Category: Bible Journey

I Kings 1-5: The Call to Faithfulness

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(2) God wanted David’s descendants to walk before Him in faithfulness with all their heart and soul (v4).  What does faithfulness to God look like in the context of v3?

Why does faithfulness require us to pay close attention to ourselves (v4a)?  Do you?

Why is the phrase “with all their heart and soul” so significant to being faithful?  How would you describe your heart?

(2) David charged Solomon to be strong (v2).  Why is being strong essential to being faithful to God?

In what specific situations in your life do you need to be strong?

What hinders you from being strong?

Where does strength ultimately come from (Ephesians 6:10)?

(3) Solomon answered the call to faithfulness – loving the Lord and walking in His ways (v3).  How do “loving” and “walking” relate to each other (see also John 14:15)?

(3) God offered Solomon anything he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom.  Why is wisdom essential for faithfulness to God?

(3-4) Despite Solomon’s overall faithfulness, he followed the way of the world in two ways – he married Pharaoh’s daughter as part of a treaty (3:1) and amassed many horses for his army (4:26, see Deuteronomy 17:16).  From the world’s point of view, why do both of these things make sense?  What spiritual dangers do they bring?

In what ways are we tempted to follow the way of the world today instead of being faithful to God?

What principles from this study do we need to apply to our lives to help us overcome these temptations?

Psalm 119 Reflections

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Heart – The psalmist seeks the Lord with his whole heart (v2, 10). His heart is in awe of God’s Word (161).  He wants God to incline his heart to God’s Word (v36).  He keeps God’s Word with his whole heart (v34, 69).  Why is the heart so important?  How is your heart?
  • Value – God’s Word is valuable! His Word guards our way (v9), keeps us from sin (v11), counsels and guides us with wisdom for our lives (v24, 98-100, 105), strengthens us (v28), and comforts us (v50).  In what ways have you experienced the value of God’s Word?  How might remembering its value spur you on to learn and live it?

Psalm 119 Reflections

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Delight in Word – Again and again the Psalmist speaks of his delight in the Word. Because of his delight, he meditates on the Word.  Do you delight in God’s Word?  Do you meditate on it, ponder it, think about it?  How might you grow in this area?
  • Obey the Word – The Psalmist not only delights to meditate on Word, but he wants to know it so that he might obey it. How much do you desire to obey God’s Word?  How do you need to grow in your obedience?

Psalm 119: Get Into The Book!

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(119) List the things we are to do with God’s Word.  Try to break your list into several summary categories.

How do your categories relate to each other?

(119) Read v2 and v10.  Why is a heart for God the necessary starting point for all the things we are do with God’s Word?  What happens if it isn’t our starting point?

(119) What value does God’s Word have for us (v9, v11, 24, 28, 50, 98-100, 105)?  How could remembering its value spur us on to delight in God’s Word?  Learn it?  Obey it?

(119) How does this psalm describe God’s Word (v89, 96, 128, 151, 160)?  Why is this important if we are going to trust it (v42)?

Why is trust essential if we are learn and obey God’s Word?

(119) What different ways does the psalm mention for learning God’s Word?  What are you doing to learn God’s Word?

What keeps you from learning God’s Word and why?  What will you do about it?

(119) As we learn the Word, we must also obey it.  What might keep you from obeying God’s Word?  What will you do about it?

Reflections on Psalms 146-150

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Trust – Psalm 146 bids us to not trust in people, who are here for only a short time. Rather we should seek our help in the Lord, who made this world.  Where are you seeking help?  Who are you placing your trust in?
  • Praise – All five of today’s psalms call us to praise God. Use these psalms to offer up your own praise to him!

Reflections on Psalms 141-145

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Refuge – Psalms 141, 142, and 144 all remind us that God is our refuge. In what situation(s) do you need God to be a refuge for you today?
  • Great is the Lord – Psalm 145 proclaims the greatness of our God and calls us to ponder it. Use Psalm 145 to meditate on his greatness, and then praise the Lord.

Psalms 141-150: What God Does

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(142-143) Read 142:3a.  When your spirit is faint, how does it help to remember that God knows our way?

How does 142:3 relate to 143:8?

Why is it important to hear in the morning of God’s steadfast love?

What can we do to remind us of his love each morning?

(145-147) Read these psalms noticing who God is and all the many things that he does.

Which verse especially speaks to you and why?

(142-143, 145-150) As we consider how our God is for us, how should we respond to the Lord according to the following verses?  Why?

142:1, 143:1 –

143:6 –

145-150 (main idea) –

 

Reflections on Psalms 136-140

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Thanks for His Love – Psalms 136 and 138 call us to give thanks to God for his steadfast love toward us. If you were to write a psalm like Psalm 136, what loving acts of God would you include?  Give thanks to him for his loving work in your life.
  • God Knows Us – Psalm 139 reminds us that he knows us completely. He knows where we go and what we think.  He knows what we will say before we say it.  He knew us as he created us in our mother’s womb.  He knows what is in our hearts.  How do you respond to these amazing truths?

Reflections on Psalms 130-135

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Which psalm or verse especially reflects your heart today?  Use those words to talk to the Lord.

  • Hope in the Lord – The Psalmist cries out to God for forgiveness, and then waits and hopes in the Lord (Psalm 130). He humbles and quiets himself as he hopes in the Lord (Psalm 131).  Have you humbled yourself before the Lord?  For what do you need forgiveness?  Describe your hope in the Lord.
  • Bless the Lord – Psalms 134-135 call us to bless and praise the Lord. He is a great God who does great things.  What great things has he done for you recently?  Bless and praise the Lord.

Psalms 130-140: Approaching Our God

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(139) What do you learn about our great God in each of these passages, and what does that mean for our lives?

V1-6 –

V7-12 –

V13-18 (138:8) –

In response to God, how does David view God’s enemies?  How should we view God’s enemies?

What does he recognize about himself (v23-24)?  Do you pray these words?

(136) This psalm celebrates God’s love in his creation (v4-9), his redemption (v10-16), and his preservation (v17-25).  How do we see God’s love in each of these actions?

How should we respond to his great love (v1-3, 26)?  What keeps us from responding more in this way?

(130-134) These psalms are the final songs of ascents, sung as the people went to Jerusalem to appear before God.  From these psalms, how should we approach our great loving God?  Why?

130 –

131 (138:6) –

132 –

133 –

134 (135:1-3) –

(130-140) Which verse(s) or psalm especially speaks to you, and why?