The Psalms reflect that “life is bipolar.”
Yesterday I had such a sweet time with my son and his wife and children — deep soul-satisfying conversations after a wonderful church service.
Then I came home to an e-mail that one of my dearest friends has cancer spread throughout her body.
Author William Brown says, “The psalms capture, better than any other corpus of Scripture, the bi-polar life of faith.”
First, in your quiet times in the next three days, connect with God. Look carefully at the song, the book, and the Scriptures. When you are ready, let’s hear your thoughtful reflections on the first three questions — and then, by Tuesday, let’s see if we are ready to go on to the rest of the questions. Take your time and ask God to help you to see.
Sing the first verse of “It is Well with My Soul” by heart and let it talk to your soul about trusting in sunshine and in storms. Begin memorizing the second verse.
If you have The God of All Comfort, read pages 12 through 14 and answer:
1. What did Philip Yancey have to learn about the psalms before he could use them correctly? (For those of you who don’t have the book, I trust your sisters will articulate this for you!)
2. Finish reading Psalm 18. How did God come to the rescue of the psalmist? What word pictures penetrate your heart?
3. Share a time when God came to your rescue — the sun came out, and you wanted to dance and sing!
4. Now read Psalm 88. How does this psalm end? This is where some of you are right now. The sun has not come out — and you wonder how you are going to make it. What word pictures penetrate your heart from Psalm 88?
5. Can you think of a time when Jesus might have felt like this?
6. What do you think about talking to God as the psalmist did in this psalm?
7. When we honestly express fear or despair to the Lord, is He angry? Base your answer on what you see in Scripture. What guidelines do you see for speaking to the Lord in Scripture? Think about what made Jesus angry repeatedly in the New Testament. (This is a challenging question, so cry out to a holy God for wisdom. (I will share — but want to hear from you first!
8. In The God of All Comfort, on page 14, I share my testimony on what I learned through the psalms. What was it? Have you experienced this?
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.