Psalm 128:1-6 (Joy and Family)
Psalm 128:1-6
How joyful are those who fear the Lord -
All who follow His ways!
You will enjoy the fruit of your labour.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
That is the Lord's blessing
for those that fear Him.
May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!
This psalm gives me both great peace and great worry. On the one hand, I'm promised joy and prosperity. On the other, a fruitful wife.
A couple of years ago I thought along these lines: My wife would have lots of kids, who'd grow up to be full of energy, whilst becoming wealthy and living a comfortable life. If that was what I was expecting, I'd say I was disappointed.
We have not had any children biologically, yet our house continually rings with the voices of our five children as they expend the incredible amounts of energy that they gather from... somewhere! And we're not wealthy in a 1st world, capitalist way. But we do have a house (with the bank as majority shareholder), 3 cars and money in the bank. Just the house makes us fabulously wealthy compared to the majority of the world.
It's altogether too easy to get caught up in the material aspects of life when reading the Bible, and this is something I still tend to do; But I am getting better at seeking the spiritual understanding of the words I read.
I am joyful most of the time. Happy to be alive, married and have children. "Hold on" I hear you say, "I thought your wife hasn't borne any children yet." And this, friends is where we enter the somewhat amazing and intricate world of fostering. We have 5 children, whom we homeschool (By 'we' I mean my wife). I am joyful for the fact that we are able to help these little people, these least, last, lost, of our society AND have the freedom to educate them in the way we feel is best for them.
My wife IS a fruitful grapevine. I see it in the way our children behave, the questions they ask and the seeking they have after evidence of God. I see it in the love, tolerance and mercy she shows me, the most time consuming child she looks after.
I know the Lord blesses me. He blesses me with more than stuff and things. HE blesses me with family, friends, joy, health, freedom from sin, hope, faith and Love. Without God I would be lost, wandering in the wilderness crying out to be heard. My hope and wish for my kids is that they too will feel the same blessings I feel; That they will find their Godly joy and that, one day, they'll bring their kids, our grandchildren, around to see us.
Family doesn't have to be biological, Prosperity material and joy fleeting. With God we have a boundless supply of joy, a source of love, hope and mercy as well as faith in the future and those with us today.
As I go, I strive to bring more with me on the road to Jerusalem so that they too can feel what I feel.
I'd like to leave you with a song I sang as part of the Otago Scout Gang Show in the early 2000s. A great definition of family.
Video: https://youtu.be/FNhL6z-f-WY?t=189
If you can reach out and touch somebody, and show them that you care,
Reach out and tell somebody that you're always there.
When the goings tough and all your skies turn to grey,
Just reach out and find somebody, hold their hand and say:
You're my friend,
You're my family.
There's no need to be alone.
Family can be anyone
Who you can call your own.
How joyful are those who fear the Lord -
All who follow His ways!
You will enjoy the fruit of your labour.How joyful and prosperous you will be!
Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
That is the Lord's blessing
for those that fear Him.
May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!
This psalm gives me both great peace and great worry. On the one hand, I'm promised joy and prosperity. On the other, a fruitful wife.
A couple of years ago I thought along these lines: My wife would have lots of kids, who'd grow up to be full of energy, whilst becoming wealthy and living a comfortable life. If that was what I was expecting, I'd say I was disappointed.
We have not had any children biologically, yet our house continually rings with the voices of our five children as they expend the incredible amounts of energy that they gather from... somewhere! And we're not wealthy in a 1st world, capitalist way. But we do have a house (with the bank as majority shareholder), 3 cars and money in the bank. Just the house makes us fabulously wealthy compared to the majority of the world.
It's altogether too easy to get caught up in the material aspects of life when reading the Bible, and this is something I still tend to do; But I am getting better at seeking the spiritual understanding of the words I read.
I am joyful most of the time. Happy to be alive, married and have children. "Hold on" I hear you say, "I thought your wife hasn't borne any children yet." And this, friends is where we enter the somewhat amazing and intricate world of fostering. We have 5 children, whom we homeschool (By 'we' I mean my wife). I am joyful for the fact that we are able to help these little people, these least, last, lost, of our society AND have the freedom to educate them in the way we feel is best for them.
My wife IS a fruitful grapevine. I see it in the way our children behave, the questions they ask and the seeking they have after evidence of God. I see it in the love, tolerance and mercy she shows me, the most time consuming child she looks after.I know the Lord blesses me. He blesses me with more than stuff and things. HE blesses me with family, friends, joy, health, freedom from sin, hope, faith and Love. Without God I would be lost, wandering in the wilderness crying out to be heard. My hope and wish for my kids is that they too will feel the same blessings I feel; That they will find their Godly joy and that, one day, they'll bring their kids, our grandchildren, around to see us.
Family doesn't have to be biological, Prosperity material and joy fleeting. With God we have a boundless supply of joy, a source of love, hope and mercy as well as faith in the future and those with us today.
As I go, I strive to bring more with me on the road to Jerusalem so that they too can feel what I feel.
I'd like to leave you with a song I sang as part of the Otago Scout Gang Show in the early 2000s. A great definition of family.
Video: https://youtu.be/FNhL6z-f-WY?t=189
If you can reach out and touch somebody, and show them that you care,
Reach out and tell somebody that you're always there.
When the goings tough and all your skies turn to grey,
Just reach out and find somebody, hold their hand and say:
You're my friend,
You're my family.
There's no need to be alone.
Family can be anyone
Who you can call your own.
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