Thursday
Evening Bible Study
March
30, 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.
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.
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 haven’t tried to expound
on each theme as we meet it, but instead have limited ourselves to just a few
lessons in each section.
119:145-152 The Word (ק Qoph)
:145 I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O Lord! I will keep Your statutes.
:146 I cry out to You; Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.
:147 I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in
Your word.
:148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may
meditate on Your word.
:148 through the night watches
The Psalmist talked about rising before the dawn to spend time with God
(vs. 147).
He also spent time with God at night as well.
I have to admit that though I have the morning thing going pretty
regularly, I rarely have done anything consistent in the evening.
I might tend to watch a TV show, or read the news before I drift off to
sleep.
I knew this was going to be part of the study this week, so I’ve been
trying an experiment and have been trying to spend time before I go to sleep
thinking about God’s Word.
I’ll have to let you know how it goes long term.
:149 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O Lord, revive me according to Your
justice.
:149 Hear my voice
Lesson
Prayer is important
This psalm is not only about God’s Word, but much of the song is a prayer
as well.
Reuben Archer Torrey was a man with a very diverse ministry. He worked for a few years alongside Dwight L.
Moody. He set up what would become the
Moody Bible Institute. He pastored what
would be known as the Moody
Memorial Church
in Chicago. He eventually moved into traveling the world
holding evangelistic crusades in places like Australia, Japan, England, Ireland, Germany, and France. He had a hand in seeing over 100,000 people
come to Christ through his ministry. He
was a part of what was called the “Azusa Street Revival” in Los Angeles which gave birth to the modern
charismatic movement. He was a part of
the founding of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, which we know today as Biola University. He also started the Church of the Open Door
in downtown LA. Though he was a great
evangelist, pastor, and educator, the people close to him knew him as a man of
prayer.
One student reported how he went to Torrey's office with a particular need,
and after the session kneeling in prayer together was over, a pool of tears
remained when Torrey arose.
Will Houghton, preaching his funeral, said:
"...But those who knew Dr. Torrey more intimately
knew him as a man of regular and uninterrupted prayer. He knew what it meant to
pray without ceasing. With hours set systematically apart for prayer, he gave
himself diligently to this ministry."
His book, “How to Pray” is a
classic. In his first chapter he gives a
few reasons why it is important that we learn to pray:
1. There
is a devil. We are in a spiritual war
and if we are to prevail, we need to learn to pray.
2. Prayer
is God’s appointed way for obtaining things, and the great secret of all lack
in our experience, in our life and in our work is neglect of prayer. We have not because we ask not.
3. Those
men whom God set forth as a pattern of what He expected Christians to be – the
apostles – regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives.
4. Prayer
occupied a very prominent place and played a very important part in the earthly
life of our Lord.
5. Praying
is the most important part of the present ministry of our risen Lord. Heb. 7:25
tells us that He “ever liveth to make intercession for us”. If you want to be close to Jesus, learn to do
what He does. He prays.
6. Prayer
is the means that God has appointed for our receiving mercy, and obtaining
grace to help in time of need.
7. Prayer
in the name of Jesus Christ is the way Jesus Christ Himself has appointed for
His disciples to obtain fullness of joy.
8. Prayer,
in every care and anxiety and need of life, with thanksgiving, is the means
that God has appointed for our obtaining freedom from all anxiety, and the
peace of God which passes all understanding.
9. Prayer
is the means that Christ has appointed whereby our hearts shall not become
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so the
day of Christ’s return come upon us suddenly as a snare.
10. Because of what
prayer accomplishes: It grows us
up. It brings power into our work. God uses it in the conversion of others. Prayer brings blessings to the church.
It all kind of makes me want to pray more. We ought to pray more.
:150 They draw near who follow after wickedness; They are far from Your
law.
(Psalm 119:150 NLT)
Lawless
people are coming to attack me; they live far from your instructions.
:151 You are near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are truth.
:152 Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded
them forever.
:152 You have founded them forever
Lesson
Unchanging
(Psalm 119:152 NLT)
I
have known from my earliest days that your laws will last forever.
It seems that sometimes things are changing kind of fast.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the changes.
I imagine that some of our kids wouldn’t know what to do with things like a
fax machine, or a floppy disk. Let
alone…
Video: Kids React to Rotary Phones
While some things change, other things don’t.
God doesn’t change.
(Malachi
3:6 NKJV) “For I am the Lord,
I do not change…
(Hebrews
13:8 NKJV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
God’s Word doesn’t change.
Our society changes all the time.
The things that our society finds acceptable change over
time.
When our morality is based on what society thinks, then
our morality will change.
Folks who want to push the LGBT agenda will make it sound as if the Bible’s
ideas about sex are old and outdated.
Yet homosexuality has been around for a very, very long
time.
And God has always said it was wrong.
(1
Corinthians 6:9–11 NLT) —9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will
not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in
sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes,
or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or
cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you
were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made
right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.
Some people want to say that homosexuality is the
exception in this list of sins, but it’s just one among many sins, all of which
are wrong.
The good news is that Jesus can cleanse us and help us
change.
We’re the only thing that should change.
God doesn’t change and His word doesn’t change.
119:153-160 The Word (ר Resh)
:153 Consider my affliction and deliver me, For I do not forget Your law.
:154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.
:154 Plead my cause and redeem me
Lesson
He’s praying for you
Before He was arrested, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He included us in His prayer.
(John 17:20–21
NKJV) —20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe
in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I
in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You
sent Me.
Jesus still prays for us. That’s one
of the things He’s been doing while He’s in heaven.
Some people ask Mary or one of the other “saints” to pray for them. Why not ask Jesus?
(Romans 8:34 NKJV) Who is
he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
(Hebrews 7:25 NKJV)
Therefore
He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them.
:155 Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your
statutes.
:156 Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Your judgments.
:157 Many are my persecutors and my enemies, Yet I do not
turn from Your testimonies.
:158 I see the treacherous, and am disgusted, Because they do not keep Your
word.
:159 Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
:160 The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your
righteous judgments endures forever.
:159 Revive me, O Lord
Did you notice the word “revive” used in our section? It was mentioned three times (v. 154, 156,
159)
Lesson
Things that refresh
Revive – chayah – to live,
have life; (Piel) to preserve alive, let live; revive, refresh
This Hebrew word is used 16 times in Psalm 119 (“live” or “revive”).
(Ps. 119: 17, 25, 37, 40, 50, 77, 88, 93, 107, 116, 144,
149, 154, 156, 159, 175)
There are some things that are good at refreshing us.
Except Nestea it doesn’t work all the time, everywhere.
The Psalmist is going through a rough time, and needs to be refreshed.
In our section, he mentions three things that bring refreshment. And these
will refresh you anywhere.
1. God’s Word
(Psalm 119:154b
NKJV) …Revive me according to Your word.
David wrote about the person who delights in God’s Word…
(Psalm
1:3 NKJV) He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its
season, Whose leaf
also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
We can get discouraged in life, sometimes even wondering if God cares about
us.
But God says,
(Jeremiah
31:3 NKJV) The Lord has appeared
of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore
with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
God will refresh us with His Word.
2. God’s Choices
(Psalm 119:156b
NKJV) …Revive me according to Your judgments.
The Hebrew word mishpat (judgments)
can carry the idea of God’s decisions, God’s choices.
You may not always like the things that are happening in your life, but
when you realize that the things around you came about because of God, and you
learn to let it go, it brings refreshment.
God knows what He’s doing.
(Jeremiah
29:11 NKJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of
evil, to give you a future and a hope.
You don’t need to be the one to pronounce judgment on people, that’s God’s
job.
You don’t need to be the one carrying the weight of the world on your
shoulders, that’s also God’s job.
3. God’s Grace
(Psalm 119:159b
NKJV) …Revive me, O Lord,
according to Your lovingkindness.
The Hebrew word is chesed (grace,
mercy, love).
There is a relationship between how much we love God, and how much we allow
Him to love us and grace us.
The more we allow taste His grace, the more we fall in
love with Him.
Jesus was at the home of Simon the Pharisee eating dinner,
when a sinner woman came in and started washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, and
anointing Him with oil. When Simon
questioned what was happening, Jesus responded with a story.
(Luke
7:41–48 NKJV) —41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five
hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave
them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon
answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said
to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this
woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has
washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me
no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came
in. 46 You did not
anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
47 Therefore I
say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.
But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” 48 Then He said
to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
At the Men’s Retreat this last weekend we were reminded that we are the
ones that God loves.
Even as a sinner, I am the one that Jesus loves.
There is nothing more “refreshing” or reviving than to be
immersed in God’s love.
This doesn’t mean that we need to go out and sin a lot so
we can be forgiven a lot.
It means that we simply don’t hide our sins from Jesus,
but learn to admit them and confess them to Him as they come up.
Your walk will grow old and stale if you start thinking
that you’ve arrived and no longer need forgiveness.
Your walk will stay fresh when you realize your need daily
of Jesus’ grace and kindness.
119:161-168 The Word (ש Shin)
:161 Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of
Your word.
:162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.
:163 I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
:164 Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
:164 Seven times a day I praise You
praise – halal
– to shine; (Piel) to praise
That’s a lot of praise.
The priests were to burn incense twice a day – a picture of prayer.
(Exodus 30:7–8 NLT)
—7 “Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn
fragrant incense on the altar. 8 And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn
incense in the Lord’s presence.
This must be done from generation to generation.
Daniel had a regular habit of praying three times a day, and continued to
do so even when it became illegal to pray:
(Daniel 6:10 NLT) But when
Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as
usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed
three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
The psalmist talks about praise seven times a day.
If I were to take time to categorize the things I talk to God about during
the day, how many things would come under the category of asking for things,
and how many things would come under the category of praise and thanksgiving?
Paul wrote,
(1 Thessalonians
5:16–18 NKJV) —16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you.
Notice the sandwich of praise around “praying”.
I wonder if it isn’t even good mental health to practice giving God praise.
(Proverbs 17:22
NKJV) A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken
spirit dries the bones.
:165 Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to
stumble.
:166 Lord, I hope for Your
salvation, And I do Your commandments.
:167 My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.
:168 I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are
before You.
:162 As one who finds great treasure
Lesson
Great Treasure
Several times in this section the Psalmist talks about how he loves God’s
Word.
(Psalm 119:162
NKJV) I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure.
(Psalm 119:162 The Message) I’m ecstatic over what you say, like one who strikes it rich.
(Psalm 119:163
NKJV) I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.
(Psalm 119:165
NKJV) Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing
causes them to stumble.
(Psalm 119:167
NKJV) My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.
Illustration
The TV series “Star Trek Voyager” follows the crew of a starship that has
been thrown into a distant part of the galaxy, who are cut off from
communicating with home, and are facing a seventy year journey back to earth.
I was watching an episode the other day (Season 4, episode
14, “Message in a Bottle”) where the crew stumbles across an ancient alien communication
network that allows them to briefly communicate with home.
Over the course of the episode, various crew members were
able to receive brief emails from family members at home.
Video: Star Trek
Voyager – Message in a bottle – You are no longer alone
We have a great treasure in our hands.
We have an amazing message from heaven, our home.
It reminds us that we are no longer alone.
It even tells us the way back home.
It gives us guidance over our journey for the next seventy years.
Do you love this Word?
119:169-176 The Word (ת Tau)
:169 Let my cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
:170 Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your
word.
:171 My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes.
:172 My tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are
righteousness.
:173 Let Your hand become my help, For I have chosen Your precepts.
:174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
:175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; And let Your judgments help
me.
:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not
forget Your commandments.
:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep
I find it fascinating that the author of this awesome Psalm on God’s Word
says that he’s gone astray.
I too go astray.
I’m glad I have a shepherd who goes after strays.
(Luke 19:10 NKJV) for the Son
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
:170 Deliver me according to Your word
Lesson
Prayer and God’s Will
An important component in prayer is asking for things in line with what God
has stated is His will.
John wrote,
(1 John 5:14–15
NKJV) —14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Prayer is not about bending God to do my will, but in me learning to bend
to do God’s will.
In the Garden of Gethsemane,
(Luke 22:41–42
NKJV) —41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt
down and prayed, 42
saying,
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My
will, but Yours, be done.”
There is no better way to know what God’s will is than to know His Word.
Here are some verses that give me hints at God’s will and can guide me in
my prayer life:
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know
that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose.
How can this affect my prayers?
Am I God’s child? Am I called? Do I love Him?
Then how is God going to answer my prayer?
(Romans 12:1–2
NKJV) —1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
How can this affect my prayers?
Have I given myself wholly to God?
Am I allowing God to renew my mind, or am I thinking like
the world thinks?
When I am a living sacrifice, what does God show the world
about His will in my life?
(1 Corinthians
10:13 NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that
you may be able to bear it.
How can this affect my prayers?
When I am facing temptation and I’m going to pray, what
can I expect God to do in response to my prayer?
(2 Corinthians 12:9
NKJV) And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
How can this affect my prayers?
Paul prayed about his “thorn in the flesh”, and this is
how God answered.
Sometimes God doesn’t take away the thing that makes me
“weak”. Instead He uses it to do what in
my life?
It’s also helpful to follow the example of others in their prayer life.
Look at how Paul prayed for people:
(Philippians
1:9–11 NLT) —9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you
will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want
you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless
lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the
righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring
much glory and praise to God.
How can this affect my prayers?
And this:
(Colossians 1:9–12 NLT) —9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about
you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you
spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the
way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce
every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God
better and better. 11 We also
pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have
all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the
inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.
Discuss:
Are there other verses that you find helpful when it comes to praying
according to God’s will?
This entire Psalm is about God’s Word.
Have you learned to read your Bible every day? What helped you get into the habit of reading
every day?