Last week we saw from the poor example of Aachan, "How to be Your Own Worst Enemy At Home".
Now a better example from King David in 2 Samuel chapter 6. Pay close attention to the progression of "blessing" in this chapter:
2 Samuel 6:11 - "The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household."
2 Samuel 6:18 - "And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts."
2 Samuel 6:20a - "Then David returned to bless his household."
Did you see it?
1. God "blessed" Obed-Edom’s household because he revered the ark of the covenant.
2. David "blessed" others when he caught on to the truth that Obed-Edom knew.
3. David then returned to "bless" his own household.
This passage reminds us of a very helpful biblically based maxim - "we are blessed to be a blessing".
This may be observed in the lives of all the great saints of God and in today’s scripture, from the example of King David.
By the way, don’t forget that it is not only true that we are blessed to be a blessing, but when we are a blessing to others, our own life will be blessed!
Now let’s apply this to family life.
What was the truth that Obed-Edom knew that caused God to bless his household?
It seems to be this: he was not uncomfortable in the presence of God.
If you want to be a blessing to your household you must bring the presence of God into it.
When King David sought to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem something went wrong. One of the sons of Abinadab named Uzzah, touched this sacred box as it slipped off the ox cart they were transporting it on.
He was struck dead by God for his indiscretion. Perhaps he forgot how holy the ark was since it had been staying at his father Abinadab’s house for some time. In any case, God made him an example so the people would not lose respect for His presence.
You’ll remember that the ark was a symbol of the presence of God, a "type" of Christ.
David and most of the people improperly perceived the occurence of Uzzah’s death. David was "angry" (verse 8) and "afraid" of the LORD (verse 9).
But one man, Obed-Edom, was not afraid of the presence of God. He opened his doors to the ark of God where it remained for three months. In return God blessed "all his household".
King David initially stumbled over a truth he would eventually come to realize was foundational to spiritual success - especially at home.
In our homes we can make the presence of God a "cornerstone" or we can make it a "stumbling stone".
Listen to God’s Word on this from 2 Peter 2:7,8.
"Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ’The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’, and ’a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble being disobedient to the word..."
Uzzah had been disobedient to the word of God. The ark of the covenant was not supposed to be transported by an ox cart, but rather on the shoulders of the priests by the use of long poles. Their shoulders could touch the end of the poles but not the ark itself. The ark of God was so holy that no human was supposed to touch it.
When Uzzah touched the ark, he directly disobeyed a very important command of God. But God did not intend for King David and the people to be afraid of Him. Respect Him yes, but not be afraid to come into His presence.
We need a proper balance on the issue of the presence of God in our homes in order to be a blessing there.
We were reminded last week about some tangible things we need to do to honor God in our household. Things like having a Bible for every member of the family, having good Christian literature, art, and music. We talked about making our homes a place of hospitality, etc.
Today let’s quickly consider the less tangible aspects of family life that affect the presence of God in our households. Let’s think about the things that affect the "atmosphere" of our homes that make God willing to grace us with His presence.
Take the fruit of the Spirit for instance, found in Galatians 5:22,23.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
Any household with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is going to be a great place to live!
But to have the fruit of the Spirit you must first have the Holy Spirit in your life. This happens when you make a faith commitment to Christ. If you haven’t made this commitment yet you should consider it for your family’s sake as well as your own.
You may not have grown up in a home where the fruit of the Spirit was present, but by being born again you can change all of that in your home today by the presence of God!
But it’s not enough to have the Spirit - the Spirit must also have you! A lot of Christians complain that they still have a poor home life even after they accepted Christ. That’s because they’re not operating under the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 - "And be not drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit."
Clearly the issue is control. If you get drunk, the alcohol controls you. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit - He controls you. You have to decide who’s in control. You have to decide this daily. The Greek verb in Ephesians 5:18 could literally be translated, "be being filled with the Holy Spirit".
It’s an ongoing process, just like eating every day. Yesterday’s nutrition will not suffice for today.
But how can one be "filled" with the Holy Spirt? What happened next in the life of David actually gives us a clue.
When David realized that Obed-Edom was not afraid of the presence of God, he realized he didn’t have to be either. He saw God blessing Obed-Edom’s household and he said, "Hey, I’d like some of that blessing". So he finished the task of transporting the ark to Jerusalem.
What happened next is a classic story of spiritual exuberance!
David was so excited to learn he didn’t have to be afraid of the presence of God that he exchanged his kingly robe for a "linen ephod". This indicates that he put on a priest’s tunic and began to worship God with self-abandon.
David was not aloof from the people like his predecessor King Saul had been. In fact "He blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts." David was tranformed by the joy of his relationship with God and he forgot himself. He forgot he was king and began whirling around in ecstatic joy! Oh the joy of forgetting self!
By the way, forgetting self is essential to being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can’t fill you if you are already full of yourself!
If we want to bless our household we must forget ourselves.
At home we need to forget how others have hurt "our" feelings. We must forgive those who have wronged us at home. We need to stop sulking when we don’t get "our" way.
This truth applies not only to marriage, but especially to how we raise our kids. Every child needs to hear "no" regularly just so they’ll know they don’t need to think only of themselves all the time.
This truth applies to blended and multi-generational families also. Everyone needs to works together to foster an atmosphere of unselfishness.
Can these types of families work? Sure, but only if you practice this truth. Otherwise you household will become a war zone.
Bless your household by forgetting self.
David took this truth home with him. "He returned to bless his household." (Verse 20)
Problem was, his wife Michal, daughter of the previous king of Israel, King Saul, hadn’t learned what David had learned.
She sarcastically criticized his selfless behavior while he was celebrating the presence of God. Amazingly, instead of seeing the joy of worship, she filtered her husband’s actions through a lens of perceived public opinion and irrational jealousy.
Did David let her attitude dissuade him from the truth he had learned? No, he did not allow himself to be distracted by an unspiritual and irrationally jealous wife. "I’m going to keep on playing joyful music to the Lord!" David in essence declared. (See verse 21.)
If we would bless our household we cannot be distracted by unspiritual people.
Some of you have unspiritual people in your household just like David had in his. Will you let them distract you from being a blessing to your household? Hopefully not. Hopefully you will keep on worshipping God faithfully and consistenly in the hopes that your example will eventually win them over.
Keep on practicing the presence of God in your household.
Keep on forgetting yourself at home.
Refuse to be distracted.
If you do, you will "bless" your household!
