Today’s passage: Psalm 89

Helpful thoughts:

• This psalm could be divided into three parts:
  • Verses 1-37 recount the promises of God, His covenant with David and Israel.
  • Verses 38-45 give the perception of the psalmist at the time of his writing.  All was not well.  It seemed God had forgotten His covenant.
  • Verses 46-59 are utilized to make the request from the Lord to remember His people and take away their reproach.
• God is faithful and will fulfill His covenant with David and Israel.  A King will reign who has descended from David, forever. (Matthew 1:1-17)
• The “firstborn” (Verse 27) is a term of prominence.  Being the firstborn in a family meant special honor and double inheritance.  Being chosen as “firstborn” was a term used in special circumstances by God.
  • Israel was the “firstborn” among the nations. (Exodus 4:22)
  • David was the “firstborn” among the kings of the earth. (Vs. 27)
  • Jesus is the “firstborn” among all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

Questions to consider:

1. What is the challenge of verse 39?  Had God truly renounced the covenant and defiled the crown?  How do verses 30-37 help us answer this?  Who had sinned and what was God going to do about it?
2. Had we been with the psalmist when he wrote this appeal to God, how might we better understand where he was coming from?  In the midst of their trouble, why would it make sense to ask God these questions and appeal to His character and promises?
3. How does going to and knowing the promises of God in the Scripture help us to persevere during hardships?  How is all of this going to end? (Revelation 21:1-5)  Why is it always right to take our concerns directly to God, especially when we might feel like He isn’t doing what we expect Him to do?

Today’s passage: Psalm 88

Helpful thoughts:

• This psalm of lament does not have a happy ending in sight, though there certainly is one in store (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
• Throughout the Old Testament, we see many in Israel turn to false gods for answers.  This writer continues to pray to the one true God through the adversity and feelings of hopelessness.  Though he was physically sick, he had been spiritually (Therefore eternally) healed.
• He writes from the perspective of the living (Physically).  Verse 5, 10 and 11 speak of our actions and relationship with God and others while still physically alive.

Questions to consider:

1. What is the psalmists view of God’s sovereignty?  Is there anything in his life he has not attributed to God’s will?
2. On what basis does the psalmist make his appeal?  What does he hope to regain if he should be given good health?  What does he hope to do in service to the Lord?
3. In what ways can our afflictions give us a platform to do the very thing we would hope to do without them?  This psalmist want to declare God’s glory and steadfast love…what did we just read him doing?  How can God use our faithfulness in the midst of suffering for our good, for the good of others, and for His glory?

Today’s passage: Psalm 87

Helpful thoughts:

• “Rahab” is another word that was used to refer to Egypt during those times.  All those mentioned in verse 4 are nations/cities surrounding Israel that will one day worship the Lord in Zion, happily recognizing the Lord’s favor for Israel and Jerusalem.
• Zion will be established because the Most High Himself has set His love on her.  This is a work of gracious love, ultimately made possible through sacrifice.
• The “springs” are sources of joy, blessing, and life.  All our “springs” are from the Lord.

Questions to consider:

1. Why won’t those from Gentile nations be offended that God did not choose Cairo, Beirut, even Mecca…or Grand Rapids over Jerusalem?  What will be true of all worshipers of Yahweh in that day? (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
2. What would have been important for the Jews to remember about their homeland, or even their hometown (Being born in Jerusalem)?  What are we prone to do when we hear that we are pretty special in some way?  Are we humbled by that or do our heads start to swell?  Why are you a Christian?  Why will you share in this eternal inheritance?
3. How can the promises of God’s covenants encourage us through the hardships of our time?  How do the troubles of our day compare or fit into the big picture of world history?  Where is world history trending toward?  Who wins?  And…how great is our God that He also cares about our daily concerns and desires for us to cast those daily cares on Him?

Today’s passage: Psalm 86

Helpful thoughts:

• Whenever trouble comes, we have at least two options.  One is always to try to figure it out ourselves…and worry.  The other option is to take it to our almighty, faithful loving Father in prayer.
  • If David didn’t believe the things he was praying about God, this prayer would not have done much to calm his own heart.  Sometimes we say words like these in prayer in hopes they will “work” in taking away our hardships, when in reality, part of the working of this kind of prayer is to put us at rest in Him.
• Verse 2 could be tricky to interpret correctly.  David called himself “godly” or “holy” as part of his appeal for God’s intervention.  This was not an appeal to how great David was…he didn’t think God owed it to him as a favor.
  • David is “holy” in that God has consecrated him, or set him apart from others.  The word “holy” means set apart, unlike the rest.  God sanctifies His people this way when he places us in Christ!
  • So, verse 2 could be understood this way, Preserve my life, because I am Yours (Set apart); and You are mine (My God);save your servant who trusts in You.
• When David prays, “Unite my heart to fear your name,” he is praying for victory over double-mindedness.  This is the same struggle shared by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:13-25.  It’s also the same as the beatitude of Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart.”

Questions to consider:

1. Why is it important that David requested things like the uniting of his heart (Single-mindedness) from God as opposed to telling God that he was going to work really hard on making that happen himself?  What does a right understanding of grace do for our humility and our praise as we see growth in our walk with Christ?
2. Do you think the sign David is asking for in verse 17 is a sign like Gideon asked for (The dry or wet ground and fleece)?  Or, was David asking for victory over these foes which would be a sign of encouragement to him and of warning to those who would oppose the Lord’s chosen king of Israel?
3. Given the last four verses of this psalm, what events and concerns may have been the leading objects of David’s struggle to be of one mind?  How was this prayer itself a battle for his mind, and a winning strategy at that?  What concerns tend to pull your attention away from your Lord and Savior?  What promises has He made that you could appeal to Him in prayer today?

Today’s passage: Psalm 85

Helpful thoughts:

• This psalm would have been written and sung after the return from captivity (Verse 1).
  • Their time of judgment had ended (Jeremiah 29:10-11).
• The prayer for revival in verse 6 is prophesied in Ezekiel 37.
• All of the hope in future grace in this psalm will take place when Christ returns.

Questions to consider:

1. How is verse 10 possible?  Who made it true? (Colossians 1:15-20)
2. Reading Jeremiah 29:11 in it’s context, what is the true meaning of the verse?  Who was it originally for?  How then does it actually apply to us?  Why is it wrong to use this verse as an expectation of temporary financial or physical blessing from God?  When will we truly see the completion of this promise from God?
3. Are people saved because they fear God, or do they fear God because they have been saved by Him?  How would verse 7 help you answer this question?  With that in mind, is verse 9 speaking of the salvation of an individual or of the nation? Or both?

Today’s passage: Psalm 84

Helpful thoughts:

• This is a psalm of ascents.  It was to be sung on the way to worship in Jerusalem at the Temple.
• There are three uses of being “blessed”:
  • Blessed are those who dwell in your house (Verse 4).
    • Why?  Because they get to sing praises continually.
  • Blessed are those whose strength is in you (Verse 5).
    • Why? God has put it in their hearts to draw near to Him.
  • Blessed is the one who trusts in You (Verse 12).
    • Why? Because God is the LORD of hosts.  He is over all.  He will never know defeat.  Trusting in anyone or anything else is folly.

Questions to consider:

1. How could these truths and blessings be applied to prayer and worship together with the church? (Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 10:19-25)
2. What things/distractions/values keep us from seeing things like prayer, Bible reading, church meetings as being better than a thousand days doing anything else?  Who is it that makes going to church a great thing?  Who is responsible for making it anything less than exhilarating (Your pastor included!)?
3. What actually makes relationship with God truly exhilarating?  If we think “bells and whistles” will make being with God more appealing, what are we missing? (Psalm 73:25-26)

Today’s passage: Psalm 83

Helpful thoughts:

• In a time of struggle and feeling helpless, the psalmist appeals to God’s work in the past to ask God to work in the present/future.
  • God’s actions recounted in verses 9-12 were acts of mercy.  Israel had not been following the Lord and had only cried out to Him in their distress.
  • Therefore, this psalm is a cry for mercy.
• Verse 16 parallels the beatitude of Matthew 5:3.  Until we are humbled, we will not cry out for saving.
• When things are hard and we cry out for mercy, we must remember that God may be using that “Hard” to purify us, to bring us to repentance.  It is better to go through hardship and grow then to have it easy all the time and remain in our sin.  We often desire “healing” (Physically) more than “healing” (Spiritually). (Hebrews 12:11, James 5:13-20)

Questions to consider:

1. Is God ever passive or sitting on the sidelines not ready to act?  What would be a good description of that the psalmist is doing in verse 1?  Whose perspective is being represented?  How can this encourage you when you pray?
2. Why did the psalmist want God to act against the enemies of Israel (Verse 16 & 18)?  Who also needed to be humbled, to seek God, and know that He alone is Lord?  Was it only Israel’s enemies who needed this wakeup call?  Why had God brought Israel’s enemies in the past (Look over Judges 2)?
3. Is God being silent today?  How has God spoken to the world and who does He speak to the world through? (Matthew 5:13-16, Romans 10:14-15, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)