Prayer – Lesson 7, Studies in the Psalms
Heavenly Father, may this lesson on how to find encouragement in You reach those who are downcast, discouraged, and depressed. Help us to look to You in seasons of joy and distress.
"As the Deer" – YouTube
Enjoy this YouTube video with lyrics and images set to this beautiful song of worship.
https://youtu.be/a5pZkLWZv-E
How to Conquer Discouragement
In "Doctrinal Discussion" William Sillings writes the four following tips for conquering discouragement:
- Whenever possible fill your mind and heart with praise and thanks to God for what He has already done for you.
- Consciously dwell upon whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy — instead of things that are negative and which cause doubts and fears in your life.
- Fill your mind with scriptures that contain the promises of God to you.
- Practice believing God to answer prayer when you are not under the test of discouragement.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 44.
Do You Hunger after God?
"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Psalm 42:1)
In "God's Word for Today" David Woods writes:
Psalms 42 and 43 are all about a passion to worship God. This is seen powerfully in the word picture found in these verses. Yet the modern reader can easily mistake what the psalmist was saying. “Brooks” here does not refer to a bubbling stream perpetually flowing from some spring. Rather, this is “the translation of a Hebrew word used for channels which sometimes flow with water, but which are only ravines in the arid season. The deer, who has come to this wadi for a drink, has found only dust.”
Discussion: Have you ever experienced a "dry" season of life spiritually? How did you find satisfaction for your soul?
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 41.
Prayer – Lesson 6, How to Deal with Worry
Heavenly Father, help our classes today as they discuss the ever-present problem of worry to learn how cope with such fear and stress by trusting in You. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Can you count God's blessings?
In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:
We must not forget that what God has done for us is just a small part of the big picture of God's activity. The history of Israel abounded with the redemptive works of God, and from then until now the list continues to grow. The very fact that God considers man at all is amazing. God not only thinks about us, but makes plans for our good. The thought of the psalmist turned to considering a proper response to what God had done. The magnitude of mercies is so great as to be impossible to arrange them in order of greatness or even to count them.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 35.
Does it make sense for a song of praise to include a prayer for help?
In "God's Word for Today" David Woods writes:
Psalm 40 has two quite distinct parts. Verses 1-10 are a thanksgiving Psalm; verses 11-17 are an individual lament. The NIV Study Bible draws this conclusion: “The message is that even when God answers prayer and provides relief, there will usually come a new crisis that forces a return to God as one's refuge and deliverer.”
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 34.
Have you ever tired of waiting on God?
In "Word Focus" Danny McCain writes concerning Psalm 40:1:
The expression waited patiently is literally “waited, waited.” The repetition of the verb is a Hebrew idiom used to stress the action of the verb. The phrase could be translated, “I simply waited; I did nothing but wait” (Joseph Alexander, The Psalms). The point that the psalmist was making was that he remembered spending a lot of time waiting. As one reads through the Psalms, he is impressed that other psalmists did a lot of waiting, too. They mentioned this because they were probably impatient.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 34.
How much power is in a word?
In "God's Word for Today" David Woods writes:
We have all witnessed the power of the spoken word, power to encourage and strengthen a person who is dis-couraged or cowed by intimidating life challenges as well as the power to destroy the confidence and self-image of someone desperately needing affirmation. We have also seen the impotency of speech to stop the rebellious child from pursuing a wrong path or inability of a sincere entreaty to soothe a vengeful spirit. But none of us have witnessed the creation of galaxies by mere words.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 30.
How Should We Worship God?
In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:
A vibrant spirit makes a new song out of old lyrics. New can mean “fresh” as well as new in time. Because the mercies of the Lord are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:23), our response must also be new, even if we use the same words. Play skillfully. The worship of God has no place for mediocrity. The word skillfully combines the ideas of doing an action well, and/or in a way that is pleasing to the observer. However we express our wor-ship, it must be in a way that brings joy to the heart of God. With a loud noise. The initial word of the Psalm emphasized the exuberance of the praise. Here again the word picture is of an alarm sounded, or the blast of a trumpet. We are urged to involve all our energy in the praise of our God.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 29.