NEXT GENERATION

 

Psalm 112, is a companion acrostic piece of literature.  Ezra who wrote this continues using the Hebrew Alphabet as a stepping stone for truths about God.  In Ps 111, he gave us 23 truths about God and now he wants his audience and readers to take it to the next step of actually applying these truths in their lives.  Another word we use for application is appropriation.  Bottom line truth is not real truth until it is applied in our everyday lives.  There are five truths we are going to look at this morning in the two verses of this psalm.

 

1.      Praise the Lord.   God has shown His faithfulness in the consistency of His creation.  We have all the resources we need right now deposited in our earth.  Even now with almost 8 billion people on the planet there are still enough resources to meet all our needs. 

 

a.      God is to be praised for who He is and what He has done.  He is to be praised for His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and salvation.  He is to be praised for His holiness, justice, kindness and continuous care in our lives.  He cares about the smallest details of our lives.  Even the hairs on our heads is counted.  Blonde 150,000, Brown 110,000, Black 100,000, Red 90,000.  Every second, your body produces 25 million new cells. That means in 1.5 seconds, you will have produced more cells than there are people in the Canada.  There is anywhere between 60,000-100,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body. If they were taken out and laid end-to-end, they would be long enough to travel around the world more than three times.  About 60% of your body is made up of water.  Pound for pound, your bones are stronger than steel.  A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support up to 18,000 pounds of weight .  Your brain though only 2% of the weight of your body uses 20% of the oxygen you breathe.  You are wonderfully and marvelously made.

b.      God is to be praised because He will supply all your needs of food, shelter, clothing and transportation.  Everyday there is something to praise God.  If you look for the blessings you will find them.  The problem is most of the time we are too busy or pre-occupied to not see them.

 

2.      Blessed are those who fear the Lord.  Simply put you are blessed because you respect God and hold him in high esteem.  Here are seven benefits when you fear the Lord.

 

a.      Deep Spiritual Knowledge. A God-fearing attitude is crucial for those who desire meaningful scriptural knowledge.

b.      Divine Wisdom.

c.      A Unique Weapon against Sin.

d.      The Mercy of God.

e.      Abundant Life.

f.       Protection for You and Your Children.

g.      Friendship with God.

 

3.      Who find great delight in his commands.  We all have a desire for God but it takes discipline that means taking our desire and consistently day by day reading the word and praying.  Going to church every week.  Discipline always leads to delight.  When you see things happen it motivates you.  We just came through the Olympics and we saw Canadian athletes 24 times mount the podium for medals.  This was a delight for them and us for all the discipline in their training which finally paid off.  You never become the best you can be without hard work, discipline, patience and consistency.  This is how you get great delight.  Abraham Lincoln said, “Discipline is choosing between that you want now and what you want most.”

 

a.      The center of this great delight is the word of God.  That is why Paul told Timothy to study the bible to show yourself, approved of God and be someone who presents the word with truth. 

b.      God has promises over 10000 of them for you.  They are yes and amen.  Just one promise a day applied will take 29.5 years.  It will take almost 30 years to apply one promise a day.  It is easy to start again for the next 29.5 years.  Two commands we must keep is telling others and loving people. 

 

4.      Their children will be mighty in the land.  I cannot emphasis household salvation enough.  Acts 16:31 says, that you and your household will be saved.  Prov 22:6, states, “Train a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.”  Wonderful promises.

 

Here are ten healthy ways to train your children.

 

a.      Show and tell. Teach children right from wrong with calm words and actions. ...

b.      Set limits.

c.      Give consequences and follow through.

d.      Hear them out.

e.      Give them your attention.

f.       Catch them being good.

g.      Know when not to respond.

h.      Be prepared for trouble.

i.       Re-direct behavior

j.       Call for time out or discipline.  Do this and God will bless you. Also have family devotions, be an example in consistent love and behavior.  You lead them to Christ by your actions more than your words.

 

5.      The generation of the upright will be blessed.  Let me give you a little legacy of from the Bible.  Enoch had Methuselah, Lamech and Noah.  Abraham had, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.  David had Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah and Jesus.  Zechariah and Elizabeth has John the Baptist, Mary had Jesus, James and Jude.  God wants to use of our children to bless the world.

 

a.      That has been Lois and my goal ever since we had children and now grandchildren.  We will be holy, consecrated, have good things be fruitful and have abundance.  Our children will be as well.  I love how Isaac learned from his father and he saw a 100 fold blessing in a time of famine. 

b.      Now to be blessed also means we have a responsibility to make sure those around us receive from our abundance.  Paul says that which I receive I pass unto you.  James tells us to give when we have the opportunity.  The widow who gave two coins is a great example.  She gave sacrificially.  The reason many people face physical and spiritual poverty is because they have not learn to be a cheerful giver and also help others.  I close with the lesson of Matt 25, where the King rewards each person according to what they have done.  ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  They will ask when did we see you like this and he will reply when you did it to the least of these.  Mother Theresa calls that Jesus in his distressing disguise.