Psalms 127 pt III

III. The Challenge Of Spiritual Parenting

verse 4 - as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man

- INPUT - what is David picturing here?

(an arrow must be prepared, an arrow can be directed,
an arrow can either serve very useful purposes or
very destructive ones)

INPUT - let's do another one of our "white board comparisons"

(divide into groups--could also give the next question
about our view of man as an "extra credit)

- what would be some characteristics of a parent who
understood the truth of this verse and characteristics
of a parent who didn't.

(hit:
- issue of spending time
- importance of solving problems biblically, teaching
children that method
- importance of (Eph. 6:4) "bringing them up" as
opposed to letting them bring themselves up.

INPUT - How does our view of man affect our interpretation of
this verse?

- go after the issue of - we're not just talking
about the issue of a "arrow" being a "neutral
arrow."
- we're talking about a child with a sinful
nature who is bent on destroying self and
others. "Foolishness is bound ..."
- cf. illus. of blind children fighting over what color play-
dough they have.

- one last thing we need to say about verse 4. David has
stated this concept very positively. He wants us to think
about the influence a godly man's family can have.
- children who are brought up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord can make a great difference for Christ.
- the other side of that is - "As arrows are in the hand of a
fool, so are children of one's youth."

- perhaps you've seen a parent at a Christmas party give
alcohol to a child to try to make them drunk and
entertain people at the party.
- and of course we could come up with hundreds of ways to
illustrate this idea.

- the point is - there's a real challenge to spiritual
parenting--our children are like arrows in the hand of a
mighty man.

IV. Joy And Protection Of Spiritual Parenting - verse 5

- happy is the man that has his quiver full of them.

A. Minimum family size?

- you probably know that this verse has been used to talk
about a "Christian minimum family size."
- let's take a minute and think that one through.

- some are saying, Christians ought to raise huge
families so we can reclaim our society for Christ.

- INPUT - what do you think about that kind of
reasoning? (it's not the church's job to reclaim
society.)

- the bottom line is - there isn't a verse (here or
otherwise) that gives a magic formula for the appropriate
family size that we can legalistically slap on everyone.

- that’s exactly what that would be -- legalism.

- having said that--we could definitely talk about sinful
habits that could be true of a family that was too large,
or a family that was too small.

- INPUT - for example - what sinful reasons might a
family have in deciding to have fewer children than
God would desire?

- INPUT - what might be some sinful reasons that
motivated a couple to have children (or more
children?)

- INPUT - what biblical principles might a family violate
in being too large?

- so instead of using this verse to come up with a legalistic
standard to impose on all, let's use it as an opportunity
to think about how many children we have, and WHY we have
that many children.
- once that's done, let's go back to the thrust of the verse:

B. Children are a source of great joy and happiness

"they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the
enemies at the gate."

- the picture, of course, is the custom in Bible times of
gathering at the gate of the city to discuss matters
and settle disputes.

- David wants us to think about a man who's raised a
group of godly children, who have adopted his
convictions and character as their own, and who can
stand with him at the gate.

- there's at least two ideas that go with that picture:

1) the happiness that results from influence

- many parents have had children that have "gone further"
in their work for Christ than they did.
- that can be a tremendous source of joy and
encouragement to a mom and dad.

2) the happiness that results from protection

- those "children at the gate" would also serve as
protection for their parents.
- there's safety and confidence in numbers.
- all of us have things we'd be willing to "stand alone"
for, but it's great to have other brothers and
sisters who will stand with us, and it's especially
gratifying and encouraging if some of those standing
with us are our own children.