Thursday
Evening Bible Study
March
23, 2017
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
The English word psalm comes
from a Greek word that means “a poem sung to musical accompaniment”, or in
particular, “stringed instruments”.
The Hebrew name is tehillim,
which means “praises.”
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook
of God’s people.
It’s also the “Him” book as well.
It’s all about Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from
Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I
said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the
volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus
in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s
“soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of
emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the entire Bible.
It is an acrostic psalm
The verses are in groups of eight.
Each group begins with the same letter in Hebrew. Every line in the first
group starts with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Then the next eight start with the next
letter (beth), and because there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, there
are 22 sections of eight verses.
We think this was done as a way of teaching the alphabet.
It is a song about the Word of God.
There are only two verses (Ps. 119:122,132) where the Word of God doesn’t
seem to be mentioned. All the rest of the verses contain a reference to the
Word of God.
The Word of God is going to be referred to by a number of various synonyms.
It will be called the “law”, “word”, “saying”, “commandment”, “statutes”,
“judgments”, “precepts”, “testimony”, “way”, and “path”.
The psalm is for the most part a “prayer”. The psalmist seems to have been
having difficulties, particularly with people who were of high rank or
influence, people who ridiculed his faith and were trying to get him to give up
his beliefs.
If you haven’t noticed yet, there are various themes repeated throughout
the Psalm. We won’t try to expound on
each theme as we meet it, but instead will limit ourselves to looking at a
lesson from one verse in each section.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from
Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I
said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the
volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus
in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s
“soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of
emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
119:113-120 The Word (ס Samek)
:113 I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.
:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
:115 Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my
God!
:116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me
be ashamed of my hope.
:117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes
continually.
:118 You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, For their deceit is
falsehood.
:119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore
I love Your testimonies.
:120 My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.
:113 I hate the double-minded
double-minded – ce‘eph
– ambivalent, divided, half-hearted; from ca‘aph – to cut off, lop off boughs
Lesson
Doubting in trials
Keep in mind that the psalmist is a fellow going through “afflictions”.
He’s going through trials. James knows
something about this.
(James 1:2–8 NKJV)
—2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that
the testing of your faith produces patience.
One of the reasons God may allow trials in your life is to produce patience
(endurance).
4 But let
patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.
Don’t be bummed when God is trying to grow you in patience.
God uses trials to mature you, to make you “perfect”.
5 If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach, and it will be given to him.
In context, James is talking about asking God for wisdom in trials. God
wants to guide you through your difficulty.
6 But let him
ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the
Lord; 8 he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
If you’re going to ask for wisdom, you need to ask “in faith”, to trust
that God is going to give it to you.
The opposite of asking in faith is wondering if God can help you.
This is being a “double-minded” man.
It’s not about being confident in what you hope God will do, but being
confident that God will do what’s best.
Peter knew what it was like to be tossed about by the wind and waves.
One night the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when they ran into
a storm. Jesus showed up walking on the
water. Peter got a crazy idea and asked
Jesus if he could join Jesus walking on water.
(Matthew 14:29–31
NKJV) —29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat,
he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid;
and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And
immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to
him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Peter’s “faith” got shaken because he was looking at the
storm and not at Jesus.
Oh that we wouldn’t panic when the storms hit, but would
learn to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him through the storm.
119:121-128 The Word (ע Ayin)
:121 I have done justice and righteousness; Do not leave me to my
oppressors.
:122 Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the proud oppress me.
:122 Be surety for Your servant for good
This is one verse where God’s Word isn’t mentioned.
be surety – ‘arab – to
pledge, mortgage, be or become surety
good – towb – good; a good
thing, benefit, welfare
(Psalm 119:122 NLT)
Please
guarantee a blessing for me. Don’t let the arrogant oppress me!
Lesson
Qualifying for a blessing
When you sign up to get a loan with a bank, they want to know if you
qualify. They want to know if you have the ability to make the payments they’re
going to ask you to make.
When you first get started in the credit world, it’s not uncommon to have
someone “co-sign” on the loan with you. The “co-signer” is a person who
promises to make the payments in case you can’t. You may not have great credit,
but if your parents have good credit and they co-sign with you on the loan, the
bank just might give you that loan.
Illustration
A frog went into the Bank of America one day, carrying a cardboard box.
“May I help you?” asked a loan officer. “Yes,” replied the frog, “I’d like to
apply for a home loan.” “And what is your name?” “Kermit Jagger,” the frog
replied. “And what’s yours?” “My name is Mr. Paddywhack. I don’t suppose you’re
any relation to Mick Jagger?” “Yeah, he’s my dad.” “Sure, he is,” Mr.
Paddywhack said. “Incidentally, do you have any collateral?” “Just what I’ve
got in this box here.” And Kermit Jagger pulled out a glass ball with an
elephant inside. It snowed when you shook it. The loan officer grabbed the
glass ball and sputtered, “I’ll have to take this to the vice president of the
bank and see what he says.” “What’s his name?” the frog asked. “Mr. John
Dudley,” came Mr. Paddywhack’s huffy reply. “Oh, I know him, tell him hi!” said
Kermit, as the loan officer turned and left. He walked into the vice
president’s office, glass ball in hand, and said, “Mr. Dudley, there’s a frog
outside in the lobby named Kermit Jagger, who claims he knows you. He wants a
home loan using only this thing as collateral. What on earth is this thing,
anyway?” “It’s a knick-knack, Paddywhack. Give the frog a loan. His old man’s a
Rolling Stone.”
It sounds as if the psalmist is asking God to “co-sign” on a blessing.
You can do that if God is your Father.
The psalmist knows that by himself he is not qualified to get a blessing by
himself.
We qualify for blessings because of what God does for us, not because of
what we are able to do on our own.
This is grace.
Don’t be afraid to ask God every day to bless you.
If you’re not sure how that sounds, try asking God to bless you with
Aaron’s blessing:
(Numbers
6:24–26 NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you
and keep you; 25
The
Lord make His face shine upon
you, And be
gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His
countenance upon you, And give you peace.”
:123 My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation And Your righteous
word.
(Psalm 119:123 NLT)
My
eyes strain to see your rescue, to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
:124 Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, And teach me Your
statutes.
:125 I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your
testimonies.
:126 It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void.
:126 It is time for You to act, O Lord
Lesson
Time for God to work
There are things that are beyond your ability to do.
Illustration
No Rest For The Weary
A pastor walking down a country lane and sees a young farmer struggling to
load hay back onto a wagon after it had fallen off. “You look hot, my son,”
said the pastor. “why don’t you rest a moment, and I’ll give you a hand.” “No
thanks,” said the young man. “My father wouldn’t like it.” “Don’t be silly,”
the Pastor said. “Everyone is entitled to a break. Come, sit down and have a
drink of water.” Again the young man protested that his father would be upset.
Losing his patience, the pastor said, “Your father must be a real slave driver.
Tell me where I can find him and I’ll give him a piece of my mind for working
you so hard!” “Well,” replied the young farmer, “he’s under this load of hay.”
Sometimes it seems like we’re the farmer under the hay – life is too
much. And it is. You need help.
When Jehoshaphat was being threatened by the nations of Moab, Edom, and
Ammon, he prayed:
(2 Chronicles 20:12
NKJV) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against
this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but
our eyes are upon You.”
Maybe it’s just because I’m a man, but sometimes I feel like people expect
me to fix their problems.
I have that problem as a husband, always wanting to fix everything for my
wife.
I have that problem as a pastor, wanting to fix everybody’s problems.
The best “fixer” is God.
Instead of carrying the burden alone, work at praying first. We need to seek God’s help.
:127 Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine
gold!
:128 Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things
I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
:127 I love Your commandments
Lesson
Intimacy and obedience
When we talk about grace and our relationship with God, don’t make the
mistake of thinking that this means that God doesn’t care whether or not you ever
live the way He wants you to.
God wants us to learn that we will experience much greater blessings in life
when we are doing things His way.
Over and over, God told Israel how much better their life would be if they
just did things the way He wanted them to.
There is a connection between your relationship with God and your
relationship with His commandments, His Word, His ways.
On Jesus’ last night before being crucified, He said,
(John 14:15 NKJV) “If you love
Me, keep My commandments.
This isn’t spoken in a manipulative way, as a way to try
and get us to do what He wants.
It’s a statement of fact.
If you do truly love Jesus, then you will have no problem
doing the things He says.
(John 14:21 NKJV) He who has
My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will
be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
There is a growing intimacy with God that results from a
life of obedience to Jesus.
(John 15:10 NKJV) If you keep
My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s
commandments and abide in His love.
Jesus Himself has experienced this deeper intimacy with
God through obedience.
On this same last night, was there anything special that Jesus placed an
emphasis on by way of command? Yes there
was. He said it three times:
(John 13:34–35
NKJV) —34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are
My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 15:12 NKJV) This is My
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
(John 15:17 NKJV) These things
I command you, that you love one another.
119:129-136 The Word (פ Pe)
:129 Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them.
:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the
simple.
:131 I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
:132 Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward
those who love Your name.
:132 be merciful to me, As Your custom
It’s God’s “custom” to show mercy to those who love Him.
(Psalm 119:132 The
Message) Turn my way, look kindly on me, as you always do to those who personally
love you.
I mentioned that this was one of the verses that doesn’t seem to mention
God’s Word, but it’s really here as well.
custom – mishpat –
judgment, justice, ordinance; decision
God’s “decision” is to show mercy.
:133 Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over
me.
:134 Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.
:135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes.
:135 Make Your face shine … teach
Remember the blessing of Aaron (Num. 6:24-26)?
(Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25
The Lord
make His face shine upon you, And be
gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’
Here, God’s blessing is tied to God teaching us His statutes.
(2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV) —6 For it is
the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ.
:136 Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep
Your law.
:136 Rivers of water run down
The psalmist is grieved over people not paying attention to God’s Word.
:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to
the simple.
Lesson
Enlightenment
As sinful, broken people, we don’t always have the right answers when it
comes to how to deal with life’s situations.
Illustration
A life-long city man, tired of the rat race, decided he was going to give
up the city life, move to the country, and become a chicken farmer. He bought a
nice, used chicken farm and moved in. As it turned out, his next door neighbor
was also a chicken farmer. The neighbor came for a visit one day and said,
“Chicken farming isn’t easy. Tell you what. To help you get started, I’ll give
you 100 chickens.” The new chicken farmer was thrilled. Two weeks later the
neighbor dropped by to see how things were going. The new farmer said, “Not too
well. All 100 chickens died.” The neighbor said, “Oh, I can’t believe that. I’ve
never had any trouble with my chickens. I’ll give you 100 more.” Another two
weeks went by and the neighbor stopped by again. The new farmer said, “You’re
not going to believe this, but the second 100 chickens died too.” Astounded,
the neighbor asked, “What went wrong?” The new farmer said, “Well, I’m not sure
whether I’m planting them too deep or too close together.”
If we learn how to handle our relationships the way the big city, or the world
teaches us, we will make some pretty big mistakes.
I have to confess that some of the shows I watch on TV are pretty stupid
when it comes to relationships.
When a couple in love run into a difficulty, it seems that the standard
response is to lie to the other person, or simply hide the truth.
Yet God’s Word says,
(Ephesians
4:15 NKJV) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head—Christ—
Relationships grow when they’re based on truth and love.
That’s how we mature as Christians.
Truth may end a relationship or cause great temporary
problems, but isn’t it better to deal with problems and bring healing rather
than continue to lie to each other and keep the wound infected?
119:137-144 The Word (צ Tsadde)
:137 Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
:138 Your testimonies, which You have commanded, Are
righteous and very faithful.
:139 My zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
:139 My zeal has consumed me
This reminds me of the first time
Jesus chased the merchants and money changers out of the Temple.
(John 2:16–17 NKJV) —16 And He
said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s
house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His
disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten
Me up.”
The disciples were actually quoting
Psalm 69:
(Psalm 69:9 NKJV) —9 Because
zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the
reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Yet the principle seems the same.
:140 Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
:141 I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your
precepts.
:141 I am small and despised
An item’s real value is based on what someone is willing to pay for it.
Your own sense of value should not be based on what others think of you, or
of what you think of yourself.
Your true value is what God thinks of you, what He has paid for you.
(1 Peter 1:18–19
NLT) —18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life
you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or
silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of
God.
God loved you so much, He paid for you with His own Son’s life.
We know our value because of God’s Word.
:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your
law is truth.
:143 Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are
my delights.
:144 The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me
understanding, and I shall live.
:140 Your word is very pure
pure – tsaraph – to smelt,
refine; to test (and prove true)
Lesson
Reliability
You can count on God’s Word because it is reliable. It stands the test.
It’s not a bad idea to test things to see if they’re true or not.
One of the big issues right now in our country is this concept of “fake
news”.
Are the things that some of our politicians say true, or just made up?
There are religious books that people follow that fall into that same
category as “fake news”.
The Mormon Church will send young fellows to your door and encourage you to
read the Book of Mormon and see if God doesn’t give you a “burning in the
bosom”. This feeling is supposed to tell
you that the Book of Mormon is indeed true and Joseph Smith is God’s prophet. But the Book of Mormon has some problems in
it when you put it to the test.
The book of Mormon tells the story of a Jewish family that
left Israel at the time of the Babylonian captivity (around 600 BC) and
miraculously traveled across the ocean to the land we call America. They carried something like a magic compass
and had swords made of steel. When they
arrived in America,
they found a land of plenty filled with cows, oxen, donkeys, and horses. There they settled and their descendants
broke into two groups, good guys and bad guys, and the bad guys became the
early ancestors of the American Indians.
Problems? Steel
wasn’t invented until the 1400s, AD.
Horses didn’t arrive in America
until the Europeans brought them in the 1400s.
Scientists have now
compared the DNA of American Indians to the Jews, and there’s no
connection. Archaeology says that there
is no link between the American Indians and the Jews. The Book of Mormon mentions peoples and places,
but no trace of them have been found.
The study of language (linguistics) also shows that there is no link
between the languages of the American Indians and Hebrew. Instead, all these sciences have proven that
the American Indians were linked with people from Siberia
and Eastern Asia, not Israel. Check out http://www.mormonchallenge.com/newmc/view.html
to see more.
In contrast, the Bible stands up to the tests.
Unlike book of Mormon, the Bible is filled with real people and real places
that are constantly being verified by modern archaeology.
Critics used to say that there were no such people as the “Philistines” in
the land of Israel.
They used to say that these were just storied made up by
the Jews after they returned from Babylon.
Yet over the last twenty years, just the opposite has been
shown as the history of the Philistines has been uncovered from Crete where
they migrated from, to the ancient cities they once inhabited in Israel, such
as Gath.
Illustration
Rediscovering the Philistines : The Evidence
of Biblical Archeology
by Charles Colson (BreakPoint Commentary #000320 - 3/20/2000)
In modern English,
the word “Philistine” refers to an uncouth or uncultured person. The term is
taken from the name of the people who were Israel’s biggest rivals in the
period between the Exodus and the reign of David.
Until recently,
many scholars doubted the existence of the Philistines. But, as with so much of
the biblical text, the more the archeologists dig, the more they confirm the
historical nature of the biblical narratives.
As Jeffrey Sheler
writes in his new book, Is the Bible
True?, recent archeological discoveries have not only proven the existence
of the Philistines, they have also revealed much about how they lived.
What’s even more
significant for the doubters is that much of what archeologists have learned
confirms what the Bible says about the Philistines. For instance, ancient
Egyptian inscriptions indicated that the “Sea Peoples”—the ancient Near Eastern
name for the Philistines—most likely came from the island of Crete. Well, the
books of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah say that the Philistines were originally from
the land of Caphtor. And, as Sheler points out, scholars now believe that “Caphtor”
is another name for Crete.
The Bible
characterizes the Philistines as the best metal workers in the ancient Near
East—so much so that they exercised a virtual monopoly in the sword- making
trade. This characterization has been substantiated by the archeological
record. The record confirms both the Philistines’ skills in metallurgy and the
advantage that their superior weaponry gave them in their battles with the
Israelites—just as 1 Samuel describes it.
There is a
remarkable consistency between what the Bible says about the Philistines and
what archeologists are finding. This consistency prompted William Dever of the
University of Arizona to say “that all [the archeological evidence] ‘fits’ the
many biblical allusions so well . . .[and] shows that a post-exilic editor cannot simply have
invented these passages, that they are
genuinely archaic.”
In other words,
archeology is debunking the idea that books such as Judges and 1st
Samuel were the products of some later writer’s fertile imagination. The
authors of these books weren’t inventing some glorious past for Israel out of
whole cloth. Instead, they were working with real history—oral and written.
The narratives
from the time of the Judges aren’t the only ones being verified by
archeologists. So many recent finds have given credence to the biblical text
that Biblical Archeology Review
suggests: “Biblical archeologists have been . . . heavily criticized [for]
being biased, for trying to prove the Bible.” But that’s not what’s going on.
The researchers are simply following where the evidence leads.
Many
people—Christians and non-Christians alike—seem to believe that science is the
enemy of faith. But new discoveries in the Middle East show us that scientific
knowledge, when it is simply testing facts, often buttresses faith. And that’s
something your neighbors need to learn about.
Because, as it
turns out, the real Philistines of our day are those who simply dismiss the
Bible without looking at the facts.
Copyright (c) 2000 Prison Fellowship
Ministries
Sir William Ramsay is considered one of the greatest archaeologists who
ever lived.
He was educated in the German school of higher criticism
of the 19th century, which claimed that the Bible was not written by
the people it claimed to be, but at a much later date.
One example is the book of Acts, which claims to have been
written by Luke in the 1st century, but the German critics said was
written much later in the 2nd century.
When Ramsey undertook to do a topographical study of Asia
Minor (modern Turkey), he started off assuming that all of Luke’s descriptions
of Paul’s travels would be wrong, but instead came to the conclusion the book
of Acts was written by someone who had actually been there.
Concerning Luke’s ability as a historian, Ramsay concluded
after 30 years of study that “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely
are his statements of fact trustworthy... this author should be placed along
with the very greatest of historians.”
Illustration
Archaeological Evidence For The Reliability
of The New Testament"
from A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell, compiled
by Bill Wilson (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993), pp.108-122.
Sir William Ramsay
is regarded as one of the greatest archaeologists ever to have lived. He was a
student in the German historical school of the mid-nineteenth century. As a
result, he believed that the Book of Acts was a product of the mid-second
century A.D. He was firmly convinced of this belief. In his research to make a
topographical study of Asia Minor he was compelled to consider the writings of Luke. As a result he was forced to do a
complete reversal of his beliefs due to the overwhelming evidence uncovered in
his research. He spoke of this when he said:
“I may fairly
claim to have entered on this investigation without prejudice in favor of the
conclusion which I shall now seek to justify to the reader. On the contrary, I
began with a mind unfavorable to it, for the ingenuity and apparent
completeness of the Tubingen theory had at one time quite convinced me. It did
not then lie in my line of life to investigate the subject minutely; but more
recently I found myself brought into contact with the Book of Acts as an
authority for the topography, antiquities and society of Asia Minor. It was
gradually borne upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous
truth. In fact, beginning with a fixed idea that the work was essentially a
second century composition, and never relying on its evidence as trustworthy for
first century conditions, I gradually came to find it a useful ally in some
obscure and difficult investigations.”
Concerning Luke’s
ability as a historian, Ramsay concluded after 30 years of study that “Luke is
a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact
trustworthy... this author should be placed along with the very greatest of
historians.”
Ramsay also says:
“Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.”
Because God’s Word is “pure” or “tested”, we can love it.
Illustration
A pastor went to visit an old lady in his church. While he
was there, he thought he would share some precious promises from the Word of
God with her. Taking her Bible and
turning to one, he saw written in the margin “P” and he asked, “What does this
mean?” “That means precious, sir,” she replied. Further down he saw “T & P”
and he asked what those letters meant. “That,” she said, “Means tried and
proved, for I have tried and proved it.”
Discussion
:127 Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine
gold!
We talked about one of Jesus’ main commandments to love one another as He
loves us.
What does that look like in real life?
How are we to respond to a person who causes us trouble?
Do we forgive them or get even?
Do we let them continue to cause us grief?
What are positive things that you can do to demonstrate Jesus’ kind of love
to a difficult person?
Discussion
:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the
simple.
Can you think of a Scripture that has changed the way you live your life?
Can you think of a Scripture that has answered a difficult question/issue
in your life?
Discussion
:126 It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void.
Does anyone here have a situation where they need God to act right
now? Can we pray for you?