HAPPY PEOPLE
Psalm 144:11-15 NKJV
11 Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood—
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth;
That our daughters may be as pillars,
Sculptured in palace style;
13 That our barns may be full,
Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our fields;
14 That our oxen may be well laden;
That there be no breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.
15 Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
There is an old adage that we find what we look for. If you look for the negative, you'll have no problems finding the negative in our world. If you look for the good, you'll find that also. I heard a pastor once say, "Look for evidences of God's presence, not His absence."
So when it comes to God's ability and willingness to bless, I am looking for His goodness, not for reasons why He does not bless His people. I believe David regularly stayed in a state of looking for the blessings. In our Psalm for today, David is asking for deliverance from wicked people. And David is asking for God's blessings. David does not appear confused about who is lying and destroying and who is blessing and causing increase.
Rescue me and deliver me is David's prayer in verse 11. Rescue me and deliver me from the lying and false ways. David is not attributing the problems to God; he is asking for deliverance from God. And when deliverance comes, then God's blessings come into play.
Blessings upon the children. Children that are beautiful and reach full age. Growing plants and palace pillars are the metaphors used to describe God's hand upon children. In a day when medical help was not nearly as advanced as our day, having strong, healthy children was even more of a blessing.
Barns that are filled with produce. In the day when an empty barn was much more problematic than our day, this was big. An empty barn was not rectified by a quick run to the HEB. An empty barn meant people were going to be hungry. A full barn meant that God had blessed the crops.
And sheep that were having many baby sheeps. Not a word, I know, but I wanted to highlight that the blessings of God impacted the livelihood of the people. If you were raising sheep, you wanted them to multiply in a big way. David is asking for tens of thousands of sheep.
That our oxen would bear without mishap and loss. Oxen were the primary farm equipment of that day. Blessings would include oxen having little oxen without loss. For your oxen to multiply was a huge blessing.
And God's blessings also included safety for the people. Remember that David was asking for deliverance from enemies, so no outcry in the streets meant that all was well. People screaming in the streets was an indicator that something was bad and wrong.
With all these good things going on, it produces happy or blessed people. We use the word blessed so much in church circles that it may have diminished its meaning to an extent. Happy are the people who have the Lord for their God. Jesus said that the thief would come to steal, kill, and destroy. But He came that we might have life. Jesus stated what David knew. Blessings come from God.