I. Background
   A. This Psalm was written by Solomon
   B. God created the Family before he created governments and the Church
   C. God has a plan for our Families ; troubles come when we don't work the plan
   D. The last verses of Psalms 126 says often we " sow in tears and reap in joy " - a key element of a Family

II . Four Principles To Help Our Families
   A. God must be the Head of our Families - vs. 1
      i) God is the builder and architect
      ii) we are co-laborers with God building our Families
      iii) Families get in trouble when they build on "things " and not God
   B. Parenting must be Mom and Dad's key focus - vs. 1
      i) parenting is hard work - we must commit , with God's help , to focus on our children
      ii) many have other priorities making children far down the list
      iii) as parents we have many things to do - we must put our children only behind God and our spouses
   C. Protect your Family after it is built - vs. 2
      i) God is the watchman of our Family to keep us safe
      ii) after we build we must protect our Families from harm
      iii) we can not protect them without God's help - the job is too hard
      iv) we work with God in building and guarding
      v) we partner with God through prayer and obedience - the Dad is most important
   D. We praise God for giving our children to us - vs. 3-5
      i) children are like arrows in our quiver
      ii) arrows go where we can not
      iii) wherever our children go we go with them
      iv) young people the first command with promise is honor your Father and Mother ( you will live long )

III. Conclusions
   A. We do not get our grade as a parent until the children leave home
   B. If we asked God's help in building, watching over our families, and put the focus on our children we will do fine !