Flourish: Planted in the House of the Lord
Text: Psalm 92
The house of God is prominent in the collection of the Psalms.
• “The house of the LORD” occurs 7 times
• “The LORD’s house” and “the house of the LORD our God” occur 1 time each.
• Three times Psalms references the “house of our God.”
• One time “the house of my God.”
• One time “the house of our God.”
• “Thy house” is mentioned eleven times.
Consider Psalm 27:4. Psalm 26:8. Psalm 65:4
There is very little about the average North American life that is planted. Our lives are exceedingly transient, mobile, and unsettled in almost every way. We change cities, states, and countries, streets, homes and neighborhoods, and jobs, careers, and companies.
People change acquaintances, best friends, and marriage partners, we even ask children to change parents!
In a final “spit in the all wise, all knowing face of God” some now change their God created gender.
Our text proclaims that the righteous will flourish because they are planted in the house of the LORD.
In Psalm 92, the LORD is the One who plants. He is the Planter.
• Verse 4 – You make me glad by your deeds, LORD.
• Verse 4 – I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
• Verse 5 – How great are your works, LORD.
Many of us do not view this correctly, to our detriment and gigantic loss!
We tend to say, “I have selected a church to attend,” when truthfully we should discover “into which church is God planting” me?
In the next several talks, we will be investigating “The Stability of Being Planted by God in the Local Church.”
Psalm 92 also suggests that the Planter selects the garden into which He plants you.
As a student of God’s gardening patterns, and as one of His under-gardeners, I can not tell you the pain the following sentences represent in the lives of dear friends:
• We got our feelings hurt and we uprooted our family from the church in which God had planted us and now…..
• We drifted from our roots in the local church and now……
• We never viewed church as “the planting of the LORD,” we participated when we were so moved, had our children participate when they wanted to, and basically went to what ever cool service was most attractive that weekend and now…
Contrast the tremendous pain of those experiences with the experiences of folks who practice the stability of being planted of the Lord in their local congregation and who then flourish beyond natural expectations.
LIFE Groups
Connecting with Each Other
1. What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
2. If you could be anywhere in the world, doing anything you like, where would you be and what would you be doing this Thanksgiving?
3. Have you thanked a US Veteran for their service to our country?
Digging Deeper into the Weekend Talk
1. What is the fiery passion in David’s heart in Psalm 27:4? What is a similar experience for people today?
2. How do we develop a Psalm 26:8 love for the local church?
3. What is a healthy response to Jesus’ love for the local church? Ephesians 5:25
Prayer
1. Please pray for the people and the needs in your LIFE Group.
2. Please pray for the friends you intend to invite to flourish in your local church.