The Church of Divine Guidance Sunday Morning Adult Bible Study Group studying the book Psalms: A Guide to Prayer and Praise by Ron Klug. The Psalms are some of the most widely read and best-loved portions of the Bible. For thousands of years these songs of faith have spoken to the hearts and minds of people around the world. The Psalms are songs–music our spirits sing to the Creator. They are poems–full of vibrant imagery and strong rhythms. And they are prayers–our deepest emotions expressed to the Lord who feels with us. Most importantly, the Psalms are God’s Word to us, revealing the truth about him and our relationship with him. Study along with us by getting a copy of the book by clicking this LINK or the image of the book at the end of the study notes.
The thought that Almighty God knows who we are
individually is staggering, even scary; we cannot hide from him. However, when
we come to know his goodness and love, we don’t want to hide from God. Psalm
139 helps us understand the comforting truth of God’s interest in the details
of our lives. As we grow to trust God not only as the judge of all the earth
but as the one who cares deeply for us, our response is to become still more
intimately acquainted. The result: an increased desire for personal purity and
integrity.
1. How much do you think God is really involved in our lives—none, some, completely? On what do you base your answer?
1. How much do you think God is really involved in our lives—none, some, completely? On what do you base your answer?
You have searched me, Lord , and you know
me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar. You
discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord ,
know it completely. You hem me in behind
and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I
flee from your presence? If I go up to
the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even
there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the
day, for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s
womb. I praise you because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full
well. My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of
the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed
body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them
came to be. How precious to me are your
thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I
awake, I am still with you. - Psalm
139:1-18 NIV
2. In
what ways and on what levels does God know us?
He knows us completely. Nothing is hidden from
Him. He has always known us and knows everything that we will ever do.
3. How
did the psalmist react when he realized how completely God understood him? How do you react?
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too
lofty for me to attain. - Psalm 139:6
NIV
He thought that it was wonderful that God knew
and understand him.
I react with shame sometimes when I realize
that God knows what I thinking and when I realize that the thing that I did
that I didn't think anyone knew He did.
On the other hand I am very thankful that He does know and understand me
yet He still loves and cares for me.
4.
David described the all-knowingness (omniscience) of God. What attribute or
characteristic of God did he explore in verses 7–12?
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I
flee from your presence? If I go up to
the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even
there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the
day, for darkness is as light to you. -
Psalm 139:7-12 NIV
His omnipresence (the presence of God everywhere
at the same time).
5. How
do people try to escape from God today? Why do they fail?
By not praying, not being around Christians,
not going to church, not reading the Bible.
They fail because God is omniscient and omnipresent.
6. What
phases in the development of a child are described in verses 13–16?
 |
| Behold the only one greater than you! |
For you created my inmost being; you knit me
together in my mother’s womb. I praise
you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I
know that full well. My frame was not
hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together
in the depths of the earth. Your eyes
saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. - Psalm
139:13-16 NIV
From conception through birth.
7. What
does verse 16 suggest about our lives? What was the writer’s reaction in verses
17 and 18?
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days
ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. - Psalm 139:16 NIV
Verse 16 suggests that everything is already
predestined by God.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How
vast is the sum of them! Were I to count
them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. - Psalm 139:17-18 NIV
The writer reacts with joy that God has
already predetermined everything.
As you know there is debate about
predestination. While I believe that God knows everything that will ever happen
and that His desire for us always good.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares
the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
He has given us free will.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares
the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to
you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods
your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the
Lord .” - Joshua 24:15 NIV
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are
free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly
die.” - Genesis 2:16-17 NIV
Here's the scripture that those who believe in
predestination use;
And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those
he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified. - Romans
8:28-30 NIV
What I believe is that what is predestined is
what will happen to those who choose to obey and those who choose not to obey.
READ
PSALM 139:19–24.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away
from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They
speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord , and
abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me
and know my anxious thoughts. See if
there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:19-24 NIV
8. Why
did the writer ask God to destroy these people? How do you react to this idea?
This surprising change of tone and outlook is
regarded by some interpreters as a later addition. However, the intensity of
conviction apparent in the earlier verses is seen again here. God, who has such
minute knowledge of man, cannot overlook flagrant sinners. - The Wycliffe Bible
Commentary.
9. To
what request did the writer’s logic lead him in verses 23 and 24?
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and
know my anxious thoughts. See if there
is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
- Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
- Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
The psalmist closes with the personal plea
that God will search, try, know, see,
and lead him. His goal is the way everlasting, the way of life and
peace, as compared with the way of ruin
and destruction for the wicked.
10.
Contrast verses 19–22 with Jesus’s words: “Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). How can these two attitudes be reconciled?
If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away
from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They
speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord , and
abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. - Psalm 139:19-22 NIV
This certainly does not sound like loving our
enemies and praying for them. He is praying that he not have to be around them
or be associated with them.
11. Is
there a legitimate hatred of evil? Explain.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the
courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. - Amos 5:15 NIV
There are six things the Lord hates, seven
that are detestable to him: haughty
eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet
that are quick to rush into evil, a
false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. - Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV
Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he
guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the
wicked. - Psalm 97:10 NIV
“Is it all right to be angry at people who
hate God? Yes, but we must remember that it is God who will deal with them, not
us. If we truly love God, then we will be deeply hurt if someone hates him.
David asked God to search his heart and mind and point out any wrong motives
that may have been behind his strong words”
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and
know my anxious thoughts. See if there
is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting - Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
12.
Summarize everything you learned about God from this psalm. How can this
understanding of God affect your life?
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