Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 128:1-6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2004

In the Abstract Not The Concrete

 

Jim Brown was a famous child psychologist who had written many books on children and child training.

One day, he was enjoying a cold drink after finishing his new concrete driveway.

He walked out on the front porch to view the results of his hard work.

To his horror he saw his children had run through the wet concrete and left their footprints in it.

Seeing this, Jim let fly with a flurry of angry words.

His wife rebuked him saying, your behavior is atrocious.

I thought you loved children.

He replied, */I do love them in the abstract, but not in the concrete./*

/Fatherhood can be the most frustrating or the most rewarding adventure in a man’s life!

/Today is Father's Day, and it would be wrong for me not to share a word with our dad's.

God has a special role for men to fulfill, just as He has for mothers.

Psalm 128 shares 3 qualities of good fathers: */Fearful, Fruitful, Faithful./*

/Firstly, /Fearful     

 

/a.

His Life/ *Psalm 128:1:* /Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.

/

/ /

/What does the word *blessed* mean?/

The Hebrew word, אֶשֶׁר, here means two things, */blessed/* and */happy./*

Both meanings are correct.

The Psalmist describes two attributes that draw God's blessing.

*/Firstly,/* the blessed man */fears/* God.

To */fear,/* יָרֵא means to */worship,/*/ *revere*/ or */respect/* the Lord and what He says.

It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child to his father.

This leads to obedience.

*Proverbs 9:10:* /The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding./

*/The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else/*.

/- Oswald Chambers/

 

Runner Liddell Stood Firm

 

For months Eric Liddell trained with the purpose of winning the 100-meter race at the Olympic races of 1924.

Many sportswriters predicted he would win.

Then Eric learned the 100-meter race was scheduled for Sunday.

This posed a problem: Eric believed that he could not honor God by running in the contest on the Lord’s Day.

His fans were stunned by his refusal.

Some who had praised him now called him a fool.

The English Olympic Committee and the Prince of Wales sought to change His mind.

But Eric stood firm.

*/He feared God not man!

/*Suddenly a runner dropped out of the 400-meter race, scheduled on a weekday.

Eric offered to fill the slot, even though this was four times as long as the race for which he had trained.

When the race was run, Eric Liddell set a record of 47.6 seconds.

The US coach gave Eric a note just before the race, */He who honors me him will I honor!/*

The Lord is looking for men who will honor Him above all others.

*1 Samuel 2:30b says:* /for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed./

In this passage, Eli was condemned for honoring his wicked sons more than the Lord.

/The man that fears God will not seek to please men when it offends the Lord./

*/Secondly,/* the blessed man */walks/* in God’s ways.

*Psalm 37:23:* /The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way./

*Fear* is an inward emotion whilst *walk *refers to outward actions.

/Why is the God fearing man blessed?

/Because he avoids the trouble sin brings.

The believer who really enjoys life to the hilt is the one who acknowledges *the Lord* in every area of life and *who walks* in practical obedience to the Word of God.

*Psalm 34:11-15:* /Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? *Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good;* *Seek peace* and *pursue it.*

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.

*I’ve been asked a number of times, how do you please everyone?

*I reply, you can’t; everyone has a different view.

I seek to please the Lord! *He’s the One to fear.

*This was the difference between King Saul and King David.

David feared God, Saul feared man!/

/Accusing is Satan’s work.

Often its true.

We are not perfect so we need mercy.

From God & man./

/ /

/b.

His Labor/

/ /

*128:2:* /When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be *happy*, and it shall be well with you./

/ /

*/Firstly,/* the /blessed man/ has the /health and strength to work/.

Many men aren't able to work and depend on others for their daily needs.

But the blessed man enjoys good health from God. */Secondly, /*they /benefit from their labor/.

God allows them to enjoy the fruits of their work.

*Deuteronomy 8:18a:* /And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth./

God protects their produce from thieves and natural disasters.

*Ecclesiastes 3:12-13:* /I know that nothing is better for men than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.

/The righteous man is */happy/* and things go well with him.

God makes sure of this.

The word */well/* means*/ good, prosperity, wealth, favor, glad, best.

/* This man's life is a sheer delight.

*/Job is an example of a man being blessed by the Lord./*

God blessed his family, his livestock, his crops and his wealth.

He protected Job and multiplied his possessions.

Satan knew that God had blessed him.

*Job 1:2-4; 9-10:* /Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them./

/So Satan answered the Lord and said, *Does Job fear God for nothing*?

Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land./

*/Why did God bless Job so bountifully?

The answer is found in /Job 1:1 & 5:* /There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was *blameless* and *upright*, and one who *feared God* and *shunned evil*.

And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and *offer burnt offerings* according to the number of them all.

For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

*Thus Job did regularly*.

/Job feared God, hated evil and offered sacrifices for his sin.

He prayed for his family./

/The Bible says that the Lord blesses that kind of man/.

/

/c.

His Long Life /