First Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Devotional: Lamentations 3

Today’s passage: Lamentations 3

Helpful thoughts:

  • In verses 1-20, Jeremiah shares his heart (Or the heart of a man in Jerusalem) with honesty.  These are the things he would have been thinking.  In the honesty, others who are in depression and pain can receive a sympathetic comfort.
  • This depression is moved toward hope however when truths about God are called to mind.
  • Jerusalem had lived in unrepentant sin.  They were under the Lord’s discipline.
    • God remains faithful.  The repentant sinner’s view will look like what we see in verses 22-39.

Questions to consider:

  1. How does the flow of this lament mimic the heart of man?  Is there a clear break from sin, to repentance and then sinning no more?  What is the progression of the struggling in this heart and in these words?  What was done in order to try to break the pattern of depressive thinking?
  2. What important truths do we learn about God in verses 22-39?
  3. How would Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:3-12 correlate with this lament?

Devotional: Lamentations 2

Today’s passage: Lamentations 2

Helpful thoughts:

  • In Jeremiah’s eyes, the Lord had become like an enemy.  This chapter gives more focus on God’s judgment against Jerusalem.
  • God is the judge and His judgment is always just.  Therefore, when people are truly guilty, only He can rescue (Verse 13).
  • If pastors and teachers only share happy good words and rebuke or correction never come, disaster is ahead (Verse 14).

Questions to consider:

  1. What statements or requests in this lament were the most striking to you?  Why had this disaster come on Jerusalem?  What had the people done to the prophets who spoke the truth?
  2. Is it ever too soon or ever too late to pray? (Verse 19)  What does Jeremiah plead with the people to pray?  What was the basis of his appeal in the latter verses of the chapter?
  3. What is the answer to the question at the end of verse 13?  (Isaiah 53:5)

Devotional: Lamentations 1

Today’s passage: Lamentations 1

Helpful thoughts:

  • Jeremiah wrote these Lamentations in the wake of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple of God.
    • The whole book is written in Hebrew poetry and flows together as a single unit.  Chapter 3 is the climax of the book.
    • Most of the poetry is written as an acrostic, following the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Somewhat like Psalm 119).
  • The Lord likened Israel’s desire to worship false gods and trust in the strength of man for their protection to spiritual adultery.  Verses 18 and 19 give a good summary of the whole chapter in explaining the sin and the justice served.
  • We read in this book a man’s broken heart expressing honest remorse, sadness, and crying out to the Lord.  Our prayers in times of despair won’t always look pretty or polished, but the Spirit is also praying on our behalf, God already knows our hearts, and He has already committed to use all things for our good.

Questions to consider:

  1. What did the “lovers” of Israel do when she cried out for help (Verse 21)?  Why would those who have rejected God be the rescuers or lovers of God’s people?  Why do you think we tend to fear man or desire their approval when our identity is to be rooted entirely in Jesus Christ, whom they reject?  If we gain the world’s complete approval, what would we have forfeited?
  2. How is Jeremiah’s despair revealed in the final verses (21-22)?  How does he interact with the reality of God’s judgment on the world in the midst of God’s judgment against Israel/Jerusalem?  Do you think seeing other nations suffer would have truly cheered Jeremiah’s heart?
  3. Even in His pain, Jeremiah acknowledges the justice of God for the nation.  How does God use consequences for our sin for our benefit?  How was God’s perfect justice served? (Hebrews 12:11, Romans 3:21-26)

 

Devotional: Psalm 106

Today’s passage: Psalm 106

Helpful thoughts:

  • After recounting all God had done for Israel in Psalm 105, today’s psalm recounts what Israel had done.  A much different feel to this psalm.
  • Verses 34-39 are devastating to read.  Understand, the first step was a sin of omission (Verse 34), the second step was mingling/mixing with the nations (Verse 35), and after that the people of Israel did what they “felt” was right!
  • What the people of God need is rescue (“Save us, O Lord.” from vs. 47).
    • Israel was not a nation of good people who needed to be rescued from the world.
    • Israel was a nation of sinners who needed rescue from their own sin.
      • We are no different.

Questions to consider:

  1. If not for God’s grace, what would we be “mixed” up in right now?  If you are mixed up in the world, if the world’s desires are your desires, where must you run for hope and rescue?
  2. For whose sake does God rescue people (Verse 8)?  Why does your salvation bring so much glory to God?  Why is it actually better for you that is does?  Why is it better that the Bible is more about God than it is about you?
  3. If you were to write your own Psalm 106, what might it look like?  What is your story of desperate need and God’s gracious rescue?  How does remembering how much grace God has shown us give us even more gratitude and love for Him?

Devotional: Psalm 105

Today’s passage: Psalm 105

Helpful thoughts:

  • The psalmist will call on Israel to praise the Lord in remembering His wondrous works and then sets the example in recounting the history of Israel.
    • Israel’s story is God’s story.  The Old Testament is not about Israel, it’s about God.
  • God is sovereign.  His decreed will must be accomplished.  Even the hatred in the hearts of the Egyptians against the Jews was decreed by God (Verse 25).
  • The end of the matter, when we consider all that God is and does…we should praise the Lord!

Questions to consider:

  1. How can you put verse 5 into practice?  What wondrous works can you recount?  Why do you have reason to praise the Lord?
  2. How does remembering that the Bible is not primarily about me/us help us to interpret it rightly?  If God only exists for our good pleasure and by our own design what would go terribly wrong?
  3. Why (In verse 45) did God do all these things for Israel?  Why isn’t that a selfish motive?  What does it mean for us to follow God and obey Him?  What is the greatest life we can live?  What is the greatest gift God could give us? (Philippians 3:14)

Devotional: Psalm 104

Today’s passage: Psalm 104

Helpful thoughts:

  • “He that learns to look rightly on seas and mountains, on beasts and birds, on sun and moon and stars sees God in all things.” – C. H. Spurgeon
    • The result of seeing the majesty in God in creation…is worship!
  • God set the earth in its place.  It will never be moved without His approval.
  • Here’s some fun reading on the leviathan if you are interested:

Questions to consider:

  1. Taking care of the environment can be a good thing to do, but why and to what extent?  What should motivate us to have right “dominion” over the earth (Genesis 1:28-31)?  What fear is the only fear that should motivate us to use and/or take care of the earth rightly?
  2. How do verses 31-35 tie together the logical progression from seeing God’s glory in creation to the end of pursuing the glory of God with our whole lives?  Why is it right to live for Christ?
  3. How does the first request from verse 35 not include Christians?  Why are we not consumed? (Romans 4:4-5)

Devotional: Psalm 103

Today’s passage: Psalm 103

Helpful thoughts:

  • There are benefits in following the Lord!  Many are listed in today’s psalm following verse 2.
  • As you read this psalm, look for things God does and the characteristics or attributes of God that bring about those actions.
  • Some of these benefits are on display even now and some of them we will enjoy in eternity.

Questions to consider:

  1. What are the benefits listed in today’s passage?  How many can you find?  What perspective gives these benefits far greater value than some of the “benefits” that we may clamor for in this life?
  2. What is the expiration date of the worldly benefits we can often desire? (Verses 15-16)  What is the expiration date of the benefits given by God in verses 3-13, 17?
  3. To whom are the eternal benefits given?  (See verses 11, 13, 17-18)  How is the gospel of grace tied to a life that desires to “keep his covenant” (Ephesians 2:8-10)?

Devotional: Psalm 102

Today’s passage: Psalm 102

Helpful thoughts:

  • This is a psalm of lament.  The writer is suffering, crying out to God, and striving to see their suffering in the context of God’s purposes in eternity.
  • Verse 10 could be an acknowledgment of personal sin and its consequences or perhaps a simple awareness that everything is under God’s control.  Either way, the psalmist is aware that God is sovereign and can make the suffering stop and has chosen to allow it to continue.
  • Our sufferings and our successes come and go.  We change frequently (And by God’s grace, we progressively become more like Christ).  But, God never changes.  He is the same forever.
    • Our hope in the future does not rest in the faithfulness of man.  What hope would that be?
    • Our hope in the future depends on the immutability of God.  He is good.  His promises are sure.

Questions to consider:

  1. Did anything the psalmist write surprise you?  Was there anything you might think twice about before saying it to God?  What does the presence of lament in Scripture teach us about our ability to approach the Lord and His patience with us in our suffering?
  2. If we are thinking of something critical or despairing and instead of saying it, we pray a peaceful happy prayer, is God not aware of what is in our hearts?  What does being honest with God do for our own souls and thinking process?
  3. Why is the immutability of God (God never changes) such an important doctrine?  How does it make Him different than us?  How does it ground our hope and faith?

Devotional: Psalm 101

Today’s passage: Psalm 101

Helpful thoughts:

  • This psalm was written by David as he prepared to become king over Israel.
  • David desired to practice what he required.  He wanted to possess a heart of integrity and he wanted to employ people with hearts of integrity (Verse 2 and 6).
  • One of God’s intended purposes for government in this world is to punish evil (1 Peter 2:14).

Questions to consider:

  1. Just because we know David did not keep these hopes/commitments perfectly, does that mean it was wrong to write them down and aspire to follow them?
  2. What would make David’s commitments good or bad?  What would make them wise or foolish?  His passion?  His feelings or his heart?  Or God’s revealed Law?
  3. Did David keep these commitments?  Was David without sin?  What is his standing and righteous record in eternity (By God’s grace)?  (Psalm 3:8)

Devotional: Psalm 100

Today’s passage: Psalm 100

Helpful thoughts:

  • The service God calls us to is not a begrudging service.  We get to serve with gladness!
  • Goodness is, “The doctrine that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.” – Wayne Grudem
  • God has made us.  We are His.  AND, God has redeemed us.  We are His!

Questions to consider:

  1. What important truths about God are written in this psalm?  What are we to know about Him?  What does that knowledge necessitate in response?
  2. Though it would be right for the entire world to serve and praise God right now, when will this psalm be truly followed?  When will the whole world worship the Lord?
  3. How does verse 3 simplify our perspective and enable us to have joy in service in the midst of the stress of life?  When we are tired, stressed, aggravated in our service, what kinds of things are we thinking about that elicit those emotions?  How could the picture of being sheep in God’s pasture possibly alleviate those struggles?