on the nation as a whole.
A NT PARALLEL - Matthew 7:7-11:
“Ask,” Jesus commands. Ask who? Jesus refers to God as “God” in the sermon on the mount five times: 5:8-9, 34; 6:24, 30. But Jesus refers to God as “Father” in the sermon on the mount fifteen times: 5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, 18, 26, 32; 7:11, 21. Thirteen of those times, Jesus uses the pronoun “your Father.” Once, He uses “our Father” and once He uses “My Father.” Ask who? Ask your Father, your Father in heaven. Ask and it will be given to you. Do you want to be a recipient of divine favor? Ask!
“Seek,” Jesus commands. “You will find,” He promises. “Knock,” Jesus commands. “And it will be opened to you,” He promises. Jesus elaborates in verse 8.
Then, to illustrate the compassion of the heavenly Father, Jesus refers to our earthly fathers, our physical dads: What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? (vs 9) Loving dads just don’t do that type of thing.
Again, if a son asks his dad for a fish, the dad would not give him a snake (vs 10). When Jesus asks, “Will he?” Jesus assumes “no” is the answer - No, he will not.
Well, if we, as human beings, being “evil” (compared to God) know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!? (vs 11)
God wants to be compassionate with us. He wants to bless us. We need to ask. We need to seek. We need to knock. From Psalm 128, we need to fear and we need to walk in His ways.
Take home message: The compassionate Father desires to show His favor on us. We need to fear Him and walk in His ways.