Intro: If there is any place where we have trouble walking with a perfect heart, it is at home! At home, we are real. At home we tend to be lax, and, more often that not, it gets us in trouble! We will SAY things at home that we would never dream of saying in public. We will DO things at home; we hope no one outside of the house ever learns about! It is true isn't it? We come to church and put on our spiritual mask. But as soon as we climb back in the car…(you know what) David determines to do, in this verse, something we all need to determine to do. There are three things in this short psalm that will help us:
I. BEHAVE WISELY (v. 2)
We get ourselves in a lot of trouble at home because we don't behave wisely there! It is amazing that we will often treat strangers or visitors with more courtesy than we do the people we love the most and love us the most! It is an unwise person who ignores those who are most likely to support him through thick and thin, while giving in to the whims of those who would drop him easily if he messed up on them! We have in our homes the most important relationships we will know in this life.
A. Behave wisely with your mate (1 Peter 3:7)
While this verse tells the husband to dwell with his wife according to knowledge, it is obvious that the best relationships will be built when both the husband and the wife knows how to please the other! There is a reason why it specifically says husband though; because men are the worst offenders in this regard. God made men to be conquerors and women to be helpmeets. Because of that, women naturally look for ways to help their husbands. It is especially true of the husband that he needs to learn to dwell with his wife according to knowledge. You need to learn what the other likes and doesn't like. What the other dreams about and would like to do some day. What the other is good at and what they are weak at. You need to become experts on each other!
B. Behave wisely with your children(Ephesians 6:4)
It is possible to mess up raising kids! So we need to behave wisely raising them! We need to learn how not to provoke them to wrath. We need to learn how to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! We need to behave wisely in raising our kids, and we need to behave wisely when we are
around our kids! It is unfortunate that we drop our guards at home and around the kids. There is no one who clings to our words and actions more than our kids.
We say things around them that will forever impact them. We cuss around the kids, and we have taught them to cuss. When complain about the church, or criticize a member, and we have taught them to disrespect the church, the preacher and to gossip about people.
C. Behave Wisely With Your Things (I Tim. 6:7 cf. Job 1:21)
Because everything you have really belongs to God. They all need to be used in ways that please the Lord! Here is a family that gets financial or material things. WONDERFUL! It is a blessing when God allows you to have something that the family can enjoy together, provide a little rest and family relaxation. But then, you go out and use it when you should have been in church SHAME ON YOU!
Don't you know that God can take those things away from you as easily as He gives them to you? Or worse, he might let you keep up them and keep up the sin you are committing with them! That means you are sowing more wicked seed that either you, or your children will have to harvest someday!
D. Behave wisely at home with the Lord (Mark 12:30)
The home is no place to ignore Christ! Your home ought to be a haven for the Lord! It ought to be a place where only Godly conversations are spoken. Your home ought to be a place where prayers are offered and the Bible is read. Behave yourselves wisely at home
II. BEHOLD PURITY IN YOUR HOME (v. 3)
This means that in my home, I ought to be careful that only those things that are pure are found there.
A. In the decorations we display.
I have seen Christians who claim to be godly, who have naked statues displayed as a form of art. I have known Christians who have in their homes, the idols of pagan religions, just for decorations. Let me tell, you, if it couldn't be displayed at church, it shouldn't be displayed at home!
B. The forms of entertainment.
Christian, why would you watch a movie in your home and be entertained by people doing things you know perfectly well is wicked and unholy? You have allowed your home to become defiled. No wonder God doesn't bless your home as He wants to! No wonder we have trouble with our kids, when you watch shows with sex and violence and kids cussing and rebelling against their parents. No wonder they grow up and get involved sexually and violently, when you allow them to sit right next to you and watch movies that arouse the senses!
But in our homes we ought to Behave wisely, and Behold purity and thirdly…
III. BELONG ONLY WITH THE GODLY (v. 6)
The Christian home is no place for ungodliness of any sort. David says he will not know a wicked person (v. 4). What he means by that is have a close relationship with them. There are two types of wickedness that we should have no close fellowship with in our homes:
A. The Doctrinally Wicked (2 John 10; Rom. 16:17-18)
I will not allow a person who is doctrinally wrong about Christ to even enter into my house! The Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons. They are not even welcome to sit down on my couch! I do not give them the time of day. I try not to be rude. But I do not try to be polite either! I don't even say goodbye when they leave. I just tell them to go! I do so under the authority of this passage. I do not believe that it is biblical to allow their wicked doctrines to even be spoken in my home.
B. The Practically Wicked (Eph. 5:11-12; I Cor. 15:33-34)
These are people who do wicked/sinful things. David identifies more than, but at least these four types of sinners that were not welcome in his home:
1. The Wicked Doer. (v. 4) People involved in immorality and wicked vices- cussing, drinking, smoking, gambling, etc. People who do these shouldn't be allowed freedom at home.
2. The Slanderer. (v. 5a) Gossip, slander, and evil speaking can only be stopped if we refuse to hear. We can, for politeness sake, listen to what they say, and just not agree with them. If possible, we must cut them off and refuse to allow them to say if we could help it!
3. The Proud. (v. 5b) Pride is the mother of all sin (cf. Satan). Pride is the desire to play god!
4. Liars. (v. 7) Lying and deception are two of the devil’s craft he wants to see in people! It’s the very opposite of truth. David said, I won't let them even stay in my sight!
C. Who Was It That David Did Want To Belong Around? (v. 6)
1. The Faithful which can mean those who have faith in God and those you can have faith in (dependable, good for their word) And I think both can be applied.
2. The Perfect which doesn't mean they never do anything wrong ever. The word “perfect” means mature and complete--those who are truly growing and serving the Lord.
Conclusion: Home is one of the most important places in life. How can we have peace, harmony and God’s blessing in it? By behaving wisely in it; by beholding only purity in it, and by belonging only with the godly! May God grant us the desire to repent and change today!
