2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.
Key Verse:
2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Key Observation:
Matthew Henry: “This, as the former, is a psalm for families.”
Memory Verse:
1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
Devotion:
McGee: “An interesting statement has been made in reference to this psalm, and I would like to pass it on to you. It says, “Before the fall, paradise was man’s home. After the fall, the home was man’s paradise.” Home can be either paradise or the exact opposite of it.”
Luther referred to this psalm as a marriage song. It is meant to be a blessing for what I see as the very basic unit of society: the family. I find it very interesting that when men drive society to change through radical philosophies such as Communism or Nazism, they frequently will attack and try to divide the basic family unit. In our own society, I find it appalling that there are so many of the basic definitions of the family under attack. Today marriage is under attack for even its basic definition. Are we paying a price for not honoring marriage and the family more highly? Say what you will about “The Leave it to Beaver” generation, but at least the family unit was honored. A few decades of television later and we were all watching “The Partridge Family”, where families were blended from his, hers, and ours. We pretended that it made no difference, but I cannot help but wonder.
We soon began growing a society where more and more children were growing up declaring that marriage made no difference. That was the generation of "Beavis and Butthead". Was that another consequence for our behavior? Young people were merely acting on their own observations, and those observations included poor examples of marriage and faithfulness and parenting in their own lives. How could we expect them to conclude otherwise? Marriage is dishonored by young men and women more than it ever has before, and frequently Christians are afraid to speak to the topic for fear of appearing intolerant and bigoted.
I watch the falling apart of our society and I do wonder if our current economic crisis is not a warning to us. There are basics of society that we should never compromise or forsake, and the family unit is one of them. Our society is being pulled apart rapidly, and I see sides forming that are radically different in philosophies. Contrast the Tea Party with the Occupiers. Is it not a contrast between old values and new? The new horrifies me!
But perhaps that is because I am looking forward to celebrating my 39th anniversary. Interestingly, I raised my daughters to have some of those “old” values and they each found men who shared those values. Our morals are still there, but they are being sublimated to a more dominant culture—one that declares those morals to be dead. Yet students of history will tell you that tearing out the basic moral structures leads to the decadence and destruction of society itself. Until we can be in heaven (paradise, as McGee told us in the top of the page), at least we should go back to the model of making our home paradise.
How shall we then live? My prayer is for revival, a great awakening to come yet again across America, beginning right in my city, with me telling others about my Lord. I do think that the solid basis of family values lie inherently in our faith. It is the way that God has made us. Will you not join me in prayer?
Here is a quote I found tonight from A.W. Tozer: “I have suggested that if things keep on going from bad to worse in evangelical circles, the time will come pretty soon when we'll print John 3:16 at the bottom of a beer mug so that when a fellow drains it and looks at the bottom he will see salvation shining out at him. And halfway houses will have text that the girls give out with their favors. Some things you cannot do and be a Christian, and you might as well settle that now.”
I would just end by noting we are never adjured to compromise with sin; we are adjured to love the sinner. So let us behave righteously, but love divinely.
A.W. Tozer. And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John (Kindle Locations 594-597). Kindle Edition.
McGee, J. Vernon (1990-01-30). Thru the Bible 1-5 (5 Volume Set) (Kindle Locations 51316-51317). Grupo Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Revive Us Again
1. We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died and is now gone above.
2. We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior and scattered our night.
3. All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins and hath cleansed ev'ry stain.
4. Revive us again fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.
Chorus:
Hallelujah, Thine the glory!
Hallelujah! Amen!
Hallelujah, Thine the glory!
Revive us again.
Lyrics: William Paton Mackay
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