PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 291: What is the Answer? Part 2
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 291
: What is the Answer? Part 2
We continue discussing the question of whether we do what is right, or what makes us happy? What does the Bible have to say?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re in our second session of the premise, “We do that which is right, rather than that which makes us happy.” Last session we were talking about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We were talking about how the original intent of our Founding Fathers was not so much to pursue that which makes us feel happy, but it was about property rights, not only of home and land, but also of our person. It was about virtue and raising it to a greater height than just shallow happiness.
In fact, I should mention that our First and our Fourteenth Amendments both have the words, “life, liberty, and property.” They are two times written in the Bill of Rights. I wanted to share that. Plus, recently, on a Sunday evening, we went through the Biblical Citizenship course. It turned out to be so great. We learned so much.
One night, it was talking about how our Founding Fathers believed that our homes are meant to be our castles. In fact, the man of the home is meant to be the commanding officer of his castle. He is to protect his castle. I’ll read you a couple of quotes, because I love these quotes. It reminds me of the phrase, “life, liberty, and property,” although now we have “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
This quote is by James Wilson. He says: “The great natural law of self-preservation cannot be repealed or superseded or suspended by any human institution. The right of the citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves shall not be questioned. Every man’s house is deemed by the law to be his castle, and the law invests him with the power, and places on him the duty, of the commanding officer of his house. Every man’s house is his castle, and if anyone be robbed of it, it shall be esteemed his own default and negligence.” Therefore, they had to protect their castle.
Another man, James Otis, was considered a father to our Founding Fathers. He wrote a similar thing: “I will, to my dying day, oppose with all the prayers, powers, and faculties God has given me all such instruments of slavery and villainy as this writ of insistence is. It is the worst instrument of arbitrary power, and it is destructive of liberty and the fundamental principles of law. One of the most essential rites is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle.
“But these writs totally annihilate this right. It is a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer who may reign secure in his petty tyranny and spread terror and dissolution around him. Both reason and the Constitution are against such writs.” They lawed against them in stating that every man’s home is his castle. I do love that. I hope you see your home as your castle, and your husband, guarding, watching over that castle, and protecting it.
Last time, we talked about how God always does that which is right. Now we’re up to . . .
No. 4. GOD ALWAYS DOES THAT WHICH IS RIGHT
Because God always does that which is right, He wants us to do that which is right. Let’s see an example here.
2 Chronicles 31:20 is about Hezekiah: “Hezekiah . . . wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.” That means, “in the presence of the Lord.”
I love this Scripture. There are three challenges here, not just one to do that which is right. But this time there are THREE challenges. Hezekiah did that which was GOOD, and that which was RIGHT, and that which was TRUTH. Let’s look at it a little more closely, because I think this is a wonderful Scripture to emulate. It’s a wonderful Scripture to read to your children and give them this vision of doing this in their lives; to always make the decision to do what is good, and right, and truth, knowing they’re doing it in the presence of the Lord.
The word “good” is a very common word in Israel. Tov just means “good.” Well, I shouldn’t say it “just” means good, because although it’s just this little word, and it’s used all the time, it’s an amazing word. It has so many meanings.
When you look it up in a Hebrew lexicon and listen to all the descriptions of what it means, it means, “good, pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, sound, cheerful, kind, correct, righteous, virtuous, happiness, moral goodness.” That’s a lot of wonderful descriptions, all contained in this word. I hope we can try to put all those into practice!
And then it has the word “right,” which is yashar. I’m reminding you that this word means, “straight, right, upright, level, just, righteous, pleasing.” Remember, we sometimes use this word in our language today.
“The straight and narrow way,”
“standing straight and tall,”
“straight from the shoulder,”
“straight shooter,”
“go straight,”
“straighten up.”
We even have Scriptures using this word.
Psalm 5:8: “Lead me, O LORD, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face.”
Isaiah 40:3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Isaiah 45:2: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.”
Proverbs 4:25: “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.”
Then we have the word “truth.” The Hebrew word emet, meaning, “faithfulness, reliable, sure, stable, true, divine instruction.” My, that is so wonderful. What a wonderful way to live, in goodness, and in rightness, and in truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” God is truth. Jesus is truth. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. Truth is the way of the kingdom of God.
Oh, ladies, we are living in a world of deception. Let’s be those who stand on the truth, who seek the truth, who lead our children in the truth! The truth is found in the Word. It’s not found out in our society. It’s not found in our schools and in our universities and colleges. It’s not found in our media. It’s only found in God’s living and eternal Word. We’ve got to live in it and get this truth. Amen? I think it would be a great idea to share this verse with your children. Encourage them to live in these character qualities.
Ezekiel 18:5 & 9: “But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right . . . hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.”
The next point . . .
No. 5. GOD’S WORD IS RIGHT
Nehemiah 9:13: “You gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and made known unto them Thy holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Thy servant.” Do you notice three descriptions again about God’s commandments? They are right, they are true, and they are good.
Do you remember how many commandments there are in the Torah? That’s the first five books of the Old Testament. Anyone remember? Yes, it’s 613! 613 laws. Well, that’s a lot, isn’t it? That’s a good question for a quiz. Do you ever have quizzes in your family? We often have quizzes here on the Hilltop. Many times at our Family Camps we have quizzes.
I love to get quizzes ready with Bible knowledge and general knowledge, and wow! It’s such a great way to learn. Try and do a quiz for your family sometime. It’s good if you have enough people. Bring in some other families, and you can have sides, so you can have a bit of competition. That makes it all exciting.
Now let’s turn to Psalm 19. This beautiful passage here describing God’s Word: Psalm 19:7-11: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are RIGHT, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”
I love that passage. Don’t you? That’s a good passage for your children to memorize, about God’s wonderful work, which is right. Here are a few more Scriptures.
Psalm 33:4: “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.”
Psalm 111:7-8: “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” That’s rightness. It’s the word yashar.
Psalm 119:128: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” Did you notice? “I esteem,” the Psalmist said, “all thy precepts.” Every one of them. Not just one or two. Not just the ones that suit us. No, every one of them! Every word is for us. Every word.
When I’m reading the Word of God, I read every word personally, for me. That’s how He wants us to read it. And not only all His precepts but concerning all things. That’s talking about a biblical worldview. Some people will say, “Well, I believe that Jesus died for me. He was buried and rose again the third day.” They understand the gospel. They are saved, and they are born again, but many times, their brains, their minds, have not yet caught up with their hearts which have been made anew.
When our hearts are born again, we are then meant to renew our minds, so that our minds will think God’s thoughts, think His Word instead of thinking what is all around us. It’s concerning all things. Every subject in the whole of the world, we have to know God’s understanding about it, His worldview about it. It’s all there in the Word. We can find His answer on everything if we will only search.
It’s such an exciting thing to do, and you can do it with your family. If they ask a question, and you don’t know the answer, well, say, “Let’s search it out together!” Go to a concordance and find all the Scriptures on that subject. Read them all. Go to an app where you can find out what it actually means in the Hebrew and the Greek.
Find out what God says so that you know His mind, and you esteem His plan to be right concerning all things. Amen? Yes, on all things and all subjects. That’s a wonderful Scripture. That’s a good Scripture to learn, too.
Do I have any more on that subject? Yes, Isaiah 45:19: “I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” Therefore, dear ladies, we can trust every word that God writes in His living Word is right. We can trust it. When we’re reading the Word, don’t just read it shallowly or gloss over it. Read every word. Take every word personally. Amen?
No. 6. BECAUSE GOD’S WORD IS RIGHT, HE WANTS US TO ALSO SPEAK RIGHT WORDS
Job 6:25: “How forcible are right words!”
Proverbs 12:6: “The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright” (those who do right) “shall deliver them.” Right words are delivering words! They deliver people rather than bring them into bondage.
What kind of words are you speaking in your home? To your husband? To your children? Are they right words? Are they words that bring deliverance, that release them into liberty, that encourage them, that affirm them, that give them a vision that God has chosen them to do great things for Him?
Oh, just watch. We must watch our words. And to our husbands. What kind of words do you speak to your husband? Are they also right words? What are right words? Yes, they’re straight words, correct words, but they’re delivering words, they’re loving words, they’re sweet words, they’re words that build up our marriage, words that keep us together. Amen?
Proverbs 16:13: “Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.”
Proverbs 23:16: “Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.”
Proverbs 24:26: “Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.” Amen.
No. 7. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER OF THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT
What kind of lifestyle do they live? Well, we can see a few things here.
No. 1. YOU’LL BE GLAD IN THE LORD
First of all, those who do right will be glad in the Lord. They will have a cheerful and glad countenance. They’re not going around depressed and gloomy and filling the home with a gloomy atmosphere. No. Psalm 32:11: “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous” (you right ones) and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”
No. 2. YOU’LL BE SHOUTING FOR JOY
Psalm 32:11: “Shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Yes, those who do right actually shout for joy! That’s what the Bible says. Are they down in the dumps, no! They’re even shouting for joy!
No. 3. YOU’LL BE REJOICING IN THE LORD
Psalm 33:1: “Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright” (those who do right). What’s your lifestyle? Are you pretty gloomy around the home? Down, depressed? No! God wants you to be filled with joy, rejoicing in Him, shouting for joy, being glad in the Lord. Remember, it says, “in the Lord.” It’s not in your circumstances. Many times, you can’t be glad in your circumstances. But you can be glad in the Lord! In the Lord.
No. 4. YOU’LL THINK RIGHT THOUGHTS
Proverbs 12:5: “The thoughts of the righteous are right.”
No. 5. YOU’LL DEPART FROM EVIL
Proverbs 16:17: “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil.” That’s not toying with it or just hanging around it. No, it’s totally departing from it! This is the thing. When evil’s around or when we’re being tempted, we don’t hang around it and hope we won’t get tempted. No, we run from it! We flee it.
Back when the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt, God told Moses that he was to tell Pharoah that they had to go out with a three-day gap from Egypt. They had to be walking for three days before they would even think about stopping to sacrifice to the Lord their God. God didn’t want them just getting out of Egypt and just on the other side of the fence. No, He wanted a three-day gap. That’s a good thing to remember. That’s what we need if we depart from evil.
No. 6. YOU’LL HAVE A CLEAN HEART AND A RIGHT SPIRIT
Those who walk, doing what is right, will have a clean heart, and a right spirit.
Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” A right spirit. It’s easy to have a wrong spirit. Oh, sometimes you’ve got to get down on your knees. I’ve had to do this. Ask the Lord, “Please, Father, renew a right spirit within me. Help me. Come by Your Holy Spirit and move in my heart. Give me a right spirit over this thing.”
Maybe it’s someone who’s hurt you, said something nasty about you. You just feel so mad and upset. How dare they say that and how could they say that? But the Bible says to bless them. Bless them. So, as you bless them, you’re going to get a right spirit. It’s amazing. When you do what God says, then things will come into alignment. Circumstances may still be the same, but your spirit will be right.
Those are some of these things. Oh, yes, there are more yet.
No. 7. YOU’LL OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN
If we’re doing that which is right, we will obey God rather than man. That’s a big one. Oh, yes! So often we just give in and cave into man because, oh, we just don’t want to face the circumstances. What’s going to happen if we stand up for God? But if you’re doing that which is right, you will choose God rather than man.
Acts 4:19-20. This is after Peter and John had been in prison. “But Peter and John answered and said unto them” (because they told them, “OK, now you must not preach anymore in the Name of Jesus.”) So, what did Peter and John say? Peter and John “said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” You will know you’re doing right when you choose to do what’s right in the sight of God. Yes, we don’t listen to man. Amen?
No. 8. YOU’LL FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS
If you're doing that which is right, you will follow righteousness.
Psalm 94:15: “But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.”
Proverbs 11:5 “The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way.”
No. 9. YOU’LL WALK IN INTEGRTIY
And if you’re doing that which is right, you will have integrity.
Proverbs 11:3: “The integrity of the upright shall guide them.”
No. 10. YOU’LL BLESS THE CITY WHERE YOU LIVE
Proverbs 11:11: “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted.”
No. 11. YOU’LL DELIGHT TO PRAY
Proverbs 15:8 “The prayer of the upright is His delight.”
These are all some of the things that the Bible describes that those who are doing right are walking in.
No. 8. GOD’S PROMISES TO THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT
Now, the last point that we have on this subject is the promises to those who do right. What are some of the promises? God always has promises. When we fulfill His conditions, then He gives promises. Let’s have a look at them, shall we?
First one: God saves those who do right. Psalm 7:10: “My defence is of God, which saveth the upright.”
Psalm 17:5: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.” Those who do right will behold God’s face. Wow! What a wonderful promise that is! The Amplified says of that Scripture: “For the Lord is rigidly righteous. He loves righteous deeds. The upright, those who do right, shall behold His face, for He beholds the upright.”
The words there, “behold His face,” the Hebrew word is panim. It’s a plural word, because when we behold the face of Jesus, we don’t only see one attribute. We see so many attributes. The more time we spend in His presence, and the more we look into His Word, the more we will see of His face, and the more we will want to love and worship Him. It’s such a glorious promise.
Those who do right will have a peaceable future. Psalm 37:37: “Observe the blameless person, and look at the upright, for the person of peace will have a future.” The Amplified says: “Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright, for there is a happy end for the man of peace.”
A happy end!
That’s good, isn’t it? That’s what we have been talking about in these two sessions. OK, what is it? We do that which is right rather than that which makes us happy. But when we do that which is right, we will have a happy end! Are you getting it?
The New Revised Standard Version says: “Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable.”
Next one. Those who do right will dwell in God’s presence. Oh, what another wonderful promise! Psalm 140:13: “Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name: the upright” (those who do right) “shall dwell in Thy presence.” I can’t think of anything more wonderful than dwelling in the presence of the Lord.
Psalm 16:11: “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” What a beautiful thing to build and create the presence of God in our homes for our husbands and for our children. That is so beautiful.
Those who do right will continue to receive God’s righteousness. Psalm 36:10: “O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee; and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart.”
Those who do right will have light in the darkness. I love that. Going through a dark time? Can hardly see your way through? Well, if you seek the Lord, get His mind, and His heart, seek His Word, to know what He wants you to do, and you do that which is right, you will have light even in the darkness. Psalm 112:4: “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.”
Next one. Those who do right will have a good inheritance.
Proverbs 28:10: “Those who mislead the upright into evil ways will fall into pits of their own making, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance.”
Next. Those who do right will know God’s secrets. How about that? Do you want to know God’s secrets?
Proverbs 3:22: “His secret is with those who do right.” Wow, you can’t get better than that! Let’s look at a few other translations of that Scripture, shall we?
The Jerusalem Bible: “He sheds His secret counsel with the upright.” Wow. I love that.
The New Revised Standard Version: “The perverse are an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in His confidence.”
The Amplified says: “The perverse are an abomination, extremely disgusting and detestable to the Lord, but His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the uncompromisingly righteous, those who are upright and in right standing with Him.”
Now, I’ve just written a few different translations here. The Berean Study Bible: “For the Lord detests the perverse, but He is a friend of the upright.” This is talking about friendship with God.
The New English Translation: “He reveals His intimate counsel to the upright.” This word that means “intimate friendship” is the word sod in the Hebrew. It literally means “an intimate circle of friends and confidants, confidential discussion among friends in confidence, secret counsel revealed from one confidant to another and kept secret; friendship of intimacy with a person; a cushion, a pillow, or a divan.” The picture of sitting on a cushion with someone and intimately talking together.
This beautiful word is also used in a passage in Job. Oh, I love it! I must take you to it. Job 29:4. We’ll look at this as we close this session. Job is going through, oh, goodness me! He’s just had all his children taken from him, all his possessions taken from him, and now he’s suffering with boils. You know everything he went through is too unimaginable, although sometimes we think of Job, that was his life, just going through this terrible suffering.
But no, it was only a certain season that God allowed this, and then He blessed him doubly, even more. But he’s lamenting back to the times of the goodness of God. He says these words in Job 29:2: “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; When His candle shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.”
In other words, when God’s intimate closeness and friendship was in my home, “When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.” And so, he goes on. But I love it there again, as he says, “As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle,” when God’s intimate friendship and counsel graced his tent. God’s friendship was in his very home. Oh, that was so beautiful. That wonderful promise is to those who do that which is right.
Jeremiah 23:18: “For who hath stood in the counsel,” sod, that’s the Hebrew word, “of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard His word?” Oh, that is wonderful. Yes, how I long to do that, to be in God’s presence and hear His Word.
Any more promises? Yes. Those who do right will have gladness. Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”
Those who do what is right will dwell in the land. Proverbs 2:21: “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.”
Those who do what is right will be blessed. Psalm 112:2: “The generation of the upright shall be blessed.”
Next. The home of those who do right will flourish. Proverbs 14:11: “The tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.”
Next one. They will receive wisdom. Proverbs 2:7: “He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (yashar).”
OK, I think I’ve got to the end of all the promises so time to close again! So, dear ladies, these were our two sessions about doing what is right rather than what makes us happy. But remember, if we do that which is right well, we are sure to end up happy.
“Dear Father, we ask that You will help us to keep on Your track, to walk in your tracks. We thank You that You go before us, and You leave Your footsteps for us, to put our feet in Your tracks. And to travel the right way. Lord God, You show us the right way.
“Your Word is filled, every word is filled with the right way to live. Help us to always choose Your way. I pray for everyone listening, that You will bless them, and help them. Lord, I pray we will all be those who choose the right way. We ask it in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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