Honouring Parents

Pr Lee Hock Cheng

13-05-2018

Deuteronomy 5:16 New King James Version (NKJV)

16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lordyour God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

1) We are all childen. We all have parents.

2) This commandment comes with a promise.

3) God gives this commandment a special honour.

The Ten Commandments:

1) Our duty towards our God

2) Our duty towards mankind

The fifth commandment is about honouring and obeying our parents, and honouring and obeying God.

How do we as adults show honour to our parents?

It is a lifelong commandment.

What about parents that are abusive, that are difficult, that are not even there anymore?

God puts this commandment there for a reason.

What is this word "honour" all about?

"Honour" refers to a weight with significance.

There is a great attachment of worth and value.

Honour is an attitude accompanied by actions that says to our parents that they are worthy and have value.

All of us have parents.

Like it or not, you can change your parents.

Honour is an attitude; it is not mere words.

2 Samuel 9 New King James Version (NKJV)

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

2 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

3 Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”

4 So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

5 Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”

9 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10 You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table[a] like one of the king’s sons.” 12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 13 So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

There is so much animosity that Saul had against David.

But David said he wanted to honour Saul.

Four areas that we can learn from 2 Samuel 9:1-13:

1) Forgiveness.

David was able to forgive Saul, Jonathan and his grandson.

Today there is many non-perfect parents--parents who have failed many times.

And we have so much bitterness in us.

David came to a place where he released unforgiveness.

To honour our parents is by extending grace and honour to them so that we can rightfully fulfill the fifth commandment.

We all have expectations. How we want our parents to be might not be what we expect them to be.

But King David released that honour. 

2) Appreciate or acknowledge them publicly or privately.

King David acknowledge Mephibosheth publicly.

Parents like to know that they have impacted you with their lives. 

And we need to tell them that.

3) Support them, not only financially, but also with care and love.

See them as human beings.

They sacrificed a lot when they were younger.

Psalm 71:9 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

David feared the isolation.

Mark 7:9-13 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’;[a] and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’[b] 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

4) Reflect God's image of kindness.

When we are kind to one another, we are reflecting God.

God sees us differently. He sees the disabilities of people and through the disabilities and sees us as human beings.

Kindness breaks barriers and takes us to the next level to impact others.

How kind are we to our parents?

What we sow, we will reap one day.

When you father those who do not know the Father's love, people will recognise who God is.