Communauté et discipulat

The Sacred Honor of Marriage (2sam 6:16-23)

2012.05.20Rev. Eddie Byun

A wife's honor begins in her heart and shows in her words. Michael's contempt for David shows how a wife can undermine her husband, while God calls wives to strengthen his calling as helpers.

A woman of virtue is worth more than gold

Proverbs 31:10 says an excellent wife is far more precious than jewels. This excellence means a woman of strength and great value, and deep in every godly heart is the desire to be virtuous, noble, and beautiful from the inside out. Yet our sinful nature and the foolish wisdom of the world pull us toward lesser things. When marriages return to the goals set out in God's Word, they can be strengthened, saved, and secured again. This calling starts in the heart long before it shows in words or actions.

Respect begins in the heart, not in the husband's performance (16-17)

When the ark came into the city of David, Michael looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord. David was honoring God, doing the work of a king, and blessing all the people with bread, meat, and raisins, yet she despised him in her heart. She had a man after God's own heart as her husband, and still she was disconnected from his work, his worship, and his leadership. Respect is not only a response to someone who deserves it; it begins with the condition of our own hearts, and wives must begin there.

Criticism and cutting down shut a husband's heart (20-23)

When David returned home to bless his household, Michael met him with contempt and mockery. Nothing shuts down a man's emotions more, or sends him further away, than a home filled with criticism, complaining, and cutting down. The text refers to her three times as Saul's daughter rather than David's wife, and it ends with her having no child to the day of her death. The bareness in her womb reflects the bareness in her worship. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, and the words we scatter in our homes are the seeds that bear fruit.

A wife strengthens her husband's calling

Genesis 2:18 says God made the wife as a helper fit for man, and this word describes one who provides what is lacking and does what a man cannot do alone. Helper is never a negative term in Scripture, and God himself is called a helper many times. Men and women have equal value, though their roles and functions differ. Quoting John Piper, the heart of mature femininity is a disposition to affirm, receive, and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men. Behind every great man there is a great woman who desires his success and strengthens him when he grows weak.

Honor womanhood as God made it

Three young daughters at a dinner had already learned from their father that boys are better, and that lie breaks my heart. Estimates say over 100 million girls have been killed, abandoned, or aborted within our generation, and many women struggle with self-hatred because they were born female. Korea changed within one generation, and so can we. To honor women does not mean saying they are just like men; it means honoring the unique, needed, and valuable purpose God gave each woman, because in His wisdom He made her female on purpose.

Apply to Life

  • Let us examine our hearts and let our attitude toward our spouses be shaped by respect.
  • Let us speak words that build up our husbands rather than criticize and cut them down.
  • Let us strengthen our husbands' callings by affirming their work, their worship, and their leadership.
  • Let us honor the unique and valuable purpose God has given to every woman.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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