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The Barrier of Irrelevant Teaching
So what?
This question is both the most scary and important a teacher can be asked at the end of the lesson. If we don't have a good answer - why was what we taught so important to our lives - it is good cause for embarrassment. Yet this question is essential because it cuts through the veneer of style and personality and lays bare the substance of what has been taught. Has everything that has been said fluff - impressive quotes, interesting facts, intriguing statistics, etc. - but nothing that speaks to any real life change I must make as a result of this lesson?
It is not enough to understand the cultural and historical background of the scripture, even though this is important. It is not enough to understand the roots of various Hebrew or Greek words, although this could shed light on the text. Simply, without a bridge made from the ancient text to our contemporary situation, the teacher's work is incomplete.
Uplook for the Downcast
Lesson 7 - October 16, 2016
Focus Text: Psalms 42:1-11; 43:1-5
Central Truth: Hope in God gives us victory over discouragement.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list at least three ways to express hope in God.
Lesson Outline:
- The Desire of the Heart (Psalm 42:1, 2)
- The Dilemma of the Soul (Psalm 42:3-7)
- The Determination of the Will (Psalm 42:8-43:5)
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.