What Is Your “Rachel?” (Part I.)
WE ARE GOING TO DO ONE MORE TWO PART LOVE STORY — ANOTHER LOVE STORY THAT REALLY POINTS TO JESUS.
THEN I HAVE A NEW EXCITING ADVENTURE FOR MID-SEPTEMBER WHICH I’LL BE TELLING YOU ABOUT.
I HAVE A DEEP GROUP OF WOMEN HERE, AND GOD IS WORKING IN YOUR LIVES. I PRAY SOME WILL JOIN YOU FOR THIS, BUT ALSO WHEN WE BEGIN THE NEW ADVENTURE. THIS LOVE STORY CAN TEACH YOU SO MUCH. I’M PRAYING FOR YOU.
JACOB ADORING RACHEL
What do you think you need to be happy? What is your “Rachel?”
Our hearts, John Calvin said, are “idol-making factories.” Instead of worshiping the One who is beautiful beyond description, who will never leave us or forsake us, who laid down His life to rescue us, we worship the things He made, thinking they will fulfill us. We don’t really believe He can fulfill us.
But for those rare individuals who learn that He alone is worthy of worship and pour their hearts into Him, they also find they become thankful for the people and things He has made, giving them grace for their weaknesses, and not expecting them to be everything to them.
Let’s start with Jacob. We know he’s on the run after cheating his brother and father. What I’d like you to do first is find evidence that he was absolutely obsessed with Rachel. (Remember, we can be exactly the same way, seeing someone as being like a god or a goddess, making them what only God can be.)
Read all of Genesis 29 as an overview, asking God to quicken you.
1. Read Genesis 29:7-11 and find any evidence you can of the beginnings of his obsession.
2. In Genesis 29:18-27, How does Jacob “give away” his hand to Laban the cheat? How do you see Jacob’s heart for Rachel?
3. Have you ever been obsessed with someone like this — a lover, friend, or child? How did God show you that that person could not hold that kind of worship?
4. Falling in love and marrying is a gift from God — but no man or woman can ever be what only God can be. But if our heart is right with God, if we are adoring Him, then we can likewise be thankful and contented with a spouse (or friend, or child) who is a sinner and give him or her grace. One of the truths we can learn from the parallel that the Bible makes between marriage and our relationship with the Lord is to adore the Lord — the kind of adoration that happens when you first fall in love with a man, or even, if I may be so bold, the kind of adoration that might happen in the marriage bed — where you adore every part of a person, as you see in The Song of Songs.
SPEND SOME TIME ADORING THE LORD. USE MUSIC, PSALMS SUCH AS PSALMS 96 THROUGH 1OO. USE SONG OF SONGS 2:8-17 — AND SING OR TELL HIM WHY HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL TO YOU. GIVE THIS TO HIM. WERE YOU ‘QUICKENED’ TO ADORE DURING THIS TIME? CAN YOU SHARE SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Jacob thought if he had Rachel, life would be complete. Tim Keller says that Jacob dreamed of apocalyptic sex with Rachel. If only he could have Rachel…
Leah thought if she had Jacob’s love, her life would be complete. If only she could have Jacob’s love…
Rachel thought if she had Jacob’s children, her life would be complete. If only she could have Jacob’s children…
Our hearts are idol-making factories.
5. What contrast is made between Leah and Rachel in Genesis 29:17. How can you tell that the writer wasn’t just saying that Leah didn’t see too well?
6. In a world that worships physical beauty, why might not having it be a gift?
7. Can you see the beauty in individuals who are not physically beautiful? If so, share. If not, pray.
8. Read Isaiah 53:2-3. What do you learn about the Lord here and His physical beauty?
This is when Jesus was on the cross. Spend some time in Isaiah 53 worshiping Him, asking Him to change your heart to worship Him, to care about the things He cares about, instead of the things the world cares about.
9. There is so much more about Rachel and Leah and our idol-making factories. We’ll look at that next week. But for now, let me ask you: “What is your Rachel?” What do you tend to worship instead of the Lord? Ask the Lord to help you with this — to be thankful, yet not a worshiper of this “Rachel?” I’d also love some testimonies here.
10. What did you learn that is impacting you and why?
THE TWO BECOME ONE
Today is my birthday and I’m with my four new grand-daughters. From left to right, Katherine Harrington; Sadie Hale; Octavia Brestin, and Miabelle Lano.
I could try to tie this picture into our Bible study, but I won’t! (Except to say that mid-September I’m planning to do The Friendships of Women on this blog!)
Here’s the real post:
THE TWO BECOME ONE
We have contemplated how leaving and cleaving in earthly marriage points to our relationship with Christ, but this week, we will also consider how the act of a husband and wife becoming one portends an even deeper mystery that will occur one day in heaven: that of Christ becoming one with His Bride, the church, as Paul explains:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, the two will become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32
I am no longer a young bride - I am a youngish widow, for my husband lost his battle with cancer at the age of fifty-nine. In losing Steve, the love of my life, I am also glimpsing more clearly this mystery of becoming one with Christ. For though sexual intimacy is a great gift, we also don’t have to have it - for we will have it forever with the Lord in heaven, in a mysterious way our minds cannot yet comprehend. It will be different, it will be better, it will be more glorious and more unifying that we can imagine. It will be the end of loneliness forever and ever.
Christianity holds the loftiest view of sex of any philosophy in the world. The Biblical view is unique, for it holds not only that sexual intimacy within marriage is sacred, but absolutely good and lovely. It was God’s great idea for a couple, through sexual intimacy to: find delight in one another, become one with one another, renew their covenant regularly in the sanctified marriage bed, learn how to unselfishly serve one another, and be blessed, if it was His will, with children. Seen as God sees it, the sexual act is about intimacy, about renewing covenant, and about faithfulness. These are the central principles that transfer, absolutely making it a pointer to His relationship with us.
I would never, ever dare to use this parallel at all - except that God does it. So we must look at it. Sexual intimacy is an important and integral part of the love stories between husband and wife - of the whole metaphor - and when it is clearly there, attempting to take it out would be like trying to extricate one of the braids in a triple-braid. The whole braid would fall apart. So it stays in - and it will appear and reappear frequently in this triple-braid, but it is certainly not the only braid or even the most important braid.
But before we begin our study, how are we to interpret metaphors and parables accurately? We are to look for the central truths. One distorted paradigm is to assume that you can press all the details of a metaphor and make a literal transfer. For example, when Scripture says that each believer must be wearing a white linen wedding gown when Christ returns, it does not mean that each of us, men and women, will be getting an actual wedding gown, but that Christ has the power to make our sins as white as snow, and to continue to transform us into “beautiful brides” who are confident and unashamed at His coming. When Scripture uses the sexual metaphor - and I feel a foolish even saying this, but know I must, it certainly doesn’t mean we are engaging in a sexual act with God, like some ancient and modern cults say, but that as we increase in our love, trust, and intimacy with the Almighty, as we willingly put ourselves in His arms, that our lives will have a fruitfulness that can only come when we fully yield to the Spirit of God.
BIBLE STUDY
1. Contemplations on the introduction
A. Why does Christianity hold the loftiest view of sex of any world religion?
B. What are some parallels between earthly intimacy and intimacy with Jesus?
C. What is important to remember when looking at a scriptural parable?
2. The Marriage Parable in Ephesians 5:22-33
A. How are wives to submit to their husbands according to verse 22?
B. How are husbands to treat their wives according to verse 25?
C. How is this rephrased for each in verse 33?
D. How did Christ fulfill his role perfectly as a husband?
E. How are you and how could you better submit to and respect your heavenly husband?
3. The Marriage Parable in Genesis 1 and 2 (CHALLENGE QUESTION)
A. Challenge question: According to Genesis 1:27, male and female together image God. The first marriage was also one man and one woman for life. When you realize marriage is also a parable for Christ and His Bride, why is it important that it be both male and female? (Hints: Why it “otherness” important in this parable? Why is leadership important in this parable? )
B. Just as a husband and wife are designed to fit together physically, what are some ways God designed them to fit together emotionally and spiritually?
4. The Marriage Parable in Proverbs 30:18-20 (CHALLENGE QUESTION)
A. What are the three amazing things Agur sees? How do the two become one in each case?
B. What is the fourth mystery, the beauty Agur “does not understand?” How is this a culmination of the two becoming one?
C. What is the contrast in verse 20?
D. Why must sex be kept within the covenant of marriage in order to reflect the parable of Christ and His Bride?
5. The Marriage Parable in Hosea
Find a few verses in chapter 2 that show that sin is not so much breaking the rules, but unfaithfulness, breaking the heart of God.
6. What will you remember and apply from this week?
I, Adam, take thee, Eve (Part I)
I’m hoping this love story will be a little easier, now that you’ve had some practice. What we are doing, for those who have just joined us, is finding Jesus and His Gospel hidden in the love stories of the Bible. I’m testing the waters here. You are a depthy group of women — if it is too challenging for you, I know I need to go back to the drawing board. I also covet your prayers for wisdom for me if I should proceed with this book. I appreciate you!
Let’s go to the beginning — to the first love story. My favorite picture of a bride is this picture of my mother on her wedding day. Dressed in snowy white, I know she took my father’s breath away. And though it is hard to believe, when Jesus has finished His work in us, we will thrill Him in the same way.
- the trumpet solitaire sounds and we rise to see a radiant bride in a snowy white gown
- her father walks her down the aisle and presents her to the groom
- the bride and groom covenant, from this day forward and until death, “to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish…”
- they are pronounced “husband and wife” and turn with radiant faces and joyful step to walk down the aisle together - no longer two, but one.
- God covers every believer with a garment of snowy white, a “wedding garment”
- God the Father chose His Bride before the foundation of the world to one day present to His Son
- God covenants with His own, for better or for worse
- One day each believer will see Jesus face to face and be forever united to Him
AS A BRIDEGROOM REJOICES OVER HIS BRIDE
Bible Study
1. Comment on the introduction — is the idea that a wedding is a picture of the Gospel new to you? What thoughts do you have?
2. When the first bride is walked down the aisle by God the Father and presented to Adam, how does he respond in Genesis 2:23? Why was he so excited? (Genesis 2:18-20 may give insight.)
2. What parallel do you see between this first wedding and our wedding to Jesus Christ? (See Isaiah 62:5) How is it possible, given our sin, that our God will rejoice over us?
3. Challenge question: Why is a wedding a picture of the Gospel? (See above notes — and bring any Scriptures that you feel help clarify this.)
4. After Adam breaks out into song, Moses states the most importance verse about marriage in the Bible. It consists of three parts — what are they?
5. In Ephesians 5:31-32, Paul says this verse applies not only to earthly marriage, but something deeper. What is that?
Let’s begin with leaving and cleaving and do one flesh next week. (For even sexual intimacy is a picture of the Gospel.)
6. Leaving:
Earthly marriage: What does it mean for a man to “leave” his family? Does this mean abandonment? Why is this important for a healthy marriage?
The parallel with Christ: How did Jesus leave His Father in order to woo His Bride? Was this painful for Him, do you think?
In the psalm about Christ and His bride, how does “leaving” apply to us, according to Psalm 45:10-11.
How could you personally apply this?
7. Cleaving
Cleaving is akin to gluing two pieces of paper together. They are no longer two, but
one, and if you try to separate the two pieces, you rip into each of them. Cleaving cannot occur when a couple simply lives together, because there is no lasting covenant, no legal commitment. Cleaving provides the protective tent for becoming one flesh, which God says should follow rather than precede cleaving. This helps us to understand why divorce is so painful. It rips at each partner, and at any children of their union. God wants us to cleave, to be committed - for earthly reasons, but also, because it reflects His covenant.
A. As Applied to Earthly Marriage: What does cleaving mean, and how should this impact a couples’ perspective of marriage?
B. In Malachi 2:10-16, the prophet thunders at men who have broken their marriage covenant with the brides of their youth, casting them aside to marry younger pagan women. What reasons does God give in Malachi 2:14-15 for his anger with these men?
C. The parallel with Christ. Christ cleaves to us, will never leave us or forsake us. Find passages that show that this cleaving depends on Christ’s faithfulness. If we are truly His, we need not fear that He will walk out.
8. What will you take away from this week’s study? Why?
CHOOSING BONDAGE OR FREEDOM (INDECENT PROPOSAL PART II)
IF YOU HAVE JUST JOINED US, PLEASE READ INDECENT PROPOSAL PART I
Jesus said, If you know the truth, it can set you free. Paul uses the story of Abraham and his two wives as an analogy to show us a wrong way and a right way to approach the Christian life. One puts us in bondage, and the other sets us as free as an eagle in the sky.
The Galatians had listened to false teaching and had embraced an indecent proposal and the way of slavery. Paul writes to them sternly, saying:
You foolish Galatians! Who has
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.
False teachers had come to Galatia and told them it was right to trust what Christ did on the cross, but they also needed to keep the law. It was faith plus. It was a perversion of the Gospel. And Paul thunders:
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned.
Let’s look at the analogy Paul makes and then find applications to how we approach life — for God’s heart for you is to be set free.ble Study:
1. Read Galatians 4:21-23 and explain the differences between the birth of Ishmael and Isaac.
2. Read Galatians 4:24-31 and explain who “our mother” is. What does this mean? (This is a challenging passage, but not as hard as it might appear, and can truly make a difference in your life, so ask the Lord for His quickening to understand.)
3. Contemplate on the following and answer after each bullet point:
THE SON OF THE SLAVE WOMAN
- What did this not involve a miracle but natural means?
- Why did this involve an indecent proposal?
- What bad fruit did this lead to?
BUT THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN
- Why was this a miracle?
- Why did this honor God?
- What good fruit did this lead to?
In our lives, we are continually faced with these two approaches to life. Consider:
THE LONGING TO GO TO HEAVEN
THE WAY OF SLAVERY
- Follow the rules and earn your way to heaven - no miracle involved
- Is an indecent proposal because Christ already paid dearly and it was enough
- Leads to bondage and doesn’t work!
THE WAY OF FREEDOM
- Trust what Christ did on the cross to pay for your sin
- Honors God by trusting the miracle of grace
- Leads to joy, freedom, and assurance
4. Tim Keller says one of the surest signs to discern whether someone is a Christian is their response when you ask, “Are you a Christian?” The response of someone who is a child of the slave will be a bit of a perturbed, “Of course! Why do you ask?” But the child of the freewoman will say something like, “Oh yes — isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it amazing?” Explain, using the above analogy, why this would be so.
Now, let’s apply the Gospel to more than just heaven.
THE LONGING TO BE RELIEVED OF GUILT
Many women who talk to me after a retreat will confess a sin like abortion or infidelity and then say something like, “I know God forgives me, but I can’t forgive myself.” There are two paths open to them. Let’s see how you do - imagine how someone who does trust Christ, might also choose the way of slavery. Then contrast that with the way of Freedom.
5. Using the above diagram, see if you can answer the questions in parenthesis.
THE WAY OF SLAVERY
- Trust Christ but also beat myself up to help pay for my sin
- (Explain why this is an “indecent proposal”)
- (Describe result)
THE WAY OF FREEDOM
- (What must you trust alone?)
- (Why is this honoring to God?)
- (What fruit does this lead to?)
4. What guilt and regrets do you carry? Why is carrying them dishonoring to God, offering an “indecent proposal?” If you are willing, list them here and lay them down at the cross.
THE LONGING FOR THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART TO BE MET
When my husband was diagnosed with cancer, the desire of my heart was that he would be healed on earth. I thought, I’ll ask everyone I know throughout the world to pray. I’ll live a blameless life. I’ll fast. I felt if I just did enough, then God would heal Steve on earth. And while it is true that Scripture exhorts us to pray, to live blamelessly, and even to fast - it is not to arm wrestle God, but instead, an expression of our intimate walk with Him. We live as He asks because we love Him, rather than to control Him. We leave the results to Him, who does all things well in His time. If we cannot see a reason for suffering, we submit to His wisdom and grace, knowing His character. As we grow in our trust for Him, we know that if He does not give us the desires of our heart, then it is because He has a better plan, a better way, that one day will be made clear. When we have a strong desire, whether it is for marriage, or children, or to be released from suffering - there are two paths open to us.
5. When we face suffering — see if you can explain which path is honoring to God and which path is not. Explain also why the path that honors God leads to humility and freedom, and the “indecent proposal” leads to pride or anger.
6. There are so many other applications, because living a Gospel-transformed life applies to much more than heaven. How might you apply this to your life?
This forum has become a place where we not only help one another find strength in God through pondering the Scripture, but by sharing our needs and praying for one another. I must thank you for praying for the births of my three grand-daughters this summer. Here is Katherine Elizabeth Harrington, my daughter Beth’s daughter who was born Friday. We are so thankful for yet another healthy baby. She, like her cousin did, is struggling with billirubin — (we used to call it jaundice.) I do appreciate your prayers for this precious one, as you prayed for Mia. Here she is — and thank you so for your prayers. I’m praying for you as you do this study. I think it’s an important lesson.
An Indecent Proposal: Part I.
I’m going to give you a taste of a new book I’m working on with the tentative title of Every Love Story Whispers His Name.
Hidden in every priest, every prophet, every slain lamb, every suffering servant, every king, and every Bridegroom is Jesus. He is also hidden in the love stories of the Bible. Each of them, if you look deeply enough, point to Jesus and/or His Gospel. This week we will begin with the love story of Abraham and his two wives and see how it points to Jesus.
In the movie Indecent Proposal a wealthy gambler, played by Robert Redford, offers a husband and a wife a million dollars in exchange for sleeping with the wife, played by Demi Moore. At first they refuse, then deliberate, and then, hard-pressed for money, agree, assuring one another that it is just a physical act and their marriage will survive. But, as we might anticipate, afterwards, their guilt, blame, and anger hammer at the marriage. The husband can’t forget the image of his wife in another man’s arms. The wife can’t forget Robert Redford. (Who could?)
Walter Wangerin, in The Book of God, imagines how another indecent proposal occurred.
“Abram?” she said. “I have an idea.”…She cast her eyes to the side, now cutting melon for herself. “I would not object,” she said, “if you liked my idea and acted upon it. Another woman might object. I would not. In fact, I would be grateful.”
Abram put a sticky finger to his tongue. “What is your idea?” he said.
“You know my maidservant, of course,” she said, carefully cutting the rind from her fruit.
“Yes.”
“Hagar. The sturdy woman whom we brought north from Egypt. That one. Young, she is. A good servant.”
“Yes, said Abram. “I know her. What is your idea?”
“Now, then, are you finished with the melon? Have you had enough?”
Abram simply sat and gazed at his wife.
Finally she laid the pieces of her own fruit aside and wiped her hands and folded them in her lap and lifted her eyes to her husband.
“When certain wives are unable to bear children,” she said, “they bring their maidservants to their husbands. They invite their husbands to go in to their maidservants in order that they, the barren wives, might in this manner get children of their own. For if the maid bears a baby upon the knees of her mistress, the baby becomes the child of the mistress. Abram, if you wished to do such a thing with Hagar my maidservant…I would not object.”
The Scripture then tells us:
And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:2 (NAS)
Let’s look at this story and how it teaches us something about Jesus and how we can release the power of the Gospel in our lives. I’m going to take you back to see the story in context, and then forward to the book of Galatians where it uses this story as an analogy to help us understand how to release the power of the Gospel in our lives.
Mia & Annie
For those new to us, you may want to take a question a day — or do more than one. I’ll post again next Monday. And before we begin, I must show you my newborn grand-daughter. (The only way I can tie this into this story is that the births of babies are significant in showing us something about the Gospel in the story of Abraham! :-)
BIBLE STUDY
1. Read Genesis 16:1-2.
A. What Sarah proposed may have been in keeping with the culture, but how do you know that it was not in keeping with God’s will? Can you
give Scripture to support your answer?
B. Can you sympathize with Sarah? Put yourself in her place. What was valued in that culture? How was she feeling? How long had it been
since God had promised Abraham a son?
C. Compare Genesis 16:2 “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” to Genesis 3:17. What is the implication? Is listening to your wife
wrong? Then what was wrong?
Read Genesis 16:3-5 and the following commentary.
Most English translations of the above say “in your arms,” or “in your embrace,” but Hebrew scholar Robert Alter says it is rawer than that. Literally, in Hebrew, Sarah is saying, “I put my slave in your lap,” which is a euphemism for the genital area. She’s trying to help Abraham understand why her suffering is so intense. She is saying, “Abraham – I put my slave girl between your legs.”
2. Put yourself in Hagar’s place. What do you think her feelings were about herself before this happened? How does she now respond to Sarah, and why, do you think?
3. Considering what you learned from Robert Alter’s translation, put yourself in Sarah’s place. Why is she suffering? Think of everything you can. How has the plan that she thought would set her free enslaved her?
4. Does it seem fair to you that she blames Abraham? What’s going on in her mind, do you think?
Read Genesis 16:6
5. Though Abraham’s advice to Sarah might have been in keeping with the culture — how does it go against what God would have us do?
7. The plan that Sarah and Abraham thought would set them free surely has not. List the fall-out.
8. This story will unfold more next week, and you will see how it applies to the Gospel. But for now, can you think of a time when you tried to get something good, but did it in a way that was not pleasing to God?
YOU KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB
Two of my daughters are expecting babies this week. Anne, we think, is first. Here she is — 9 months and four days pregnant. She is praying labor happens naturally, but if it doesn’t, she will be induced this Thursday. Beth is due next Monday. I am going to start driving to be near them (Nebraska and Iowa) tomorrow. The psalm we “happen” to be on, certainly is timely for our family, but it is enormously timely for each of us.
This week will conclude A Woman of Worship, but we will be doing some interesting passages until we begin a new study in the fall.
Before we begin the study, I’ve a question for you to ponder:
What are the strengths of an internet study? How could we better use this gift to make this study better? What are the weaknesses? What could be done to overcome the weaknesses?
BIBLE STUDE — TAKE A QUESTION OR TWO A DAY, OR ALL AT ONCE IF YOU PREFER
READ PSALM 139 IN ITS ENTIRETY, ASKING GOD TO GIVE YOU THE BIG PICTURE
1. Contemplate THE WONDER of Psalm 139:1-6
A. List the ways God knows you — find as many as you can.
B. Compare verse 6 with Job 42:3. In what context did Job speak these words?
c. CHALLENGE QUESTION FOR THIS AMAZING GROUP: What link do you see between God’s intimate knowledge of your every move, thought, and word and the suffering He allows in your life?
2. Meditate on Psalm 139:7-12.
A. What mood shift do you see here — and why do you think it happened?
B. Why is God’s omniscience and omnipresence both wonderful and terrible?
C. 
Imagine (since I don’t have the tech savvy to do this) that on the top line you would write “God’s holiness” and on the bottom line “My sinfulness.” As you grow in Christ, God’s holiness will grow greater to you, and you will simultaneously see the depth of your sinfulness more clearly. This is part of what is happening in this psalm, what happened to Job, and what happens to each of us as we contemplate the greatness of God. What dark parts of your heart do you see today that you were not able to see a few years back?
4. 
This is my daughter Beth and her husband Seth. (We wouldn’t have done a picture like this in my generation, but I realize pregnancy is nothing to be ashamed of — it’s beautiful. I think that the change in maternity clothes to revealing instead of hiding is healthy, so, I’m posting this picture of my beautiful pregnant daughter.)
Meditate on Psalm 139:13-18.
A. What causes the Psalmist to be filled with wonder? Be as specific as you can be.
B. In A Woman of Worship, if you have the song, “I was made to praise You,” comment on it.
C. What thoughts does verse 16 bring to you — especially those of you who have lost loved ones?
D. Compare this passage with Ecclesiastes 11:5. What do you see?
E. If you have had the privilege of becoming a mother by biological birth or adoption, what wonder do you remember?
5. Meditate on Psalm 139:19-22. Why do you think the abrupt mood change? Is it logical? Explain.
6. Make Psalm 139:23-34 your own prayer. You may want to write it out here.
7. What do you think would happen in your life if you made the above prayer a regular part of your life when you faced problems, decisions, or the end of the day?
Love to each of you — on to a new exciting adventure next week! Please come!
CATCHING THE WIND OF HIS SPIRIT
Learning how to pray the psalms has changed my prayer life from rowing upstream to catching the wind of His Spirit. We’re going to look at just four verses from Psalm 119 that are filled with power. It was my husband Steve who first discovered this passage. When he found Integrity had set it to music he was thrilled and we knew it had to go into A Woman of Worship. I think it is the most beautiful song on the CD and you can hear the beginning of it by clicking here.
The phrase “Remember the Word to your servant” is the psalmist reminding God of His promises. Charles Spurgeon says that God loves it when His children remind Him of His Word, because it shows they know and trust it. It’s the way a parent feels when his child repeats back to him something that he’s wanted him to believe and understand, but wasn’t sure he did.
For example, when Steve thought he might be dying, he was so concerned about his three youngest children — all daughters. So He reminded God of one of His promises — to be a Father to the fatherless. He asked God to remember this promise. Then Steve also asked, knowing God might have a different way of fulfilling this promise, but still submitting this request: “Would you give each of my daughters a godly husband who has a godly father? And could that father love my daughter should You be calling me home?” In the three years after Steve’s death, each of his daughters married a godly man — and each man was the son of a godly pastor. Steve certainly caught the wind of God’s Spirit.
I am also seeing how often I pray for God’s gifts instead of my character and the character of those I love. But there are so many promises that have to do with our character or with experiencing the presence of God, which is key to everything else: our character, our contentment. There are many promises right within Psalm 119, that if we prayed them, would help us catch the wind of the Spirit. What if we regularly prayed Psalm 119:18 (Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law) or Psalm 119:37-38? (Turn my eyes away from worthless things…)
Wouldn’t you like to catch the wind of His Spirit?
Let’s go sailing together!
1. Write out Psalm 119:49-50 in a version that you particularly like. Why do you like it?
2. Meditate on “Remember your Word to your servant.”
A. Why is the psalmist reminding God of His promises? Has God forgotten? Then, why?
B. Why are God’s promises more powerful than ours?
One commentator from the 1800’s put it like this: “Sue God on His Word, for His Word is His bond.” (That’s a lawsuit
you’ll never win!)
3. Meditate on “Upon which You caused me to hope” List three promises of God that could give you hope — look especially
for promises that would help you with things you tend to be anxious about or with your character.
4. Meditate on “This is my comfort in my affliction, for your Word has given me life.” Take one of the above promises and
explain why it comforts you.
5. Now, take this promise and pray it, making it yours. (I want to caution you that we can’t use these promises to
arm-wrestle God, making Him do what we want, but we can ask Him to fulfil His promise to us. For example, in the story
above, God may have chosen to have our daughters be single, but still have been a Father to them in a different way.) Find a promise to pray back, perhaps one in Psalm 119, and do it here. You can do this throughout the week with various promises.
Write your prayer here:
6. In the song on the CD, they drop down to Psalm 119:147 and sing that. Contemplate that verse as well as Psalm 119:148 and share what you see.
7. Here’s a challenge question: Find examples in Psalm 119 where the psalmist almost seems to be worshiping the word, the law, the precepts. We know we shouldn’t “worship” anything or anyone other than the LORD - so what is going on here?
8. What will you remember from this week?
BLOW UPON MY GARDEN
In the Song of Songs, the Beloved says to her Lover: “Awake north wind, and come south wind! Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may spread abroad.” (Song of Songs 4:16)
Throughout Scripture, including the psalms, we learn how the Lord would have us respond when He brings the north wind (the hard things of life) and also, when He brings the south wind (the sweet things of life). The purpose of our lives is to glorify God, to let His fragrance be spread abroad. That can happen when our heart is right, whatever weather He ordains.
Let’s start with the hard things, finding some insight from Lesson 4 in A Woman of Worship and Psalm 42, and then move to the sweet things, finding insight from Lesson 5, and a few of the many psalms that model and exhort thankfulness.
We’ve gained some new sisters in our last post, for whom I’m so thankful. I’m praying for each of you, that our sharing may be honest and thoughtful, and that together we will help each other be ready for either the north wind or the south wind.
Take a question a day, two if you like, and listen to the songs, if you have them, to help your heart.
NORTH WIND
1. In Psalm 42, the north winds are blowing, and the psalmist keeps asking the same question of himself.
A. What is the repeated question?
B. The psalmist is taking his soul in hand and asking her, “Why are so you upset when you know that your hope should be in God, who can never be shaken?” The psalmist realizes he has displaced his hope in something that can be shaken. List some of the things or people you have placed your hope in that could be shaken.
2. If you have the song from A Woman of Worship on Psalm 42, listen to it. There are two voices — one if the male psalmist, asking his soul “Why are you downcast?” Then there is feminine voice who keeps singing back, “Put your hope in God.” What is your interpretation of these two voices? (If you have other songs based on Psalm 42 you’d like to recommend — please tell us about them and why you like them!)
3. If the North Wind is blowing in your life right now, would you be willing to take your soul in hand and ask her, “Where have you displaced your hope?” If so, what do you learn? (This is our chance to pray for you to put your hope in God.)
4. We’re starting to get to know one another in this blog. Is there someone whom you’ve seen put her hope in God when the North Wind is blowing? What have you seen?
How has His fragrance spread abroad?
SOUTH WIND
5. If you have A Woman of Worship, listen to the song “Give Thanks” and share your thoughts. What other songs of thankfulness can you recommend that stir your heart? How might you better sing them on a daily basis?
6. Read Psalm 78:1-16
A. Summarize verses 1-4 in one sentence.
B. You could call this passage “forget not.” Find some verses that re-iterate this theme. What are we to “not forget?” Why?
C. What verse stands out to you from this passage and why?
7. Let’s practice thankfulness right now for everyday life. List a few simple pleasures that you do not want to forget.
8. I’ve a video of my daughter Anne speaking at her Dad’s funeral about “giving thanks.” http://www.deebrestin.com/about/steve-brestin/
(Scroll down under the About Dee section.) What do you learn?
9. How does practicing thankfulness as a daily habit, when the South Wind is blowing, better prepare you to respond when the North Wind blows?
How might you better incorporate practicing the habit of thankfulness? Specific ideas are welcome!
WHITER THAN SNOW
This is going to be a great week. Paul Tripp’s devotional on Psalm 51 is packed with insightful questions on this famous psalm. I’m going to use just a few to help us begin to dig into this psalm of David’s repentance. I’m so thankful for the hungry souls on this blog. I don’t want superficial Christianity. I want to be surrounded by believers who want to go deeper, who long for transformed lives, and whose excitement is contagious. That’s you! We’ll spend a week here, and we can’t cover it all, but the last question allows you to dig, dig, dig. Set your pace. Pray for your sisters. This could be an extremely transforming week.
This is asking very personal questions — so it is only fair I jump in too, so I will be answering as well this week. This is a study that could be done over and over again in order for us to walk a life of repentance and faith.
Prepare your heart with music based on Psalm 51. I love Dennis Jernigan’s version of Mercy Me. I like the rendition on A Woman of Worship of Psalm 51. You probably have one to suggest and we’d love to hear it or watch it.
Bible Study
The background for this psalm is David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah and his repentance after Nathan came and painted a word picture for him. If you aren’t familiar with this, the story is in 2 Samuel 11-12. Read it. Then read all of Psalm 51 prayerfully.
1. We often think our problems are on the outside — a difficult boss, tight finances, or a lack of appreciation. Yet the whole of Scripture, including Psalm 51, shows us our problems are on the inside. If we are convinced we are righteous, that we don’t need cleansing and rescuing, that is our biggest problem. It seems amazing that David was so blind to his sin before Nathan came to him, yet we are the same way. Think about a time when you thought the problem was on the outside, but God opened your eyes to see that your attitude, your sin, and your blindness was the real problem.
2. Think about a problem you are facing right now that you might have thought was on the outside. How might it actually be on the inside?
3. What is our only hope, according to Psalm 51:1? Tim Keller says growth comes from continually walking in repentance and faith on a daily basis. Where, today, is God calling you to walk in repentance and faith? (Let’s pray for one another and share how God has helped us through the week.)
4. Paul Tripp shares about a time when he was on a panel with two Islamic colleagues and a Rabbi. When the subject of what you would say to a family whose loved one committed suicide came up, Tripp said the Gospel shone the brightest. He said, “Suicide doesn’t change the paradigm. …Both the person who has committed suicide and the person who has not, yet has sinned, is dependent on God’s mercy.” Contemplate this: Do you really believe your only hope is in God’s grace? Is your life characterized by thankfulness or complaint?
5. Tim Keller says the distinguishing mark of a Christian is that he is overcome with thankfulness that he is saved. When asked if he is a Christian, he says something like, “Oh — yes — isn’t it wonderful?” Whereas the person who doesn’t really get it becomes indignant, thinking somehow he has earned the right to be called a Christian. Comment.
6. What does Psalm 51:3 teach us about our hearts? Tripp says we are masters at disguise. Anger masquerades as a zeal for truth, gossip as concern, pride as a love for biblical wisdom. We are all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good. Be still before the Lord praying through Psalm 51:1-3, and Psalm 51:6. Does he give you light in your inner parts?
7. How do you explain verse 4?
8. Take a passage of Psalm 51 and pray through it for yourself. Write your prayer here.
9. There is so much in this psalm, it is hard to do it justice in a week. But contemplate it, chew it, and share your insights here, giving a verse reference, an insight, an application.
YOU HEAR, O LORD, THE DESIRE OF THE AFFLICTED
The Lord sets His face against the proud, but He is for the humble, the outcast, the afflicted. I’ve seen it again and again. This is my just born granddaughter, Sadie. She is a gift of God to my daughter Sally and her husband Phil. She was a much prayed for baby. (Many of you know Sally through her Aslan painting which you can see through this link: http://www.deebrestin.com/products/aslan-posters-prints/ Sally was led to paint Aslan because she wanted to try to get an answer to why a good God allowed so much suffering. He did give her a surprising answer.
Often we don’t know why He allows suffering, and we are called to accept the mystery of suffering, but we do know God is good.
We also know, according to the psalms we will be studying this week, that “He hears the desire of the afflicted; He encourages them, and listens to their cry.” That is the next lovely song on the CD that goes with A Woman of Worship. Sally and Phil cried out to the Lord during their three years of infertility. Sally had resolved that if God never gave her the desire of her heart, she would trust Him. But in this case He said, “Yes.” Sally and Phil are filled with gratitude. Sadie was rushed to intensive care because Sally had an infection and a fever — but all is fine now. She came home Saturday night and Phil celebrated his first Father’s Day with great joy. Sally is overwhelmed with emotion — saying things like, “This is the most amazing experience of my life. I can see how motherhood is going to keep me on my knees. Sadie is going to be my little buddy everywhere I go! I appreciate you so much more Mom — how you love me. I have soooo many emotions of joy, love, gratitude, and —oh!”
Many of you have read The God of All Comfort, or even worked through it on this blog — and you know that God often allows suffering, and we must accept that mystery. But it is important to know that when He allows suffering, it isn’t because He doesn’t care or doesn’t hear. We are going to be meditating on some passages this week that demonstrate that. Let your roots sink deeply into this truth, into the living water that will nourish your parched soul and reassure you of His love.
Take a question or two a day. Meditate. Memorize the song or, if you don’t have it, the verse the song is based on, which is Psalm 10:17. Sink your roots deep into His Word.
1. Use Psalm 9:1-2 as a way to begin your time of worship. List a few of His wonders here. Sing praise to His name, either using the song on the worship CD or another. Worship shapes you — remember — you become like what you give worth to.
2. Meditate on Psalm 9:9-10. Find three truths about the Lord to remember in times of trouble.
3. Psalm 10 is a classic psalm of lament. The following passages show the progression. Describe what you find:
A. What is David’s opening lament in verse 1? What is troubling him according to verses 2-9? Have you ever felt this way?
B. Describe David’s turn in Psalm 10:12-14. What does he remember about God?
C. Meditate on Psalm 10:17-18 and list what you learn about the Lord and your contemplations.
3. How have you seen the truths of Psalms 9 and 10 in your life? How will you apply them to your life right now?
4. Read all of Psalm 34. This psalm is filled with beautiful word pictures. Tap into your right brain as you look at them. If you were to paint them, what might you paint to depict each of the following?
A. Psalm 34:5
B. Psalm 34:6
C. Psalm 34:7
D. Psalm 34:8-10
5. Peter quotes Psalm 34:12-15 when he is addressing believers facing persecution. When others are unkind to us, persecute us, or speak evil against us, how should we respond? How might you apply this to your life?
6. The promise you are memorizing from the song (Psalm 10:17) is repeated in other words in Psalm 34:15 and Psalm 34:17-18. What new insight do these passages give you?
7. It is important to put Scripture in the context of the whole Scripture. Psalm 34 standing alone could lead us to believe the righteous won’t suffer, or at least, will have any suffering removed fairly quickly. Yet the whole of Scripture teaches that God’s rescue might look quite different than we imagine. The disciples surely didn’t expect Jesus to be crucified. My daughter Sally has suffered so much in the last fifteen years of her life — so her rescue wasn’t fast, and there may be more suffering ahead. But I am seeing a character in her that has emerged through the fire. I’d like each of you to reflect on this in your own life.
A. How has suffering in your life resulted in perhaps a “different kind of rescue?”
B. What have you learned? How will this help you when you face suffering the next time?
THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS
Though I am a bit uncomfortable using artists’ renditions of Jesus, for I know that no one can capture Him, I’m using this one to turn the light on about something extremely important about Psalm 1, which is the psalter in a nutshell. It tells us the secret of happiness lies in how we treat and respond to the law, or the Word. But does this just mean the commands of God? Psalm 119, the longest psalm, could be called an expanded version of Psalm 1. Here the psalmist seems to be worshiping God’s law. “I lift up my hands to thy Word.” Is he worshiping the Bible? No. If you look deeply, you will see that the Word is Jesus. The law is Jesus. The Bible, in essence, is Jesus. When we immerse ourselves in His Word, when we choose to walk in the light of His way, we are walking with Him, we are keeping the way pure between ourselves and Him, we are sinking our roots down — not into our circumstances, but into God Himself. And this is the secret of happiness in the sweet times and in the wilderness times.
If you pursue happiness, you will get neither righteousness nor happiness. But if you pursue righteousness, as Psalm 1 shows us how to do, you will get happiness thrown in.
I am so thankful for each woman participating on this blog. You bring your unique styles and strengths — and I see you helping one another through modeling, caring, and contemplating. Some of you are better at truly reading the questions and answering them, and I long to see each of you endeavor to do that with this week’s lesson. I love you and am praying for each of you as you contemplate and respond. Psalm 1 is so familiar it is easy to miss its blessing — so slow down, ask the Lord for a fresh vision, and when you see, respond in obedience. You will experience a deep happiness. The word “blessed” implies the deepest happiness — a joy despite circumstances, a satisfaction in being loved, and a fulfillment in finding meaning. That happens when you understand and respond to Jesus — so there is nothing between you and Him. Can you imagine, for example, what would happen to your soul today if when you are tempted to lie or gossip or be lazy you instead chose to put your roots deep into Jesus? Can you even imagine the joy that would begin to slowly well up in you, filling you to overflowing?
Each day, read psalm 1, asking the Lord to give you fresh insight. Each day, if you have it, listen to this psalm on the worship CD with A Woman of Worship.
1. Read Psalm 1 as an overview. Using your right brain, picture the contrasting images of a tree planted by the water, and the chaff, or the tumbling tumbleweed blowing in the wind. They contrast two ways of life.
A. Though some might see the chaff as being “freer” than the tree, what is miserable about being chaff?
B. Meditate on the image of the tree planted by the living water. Why would this person be able to experience life and joy even in when the circumstances of life are dry and difficult?
C. Find a translation or paraphrase of Psalm 1:3-4 that brings these two pictures alive for you. Type it out here and describe why it ministers to you.
2. Listen, if you have it, to the musical rendition of Psalm 1 on the worship CD. What insight does this calypso beat and rendition give you? (If you don’t have this, might you have another rendition to recommend?)
3. Meditate on Psalm 1:1-2.
A. Who is the person who is blessed, or the person who experiences the deepest happiness? What does he not do? What does he do?
B. What are some ways you could delight in the Word better, could contemplate better, could sink your roots down deeper?
3. It is one thing to know in our hearts what is right and quite another to respond to it. I know God hates lies and deceptions, yet I am still tempted to make myself look better to someone with an exaggeration or deception. I also know God wants me to enjoy food, but in moderation. Yet I am still tempted to eat past being satisfied. The idols of my heart in those situations are approval and comfort. Is that who I want as my gods? If I choose them, I will be as miserable as the chaff. But if instead, I choose to allow Jesus to usurp those deceptive gods, I may feel a momentary loss, but then I will feel joy welling up. Let’s share our daily successes and failures here, pray for each other, and sink our roots deep into Him. (This is a question you can answer every day if you choose.)
HOW WE CHANGE
Worship comes from an old English word “worth-shape.” In other words, whatever we worship shapes us. Every single one of us struggles with idols of the heart. Idols cannot be destroyed, but they can be replaced. May the Lord replace our longing for human approval, or junk food, or control with Himself. The psalms will lead us to worship Christ, and in worshiping Him, we will find, to our amazement, our idols will be pushed off the throne, and we will find that we are shaped by Him, changed, conformed not to the ugly idols of this world, but to His image. We become beautiful, like Him. Filled with peace, joy, self-control, wisdom, and love.
This week we’ll be looking at an overview of some psalms that help us worship Christ and we’ll use what has become one of the favorite praise songs of this generation to help us worship as well: Shout to the Lord. It’s the first song on the CD in A Woman of Worship. It has a Spanish chorus in it as well, which I love for it helps me remember His Bride is from every tribe and nation, worshiping Him throughout the earth.
If you are just beginning with us, I suggest you take a question or two a day — respond to other people as you feel led, and be creative with your worship. Use the internet to find different versions of Shout to the Lord or Bible translations. Download a great sermon or worship music and walk outside. Let’s not just study worship — let’s do it. Then from the overflow of our hearts, we can strengthen one another.
Lord, I lift up each sojourner who is desirous of studying the psalms. I pray you would quicken her (or him!) and draw her to you. Give us hearts to worship you. I ask this in the name of the only One worthy of worship.
Start memorizing Shout to the Lord.
1. What old English word is the word worship derived from? What does this say to you?
2. My Jesus, My Savior implies a sweet intimate relationship with the Lord. How do you see that the psalmist had this in:
A. Psalm 116:1-2
B. Psalm 8:3-4
C. Share a time from the recent past when you were aware that the Lord was personally mindful of you.
2. Lord, There is None Like You
3. Meditate on Psalm 22 in which David describes a terrible time of suffering. Yet behind David is Christ, for this is a clear Messianic psalm. Find descriptions of what Jesus endured for you. Praise Him for this. Use music, if there is a song or hymn that helps you, share it.
My Comfort, My Shelter
Continue learning and singing Shout to the Lord
4. Describe the emotions of the psalmist in Psalm 18:1-6. Give references with your answer.
Eugine Peterson says often our prayers are “cut flower prayers,” lacking the passion we see in the psalms. They lack the passion we see in the psalms. What brings passion into our lives? I have found that it often comes through suffering — when we have to turn to the Lord and do so, with the kind of passion we see in Psalm 18. When, in time, we find He rescues us (though the rescue may be quite different than anticipated) we are filled with gratitude and again, our prayers have passion. Share one time when the Lord was “your comfort, your shelter.”
Mountains Bow Down and The Seas Will Road
5. Meditate on Psalm 18:7-19 and describe the images of God coming to the rescue.
Forever I’ll Stand
SING SHOUT TO THE LORD WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE LYRICS
6.Derek Kidner reminds us that Psalm 18 is ultimately Messianic. With that in mind, look at Psalm 18:20-27. How do you see Him here?
7. In Psalm 18:29-50 list what God does that no one else can do.
8. What will you remember from this week’s lesson?
A WOMAN OF WORSHIP: WE BEGIN!
AND SO WE BEGIN! I hope many of you will get A Woman of Worship so you have the musical CD to augment your study, but if you can’t afford it, you’ll still be fine.
First and foremost, we must see how the psalms differ from all the other books of the Bible. In The Bible Jesus Read, Philip Yancey tells how when he was feeling low people would advise him to read the psalms. Yancey said, “I would come upon one of the wintriest psalms and go away frostily depressed.” But then he realized the psalms are not like the other books in the Bible. All the other books are written from God to us. But the psalms are written by the psalmist to God. You are actually reading over the shoulder of someone’s honest prayer journal. There are great highs and great lows in the psalms, because life is “bi-polar.” God wants us to come to Him in our sadness and in our gladness and dialogue with Him. We are His “wife” and He wants intimacy with us. He wants us to share our thoughts and feelings — and then be still, and allow Him to answer. He wants dialogue, for you are His Beloved. Because the psalms are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they also teach us to pray, and we can use them as a primer. Because the psalms were meant to be sung, we will be singing — and that will etch them in your heart so you can sing them and pray them wherever you are.
Jump in and invite your friends. This is a perfect summer study for if you miss some posts, you can still jump right back in. So glad you are with us! You’ll have the week to work through this post. Because there is a song to learn, start learning it today!
1. What is unique about the book of psalms? List everything you can.
2. Meditate on Psalm 5:1-3. What does David say he is doing. Describe how this shows a dialogue.
3. Listen to this musical rendition of Psalm 5:1-3 from Maranatha. It’s an easy one to learn — let us know if you listen to it — and let us know if you learn it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g7LKCO_iSI
This is the KJV set to music:
Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
2Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
3My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4. Now go slowly through Psalm 5:1-3. Look at each phrase. Meditate. Share your meditations.
5. Finally — do what the psalmist did.
Share your meditations, your thoughts, your heart with the Lord in the morning.
Lay your requests before Him and wait in expectation.
Write down any impressions He gives you. You are dialoguing, remember!
I WANT YOUR INPUT ON SUMMER READING
BEFORE WE PLUNGE INTO THE PSALMS ON JUNE 1, LET’S HEAR YOUR SUGGESTIONS. I’D LIKE TWO FROM EACH OF YOU, IF POSSIBLE.
1. A lighter summer read for those times when your mind is tired and you simply need to relax and get caught up in a good story — but a story that still has “weight” — not so fluffy it will fly away.
2. A meatier read to restore your soul and give you vision
This morning I had breakfast with my daughter-in-law Julie who is here at my cabin with me with her five, soon to be six, children. She said “I have to have a lighter book to escape from my busy life, and one where I can laugh. But neither do I want to “live” there — I also want to be reading something of depth.” Great model.
I’ve added my new column on my homepage where I tell you what I’m reading now. Give me your input — do you like this or not? I will try to give you some lighter books too — for it is summer and we need some beach reads. I am going to recommend The Help soon — what a great fast read by a new author that is hard to put down yet has some weight. I’m also preparing for my annual summer get together with two friends, and we always read a heavier book to discuss. Keeps us accountable. Reading Lewis’s Weight of Glory and can hardly believe I’ve never read it, though I know so many great quotes from it. Transforming. Hard to keep from underlining it all.
Give us names for #1 of books you could not put down, but also impacted you.
Give us names for #2 books that transformed your life and you heartily recommend.
I’m expecting to compile a great list. Name the book and give a sentence as to why you recommend it.
Thanks ahead of time!
Do You Hear The Music?
One June 1 we will begin going through some Psalms and I encourage you to get A Woman of Worship — at least for the musical CD in the back with those psalms set to music.
But for now, I want to prepare your hearts with material from some current writing projects. I’m working on a book with the tentative title “Every Love Story Whispers His Name.”
For the next five days, I’d like to contemplate the first love story in Scripture, the first love song — to see if you hear the music. The song of creation.
My granddaughter, Analise, is with me now in Wisconsin. A few summers ago she asked me to take her picture “rejoicing” in front of the sunset. She hears the music.
Both Rob Bell and Tim Keller have powerful sermons explaining that Genesis 1 is not prose, but poetry. If we read it as prose, we misinterpret it. (Hermeneutics tells us we must interpret Scripture according to its genre, or we will interpret it incorrectly.) Genesis 1 is not asking “How was the world created,” as prose might, “but why was the world created?”
Let’s look together. See if you can hear the music.
1. Poetry is filled with rhythm and repetition. Find some examples of this in Genesis 1.
2. What does Job 38:7 tell us was happening at Creation?
3. There is evidence of the Trinity “dancing in delight.” The early church fathers had a word for this: Perichorises: the choreography of the Trinity. Each member of the Trinity was dancing around the Others, glorifying the Others. Find evidences in Genesis 1 for the Trinity.
4. All of creation was dancing, saying, “Our Father loves us! Our Father says we are good!” Though sin has brought dissonance to the song, you can still hear the music. Brent Curtis wrote:
Someone or something has romanced us from the beginning with creekside singers and pastel sunsets, with the austere majesty of snowcapped mountains and the poignant flames of autumn colors telling us of something—or someone—leaving, with a promise to return…
Step outside right now. Listen, look, take it in. What do you hear? What do you see? Even in the midst of a city, if that is where you live, you should still be able to hear and see the music, the dance — somehow.
5. The Trinity decided to expand the fellowship, the community — so God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Now we are called to join in bringing glory to God. Genesis 1 answers, not “How was the world created — but why?” Is this a new way of looking at Genesis 1 to you?
6. Why was the world created? Why were you created?
7. Share your reflections and applications for today.
WHAT WILL YOU ‘FORGET-ME-NOT’ FROM THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT?
Writers call it “the take-a-way.” What is the “take-a-way” of a book?
I am in Wisconsin now, where “Forget-me-nots” blanket the woods in May.
What does God speak to you from The God of All Comfort that He wants you to remember? That He wants you to “Forget-Me-Not?” What two or three sentences might you put in the inside cover of your book?
I’d love to have sentences that were clear, concise, and contained a word picture, like the many we saw in the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs used in this book, for word pictures stay in your heart.
I’m eager to hear your final “take-a-way.” What do you want to “Forget me not?”
DEFEATING OUR ANCIENT FOE
HERE’S MY PLAN FOR NEXT FEW MONTHS:
FINISH OUR REVIEW OF THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT IN THE NEXT WEEK
GET INPUT ON SOME BOOK IDEAS AND PICK YOUR BRAINS FOR REST OF MAY - I AM PERCOLATING AND WOULD LOVE YOUR THOUGHTS
BEGINNING JUNE 1, I’M THINKING OF GOING THROUGH A WOMAN OF WORSHIP FOR SUMMER STUDIES. IT IS A STUDY OF PSALMS AND IT HAS A MUSICAL CD IN THE BACK WITH PSALMS SET TO MUSIC. IT’S THE KIND OF STUDY YOU CAN POP IN AND OUT OF AND NOT BE LOST. YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE THE STUDYGUIDE, BUT IT WOULD ENRICH YOUR STUDY — ESPECIALLY THE CD. SO YOU MAY WANT TO ORDER IT NOW. WE’LL GO SOME NEW PLACES WITH THE PSALMS, AND IT WILL ENRICH YOUR LIFE. I’VE BEEN THINKING SO MUCH ABOUT HOW THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET RID OF THE IDOLS OF MY HEART, OF THE ROTTENNESS FESTERING IN MY SOUL, IS BY FALLING MORE DEEPLY IN LOVE WITH JESUS — AND I KNOW THE PSALMS ARE KEY TO THAT.
What do you think about this plan?
BUT LET’S FINISH OUR REVIEW:
1. Satan wants to cause “attachment disorder.” What does this mean? What is the lie that threatens to undo us?
2. What truth can you tell to your soul about:
A. God’s heart — how do you know God is for you?
B. God’s history — how has He been for you and God’s people in the past?
C. God’s heaven. The best is yet to come. What do you know about heaven that encourages you?
3. Review the hymns that have helped you the most. For me it is A Mighty Fortress and Be Still My Soul. But bring what has ministered to you and share why.
HOW HAS HE TURNED YOUR ASHES INTO BEAUTY?
When we don’t back away from the Lord, the enemy cannot win, for the Lord uses even the hardest things in our lives for good, turning ashes into beauty.
One of the hardest things for me was regret. Regret that I had not stopped speaking, that I ever left Steve during his illness. What could God do with that? It was too late.
But the enemy is a liar. I could walk in repentance. Though I couldn’t be with Steve, there were people I could be with. God gave me an opportunity the year after Steve died with my mother. She was failing, at 93, and I determined to seize days with her. My mother was confined to a wheelchair and had dementia. She couldn’t remember what happened the day before. Each day when I went to see her, she whooped in joy, as if she hadn’t seen me in six months.Mother loved to sing the hymns. We’d sing and sing and sing. But though she knew the hymns, I did not have confidence that she really knew Jesus.
That Easter, shortly after her 93rd birthday, my son J. R. visited her and read her the story of the resurrection. He said, “Do you believe this, Grandma?”
She said, “I don’t know, J. R.”
J.R. was so burdened he went back to our cottage and prayed and prayed, then returned, and shared his simple testimony with his grandmother. He asked, “Have you ever trusted Christ, Grandma?”
She said, “I don’t think I have. Would you help me?”
And J. R. led his grandmother, his grandmother with dementia, to the Lord.
I visited her shortly after that. Because of her dementia, she often forgot Steve had died. One day she asked, “Is Steve coming today?”
“I’m sorry, Mom. Remember? Steve died.”
“Oh!” She said, biting her lip. “Oh!”
Then, after a moment she said, “Dee Dee, I’m going to find you a husband.”
I smiled, wondering about her resources. “Mother, I don’t want another husband,” I paused. “I don’t think I even want a dog.”
She wrinkled her brow, pondering this. She nodded. “I don’t think I do either.”
“Oh Mom, ” I laughed, trying to picture her with either.
Then I squeezed her hand and said, “We have Jesus.”
“Yes,” she smiled, “We do.”
A few months later, Mother’s life was ebbing away. I pleaded with God to let me be with her when she died. The whole amazing story is in The God of All Comfort, but I will tell you He allowed me to be with her.I will never forget the moment when she looked up with a radiant face and the nurse in the room said to me, “Dee — look, the King is coming.” And He came and took her.
When Jesus came, He opened the scroll of Isaiah and read:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
1. Meditate on the above, going slowly, reading as a lover reads, contemplating the images. What are some of the ways Jesus can turn our ashes into beauty? What do you see in this passage?
2. Do you have regrets? Though you cannot undo the past, how can you walk in repentance now?
3. Give an example of how Jesus is turning your ashes into beauty.
Happy Mother’s Day to every physical and spiritual mother. And Happy Mother’s Day, Mother! It gives me enormous joy to know you are with Jesus, and filled with all that is beautiful.
REVIEW of The God of All Comfort: THE LAMENT
Whether you have been going through The God of All Comfort with us from the beginning or joined us somewhere along the way, there is great value in review. If you have friends in fresh pain, invite them to join in — if not as participants, as readers. We’ll spend a few weeks in review.
Two questions prevail in the midst of suffering. “Why did this happen?” And, “How can I possibly get through this?” For the most part, The God of All Comfort addresses the second. You are in enormous pain. How will you make it?
We began with learning how to lament, as God gives us permission to do. This drawing by Andrew Dunn illustrates the grief we feel, the darkness and birds of prey around us, yet also the promise of rising hope. You can make it through the river of grief, and the lament is the tool God gives you to help you.
The most important thing to remember is that Satan wants you to back up from God, who is your only hope. The lament helps you not to back up.
1. Articulate what you have learned about the value of the lament, either from The God of All Comfort or the psalms themselves.
2. Do you remember the most common metaphor the psalmist uses for how he feels? (If not, you can find it in Psalm 18:4-5; Psalm 42:7 and in many of the hymns we have studied. Our closing hymn, What Wondrous Love, has it as well.) How does the fact that God understands this feeling help you?
3. A lament classically has three parts — the lament, the turn, and the remembrance of God’s character. Give an example from the psalms, or even from your own prayer journal.
4. There are also times when there is no turn, as in Heman’s Cry of Darkness in Psalm 88. How does he close his psalm? What does it mean to you that we can be free to be this honest with God?
5. How did Jesus lament on the cross?
6 Comment on a lamenting song like Blessed Be Thy Name or Come Lift Up Your Sorrows or one we’ve studied.
7. Are you incorporating the lament more into your prayer life? If so, how?
Riding a Donkey! Did Jesus Need An Image Consultant?
Just listened to Tim Keller’s Palm Sunday sermon from this year. It fits so well into our discussion about “A Different Kind of Rescue.” I’m going to take us there.
Some new and wonderful thoughts for me — perhaps for you too, to strengthen you in your journey.
Read Luke 19:28-44
1. When Jesus told the disciples he was going to ride into Jerusalem, they probably thought, “At last!” They no doubt pictured him coming on a great white horse triumphantly — like Revelation (and Martin French’s drawing a few posts back) says he will one day return. How might they have felt when he chose, instead, a colt like the one pictured here?
2. Meditate on verse 30. How do most animals who have never been ridden react when a rider mounts them? What did this colt understand?
3. What thoughts do you have about the owner giving up the colt so easily. What did the Spirit help him understand?
4. Describe the crowd — why were they so excited? What kind of rescue did they expect?
5. Describe the interchange between the Pharisees and the disciples in verses 39-40.
6. How is Jesus Lord of all creation? Though the rescue you are experiencing right now may not be the kind of rescue you longed for, what truths can you speak to your soul based on this passage?
7. Michal Card has a song called “God’s Own Fool.” Share your thoughts or favorite renditions of that song.
A Different Kind of Rescue
It’s a mistake believers often make. We want to be rescued from our circumstances instead of sin in our lives.
I made it. We kept thinking that God’s rescue would mean that Steve would be healed on earth and restored to his family.
I realize now that we truly have experienced a rescue, but it was a different kind of rescue.
At the close of The Lord of The Rings, after a long journey filled with suffering, Sam realizes they are still going
to die. This is not the kind of rescue he imagined:
“But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. Sam’s plain hobbit face grew stern, almost grim
as the will hardened in him, and he felt throughout all his limbs a thrill, as if he were turning into some creature of stone and
steal that neither despair nor weariness nor endless barren miles could subdue.”
Transformation. Suffering can help us let go of our idols and cling to God, and in so doing, we become creatures of beauty –
we become like Christ.
As we review our journey over the next several posts, I want to begin with these questions:
1. We are always looking for a rescue from circumstances. Read Luke 24:13-35.
A. What kind of rescue were the two on the road to Emmaus expecting?
B. What humor do you see in this passage?
C. How was this a real rescue, even though it was different than they expected?
2. Think about a time of suffering in your life.
A. Did you at first hope for a rescue from your circumstances? Can you identify
with the feelings of the two downcast disciples in the above account? What do you
remember feeling?
B. As you look back now, how did that suffering work in your life to produce transformation?
3. Read Romans 8:28-29. What promise is given — and what will a real rescue look like?
4. If suffering produces character, why do we so long to avoid it?
5. Has your attitude toward suffering changed? Explain.
HE IS COMING TO DO BATTLE WITH THE ENEMIES OF HIS BRIDE
Martin French did this drawing of Jesus coming back for us for the Bible study, Forever in Love with Jesus. Of his eight wonderful drawings, this one stirs my heart the most, and helps me worship Jesus. When life seems out of control, I remember Jesus is in control. He is my mighty Bridegroom who will not rest until all the enemies of His Bride are under His feet. It also reminds me how crazy I am to put myself in place of Him — the primary sin beneath all my sins.
In The God of All Comfort, we are in chapter 9, which is entitled: “My Heart is Stirred by a Noble Theme.”
1. Read Psalm 45:1-8.
A. What is this noble theme that stirs the psalmist’s heart?
B. Jesus came the first time as meek and lowly, but that is not how He will return. Meditate on the descriptive phrases in these opening eight verses. If one jumps out at you, then the Spirit is speaking to you. Meditate, memorize, and share your contemplations.
C. In Psalm 45:10-11, how should each of us respond to this King of Kings?
D. Tim Keller says that the sin beneath all our sins is that we have put ourselves in the place of God. Meditate on this and share your contemplations. Why is that the sin beneath all your sins? Write a prayer of confession here.
2. Read another description of Jesus in Revelation 19:11-16. Again, if a phrase stands out to you, meditate, memorize, and share your contemplations.
3. John Piper says that beholding is becoming. As you behold Jesus, He will transform you. The key to a changed life is not trying harder, but letting your heart be stirred by this noble theme: the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who is worthy of your worship. What songs help you particularly worship the King of Kings? I actually was stirred as a little girl by The Battle Hymn of the Republic, though I didn’t understand it — and think most people don’t — but it does paint this scene from Psalm 45 and Revelation 19 well. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Let us behold Him together, worship Him, and be transformed.
YOU HAVE COVERED YOUR WIFE WITH VIOLENCE
We’ve been looking at some tender passages of bridegrooms covering their wives with protection, and how they are a reflection of Christ. It is important we look at the opposite, which our Lord addresses in Malachi 2.
I lost a husband I loved to death. I have what the Scripture calls “sweet tears.” Some of you have lost a husband to divorce, or abuse. You have what the Scripture calls “bitter tears.” Some of you are in the midst of an abusive marriage, and you fear separating for financial or emotional reasons. And yet, the only hope for your husband is if you do separate and demand he get help and show the fruit of true repentance before you or your children return to him.
This Malachi passage has often been distorted, making it mean the exact oppositie of what it actually means. It is a difficult passage, but when the Hebrew is understood, can bring such comfort to the victim of physical and emotional abuse.
If you have a friend in this situation, please encourage her to read, even join us.
1. In the last post we looked at how the Lord covers us, and how a husband, if he is sacrificing for his bride, covers her. Summarize what you learned.
2. Here in Malachi we have the Lord thundering at husbands who failed to cover their wives. The most accurate translation of Malachi 2:16B is “I hate a man covering his wife with violence.” Looking at the context will help:
A. In Malachi 2:10-11, why is God angry with the men of Judah?
B. What are the men doing to try to cover up their sin according to Malachi 2:12-13?
C. Why will God not accept their offerings according to Malachi 2:14?
3. What reasons does God give for His anger at the men who have cast aside their wives (without even giving them a certificate of divorce so that they could remarry). Find as many reasons as you can in verses 15 and 16.
4. The phrase “I hate divorce” is often taken out of context and thrown at the victim. Why is this the oppositie of the intent in this passage?
5. For those of you who have The God of All Comfort, read pages 207 through 209 and comment.
6. Read this article from Christianity Today online. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/20.26.html
I think this is an excellent article - most Christians accept that infidelity and abandonment are the two scriptural
reasons the New Testament gives for allowing divorce as the covenant has, indeed, been broken by the perpetrator. This article goes into what abandonment, according to the Old Testament really means. Read this carefully, summarize, and give your supporting or dissenting views.
7. If you are a victim, why does the truth of this passage show you that God will deal with your abuser? How can this help you forgive?
8. How might you apply this lesson personally?
8. Abused women often will not speak up — will not enter in. We may not hear from them on this blog, but I know many are reading. Some fear leaving for financial or emotional reasons. Would you pray for them here?