Psalm 127 Words of Blessing that Sting

Trying (unsuccessfully) to adapt a different morning routine in the summer, with travel, vacation, kids at home in the mornings, later nights, etc. Devotions have suffered. But by golly, I'm going to keep at it.

Observation: One thing I note here is that I had forgotten the first half of the psalm--"unless the Lord builds the house"--and the second half, about sons being "arrows in the quiver" of a father, were part of the same psalm. Taking them together reminds me that not only does God help us with physical building projects, but with the much more difficult "building" we do, of family relationships.

Application: I noticed today, as I was leaving for work in the midst of the chaos of having four kids at home, each with their individual needs, quirks, and mini-crises, that I actually apologized to my wife as I set out for work. We are definitely feeling the late summer burn-out of having all our kids underfoot for seven or eight weeks already, plus recovering from travel, and having them "all to ourselves" again, after a blessed week with lots of extended family support and love. I apologized. I said "I'm sorry" to my wife as I left her with our kids.

And then I got on the road, and started to reflect. I realized that this morning was going to be the third morning in a row that a lot of moms and dads in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, wake up wondering how their sons or daughters are doing, and had to remember that they are gone. Violently taken from their lives.

The words of this psalm do resonate with me: sons (and daughters) are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord, and I should never for a moment forget the awesome gift and responsibility of being a dad to these four beautiful humans. But they are also words today that sting, when I remember all who are grieving the loss of a child. I don't know that any words could be proper consolation in a situation like this, but we do know that God himself has known the pain of losing a child, and God feels their pain now, in depths we can not comprehend.

Prayer: God, be with families that are facing unbearable loss. Be with moms and dads who have had that title violently torn from them, and who are trying to find a way to be alive today, without the ones who were their blessing. Hear their cries, O Lord, and deliver them, in Jesus' name. Amen.