Some years ago a pastor was being introduced to speak in a special service. The person doing the introduction described the pastor as "a model minister." Later that evening when they had gotten home, the proud pastor remarked to his wife how happy he was to be called "a model minister." She rolled her eyes and said, "Don't get too impressed with yourself. If you look up the word 'model' in the dictionary, you will find it means 'a small imitation of the real thing.'"
Now this morning's tribute to "a model father" is not praise for "a small imitation of the real thing." Today's tribute is to an exemplary father who models for all parents and non-parents some specific, healthy behaviors to bring good into his own family and into the human family. There are a half-dozen ways in which this alphabetical acrostic wisdom psalm celebrates the righteousness of a giant of a man.
