Green Grass Of Home

The Pearl of Psalms

(POP 02)

Psalm 23:2

The Green, Green Grass of Home

The secret to happiness in life is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

If you understand that, you are ahead of most people in this generation because the average person does not understand that, As a matter of fact - I suggest to you that there has not been a time when people in America were more discontent than they are now - and that despite the fact that on average we are in the top seven percent of the world’s wealth bracket. If you earned $30 000 you are in the top 7%. If you earned $25 000 last year you are in the top 10% of the world’s wealth bracket. That means 9 out of every ten people in the world have less than you. If you earned $34 000 last year you are in the top 5% of the world’s wealth bracket.

But here’s the challenge we face - it seems that no matter how much we have, we still want more. We are not satisfied with having . . .

• the finest homes in the world - we still want more.

• the finest cars and clothes in the world - we still want more.

• the best paying jobs in the world - we still want more.

• more food that any other country in the world - we still want more.

• more rooms per home and discretionary dollars per capita - we still want more.

And that is true not only nationally, but individually as well - and perhaps all of mankind faces this challenge. We are always looking for one bettere than we have got. We live for the hope and the promise of tomorrow and somehow, in the jostling and shuffling, we loose the provision for today.

Jason Lehman put it well when he said . . .

It was spring. But it was summer I wanted - the warm days and the great outdoors.

It was summer. But it was fall I wanted - the colorful leaves and the cool, dry air.

It was fall. But it was winter I wanted - the beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season.

It was winter. But it was spring I wanted - the warmth and the blossoming of nature.

I was a child. But it was adulthood I wanted - the freedom and the respect.

I was 20. But it was 30 I wanted - to be mature and sophisticated.

I was middle-aged. But it was 20 I wanted - the youth and the free spirit.

I was retired. But it was middle-age I wanted - the presence of mind, without limitations.

Then my life was over and I never got what I wanted.

The fact is we have an insatiable dissatisfaction that will not quiet no matter how much we endeavor to feed it. As a matter of fact, we excuse it - we even dress it in religious garb to try and redefine it as a spiritual asset, a mark of maturity and blessing. And consequently there is a restlessness in our souls that robs us of so many of the good things in life that God wants to give us - like peace and joy and kindness and patience - and it also robs us of the very resources that God wants to release into our lives.

Most of the world lives thinking the green grass is on the other side of the fence - well I want you to know from the Word of God that the grass is greener where your Savior leads you. It does not matter how green the grass is on the other side - where you and I are it is greener still because He makes us to lie down in green pastures. It may look like others are better off, and it may sometimes feel like other have a better deal - but I declare to you this morning from the Word of God - He always makes His children to lie down in the green grass - it is indeed, THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME. You will never have to look across the fence and see greener grass - never. Why? Because my God never gives His children His second best. If you think God has given you something less than the best, then one of two things are happening. Either you are not looking correctly at what you have got or you are not looking correctly at what is on the other side of the fence.

What I have to share with you this morning will engage you intellectually, and, if you will put it into practice, satisfy you spiritually. No wonder Abraham Lincoln read Psalm 23 to cure his blues, and no wonder President Bush proclaimed it publicly after 9-11 to calm our nation’s fears.