A Happy Home
Introduction: This is the Christmas season and I notice year after year how the devil tries to ruin our celebration. It's obvious to the spiritual person that the Devil doesn't want to see people be reminded of the star that would lead wise men to the one who would be his ruin. He doesn't want you or me or anyone else to understand the true meaning of Christmas. If it isn't another lawsuit to have the local nativity scene taken out of the city park, town square, or the local school play its yet another suicide, mass shooting, or terrorist attack (And there will be more). During these times we should all be happy and yet more and more we tend to be stressed out, exhausted, frustrated with long lines, anxious about whether someone will like a gift or not, and even though we may deny it, some of us dread the awkward tension between disgruntled acquaintances at a party that we don't really want to go to. All of these things make the Holiday season not at all what we would hope it to be.
I want us to reflect on the family this morning, because Christmas is a family holiday and family happiness begins in the home. Our message this morning is “A Happy Home”
Psalm 128:1-4
“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.”
The word “blessed” is used in so many different ways today. We hear 'bless you' or 'bless them' or 'he is blessed', or 'blessings to all'. But the word “blessed” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word 'asher' which means 'Happy'. “Blessed (Happy) are those who fear the LORD, In order to have a happy home you must have a happy family. Just as the church isn't the building, its the people, the house isn't a home until it has a family living in it. Home, just like the church, is a sanctuary from the world. We enjoy coming inside to escape from what is outside. We love to come to those who comfort us when the world has rejected us. But as long as you have more of the world than God in the home it will never be a happy home. If you have the love of God, the hope of God, the peace of God, the joy of God, the word of God, the spirit of God in your home then going to church will be like going from your living room to your dining room. When you make your home a church, going to church feels like going home.
Let's begin where the family begins; with the man.
Where the Family begins
This Psalm addresses the man as the head of the household, and as He is blessed, so is his family. Not just any man is blessed, but a man that fears the LORD. When we think of fear we think of someone hiding behind something or running away from something. But this isn't referring to anything like that, this refers to those men who Love God, Respect God, Revere God, Honor God and have a holy appreciation of God and out of that reverent love for God all blessings flow to and through the family! Do you want to be blessed? Have a man leading the household that loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and you will be blessed. (Ladies, if you have a man like that, you have a blessing!)
If you want to know why there are so many unhappy homes today it goes back to the fact that there are so many homes without a Man who fears God living in them. I recently heard black pastor say enthusiastically, that one of the problems is that women are attracted to the wrong kind of man! I agree. Hollywood tells you it is cool to have the “bad boy”, and you believe them. How can you not see the devil gaining his point, not in the church, but definitely in our society when rebellion is somehow a virtue to be found in a man? How can any woman live the blessed life chasing after a loser like that? And just because a man goes to church or went to church or says he does, or has, or will go to church doesn't mean that He fears God.
You may notice as I have that anytime Islamic extremism is mentioned, sooner or later some unbeliever looking for moral equivalency will say that Timothy McVeigh was a Christian. They reason that since He went to a Catholic church a long time ago as a boy, that makes him a Christian. G.K. Chesterton said, “Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.” just going to church won't make you a christian, no more than just repeating a prayer will make you saved. There must be a desire within you to surrender to God.
We can't walk with God if we won't surrender to him. Another problem in the Home today is the idea that it is not masculine to be a follower. The truth is you are a follower whether you want to be one or not. You are following the crowd, following the world, following your friends, following money, fame, or pleasure, even if you run away you still follow the road in front of you and when you think you follow your own heart, you follow the devil without realizing it. . . . . But when you follow Jesus, you are doing what you were created to do and you will be blessed and happy and your family will be blessed and happy. Matthew Henry said “those that are truly holy are truly happy.” It begins with a man who fears the LORD.
Then the word says “. . . who walk in his ways.”
If you don't fear God, you won't ever walk in his ways. We can't say we fear God and then proceed to do the things He commands us not to do, or to proceed in not doing the things He commands us to do. Disobedience is evidence that you do not fear or respect the LORD.
Those who are blessed are those who walk in the ways of the LORD. Let's be careful not to suggest that we are talking about a strict legalism for fear of God burning them in hell, but when we talk about those who fear the LORD, we are talking about that dread of displeasing him because we want to make him happy. If you love someone there is a natural desire to make them happy and a natural fear of disappointing them. We all want someone's approval, but for the man who shapes his life for the approval of God, he will be blessed.
Its interesting that the word “way” in the Bible was another word for “road”. We read about the way or road that leads to life, and that only a few find it. Those that willingly walk with God on that road are blessed, not just because of its destination but the road itself, the journey itself, life itself is a blessing. They experience happiness everyday. No one can steal it from them. Although they can be discouraged at times, they are never hopeless . . . it is very difficult to dispirit them, depress them, or dishearten them. . . They are happy right now! Because BLESSED are all who fear the LORD who walk in his ways!! When you walk in his ways you don't walk in hatred, you don't walk in resentment, you don't walk in bitterness, you don't walk in jealousy, you don't walk in covetousness, (wanting what everyone else has) you don't walk in anger, you don't walk in lust, you don't walk in idleness, you WALK IN HIS WAYS!
Notice how one leads to the other those who fear the LORD will walk in his ways. They say 'imitation is the highest form of flattery.' Just like a boy who wants to follow in his father's footsteps so does the man who fears the LORD, I Peter I:16 repeats the old testament saying: “Be holy because I am Holy.” It's our desire to be like our LORD and if we walk in that desire - WE WILL BE BLESSED!
Now lets look at the promise of the blessing: These are the ways in which you will be made happy in your life.
The first blessing is success in your labor
“You will eat the fruit of your labor;
I know many who are praying all the time for their job situation or their small businesses are struggling and they are concerned. This blessing is a promise that you will get to enjoy what you work for. It doesn't matter if it is by the sweat of your brow or the sweat of your brain. It doesn't matter if you swing a hammer or push a pencil; or if you work behind a desk or behind a plow, white collar career or blue collar job - the blessing is the same: You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
You might think this isn't that much of a blessing until you realize how many people are wishing and hoping and praying that they had the ability or opportunity to work, not just for money but to have some type of dignity in life. Or you see others who work and work and work and they look around and see that they still have nothing. It's like the joke of the man who says “I'm tired of having to work three jobs just to stay poor.” They work only to keep the bill collectors away. They work to keep the utilities on and to pay the house payment and to pay the car payments and to pay the credit card bills, but they are treading water, never getting to eat the fruit of their labor. When you consider this, it brings a fresh appreciation to this blessing doesn't it?
Back when this was written, it wasn't uncommon for farmers to have enemies come in and steal all of their crops or have their earnings withheld by their rulers. It was hard enough to grow a crop much less a good crop but when you did, you had to hope that it wasn't taken away from you, either by marauders or by the government. So it was a true blessing to be able to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Instead of having everyone else enjoy what you work for, YOU will get to enjoy what you work for. God's faithful servants will enjoy the fruits of their own industry.
How great it must have been for those Israelites who had slaved away for Pharaoh to finally make it to the promised land where they were able to enjoy the wine from their own vineyards, the vegetables from their own gardens, and to taste the sweet meat they hunted themselves, instead of slaving away for someone else, they got to enjoy the fruit of their own labor. Have you seen the bumper sticker “I owe I owe its off to work I go!” Well that right there should show you why eating the fruit of your labor is a blessing. Next....
The second blessing is wellness or goodness
blessings and prosperity will be yours” (NIV) The King James says “ . . . happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.” v.2
Have you ever prayed “I pray everything works out.” or said “I hope that situation works out” that is what this blessing is: everything will work out, it will go well with you. Good things will happen for you. We are most happy when we have something to do, the strength to do it, and a fair return for getting it done. For those who fear the LORD and follow him, everything will go well with him.
This is the same blessing found in Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
What a blessing it is to know that everything is going to work out for the good. Even the apostle Paul who had been brutalized, stressed, tormented, and persecuted his whole born again life could see that God works all things for the good. In spite of all the bad he had gone through, he was happy and blessed. Believe it or not that can happen, you can find happiness even when others don't appreciate you, don't like you, don't love you, when all others hurt you, ignore you, abandon you, dismiss you, insult you, slander you, persecute you. “...happy shall you be and it shall be well with thee.”
The question is what makes you happy? As long as we have food and raiment (clothes) let's be content. You never saw a hearse pulling a Uhaul have you? Remember you can't take it with you once you are gone. Be content whether you have a little or if you have a lot.
We often think of being blessed as having something nice. If a person has a nice car then we say “they are blessed.” if another person has a nice home, we say “they are blessed.” If someone else has a lot of money we say “Wow, they sure are blessed.” Don't get me wrong you can have all of those things and be blessed, but there are many who have these things and are not blessed (because they are not happy).
They are not happy because their eagerness to get, takes away from their ability to enjoy. A blessed home is a happy home. A blessed family is a happy family. A blessed church is a happy church. There are so many God-fearing families out there that will say 'we never had much but we had each other.' 'We never had a lot of money but we had a lot of love and happiness.' That is a blessed family. They mean it when they say they wouldn't trade it for a million dollars. Because there are some who have a million dollars and they would give it all to have the happiness that family has. You see, the secret is to be content with what you have. Don't misunderstand, God isn't against you having material things.
Deuteronomy 8:18 says “... for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” and Psalm 35:27 says that God takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. And in James 1:17 we read that “Every good and perfect gift is from above . . .” We also read in Pauls' letter to Timothy, that God gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Paul knew what it was like to have much as well as to have little and He was content either way.
Know this, you can have everything you want in life and still not be happy with everything you have. Contentment isn't in how much you have, it is being happy with what you have at the moment, whether it is a little or a lot.
The third blessing is a fruitful wife
“your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;”
What a blessing it is to have a companion that not only compliments the home but completes it. God created the greatest place ever for a man named Adam. Living in the garden of Eden with all of its beauty, peace, and serenity and yet Adam still found sadness in the Garden of Eden. No matter how great or beautiful the place is, it can never truly be paradise until there is a loving wife living in it.
For those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways, his wife will be like a fruitful vine. Not only as a spreading vine that serves as an ornament, that softens the hard edges of a house, but she will be like a fruitful vine which is productive. She blesses her God and her husband also. She is fruitful in kindness, thrift, helpfulness, and comfort. She produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit: joy peace, love, gentleness, goodness . . all the things that make a home, a happy home. And if she doesn't produce children she will more than make up for it by producing an abundance of love and encouragement for everyone who enters her home. Matthew Henry said “The wife's place is the husbands house; there here business lies, and that is her castle.”
The vine is a weak and tender plant so it is to be supported and cherished, but it is a very valuable plant. She isn't compared to a flower on the ground, something pretty to be under her husbands feet or a towering tree to be domineering over all, but a vine that grows along the side of the wall just as Eve was taken from the side of Adam. She is a coequal partner in the relationship and the two are complete once they are together
During this time in Palestine, the vine was the only plant that men would plant indoors. And they would let the vine take root inside the house, but the branches would grow out of an opening that was built in the house to get sun and rain. It reminds us that the wife is grounded in her home making it liveable and lovable while her children grow up and out of the home and will some day produce fruit of their own.
Which leads to the last blessing
The fourth blessing is children
“your sons will be like olive shoots around your table”
I think it was George Whitefield that was approached by a woman who said she felt the call to preach and he asked her about her home and her family. She said she had 13 children. He said “Well praise God, not only did he give you a ministry but He gave you a congregation as well.”
In the not too distant past, it was always considered a blessing to have many children. Children are a blessing. As I have said they are better side of humanity. Another blessing, not mentioned to day in the same psalm is to see your grandchildren. They will carry on your family name and your legacy and there is so much hope in what they may become, what they may do in life. Olive shoots would pop up around a tree. The allsuion is of many healthy children springing up around a man's dinner table. They have the health to come to the table to be fed and God has provided for this family to have what it is they want to eat because he, his wife, and his many wonderful children will get to enjoy the fruit of his labor.
Conclusion: Verse four simply reiterates what we started with. “Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD.” v. 4 We should not assume that if a man isn't married with children that he is not blessed. Thata a woman that is not married or is barren that she is cursed. It is just one way God chooses to bless a God-fearing man who walks in his ways.
This Christmas season lets consider how to be blessed. We must fear God and walk in his ways because we have a desire to please him and a dread of disappointing him. And let's also consider what it means to be blessed, because when a man has plenty of provision, plenty of food, a warm house, a fruitful and loving wife, with growing healthy children, He has been blessed . . with A Happy Home.
