Adult Mentor: Adult Bible Study. R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
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Название: Adult Mentor: Adult Bible Study
Автор: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Религия: прочее
isbn: 9781681677712
isbn:
#AnAbidingTrust. Discuss what it means to trust God. Are there times when we should withhold our trust? Tag us @rhboydco and use #rhboydco
The Word of God shows forth His love to all of His creation. The psalmist puts it like this, “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Ps. 33:4–5, KJV). It was God’s Word that originally moved upon the nothingness of the earth to create the world that God’s people inhabit (see Gen. 1).
God judges in righteousness and in all love to ensure His people do well and have all the things that they need to exist. God’s nature ensures that His people will always have His love and care. God is always true to His Word and He will never break His promises and His covenant with His people. Christians can rest in the assurances from God’s Word to know that He will always be on our side to keep us protected. This is why it is so very important that the followers of Jesus Christ always read, study, and abide by the Word of God. Abiding in His Word leads to trusting Him more. Therefore, Christians should gather to study God’s Word, so as to know how to live righteously before God and not fall under His judgment.
III. God’s Word Affects God’s Work
Verse six repeats key words from verse four: “word” and “work” (work comes from the root “to do, to make”). So again, the focus is on God’s Word. God’s Word has creative power. Verses 6 and 9 recall the creation narrative in Genesis 1, and verses 7 and 8 allude to the Exodus. Verse 7 alludes to Exodus 15:8, which says, “At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea” (NRSV). Verse 8 perfectly captures the response of the Israelites when they saw what God did against the Egyptians—they “feared the Lord” (Exod. 14:31, NRSV). The pronoun “he” is the subject in verses 7 and 9; there is no doubt that it refers to God, the One who is behind it all. He is worthy of all praise and trust.
Key Concepts to Enhance Your Understanding
1. We must praise and trust God as our Creator and Sustainer.
2. We must acknowledge Him in all our ways.
3. We must imitate His righteousness as evidence of our trust and faith in Him.
Dictionary of Terms
•Praise—to offer to God the glory due unto His name for His excellent work.
ACTIVITY
Making It Stick
Share examples of the ways you display praise and trust in God.
Lesson 2
Sing a New Song
LEARNING SESSION
Psalm 96, with its testimony of God’s rule over the earth, is part of a grouping of psalms that focus on the reign of God (see Ps. 93; 95–99). These psalms are sometimes categorized as “enthronement psalms” because they speak of God’s eternal kingship. This psalm and the larger group of enthronement psalms appear in a section of the book of Psalms (Book IV, Ps. 90–106) that seems to be organized to deal with the theological crisis of the Babylonian exile in 587 B.C.
The theological crisis is expressed in many of the psalms that precede this section (Book III, Ps. 73–89). Such psalms painfully related doubts about Israel’s core beliefs (the central role of Jerusalem and the Davidic kingdom in God’s plan, for example). But Psalm 96, along with the other enthronement psalms, reminded those who doubted God was still in control, that God is the one who “made the heavens” (96:5, KJV) and therefore, He is able to secure the future for His people.
LESSON SCRIPTURES:
PSALM 96:1–6, 10–13
DISCUSSION POINTS:
EXPOSITION
I. Sing God’s Praises
Psalm 96:1–9 calls all people of the earth and indeed the earth itself to sing praise to God and to worship Him. This section of the psalm is dominated by imperatives that call forth that praise: “sing to the Lord;” “tell of his salvation;” “declare his glory;” “ascribe glory and strength;” and “worship the LORD.” The opening call to sing a “new song” does not elicit a song with fresh lyrics or music, but a song with universal scope that declares the extent of God’s sovereignty. Such a song is new in that it breaks out of the category of space and time and embraces all things. Although the song appears on the lips of God’s people who worship in the temple, it recognizes God’s guidance of and reign over all creatures. The psalmist has said, “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day” (Ps. 96:1–2, KJV). God deserves a new song every day His people live on the earth with all its wonderful resources that are able to sustain life upon it. God is the One who makes all things new. That is why Israel feels compelled to call upon all the earth to sing a new song. For God is not only the Creator, He keeps on recreating. The people of God have lots of reasons to come up with a lot of new songs to sing anew to God every day of their existence upon the face of this earth. It was true in the time of Israel in the Old Testament, and it is still very true today in the New Testament Church.
KEY VERSE
O sing unto the LORD a new song; sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
(Psalm 96:1, KJV)
THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
• To contemplate СКАЧАТЬ