"The Blessed House"
September 1, 2016
Now therefore may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, so that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing shall the house of Your servant be blessed forever. 2 Samuel 7:29
In the 1830s, when "Home Sweet Home" was published, it sold 300,000 copies in one year.
You remember the lyrics, don't you? It goes this way:
"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere, Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home. There's no place like home!"
Yes, home should be a special place. It should be our castle, our refuge from the problems and pains, the sorrows and sadnesses of this world. It ought to be that, but sometimes our homes can be placed under siege. Let's see, there are floods and tornadoes; there are termites, carpenter ants, snakes, spiders, squirrels and raccoons.
All of these things and many more can disrupt the tranquility of our homes.
If you doubt me, talk to Maureen Noble, a Canadian lady who lives in Tracy, New Brunswick.
Noble's home sits close to a sharp curve on Route 101. It's the curve which is the problem. Apparently, motorists don't take the warning sign seriously and approach that curve like they're driving the NASCAR circuit.
That's why Noble's home has been hit by cars no less than nine different times.
In an interview, Noble made two points:
1. It's frightening living in a home which is so frequently hit by cars. She says, "We're afraid to go out, because we never know what we'll find when we return."
2. She also says, "We'd be glad to move, but who would buy a house which has been clobbered so often?"
Now the odds are your house is not under attack by drivers who take turns too fast, but that doesn't mean your home hasn't been besieged. There are a great many spiritual forces out there that have made the destruction of the Christian household their prime priority. The end result has been this: for the world, the peace of the Christ-filled home is not something they desire or to which they aspire.
The devil and the world have blinded them to the joy that comes in having their sins forgiven and the happiness that comes to those who walk in the love of the Lord.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, "Oh, blest the house, whate'er befall, where Jesus Christ is all in all! Yea, if He were not dwelling there, how dark and poor and void it were! Oh, blest that house where faith ye find, and all within have set their mind, to trust their God and serve Him still, and do in all His holy will! Oh, blest the parents who give heed unto their children's foremost need, and weary not of care or cost! May none to them and heaven be lost! Blest such a house, it prospers well. In peace and joy the parents dwell, and in their children's lot is shown how richly God can bless His own. Then here will I and mine today a solemn covenant make and say: Though all the world forsake Thy Word, I and my house will serve the Lord!" (The Lutheran Hymnal, pg. 625). In Jesus' Name may it be so. Amen.
