Who Is the Real Builder of Godly Families?

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

Today’s big question: who is the real builder of godly families?

How many times in history have great cities and monuments been built to glorify man? In fact, a better question would be to ask if we can think of any city or monument that has not been built for human glory.

The Bible has a great example of a city that was built purely for human glory. Genesis 11 provides the account of post-flood humanity that would not obey God’s command to spread and multiply throughout the earth. In great disobedience according to their own pride, they built an impressive tower.

God will not sit idly by while humanity selfishly and proudly ignores His statutes. In the case of Genesis 11, God confused their language, and through this judgment He caused humanity to move and spread across the globe. Today we see the result of this in the different people groups across the world. A combination of judgment, confusion, isolation, and genetics has given us this visible reminder that human pride is feeble compared to a just and holy God.

Our verse today is the first verse of a whole psalm dedicated to the building of family, and it likens this to building a house or a city. Also, in this verse we are told that unless God builds and protects our family, we labor in vain. Just like the building of a great city, we have the ultimate set of plans for building this “city” and the ultimate protection guide—God’s Word.

God has given us His instructions for parenting, but too often we raise our children to be what we want them to be. God’s glory does not come through our desire for our children to be doctors and lawyers. Neither does it come in our desire for our children to have good behavior and be good citizens to make us proud. These things are all done in vain if not done for God.

God’s glory comes in our obedience as parents to build and protect our families according to His Word. The ultimate family structure is not built upon our children making us proud. Instead, it is built upon a commitment to the Word of God and His gospel while we serve our Savior. This is the real foundation for the family fortress.

Today’s big idea: we build our families through a commitment to God and His Word.

What to pray: pray that your priorities will be focused solely upon the Lord and not upon the things of this world—even the good things.