Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Truth from Psalm 127 as Dr. Michael Youssef begins this episode of Leading the Way. This Psalm is an indictment and a rebuke to our segmented lifestyle. What Solomon is saying in this Psalm is this: that if you leave God out of your life and out of your family's life, it is useless that you would work hard in order to provide for your family.

If you leave God out of your life and out of your family's life, all the trinkets in the world will mean nothing. If you leave God out of the center of your family, your family's devotion, and your family's commitment, the inheritance that you leave them will turn out to be a curse and not a blessing.

Announcer: Thank you for joining listeners across six continents for Leading the Way with longtime pastor and international Bible teacher Dr. Michael Youssef. In recent years, national and international events have brought worldwide heartache and pain, causing many to live in fear for their family's future and well-being.

Today, Dr. Youssef begins a series called Building Godly Families, perhaps refocusing on enjoying and strengthening our most important relationships, those that happen within the walls of our own homes. That will invite a little bit of peace into the chaos. Listen with me now as Dr. Michael Youssef begins today's Leading the Way.

Dr. Michael Youssef: There is a period of time in the lives of every child I know that parents ask the question, "Children are a heritage of the Lord?" And then they get over it, and then you say, "Yes, they are." But I can tell you something that is firsthand experience. The children are going through the same thing. They're not very happy about their heritage, either.

Little David came home from school one day and said to his father, "Dad, there was a kid at school who told me you're just like your father." His father was curious and he said, "Well, what did you say, son?" He said, "Nothing. He was a whole lot bigger than I am."

Many times, of course, Christians are prone to taking a verse out of the scripture and taking it out of context. While it may be sounding great and you learn things from it, you miss out on the great blessings in putting the text back in its context. Psalm 127:3 is really a good example of this because before the Psalmist could ever say that the children are the heritage of the Lord, he had to lay first the foundation for that statement.

He could never have made that statement until he had said in verses one and two that unless God builds the house, unless God builds the family, it is in vain the builders will work. Psalm 127 is one of very few Psalms that Solomon wrote, the son of King David. In fact, there are only two Psalms that are attributed to King Solomon. This Psalm is one of them, one of two that are attributed to King Solomon.

But I want to tell you at the outset, listen carefully. This Psalm is an indictment and a rebuke to our segmented lifestyle. This Psalm is a condemnation for our divided allegiances and a lack of integration in our lives. What Solomon is saying in this Psalm is this: that if you leave God out of your life and out of your family's life, it is useless that you would work hard in order to provide for your family.

If you leave God out of your life and out of your family's life, all the trinkets in the world will mean nothing. If you leave God out of your life and out of your family's life, all the goodies that you are able to give them will mean nothing. If you leave God out of your family's daily devotion and commitment, all the money in the world would only ruin them instead of helping them.

If you leave God out of the center of your family, your family's devotion, and your family's commitment, the inheritance that you leave them will turn out to be a curse and not a blessing. I remember Roy Ludwig often used to say that unless you leave your children spiritual assets, financial assets would ruin them. How true that is.

So in the first stanza of Psalm 127, verses one and two, Solomon is saying that we can live a frantic, self-absorbed, self-sufficient work ethic. But unless God is at the center of your family, your family will fall apart. Rightly you can ask the question, "What does hard work have to do with my family other than providing for them?"

For most of us in the West, we have placed our families in a separate category from our work. In fact, we do that with all of our lives. We separate the spiritual from the temporal. We separate God from our businesses. We separate work from family and we live that way in different compartments. But in reality, anyone the Bible says who fears God, anyone who really loves God, anyone who really wants to honor God, must live an integrated life.

That's the word integrity comes from. It's a life that is so integrated. Here's what I believe, here's how I live, and the two must fit together so perfectly. What I believe impacts my business. What I believe impacts my family. What I believe impacts all of my life.

You see, the Bible is absolutely clear from beginning to end that the family is the basic unit of society, that the family is the most important element in society, that the family is the backbone of society. Weaken the family, and sooner or later, you're going to weaken society. Destroy the family, and sooner or later, you will destroy society.

But the Psalmist is really saying more than this. Listen carefully. He is saying that the basic family unit, unless God is at the very center of their lives, they are unsafe, they are unsecured. What I want to do is look at this Psalm again under four headings. I just want to give you four points so you remember about this Psalm, Psalm 127.

And the points are these: when God is at the center of the family, God grows the family. Secondly, God blesses the family. Thirdly, God guides the family. Fourthly, God protects the family. God grows the family. Look at verse one. Here's what Solomon is saying: that when God builds the house, that means when God is at the center of the home, when God is at the center of the family, the members of the household will grow in maturity.

When God's wisdom that comes through the word of God fills the house, maturity will be the insignia that is imprinted on the minds of all the members of the household of that family. When God's presence fills the house, permeates the family, peace will fill the minds of the members of that family's household. When God is sought in every decision that is made in the family, God's grace is going to grace the hearts and the minds and the spirit and the soul of the members of the household.

You see, the family is God's idea. Some of you who are singles preparing to get married, take notes. You're going to learn a few things today. They will come in handy down the future. You see, God is the one who said to Adam and Eve, "Go and multiply and be fruitful and subdue the earth."

Only my family would understand what I'm going to tell you, but I'm going to share it with you anyway. As a father who had made his fair share of mistakes, and I sure have—I'm not just saying that to be humble or sound nice, but I'm telling you the truth, they know that, we talk about these things in my family—I can honestly tell you that it would have been impossible without the power of God and the grace of God and the goodness of God and being on our knees every single day on behalf of our family. It would be impossible for us without complete reliance on the Lord to bring up our family in the fear and nurture of the Lord.

When God is at the center, not only does He grow the family, but secondly, when God is at the center, He blesses the family. Families are disintegrating. Children are neglected. Many parents are raising up their children out of guilt, not love. They give them everything in the world except the most important thing of all: time.

A well-known Christian leader told me once that before he became a Christian, he felt that his children, his family, were nuisances. They were just getting in the way, and he couldn't wait to plan his business trips to get out of town. But listen to me, the sad thing is this: there are Christians who feel that way about their families. And yet Solomon is saying to us today, children are blessing from the Lord.

Only—listen to that word—only when they are brought up to know the Lord. Only when they are brought up to love the Lord. Only when they are brought up to honor the father and their mother. Only when they are brought up to respect their elders. Only when they are brought up to know and obey the word of God. God blesses such a family because God grows the family and God blesses the family.

Thirdly, God guides the family. I don't want to bore you with some of the most incredibly alarming statistics that I just read last week as I'm preparing for this message. It's mind-boggling for me, the statistics, the number of children who actually get their guidance from television than from their parents. It can easily depress you.

But listen carefully. The children who see their parents go to the Lord for guidance are going to grow up going to the Lord for guidance. The children who observe their parents regularly and systematically studying the word of God for directions in their lives, they're going to grow up studying the word of God for directions in their lives. Listen carefully, please. More than anything else, more than any other item, this one is caught and not taught. All the preaching in the world isn't going to help them. They're watching mom and dad.

There are some people in the church of Jesus Christ, unfortunately, who when they're in trouble and they need a word from the Lord, they take their Bible, they close their eyes, and they open it and they say, "Well, whatever verse my eyes fall on, that's the verse for the day." Have you heard people doing that? It's sort of like a luck or charm.

But I tell you, I heard about a man who used to do this. One day he was doing this, he opened—closed his eyes—opened the Bible, and the first thing his eyes fell upon were the words as follows from the scripture: "Judas went out and hung himself." Well, he realized this was not what he was looking for, and he closed the Bible again and he said, "I really want—I'm going to try something else."

So he closed his eyes and opened the Bible one more time, and there his eyes fell on the verse that says, "Go and do likewise." He still wasn't convinced, obviously. He said, "That's just not right." He said, "I've got to try it again." So he closed the Bible, closed his eyes, opened the Bible again, and sure enough, the words said, "What you're doing, do quickly."

One of the things the Lord teaches parents about His parenting us is the way when we have children. I'm telling you, there's nothing like it. You begin to really appreciate the Lord. You appreciate how patient He is. You appreciate how loving He is. You appreciate how forgiving He is. I mean, you've got to have a huge backyard in order to bury all the faults of your children, and they bury yours too.

But the way to model our Lord in the way He parents us to our children, to me, is the most common sense, the simplest, and the easiest way. You can read all of the books and all the principles and all the one-two-threes and the formulas. God bless you, read them all. But I'm going to tell you, just watch how the Lord parents you. As a believer, you model Him with your children, and it's the simplest way I have discovered.

How does the Lord parent us? Well, in Genesis 28:15, God said, "I am with you." In Deuteronomy 20:4, God said, "I will give you victory." In Psalm 149:4, God said, "I am pleased with you." Lift them up, don't tear them down. In 1 John 3:1, God said, "I love you." In Jeremiah 31:34, God said, "I will forgive you." And in Psalm 34:15, God said, "I will listen to you."

How many of us listen to our children? You take these, you understand the marvelous way in which God parents us. You model that to your children, and I guarantee you they will grow up to love the Lord. Oh, they might wander off, that's not the issue. But they will grow up to love the Lord. When you know God and His ways, then your children are going to grow up to know God and His ways because they are modeling you, Mom. They are modeling you, Dad. They are modeling their parents.

God grows the family. God blesses the family. God guides the family. Finally, God protects the family. Probably—now I'm careful here because I can't defend this historically—but I'll say probably our children are as unsafe today as any time in modern history. We have guns and violence in the schools. We have drunk drivers on the roads. We have mind-altering drugs on the streets. We have unscrupulous predators on the internet. We have immoral teachers in the classrooms. Everywhere you turn, it seems there is danger and insecurity.

No wonder the Psalmist said, "Unless God"—look at his words in verse two—"unless God guards the city, unless God is the protector of our families, unless God is the defender of our families, unless God is the shelter of our families, it is in vain for policemen to work." My heart often goes out, and literally I weep when I see a policeman killed in line of duty. I thank God for these brave men and women. But I want to tell you, we have a greater, greater, greater guard, and His name is Jesus.

And the scripture said that He sends His angels to minister to those who fear Him. Psalmist said it's in vain for the guards to guard the city unless God Himself guards it. Is that danger that our children in brand new, is it just for our generation? No, not at all. Danger was, is, and always will be. It will always be with us. Each generation faces a different form of danger. Each generation faces different degrees of intensity of danger. But danger will always be with us as long as we live in this world.

And that is why nearly 3,000 years ago, Solomon could say, "Unless God guards the families, watchmen guard in vain." Whatever danger we may live in, whatever insecurity there may be, whatever threatens us, those who have placed God at the very center of their families will be sheltered by His shadow. Those who place God at the very center of their families, they will be covered under His wings. Those who place God at the very center of their families are engraved on the palms of His hands.

I read recently about those who spend their life studying chicken. There are people, actually, who do that. And I want to tell you, I gained an insight from the scripture that I never understood for a long time. Those who study the way a mother hen looks after her chicks have said something like this: they said that a hen when she sees a hawk circling overhead, she instinctively gives a warning sound, and immediately the baby chicks come running to hide beneath her wings.

They said that whenever there is menacing storm clouds that fill the sky with rolling thunders and jagged lightnings, she quickly makes a noise, a certain noise that beckons her brood to herself, where they find protection from the element. And at nighttime, as nighttime approaches, as the shadow lengthens, she gives a quiet call that gathered her young to rest.

I think I gained an insight from the time the Lord Jesus Christ got on that Mount of Olives and looked down on Jerusalem, that city that was filled of rebellious population who've rejected Him and rejected His lordship and rejected His authority and rejected His protection. And He cried when He said, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I wanted to gather you as a hen gathers her chickens. But you would not. You would not."

Beloved friends, I want to tell you God wants—no, I think God longs to gather families under His wing and under His protection. I believe the Lord longs to see family altars all over the country, all over the city. He longs to put us under His wings and under His shadow. But the question is, do we as parents place Him at the center?

Because when God is at the center of the family, God grows the family, God blesses the family, God guides the family, and God protects the family. The most probably unfathomable thing about our Lord is His grace. It's so lovingly, so generous. And because of that grace, I can say it is never too late. Only the devil and the flesh would tell you it's too late for you. It is never too late with God.

I don't care where you are and what you've done, it's never too late with Him. He longs to gather you under His wings. Children have grown and left home? Well, get on your knees because the wings of the Lord are not geographical. They can reach where no man can. It is never too late. God wants His families to be under His wings, but that will mean He has to be at the center.

Announcer: Thank you for making time in your day for Leading the Way audio with Dr. Michael Youssef. Were you encouraged by today's message? Tell someone so they can listen too. Share this radio station, the podcast, the Leading the Way app, or guide them to watch the television program or other video content and more. The website to find out information about all of these is ltw.org.

One way to build strong, Godly families is to spend time together looking at what the Bible says about life. And a great tool to help is My Devotional from Leading the Way. It's an e-devotional, which means that it comes to you through a daily email from Dr. Youssef, guiding you to a verse or two in the Bible with a couple of insightful pastoral thoughts steering God's word into real life. Oh, Dr. Youssef is also offering an audio podcast with the same content. It's called My Devotional. So if you prefer to consume your content through listening, we've got you covered. Learn more about My Devotional email and podcast at ltw.org.

In fact, that website is also where you can learn more about what's happening around the world through Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way and find ways to connect at deeper levels: ltw.org.

Guest (Male): At ltw.org, we're leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies to help you. That means more ways for you to access biblical teaching and share the gospel with the world. Need prayer or guidance? Our pastoral team is just a click away, ensuring you're never walking this journey alone. You're called to live out the truth of Christ, to grow in your faith, and spread the good news of God's love. Visit ltw.org today.

Announcer: This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Learn more at ltw.org.