THE CORDS OF DEATH ENTANGLED ME
The psalmist feels like he's drowning
New Year’s Day 2010 and we’re beginning our study on The God of All Comfort. A few preliminary guidelines:
It is most important you connect with God — and then with us. To help you connect with Him, get a Bible, a notebook (or you may want to journal on a document on your computer) and a quiet place.
Begin by stilling your heart before Him. You may want to sing worship songs. Two that would be good for this weekend are the first verse to It Is Well With My Soul and, if you know it, the praise chorus based on Psalm 18:1-2 (I will Call upon the Lord)
Confess your sins. Pray for yourself and the others doing this study to be “quickened” by the Spirit.
Then begin the study. I’ve provided exercises to take you through the weekend — you may want to take two or three a day. If you don’t have the book The God of All Comfort there will be some questions you may need to skip.
Finally, and this may happen any time during the weekend, but perhaps not until tomorrow or Sunday, connect with us by sharing an insight He gave you, a question you have, or a praise. Read over your sisters’ responses and respond, as you feel led.
1. Meditate on Psalm 18:1-6. What images does the psalmist use in verses 4 and 5 to convey his distress? Can you identify for yourself personally or someone you love?
2. In The God of All Comfort, on the opening two pages, how do my journal entries reflect the feeling of Psalm 18:4-5?
What thoughts do you have about these entries?
3. Behind the psalmist in all the psalms of lament, if you look hard enough, you can see Jesus. How do you see Jesus in Psalm 18:1-6?
4. What does it mean to you that Jesus understands this kind of engulfing fear and pain?
5. I spoke at a retreat right after I learned of my husband’s cancer and Kim Hill led us in “It Is Well With My Soul.” I was crying as I sang it and had the fleeting thought of trying to be a better witness. Why was that a false thought?
6. Memorize the first verse of It Is Well With My Soul and write down any reflections on it.
7. Is there a key insight, question, or reflection you’d like to share with others on the blog? Then please do!
8. Respond to your sisters’ thoughts.