Dwelling in the House
Psalm 23
Intro:
We are not like everyone else. We are unique in this world because it is not our home. We are not alone, because the creator of this world has called us to live in his house as one of his. When we dwell in his house both here and there… everything is different.
In his house…
We can relax when trouble is near
“You prepare a place for me in the presence of my enemies”
EATING TOGETHER IS COMMUNION AND TAKES OUR THOUGHTS OFF OF OTHER THINGS
• Eating together implies fellowship
o Sometimes a meal is just a meal and eating with others is simply eating with others. More often than not, though, it is a time for closeness
o In the real world, breaking bread together is an act of sharing and peace…you generally invite friends to dinner
“I’m with you. I like you. We form a communion together.
o Contrast with the Pharisees – They had Jesus over to bring him close, but only to test him more
o Zacheus – Jesus opened his arms up to Zacheus. In order to go and eat with him meant that he accepted him which was an outrage to the “religious” of the day.
HE GIVES CONFIDENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF ENEMIES
• “failure to intimidate” – If I have a meal in the presence of my enemies, I am clearly not intimidated by them. It is close to laughing at them.
• My sister-in-law has a scary looking dog. When you approach the house that dog will let you know that the house is guarded. But if you have the confidence to walk right in, there is really no threat. He gives us the confidence to sit and eat before our enemies.
• I have confidence in any circumstances because the One that I’m with is greater than what I am against.
In His house…
We have more than we need
“You anoint my head with oil - My cup overflows”
YOU SPEND LAVISHLY ON ME. IN HIS HOUSE WE DO NOT HAVE NEEDS
“…anoint my head with oil”
• Remember that oil is a symbol of gladness…perhaps like balloons at a party.
• Jesus chewed out the Pharisees for not anointing his head…as opposed to the notorious woman who would not stop anointing his feet (Luke 7:37)
• Like giving flowers today. I used to make sure that my new wife got flowers every so often to keep surprising her with happiness. Flowers are expensive and a dozen roses would look to her like I just threw out a bunch of money. But a single rose made her feel very special.
• The Lord spends freely on me so that I have no real needs.
YOU HAVE PLENTY FOR ME. HE GIVES SO MUCH THAT WE HAVE TO GIVE.
“…my cup overflows”
• He gives to us freely so that we can generously give to others.
• On one of my visits to Brazil to a Community Center that we founded to work with the very poor children there, we decided it would be cool to take the kids to lunch and we found a nice buffet. It really did not occur to me in the moment before we went that this was a VERY unusual situation. The little girl that I sponsor and love so much came in with me and sat at the table with us. In an orderly manner, we went up to the buffet and I let her get hers and I got mine. I watched as she piled more food on there than our whole table could eat. “Monaisa,” I asked, “can you eat all that?” and she said, “Oh yes.” Of course, she could not, but it was a nice experience. God has so much to give when we walk with him.
In His house…
Our days are forever better because of Him
“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life”
GOODNESS –
• Goodness is not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right over wrong. It is the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil and the choosing and following of all moral good.
MERCY –
• Mercy is compassion for the miserable.
FOLLOW ME …
• not precede me … not meet me … not prepare me …
• What is in your wake?
o I used to be able to tell everything that my son did while I was gone. It was really easy. I would look around the house and see the glasses where he drank.. hmmm some milk. It looks like he had a snack and did not eat quite all of it, but it is still right there where he was watching TV.
• When someone comes in behind you and talks to the people that you have talked to, do they see goodness and mercy?
HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED HOW CONTAGIOUS A SMILE IS?
• A boss’ attitude can affect everything!
In His house
We are His and included forever
“…and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live”
• Note this is not talking about Heaven or the after life…it is now…
1. Protection
o You are treated differently because of whose you are.
I went to a conference where there were a number of vendors. I was talking for some time to one man about his product and he was telling me how I could take a demo home and install it to see how it worked. If I had any problems, they had excellent customer service. Then his partner came up and greeted me by name and told the man I had been talking to who I was and what company I represented. Suddenly, this man was willing and anxious to personally bring his software over to my company and show me how easy it was to install and run.
We are treated differently because we are His.
2. Provision
o Moved back into Parents house after Seminary
3. Perspective
o Every family is different in how it operates…and we use that to see the world
o We are just sheep and he is our Shepherd..
Conclusion:
The one who loves us the most has asked us to live our lives on this earth as his children. If we dwell in his house, and allow everything here to be the tent that it is, then we will live a very different life. In one swing it will be peaceful, secure and a dangerous challenge to the enemy.
