OASIS POTTERLIGHT CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL
OCCASION: Sunday Service, Sermon
THEME: My Year Of Greater Expectations
SUBJECT: Keys To Greater Expectations
PREACHER: Rev. (Prophet) Rudolf E. Y. Mensah
DATE: Sunday, January 9th, 2022
TEXT: Psalm 128:1-6, NIV: "...Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him." You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Yes, this will be a blessing for the man who fears the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children's children-- peace be on Israel.
The book of Psalms is the book of wisdom. This wisdom book has released two great keys that will help us to unlock greater expectations from God in this new year. So many blessings will be poured upon us such as the showers of blessings. We are to expect God's abundance of blessings that will surprise us beyond our imaginations if we go buy the wise sayings of this book of wisdom.
If there is anything to wish for or to be desired in life, it is to be the type of person who is God-fearing. One that is God-fearing is one whose ways pleases the Lord.
Nothing provokes the blessings of God than "fear of God and walks in His ways". Nothing attracts blessings to us than fearing the Almighty and living in obedience to His will.
Fearing God and walking in obedience to His will is the most important thing ever to be desired and pursued in life.
The question is who doesn’t want a happy home? Happy and god-fearing homes are an essential part of building God’s kingdom here on earth. Everyone wants to be happy. Few people are willing to follow God’s way to get there. The world thinks being a Christian takes away your joy. They couldn’t be more wrong. The greatest joys in life come from knowing God and living under his blessing. And that, in a nutshell, is what Psalm 128 is all about.
I. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR THE LORD
To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of God so that you run away from him. Rather it means to be in awe of God’s majesty so that you approach him with great reverence and respect. It is to put God first in your life.
Fearing the Lord means to be in reverent awe of His holiness, to give Him complete reverence and to honour Him as supreme ruler and Creator of the universe in beauty, purity, power and splendour.
when the psalm writer reflects on God as Creator, he says: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps 33:8-9).
For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is the reverence of God.
Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.
II. WHO ARE THOSE WHO FEARS THE LORD
According to the Psalmist, those who fear the Lord are those who walk in God’s ways. Walking with God means moving alongside God in faith, trust and obedience as you pass through your life's journey. For the most part, focusing on God and following His lead will keep you on the right path.
There are several people described as “walking with God” in the Bible, beginning with Enoch in Genesis 5:24. Noah is also described as “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9).
Micah 6:8 gives us a glimpse into God’s desire for us: "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Walking with God is not an activity reserved for a select few. God desires all of His children to walk with Him.
When we walk with the Lord, He becomes our heart’s greatest desire. Knowing Him, hearing His voice, sharing our hearts with Him, and seeking to please Him become our all-consuming focus. He becomes everything to us. Walking with God requires letting go of anything that would be a distraction. When the Bible speaks of "walking," it often refers to a lifestyle.
Just as walking with a close friend requires saying "no" to many other things, so walking with God requires letting go of anything that would be a distraction.
Walking with God also means we cannot also walk with evil people as companions (Psalm 1:1-3). We choose the narrow road over the broad way to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). We don’t live to please our sinful flesh (Romans 13:14). We seek to eliminate from our lives everything that does not enhance our walk with Him (Hebrews 12:2).
We walk worthy of the Lord by bearing fruit in every good work (Col. 1:10). Good works are anything done in faith for the good of others and the glory of God. It's serving our neighbours with the humility and love of Christ.
Jesus said something similar in John 14:21: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)
Simply put, “fearing” the Lord has a strong connection to obedience to God’s will.
Those Israelites who obeyed God by “fearing” Him, walking in His ways, and finding delight in His commands, were declared “blessed.” (Ps. 112:1, 115:13, 128:1)
These blessings remain intact for those today who will cultivate a “fear of the Lord” in their daily lives.
III. THE RECIPIENTS OF GOD'S BLESSINGS
God has blessed us all with life. Life is precious and we can say it is the most precious gift of blessing that the eternal creator and loving Father has given to every man born to the world in living. He has also given us so many blessings by mandate of creation whether we serve Him or not.
An example is a sunshine and the rain that we enjoy.
But certain blessings of God is not for everybody to access. They are not for a certain class of people but purposely reserved for a certain class of people. The Psalmist was very exact with us. They are for those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways. However, there are no exceptions here. If you will fear God in your life and walk in his ways, you will be blessed.
The psalmist spreads further to share specific examples of the ways God will bless us as we fear Him and walk in His ways. First of all, God will bless your work. Look at verse 2: “You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” (Psalm 128:2) God’s promise to bless your work is most striking when you remember that God placed a curse upon human work and labour after Adam and Eve sinned back in the Garden of Eden.
Secondly, he will bless your marriage. Look at verse 3: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house.” (Psalm 128:3a) This speaks of both fruitfulness and faithfulness. The picture here is of a beautiful vine that is thriving, flourishing, fruitful and productive.
Marriage is one of God’s great blessings in life. Proverbs 18:22 says: “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord.” (Proverbs 18:22) We could also turn that around and say: “She who finds a husband also finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord.”
Marriage is a blessing from God, but God also wants to bless your marriage. Husbands and wives, how you live your life have a huge impact on whether you will know God’s blessing in your marriage. Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
And then thirdly, God will bless your family. Look at verse 3 again: “Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.” (Psalm 128:3b) The olive tree is a basic part of agriculture in Israel. In the Bible, it is also a picture of productivity and blessing. For example, we read in Isaiah 52:8: “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.” (Isaiah 52:8)
When you sit down to eat with your family, your children are the hope and promise of the future sitting around your table. Psalm 144:12 offers a similar image when it says: “Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.” (Psalm 144:12)
In conclusion, it takes the keys of reverencing God and walking in obedience to Him to access greater expectations from Him this year. Enjoy a fruitful and blessed year ahead as you choose to Fear the Lord and walk in a way that is pleasing to Him. Shalom Aleichem!
