Week 46: Psalm 48-82
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Monday, July 26 Psalm 48-53 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
1. What?s your favorite riddle? The psalmist presents a riddle in Psalm 49: Why should I fear when evil days come and the wicked surround us (verse 5)? What are his reasons for not fearing that he presents in the rest of the psalm? One answer to the riddle comes in Psalm 52:8. How would you state the psalmist’s answer of faith? What support do you find for your answer in Psalms 48-53 and elsewhere in Scripture?
Tuesday, July 27 Psalm 54-60 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
2. Many people are weighed down by misfortunes – several serious health issues, broken relationships, job related difficulties – and the load seems to get heavier by the day. What difficulties weigh down people you know? David felt that he was surrounded by enemies and evildoers (See especially Psalm 59.). He was weighed down by his own sin. Which sections of Psalms 54–60 indicate that God was his source of strength and hope? Which verses give you hope and strength when you are surrounded by difficulties?
Wednesday, July 28 Psalm 61-66 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
3. When children are in trouble and need help, what do they look for in the person to whom they turn for help? When you face trouble and difficulty, what do you look for in the person to whom you turn for help? When David was in trouble and looking for help, what did he see in God that brought him comfort (Psalm 62:11–12)? As you look at Psalms 61–66, find other verses that speak of these two attributes of God and explain to each other the comfort and joy that these words of God bring.
Thursday, July 29 Psalm 67-72 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
4. One of the great confessions of faith in all of Scripture is Psalm 68:19–20. Take time to relate various parts of these verses to statements in the Apostles’ Creed and Luther’s explanations in the Small Catechism.
Friday, July 30 Psalm 73-77 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
5. How do you think the rich and the famous live? Which TV shows seem to indicate that we envy the rich and famous? Asaph, the psalmist, confesses that he “almost slipped” into the trap of envying such people (Psalm 73:2–3). How does he describe them (Psalm 73:4–9, 12)? What did he feel was the result of his following God’s ways (Psalm 73:13–14, 21–22). How did the psalmist get out of his despair (Psalm 73:17, 23–26)? What is the psalmist’s message for us when we think others, especially the rich and famous, have it so good?
Saturday, July 31 Psalm 78-82 Read & Listen Online (Click “Audio” link to listen)
6. Some have called Psalm 78 a psalm of history. What history is recalled in this psalm? What pattern did the psalmist see in this history (Psalm 78:32–38)? Others have called this a psalm of Christian education. What is the purpose of Christian education (Psalm 78:3–8)? Yet, this is a psalm about God. Time after time God acted to save & redeem His people. The psalmist concludes by speaking of God’s choosing of David to be the servant/shepherd of His people. How is David a picture of Jesus, the promised Messiah (Matthew 2:6; John 10:11; Revelation 7:17)? Today include in your prayers all the agencies & people involved in Christian education in your congregation & the church, especially the Lutheran schools & high schools, Sunday schools, daycare & midweek programs, & all Bible classes. Be sure to include the seminaries & the schools in the Concordia University System as well.
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