Sermon Series: Sermons from Psalm 23:
Sermon #2: God’s Answer to Busyness:
Scripture Ref: Psalm 23: 1-6
Introduction:
This morning we’re continuing our series of sermons from the 23rd PSALM.
There are 7 CAUSES of STRESS mentioned in this 23rd psalm & GOD gives ANSWERS to each one.
Last Sunday we looked at the STRESS of WORRY.
This morning we’re looking at the STRESS of BUSYNESS.
GOD’S ANSWER to BUSYNESS:
We all live in such a FAST PACED WORLD that is filled with its DAILY PRESSURES
At times there aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Here’s a little QUIZ to find out if we’re a WORKAHOLIC:
1: Are you always in a hurry?
2: `Is your “to do list” always unrealistically long?
3: Do you use your off days to catch up with unfinished work?
4: Have you been told by more than one person you should slow down?
5: Do you feel guilty when you try to relax?
6: Do you have to get sick to take time off?
That is NOT the KIND of LIFE GOD wants us to LIVE.
Psalm 127:2 ‘It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so HE giveth HIS beloved sleep.’
It’s NOT GOD’S WILL for us to BURN the CANDLE at BOTH ENDS.
Psalm 23:2 “HE makes me to lie down in green pastures; HE leads me beside the still waters.’
DAVID here is referring to TIMES of REST.
If we were a SHEEP we would UNDERSTAND this for this is a PERFECT PICTURE of PARADISE.
Green Pastures & Quiet Still Waters.
It refers to REST & REFRESHMENT. It was a NECESSITY for the GROWTH & HEALTH & the WELL BEING of the SHEEP.
In other words, GOD doesn’t want us to WORK & STRIVE CONSTANTLY.
A recent CNN POLL recently showed that 59% of all AMERICANS would like to SLOW DOWN & RELAX MORE.
Another poll showed that we have 8.5 less LEISURE HOURS in a week than we had a DECADE ago.
We’re WORKING MORE & ENJOYING it LESS:
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This morning I want us to look at a PERSCRIPTION for PRESSURED PEOPLE:
GOD’S WAY for us to RELAX:
We’ll take each of the LETTERS of the word RELAX:
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R – REALIZE OUR WORTH:
The REASON that MOST PEOPLE tend to OVERWORK is they CONFUSE their WORTH with their WORK & WHAT their WORK can OBTAIN for them. MATERIAL THINGS:
Many people THINK that if they WORK a WHOLE LOT & EARN a WHOLE LOT & OBTAIN a WHOLE LOT then they’re WORTH a WHOLE LOT.
They CONFUSE WHAT they HAVE with WHAT they are WORTH.
That is EASILY PERCEIVED for that is EXACTLY the ATTITUDE of this PRESENT SOCIETY.
Many of us today HAVE MORE as far as MATERIAL POSSESSIONS than our PARENTS had.
Perhaps we were DETERMINED to BE MORE & HAVE MORE.
But there’s SOMETHING DANGEROUS about MATERIAL THINGS if we’re NOT CAREFUL.
1: The more we have the more we want. Seldom SATISFIED or THANKFUL
2: We tend to determine our worth & even other’s worth by the value of things.
& so in order to HAVE MORE we have to WORK MORE.
James 1:18 “We are the 1st fruits of all that GOD created.’
Our IMPORTANCE is NOT in the THINGS we possess.
Our IMPORTANCE is SIMPLY US.
It is US WITHOUT ANYTHING ADDED to US.
Luke 12:15 ‘A man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things he possesses.’
I know a man who THNKS he has to BUY HIS FRIENDS.
He is constantly BUYING them THINGS to obtain their FRIENDSHIP.
We don’t have to try to PROVE OUR WORTH.
We’re ETERNAL BEINGS made in the LIKENESS & IMAGE of GOD.
GOD gave HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON to DIE for our SINS.
We’re SONS & DAUGHTERS of the KING of KINGS.
We’re WORTH MORE than THINGS.
For ONE DAY every MATERIAL THING will PASS AWAY but you & I will LIVE FOREVER.
In Matthew chapter 6 JESUS talks about HOW GOD takes CARE of the SPARROWS of the FIELD.
GOD FEEDS THEM & KNOWS when they FALL.
Then JESUS adds: “& WE are of MUCH MORE VALUE to GOD than they are.’
It is NOT WHAT we have in the BANK that declares our WORTHINESS.
It’s WHAT’S on the INSIDE of us that DETERMINES our VALUE.
So we don’t have to WORK & WORK & WORK our lives away just so we can have MORE STUFF so we can FEEL GOOD about ourselves.
Isaiah 49:18 GOD said that I have ENGRAVED you on the PALM of MY HANDS.
That’s HOW MUCH we are WORTH to GOD.
E: ENJOY WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE:
Ecclesiastes 3:13 ‘& also that every man should eat & drink, & enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of GOD.’
We can be so PREOCCUPIED in WANTING MORE that we DON’T ENOY what we have.
We can get into a SYNDROME of WANTING MORE.
KEEPING UP with the JONE’S
That is a HARD SPIRIT to REBUKE or to RESIST.
They’ve got MORE so I have to have MORE too.
People BUY THINGS they DON’T NEED & then become DEEP in DEBT.
CREDIT CARD DEBTS:
& their THINGS means MORE to them than the BLESSINGS of GOD does.
Then being OVER INDEBTED their RELATIONSHIP with the LORD SUFFERS.
ENDEBTEDNESS & the STRESS it BRINGS is the #1 CAUSE of DIVORCE today
It is extremely HARD to RELAX when we are BURIED in ENDEBTEDNESS.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 ‘Better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail & vexation of spirit.’
As a pastor I’ve been in a lot of FUNERAL POSSESSIONS & I have NEVER seen a U HAUL TRUCK carrying the EARTHLY POSSESSIONS of the DECEASED.
But sad to REPORT I have WITNESSED many families TORN APART as they ARGUE about WHO gets WHAT of the DECEASED.
Let us LEARN to be CONTENT with WHAT we have,
Paul wrote: Philippians 4:11 “I have learned in whatsoever state I am in to be content.’
L -- LIMIT OUR LABOR:
Make TIME for OTHER THINGS besides WORK:
I’m NOT PROMOTING LAZINESS:
GOD needs some of OUR TIME.
When a person is TOO BUSY for GOD then they are TOO BUSY.
Our MARRIAGE needs some of OUR TIME.
Our CHILDREN needs some of OUR TIME.
Our CHURCH needs some of OUR TIME.
GOD gave us a GREAT EXAMPLE in the BEGINNING of CREATION:
Genesis 2: 2-3 ‘& on the 7th day GOD ended HIS work which HE had made; & HE rested on the 7th day from all HIS work which HE had made. & GOD blessed the 7th day, & sanctified it because that in it HE rested from all HIS work which GOD created & made.’
Then GOD held a DAY of REST for HIS PEOPLE.
Exodus 20:9-10 ‘6 days shall thou labor, & do all thou work. But the 7th day is the Sabbath of the LORD. In it thou shall not do any work…..’
GOD COMMANDS US TO REST: That is the 4th COMMANDMENT.
It is one of the BIG TEN. It’s listed with Thou shall NOT COMMIT ADULTERY & Thou shall NOT KILL.’
That is HOW SERIOUS GOD considers this
One day out of seven we should take a DAY of REST for our BODIES.
In Mark chapter 2:27 JESUS said: ‘The SABBATH was made to benefit man.’
GOD in HIS DIVINE WISDOM made that decision.
Ecclesiastes 10:15 ‘A fools work wearies him, he does not know the way to the city.’
In other words, the wise man SOLOMON said, It is DUMB to WORK ALL THE TIME.’
A lady called her pastor one day really upset. She said, “I called all day on Monday & couldn’t get through to you.” The pastor replied: “Monday is my day off.” The lady answered him, “The devil never takes a day off.” & the pastor replied: ‘Yes mam, & if I didn’t take a day off I’d be just like the devil.’
If we don’t REST our BODIES then OUR BODIES will find a way to REST THEMSELVES.
They are NOT MACHINES that you can REPLACE a WORN OUT PART & it KEEPS GOING & GOING.
Not only does OUR BODIES need REST but OUR SPIRITS also NEED REST.
The BIBLE calls this WORSHIP.
We’re NOT just FLESHLY BODIES walking about.
We’re SPIRITUAL BEINGS. There is a SPIRIT living INSIDE our BODY.
We all have EMOTIONS & FEELINGS.
WORSHIP helps to put the TOILS & the TRIALS of LIFE into their PROPER PERSPECTIVE. Without WORSHIP we FALL APART SPIRITUALLY..
Only by DRAWING NIGH unto the LORD in WORSHIP can we get the STRENGTH to SURVIVE some of the THINGS we called upon to ENCOUNTER.
WORSHIP offers us the OPPORTUNITY to RECHARGE OUR EMOTIONS.
A---- ADJUST OUR VALUES:
JESUS tells a very important story:
Luke 12:16-21
‘& He spoke a parable unto them saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; & he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? & he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, & build greater, & there will I bestow all my fruits & my goods. & I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, & be merry.’ But GOD said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, & is not rich toward GOD.’
The man’s BARNS kept getting FULLER & FULLER so his BIGGEST PROBLEM in LIFE was to BUILD BIGGER & BIGGER BARNS.
JESUS called the man a FOOL.
He was FOOLISH not because he had an ABUNDANCE.
He UNDOUBTEDLY was a HARD WORKING & INDUSTRIOUS MAN. But he was FOOLISH because his ABUNDANCE of MATERIAL THINGS was ALL HIS LIFE to him.
When EARTHLY POSSESSIONS mean MORE than OTHER THINGS then OTHER THINGS will ALWAYS SUFFER.
MORE IMPORTANT than FAMILY, MARRIAGE or CHILDREN:
MORE IMPORTANT than GOD:
That’s what happened to the Israelites after they arrived in Canaan
Deuteronomy 6:12 ‘Then beware lest thou forget the LORD which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.’
This is TWO of the MOST IMPORTANT SCRIPTURES in the BIBLE.
Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, & lose his own soul.’
I Timothy 6:10 ‘The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, & pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’
EX ---- EXCHANGE OUR PRESSURE FOR GOD’S PEACE.
This gets to the very ROOT of our STRESS:
There are 3 KINDS of STRESS & FATIGUE:
1: PHYSICAL FATIGUE: Tired Muscles, they can be replenished
2: EMOTIONAL FATIGUE: Tired & Weary Emotions, Inward Feelings of Despair
3: SPIRITUAL FATIGUE: A dry Spirit, haven’t felt the moving of the Holy Spirit
If it is JUST PHYSICAL FATIGUE then a GOOD VACATION would be the CURE.
But a VACATION won’t HELP EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL FATIGUE.
When you RETURN from VACATION the very same PROBLEMS are there.
SHEEP do not like to LIE DOWN.
David said: “HE makes me to lie down in green pastures.’
HE MAKES ME
SHEEP will just KEEP on GOING until they DROP DEAD. The SHEPHERD has to MAKE THEM REST.
The SHEEP are NERVOUS & ANXIOUS critters.
HE LEADS THEM to TRANQUIL PLACES.
GOD often CARES for US ENOUGH to STOP US so THEN we can REST.
Picture a SHEPHERD with his FLOCK of SHEEP lying beside of him & the sound of a RUNNING STREAM of WATER nearby.
They’re in a PERFECT REST.
That is EXACTLY what we NEED to DO:
Matthew 11:28-30 ‘Come unto ME, all of you that labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest.
