Should Christians Struggle with Fear?

In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:

The shadow of death emphasizes a place of deep darkness and gloom, which may or may not be associated with death. I will fear no evil. This statement must be balanced with other passages, such as Psalm 56:3, 4, where the psalmist admitted that he struggled with fear. Christians do not ignore difficulties; they conquer them. In the metaphor evil clearly did not have moral implications for the sheep. Bad things do happen to good people, but the psalmist said that he did not fear that those bad things would have a permanent injurious effect on his life. The basis of his confidence was the presence of the Shepherd — thou art with me. The Shepherd's primary goal is to get us to the destination. His motivation is to keep us on the “right path.”

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 18.

2016-09-17T09:00:00+00:00September 17th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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How to Prepare for the King of Glory

In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes concerning Psalm 24:7:

The background of this Psalm seems to have been a procession of worshipers, perhaps Levites, accompanying the ark of God as they approached Jerusalem. As they approached the city, a part of the group would sing, Lift up your heads, O ye gates. While the previous verses spoke of the need for people to prepare to ascend “the hill of the LORD,” the psalmist here figuratively called on the city gates themselves to prepare for His entrance. The meaning of the imagery of the gates is unclear — whether the gates of the Temple, of eternity, of the city of Jerusalem, or some other gates. But the focus is upon the King of glory.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 19.

2016-09-16T09:00:00+00:00September 16th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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Three Considerations For Interpreting Psalms About Christ

In "Doctrinal Discussion" William Sillings writes:

In the current situation, where we are trying to apply Psalms which have been applied to the life and work of Jesus, we are having to try to fuse three horizons if we are to be both honest with the text and also glean applications for our lives today. That is, if we are to know what was originally meant by these Psalms, we need to try to get back to what the writer originally meant. Once we have done that to the best of our ability, we need to try to distinguish between what was actually in the mind of the writer and what we read into his mind with our Christian pre-understanding of what is there. Then we need to find out what the New Testament writers thought about the way these Psalms should be applied to Jesus and again differentiate between what those writers have actually written and what we read into what is on paper. Then we still have to determine how what we know about the Psalms can actually be applied to our own time and work.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 20.

2016-09-15T09:00:00+00:00September 15th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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Do You Squander God's Gifts?

In "God's Word for Today" David Woods writes:

There is something to be said for simply stopping to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. For example, when you stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon, it is proper to feel a quiet awe. Furthermore, the beauty of God's law is like a sweet perfume. Yet if awe is our only response, we squander the privileges afforded us by the gifts of God. The holiness of God's works and God's Word should inspire our desire to share His holiness. When we recognize the beauty of God's creation and God's Word, it is like bright sunlight revealing stained cloth-ing that had gone unnoticed in the darkness or artificial light.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 13.

2016-09-10T09:00:00+00:00September 10th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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The Music of Nature

In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes concerning Psalm 19:3:

There is no speech nor language, no place on earth, that can block out the music of nature. Another possible interpretation is that the heavens do not need human speech to say what they wish to declare. We often talk about natural revelation, and we base that revelation in part upon this verse. But it is questionable whether the intent of nature's song is to inform about God so much as it is to glorify Him (Ps. 148:1).

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 11.

2016-09-09T09:00:00+00:00September 9th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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What is "the glory of God"?

In "Word Focus" Danny McCain writes:

One of the common expressions of Old Testament writers is “the glory of God.” The word glory is most often the Hebrew word kabed, which occurs 376 times in the Hebrew Bible. The basic meaning of the word is “to be heavy, weighty.” It is used in this sense in 2 Samuel 14:26 concerning Absalom's hair. It is not difficult to see how the word evolved to refer to a “weighty” person — someone with a lot of authority, hence worthy of honor and respect. Glory denotes the honor, respect, and reverence that others have toward a worthy person. When used in this way, it meant that which impressed others — the thing that caused one to stand out by himself. The wonders and beauties of nature are the natural items which impress the world, which cause their Author and Maker to stand out by Himself in glory. The expression also refers to other ways God is manifest, such as the visible form that filled the Temple.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 10.

2016-09-08T11:20:00+00:00September 8th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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How do you approach God in times of trouble?

In "God's Word for Today" David Woods writes:

The faithful respond to crises by expressing faith in God. David was surrounded by wicked nations. He was distressed. Instead of uttering a panicky prayer, however, he worshiped God, and while doing so poured out his concerns and desires to God.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 5.

2016-09-03T09:00:00+00:00September 3rd, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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What does it mean for God to be "sovereign"?

In "Doctrinal Discussion" William Sillings writes:

Sovereignty can be defined as the essential quality of God by which He exercises His supremacy because of who He is and in harmony with whom He has revealed Himself to be. His sovereignty does not allow Him to act outside of His other essential characteristics. That is, being sovereign, He is also holy, just, loving, eternal, etc. His sovereignty does not detract from or diminish His other attributes.

For practical implications of the sovereignty of God, see the "Doctrinal Discussion" in Adult Teacher's Insights!
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 8.

2016-09-02T09:00:00+00:00September 2nd, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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Can we be sure of God's answer to our prayer?

In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:

David called for God to exert His power against David's enemies not only because of the rightness of his case, but also in judgment of their evil deeds. (The Hebrew grammar here allows us to understand verses 5 and 6 either as a request for God's action or that David was so sure that God would answer his prayer that he put the verbs in past tense although the event was still future.) In effect, David was saying, “Act in defense of your great name, as well as for my benefit.” Put out their name for ever.

Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 5.

2016-08-31T09:00:00+00:00August 31st, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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What does it mean for Christ to come like a thief in the night?

In "Word Focus" Darrell Grim writes:

Paul wrote that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2). John Gill writes, “Respect is had not to the character of the thief, nor to the end of his coming; but to the manner of it, in the dark, indiscernibly, suddenly, and when not thought of and looked for; and such will be the coming of Christ, it will be sudden, and unknown beforehand, and when least thought of and expected.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:3, Paul used the analogy of a pregnant woman whose labor pains come upon her suddenly. It seems that he was indicating the coming of the Lord will be sudden and quite painful to those who are not ready to meet Him. A pregnant woman may have a general idea when she is due to give birth, but the exact time can be a surprise. Paul's message to the Thessalonians was the same as Christ's message to John in The Revelation. He will come back suddenly and without warning, especially to those who are not prepared and watching for Him.

Source: Christ, the Triumphant Lord: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 75.

2016-08-27T09:00:00+00:00August 27th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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