H.H Pope Tawadros II preached his weakly sermon at Wednesday meeting this evening from the Papal residence in Cairo. It was aired exclusively through Cristian’s channels and C.O.C channel that is affiliated to the church’s media center via internet without audience.
The sermon was titled by “Trust that the punishment for evil is coming” as a part of his series of musings that H.H presents threw out Psalm 37, as H.H talked about that God deal with the wicked in the end and that their injustice to the righteous does not last forever.
H.H started from the beginning of September a new serious of sermons in his weekly Wednesday’s meeting throw out Psalm 37 titled by “Lessons of Wisdom” and the “ Trust that the punishment for evil is coming ” subject is the ninth lesson in this serious.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen. May His grace and mercy rest upon us, from now and forevermore. Amen.
Sermon Highlights:
~ The blessing of the LORD is far greater than any material riches.
~ The blessing of the LORD is indefinable but we know it when we notice and feel it.
4 Points about the blessing of the LORD:
1-The blessing dwells in the house of the righteous and it is real and better than many riches
2-The blessing does not dwell in the house of the wicked
3-The blessing also encompasses your heavenly inheritance (applies to your eternal life)
4-The blessing doesn’t mean we will not have troubles, but it helps us make it through times of trouble
~ Review of Psalm 37 wisdom lessons:
1-Do not fret over evildoers – do not be jealous or envious over them, and he repeats this lesson three times
2-Trust in the LORD
3-Dwell in the land
4-Guard the faithfulness
5-Delight in the LORD
6-Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him – wait patiently on the LORD, wait for Him
7-Cease from anger
8-Be meek
9-Trust that wickedness will be punished
10- The blessing of the LORD enriches (today’s lesson)
Introduction
We continue our contemplations from Psalm 37, a Psalm of the prophet David that is filled with wisdom; lessons by which we can live. As I have previously told you, this Psalm is composed of 40 verses and the number 40 is one of the numbers we call “perfect” or “complete.” Forty is equal to 4 times 10. Four are the directions of the Earth and ten is a number of perfection, and so the forty verses imply that we live in perfection and complete wisdom in all directions of life.
This Psalm offers us a complete picture or glimpse into a life of wisdom. It necessitates that you read it daily, that you apply its teachings in your daily life, and that you measure yourself against it when you are making your confessions, to see how much of this Psalm’s wisdom you are [actually] attaining.
We divided the Psalm into three sections. From the first section – the first 11 verses – we extracted eight wisdom lessons, and from the second section we will take another two wisdom lessons. Last week our lesson was “trust that wickedness will be punished; will rebound back to its sender.” Today’s lesson is our 10th lesson and it is a very nice one, it teaches us that it is the blessing of the LORD that maketh one rich or enriches our lives.
And so we find that after the Psalmist spoke the tough words against the wicked in the previous verses, in today’s section he speaks very calmly, bringing us the joyful news that the blessing of the LORD enriches our lives. Today’s section of Scripture – which is the second section of Psalm 37 – begins in verse 12 and goes through verse 20. Let us read the Scripture.
Psalm 37
12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13The LORD laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.
14The wicked have drawn (sharpened) the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct.
15Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
16A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.
17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds (helps) the righteous.
18The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever.
19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
The grace of God the Father be with us all. Amen.
Wisdom Lesson #10: The Blessing of the LORD enriches
The blessing of the LORD enriches a person’s life, and the word “blessing” is one of those very curious and marvelous words because “the blessing” is not something we can sense with our five senses. We cannot touch blessedness with our hands nor can we see it with our eyes, but we can sense it, we can feel it, we can experience it.
For example, sometimes the LORD will place just a little bit of money in your hands, but with the LORD’s blessing upon it, with that little bit of money, you can end up raising your children all the way to adulthood! And then you turn back you wonder, “How was I ever able to raise these kids on such little money?” It doesn’t make sense if you count the money literally, it did not seem to be enough, but when you look at it from the lens of the LORD’s having blessed it, you discover that the LORD’s blessing turned the little into a lot.
Listen to what he says: “16 A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.” And here I want to bring your attention to notice that all of the Holy Bible’s verses and statements are Divine Laws and Principles, and these Laws are offered to us in order to help us understand life.
The Bible offers us the conclusions and summaries [necessary for] human life, so when he tells us, “16 A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked,” he is giving us a comparison to help us understand a Divine Principle. On the one hand you have the little, but that apparent little has the LORD’s blessing upon it, while on the other hand you have a greater amount, but it lacks the LORD’s blessing, and the better portion is the former. This is a Divine Law.
Also, notice that while humans consider money to be the very core of life, but money stands useless in the face of many situations. For example, with money I can purchase medication, but I cannot use it to purchase good health, or I can use money to purchase a bed, the best bed ever, but I cannot use it to purchase good sleep.
Do you know that there is now a branch of medical that is dedicated to sleep? Oh yes, it is called “the science of sleep.” It has become its own specialization because some people are not able to sleep. And in this branch of medical science they conduct research on the causes and diseases of insomnia (inability to sleep) and they run many experiments and so on, but no matter how much money they spend on it, some people just cannot fall asleep.
In and of itself, sleep is a blessing. In and of itself, a person’s good health is a blessing, and add to that many other simple things that are great blessings. And considering that we are in the time of Covid, we may have all heard or read of the story of the billionaire who had innumerable riches but when he contracted Covid and they brought him breathing devices, they did not work for him [in time] and he died. His daughter later said, “His entire life he breathed air freely, for free, but when he got to a point where he needed artificial air by the aid of breathing machines, he was not able to attain it and his life ended.” Nor the machines nor his money, nothing could help him in this situation. And so once again we see that, “16 A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.” Never doubt this truth; this is a Divine Law.
The Blessing of the LORD is a Divine gift
Let us now study and examine the lesson of “the blessing of the LORD enriches.” The first thing you should place before you – that is, if you are among the righteous – is that the little you may have is far better than the riches of the wicked. “The blessing” is a Divine gift that causes the little that you have to become very abundant.
And of course I cannot describe or define what “the blessing” is literally or physically; “the blessing” is a heavenly concept, it is to be understood spiritually. “The blessing” is a Heavenly gift, for example, the LORD blesses your children, blesses your home, blesses your relationships, blesses your family … to give you a beautiful and peaceful family. These are all blessings that the LORD gives.
1-The blessing of the LORD enriches (multiplies, makes abundant and sufficient)
In order for us to better understand “the blessing” of the LORD, let us look at the story of the feeding of the multitudes. Five loaves and two fish seem like a very small amount of food, but when we put them in the LORD’s Hands they become filled with blessing. How does this happen? I don’t know, but the disciples were then able to offer this food to the multitudes and it fed and satiated them.
And in order that the distribution be well-ordered, they sat them in groups of fifty (fifty by fifty), so that no one would later say, “I was not fed.” And the 5,000 people did not only eat but they ate until they were satisfied! And notice that during those days only the men were counted – not the women and children – based on the fact that it was only the men who went to war. So the 5,000 who were counted were just the men, and we can assume that there were as many women and as many children, and so we are talking about thousands and thousands of people here, and they all ate, because as I told you, the little that the righteous have – the few loaves and fish that this small, innocent child had (“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish” (Jn 6:9)) – when it was touched by the Hand of God, it was increased, multiplied, abounded, and became sufficient to feed these many multitudes of people.
Not only did they eat but they ate to satisfaction, and not only that, but there were even fragments leftover! And they placed the leftovers in baskets and gathered them because the LORD wanted to teach them two additional lessons: to leave the place you are in a clean state, even if it is – as they were in – a desert, and the other lesson is that from your fragments, someone else can benefit.
Make it your aim to have the LORD’s blessing; to have the LORD’s blessing be upon your home and upon the members of your family. A person who is greedy or wicked or walks a crooked path, or, or, or, he will not experience the blessing of the LORD, and even if he has great riches, they are the riches of the wicked and so they may completely disappear from him or her in the blink of an eye.
One of the lessons from the Book of Proverbs tells us, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble” (Prov 15:16), and so this is the first point about the blessing of the LORD, it makes rich.
2-The blessing of the LORD does not dwell in the house of the wicked
“The blessing” does not abide or dwell in the house of the wicked, not at all; it cannot be found there. “The blessing,” in its fullness, is not found in the house of the wicked, and here he tells us why not: “17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken.” The one who had thought that his own strength or his own house were sufficiently strong, or whoever thought that this thing or the other was his source of strength, all of that will be broken and no longer remain standing, “but the LORD upholds (helps) the righteous.” And so this is another very important point, that the strength of the wicked will eventually fail and they will end up weak and living a disempowered life.
In the first half of his life, the apostle Paul was known as Saul, and as Saul, he lived far from the LORD and persecuted the Church of God, so much so that the mere mention of his name, “Saul,” would terrify people. And when Saul witnessed the stoning of Stephen and discovered that there were Christians, he began to attack them and pursued them all the way to Damascus.
And it was on the road to Damascus that Christ appeared to him, and Saul asked Christ, “‘Who are You Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’” (Acts 9:5). And we love Saul’s immediate response, he asks, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). And it is here that Saul begins to transition from the state of wickedness and enter into the realm of the LORD’s blessing. The blessing of the LORD does not dwell in the house of the wicked.
Listen to what the apostle Paul later tells us in the Epistle to the Philippians, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13), yes, because it is just as the prophet David tells us here in Psalm 37, “the LORD upholds (helps) the righteous.” Yes, the LORD is the One who upholds, the One who helps, the One who strengthens.
“I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” And we hear that despite Paul’s being afflicted with a disease – and different people speculate different things about what this disease may have been … some say it was a disease in his eyes, others say it was an illness to do with his back, others say it was a skin disease, but regardless of what it may have been, he had a physical weakness, and yet, despite that this physical weakness caused him much trouble, he was still able to say things like, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me,” and “I have been given an abundance [of surpassingly great revelations]” (cf. 2 Cor 12:7), and “God’s grace is sufficient for me and is made perfect in my weakness” (cf. 2 Cor 12:9), and we hear that although St. Paul the apostle lived only the second half of his life with Christ, yet he accomplished [no less] than what many other evangelists and heroes do in the realm of preaching and ministry work.
Another example for you to keep in mind so that you may remember that the blessing of the LORD does not dwell in the home of the wicked is found in the story of the conquering of Jericho. When Achan son of Carmi laid his hand to and took something that had been devoted to God, God said, “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you” (Josh 7:13). When a forbidden thing was found in their midst, the blessing was removed from them and they were defeated by a small town called Ai, and so beware, beware, because the blessing does not come to the house of the wicked.
3-The blessing also applies to your eternal life
The third point is that “the blessing” does not only apply to financial, physical, earthly, and materialistic matters, but the blessing also applies to the heavenly inheritance. We see this in verse 18 where he says: “18The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever.” And so the blessing does not just apply to a person’s life here on earth, but it continues on with him, even to his heavenly life.
“18The LORD knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever.” The LORD knows those who walk rightly, those who live a completely righteous life, and when a person lives in this way, he or she will have an inheritance in heaven. Oftentimes when we bid a person farewell at their passing, we have an inner assurance that this person is going straight to heaven because of how they lived their life here on earth. Their earthly life stands witness for them, that the blessing was at work in them and was present with them.
And I want you to know that some people are so filled with the blessing that it is transmitted even to the physical things they use or touch. I remember a story where a lady requested to have anything that had belonged to one of the saint fathers … this is a very old story, maybe 50 years or more. She took something of his that was very simple, maybe one of his handkerchiefs, but upon taking this handkerchief, the blessing came upon her house, upon her life, and upon her children. And so God, the LORD, knows the days of the upright, He knows those who lived perfectly and righteously, and the blessing they attain extends to those around them.
To this day we visit our monasteries and we have the relics of those who lived perfect lives, the righteous ones, and just by being around or interacting with the relics of these saints, we feel a special grace and a special blessing. Another way we experience “the blessing” is when we write down on a piece of paper the names of people we want prayed for and giving it to Abouna to pray for them on the altar; the blessing is attained.
Another example is when a blessed priest-father pays you a personal visit in your home, and you feel as though Christ Himself has visited you and left a blessing in the home; you will even say things like, “Today is a blessed day, a good day.” Another example is after you have interacted with a certain person and you leave saying, “This person gave me a charge of positive energy,” and of course the opposite is true of our interactions with the wicked.
And so, I cannot explain what “the blessing” is but it is a powerful feeling, and we know it when we are experiencing it.
So far I have told you that:
1-The blessing dwells in the house of the righteous and it is real and better than many riches.
2-The blessing does not dwell in the house of the wicked.
3-The blessing also encompasses the heavenly inheritance.
And now another point …
4-The blessing helps us make it through times of trouble
And here I want to tell you the fourth point about the blessing, that just because a person has the blessing, this does not mean that their life on Earth will be problem-free; Christ even told us that “in this world you will have trouble” (Jn 16:33), and so troubles are natural and to be expected.
However, the prophet David here says, “19They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.” And so the point is that God blesses and covers people as they go through times of trouble, as they go through times of poverty. During times of trouble, God will cover and protect a person so that they will not suffer shame, and during times of poverty or famine, God will bless the person with satisfaction so that he or she will be satiated even with the least amount of food.
The apostle Paul tells us, “But we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:3-4). Paul would say that he rejoices and derives confidence in knowing that the LORD’s blessing is with him, and that this blessing gives him the strength to be patient and the ability to make it through the tough times or the times of having little, as we see with some families who are low on finances and are trying to make their limited income cover their expenses and meet their needs.
When a person is facing a challenging situation, the blessing of the LORD works by way of giving that person the patience to go through it. This patience will produce hope so that the person will have hope that tomorrow will be better, and this hope will not be put to shame.
We can also revisit the Old Testament story of the widow of Zarephath and her son. She hardly had anything at all, just enough for one small meal. When Elijah asked her to prepare him some food, her response was, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die” (1 Kg 17:12).
She was planning to prepare the little food she had, eat it, and die, but we later learn that this entire story was a lesson on “the blessing,” and how when Elijah the prophet blessed her home, the blessing came upon it so that the oil and the flour did not run out, despite that they were going through a time where they were surrounded by famine. And so we see that the blessing of the LORD here came in the form of God’s supporting a person during times of famine or hunger; God stands by people and supports and helps them.
And so for a person to have the blessing of the LORD is of [far] greater benefit than to have the riches of the wicked, for example, some countries or people will have things stored up for times of trouble and they will say, “We have enough to last for two months,” but God can bless even that and make it last for three months. How? How does this happen? There is no explanation for it.
And I want to bring your attention to something very unique about our [land of] Egypt. Because the LORD Christ and the holy family came to Egypt and travelled all over her land – from east to west and north to south, going to many places and staying in Egypt for more than three years – they granted a special blessing to the land of Egypt so that this land is indeed blessed. And when you look at the abundance that is in Egypt – and I’m not talking about money now, I’m talking about the fruitfulness and the blessing of the LORD’s covering and watchfulness over this land, so much so that Egypt is often referred to as “el-Mah’roosa,” which means, “the protected one,” and she truly is protected in the hand of God. And so this is another important point to place before us.
The Book tells us, “20But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.” The “splendor of the meadows” is referring to the grasses that either wilt or wither in the heat of the sun, or, are consumed by the animals that graze. “17 but the LORD upholds (helps) the righteous. 18The LORD knows the days of the upright,” and that is why when we pray in our many prayers, we ask for the LORD’s blessing, saying,
“LORD, bless our home. LORD, bless our land. LORD, bless our service-ministry.”
And when we make the sign of the cross, it is a sign of invocation or invitation for the blessing. When we make the sign of the cross, whether in our Liturgical or personal prayers or in our daily lives in general, for example, when we are about to begin a new task or work or at the start of a meal, it is a way to invoke the blessing and the Presence of God … for the LORD to bless the food we are about to eat, for example.
Conclusion and Blessing
The blessing of the LORD enriches. This is one of the wisdom lessons. A person who lives wisely never feels that that they are lacking anything or are in need of anything, but rather, they always have a sense of satisfaction and fullness. This is the 10th wisdom lesson: the blessing of the LORD maketh rich (enriches), and we get it from Psalm 37, verses 16-20.
We will continue in future meetings with additional wisdom lessons from Psalm 37, but as I have told you before, please practice reading this psalm with awareness. Try to understand it. When you read it, pause, close your eyes, and remember some of the good things the LORD has done with you in your life, and recall to your memory the good things that God does with you and toward you every day.
Christ bless you with every spiritual blessing. To our God be all the glory and honor, from now and forevermore. Amen.
This page is also available in: العربية