It is helpful to use this blog as a discussion starter for two or more people but it will also stimulate some thoughts if used by one reader. The material is used by a Sunday Study Group at Hamilton Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
One of the questions we regularly explore on our faith journey is the nature of our relationship with God. And the more we explore the more obvious it is that it is inexplicable, part revealed to us and part a mystery. The writer of Psalm 139 gives us some ideas as we study the results of some of his exploration: 1Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
1. One of the things that comes with a long term close relationship with another person is the understanding of who the person really is, both the good and the bad. What impact does this knowledge have on relationships?
2. What is your reaction to this section of the psalm; does it contain some of the same observations that you might say to the other in a very close relationship?
3. The psalm articulates some of the same intimate relationship with God that we find in the 23rd Psalm. How do you react to the idea of God knowing us this well? Do you have the same sense of God’s presence as the psalmist does? If you do what are your feelings about being known this well by God?
4. What are some of the elements of the relationship that the psalmist praises? Are there any that you might question? Are there some that you might add based on your faith journey?
5. What do you think that verse 5 means? Is being hemmed always a good thing?
6. How do you think that we should respond to this kind of relationship on God’s part? Do you think that we are invited to a deeper communion with God? In this context what might verse 6
say to us about the reality of the relationship? The writer of Hebrews and Micah give us some food for thought:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested* as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
8He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Back to the writer of Psalm 139:
7Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,and the light around me become night’, 12even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
1. What allusions does the psalmist use to illustrate God presence? Does it have the potential to feel like an oppressive presence? Are there times when we might not want God present as Job complains:
Will you not look away from me for a while, let me alone until I swallow my spittle? 20If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? Job 7:19-20
2. What might the psalmist be writing about in verses 11 & 12? When might we feel a sense of being covered in darkness?
3. Has there ever been a sense of being found by God in your faith journey?
More from Psalm 139
13For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end*—I am still with you
1. What images does the psalmist use to describe God’s presence in the creation of each of us? Compare it to the story of the creation of humankind:
… then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,* and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
2. How relevant is this knowing what we know about the complexity of the human body and the discovery of DNA. Is this true of all of God’s creation?
3. If this imagery is representative, what does it say about the quality of our construction? Does it cast any doubt on the argument that we are born with the sin of Adam and Eve in us? What do you think that God is most pleased with in you?
4. If verse 16 is accurate what does it say about the idea of humans having a free will? What are some interpretations that you find relevant?
5. Verse 17 speaks to God’s thoughts. What do you believe God might think about? Might the psalmist be speaking about the results of God thinking?
6. What is the psalmist confident about at the end of his life?
7. What are your feelings about this psalm and the images of God’s relationship with us?
Closing Prayer
Examine us, God, and know our minds;
Test us, and understand our anxious thoughts.
Watch least we follow any path that grieves you;
Lead us in the everlasting way. Amen. Psalm 139:22-23
Test us, and understand our anxious thoughts.
Watch least we follow any path that grieves you;
Lead us in the everlasting way. Amen. Psalm 139:22-23
0 comments:
Post a Comment