Honey From The Rock

HONEY FROM THE ROCK

Psalms 81:1-16

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. It happened in Saginaw, Texas on Sunday morning. The high school basketball coach was giving his testimony when water started dripping through the ceiling onto the choir. The air conditioning units were in the attic and the condensation pans were overflowing.

2. They could have just turned off the air conditioning units, but no. They had to go up there and fix that thing, try to be heroes!

3. Soon you could hear them walking across the ceiling joists in the attic. And then it happened. “Whoosh!” One of them came through the ceiling. He grabbed the joists and held on for dear life. The crowd gasped. The man’s mother recognized her son’s chubby legs and hollered out his name.

4. The basket ball coach asked the Pastor, “Are we having a healing service? Someone is coming through the roof to get in!” The crowd roared with laughter.

5. At the end of the service, the Pastor stood greeting people. A rancher who came for the first time, said, “Pastor, I told my wife, ‘There’s no need for me to go to church; if I go, the roof will cave in.’ And sure enough it did!”

B. TEXT

“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! 2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre[like “liar”]. 3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; 4 this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say: 6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. 7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! 9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. 10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. 13 “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, 14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” Psalms 81:1-16.

C. THESIS

1. Toward the end of this chapter, God makes promises to those who obey Him. One of those promises is, “Honey from the rock.”

2. The land of Canaan had few large trees, but many holes and crags among the rocks in which bees made their hives. Sometimes a person might find a cave or rocky fissure from which oozed honey!

3. God had prophesied that the land would flow with milk and honey. With wild honey bees making their hives in the crevices of rocks, Canaan was a land that literally flowed with milk and Honey!

4. Today we’re going to look at 1). Amazing facts about honey, 2). Who this promise was made to, 3). What this honey symbolizes, and 4). The origin of this honey.

5. The title of today’s message is, “Honey from the Rock.”

I. AMAZING FACTS ABOUT HONEY

A. THE WONDER OF HONEY

1. Urban Dictionary says, “Honey” is a term meaning, “A girl who has everything – good looks, personality, & brains” which fits all you ladies here tonight! It’s also a term of endearment.

2. In today's world of soft drinks, sugar, and ice cream, we may not appreciate honey the same way as did the Jews of three thousand years ago, who knew nothing else as sweet.

3. Honey, made by bees, is said in the Guinness Book of World Records to be the sweetest substance known to man.

4. Honey is good for you. It contains powerful antioxidants, with antiseptic and antibacterial properties. During the Balan War of 1913, it was used to heal the wounds of many soldiers.

5. It helps alleviate allergies, because it contains many local pollens that – if consumed – aid the body in adjusting to them.

6. The average American consumes a little over one pound of honey a year.

B. AMAZING FACTS ABOUT BEES