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Lesson 2


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Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

( Psalm 63 ) I WILL LIFT UP MY HANDS !

Sermon from a worship retreat I preached the word in.

" So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands" ( Psalm 63:4 ).

" To you, O Lord, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help,when I lift my hands toward your Holy Sanctuary" ( Psalm 28:1 )

" Every day I call upon you, O Lord: I spread out my hands to you" ( Psalm 88:9 ).

" I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes" ( Psalm 119:48 ).

Lift up your hands to the Holy place and bless the Lord!" ( Psalm 134:2 ).

" O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." ( Psalm 141:1-2 ).

If someone should object and say that few of these texts speak of worship See ( Psalms 63:4; 134:2 ), but only prayer ( as if a rigid distinction can even be made between the two; indeed, I can't recall ever worshipping God without praying to Him!), my question is simply this: Why do you assume that the appropriate place for your hands is at your side and you need an explicit biblical warrent for raising them? Wouldn't it be just as reasonable to assume that the appropriate place for one's hands is raised toward heaven, calling for the presence of God.rather than to keep them low.

The second answer I give to the question, " Why do you lift your hands when you worship?" Biblical Christianity celebrates God's creation of physical reality, ( After all, He did pronounce it "Good " in Genesis). We are more than immaterial creatures. WE are embodied souls, and are to worship God with our whole being. Paul couldn't have been more to the point when He exhorted us to present our " bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God ", which is our " spiritual worship " ( Romans 12:1 )

" It is the Human Hand which beautifully typifies the Human spirit. It is distinct from the hands of the lower animals in appearance. Observe the Hands of a skilled person; no matter the field it is an amazing exhibition of the genius of our creative Lord.

Does it not seem wholly appropriate, there fore, to raise them to God our creator when we seek Him in prayer and worship. It is like one who surrenders to a higher authority, I yield to God's will and ways and submit to His guidance and power and purpose in my life. It is a way of saying, " God, I am yours to do with as you please.' I have nothing to hide. I come to you open handed, concealing nothing. My life is yours to search and sanctify. I'm holding nothing back. My Heart, Soul, body and will are an open book to you." Because like one who needs help, I confess my utter dependency on God for everything. I cry out: " O God, I entrust my life to you. If you don't take hold and uplift me, I will surely sink into the abyss of sin and death. I rely on yout strength alone. Preserve me. Sustain me. Deliver me." Because like one who happily and expectantly receives a gift from another, I declare to the Lord: " Father, I gratefully embrace all you want to give. I am a spiritual begger. In my self I have nothing tp offer other than my need of all that you are for me in Jesus. So Glorify yourself by satisfying me wholly with you alone.

What matters to me is that God have all : My mind, will, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, heart, affections, and yes, my HANDS

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Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

( Psalm 63 ) I WILL LIFT UP MY HANDS !

Sermon from a worship retreat I preached the word in.

" So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands" ( Psalm 63:4 ).

" To you, O Lord, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help,when I lift my hands toward your Holy Sanctuary" ( Psalm 28:1 )

" Every day I call upon you, O Lord: I spread out my hands to you" ( Psalm 88:9 ).

" I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes" ( Psalm 119:48 ).

Lift up your hands to the Holy place and bless the Lord!" ( Psalm 134:2 ).

" O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." ( Psalm 141:1-2 ).

If someone should object and say that few of these texts speak of worship See ( Psalms 63:4; 134:2 ), but only prayer ( as if a rigid distinction can even be made between the two; indeed, I can't recall ever worshipping God without praying to Him!), my question is simply this: Why do you assume that the appropriate place for your hands is at your side and you need an explicit biblical warrent for raising them? Wouldn't it be just as reasonable to assume that the appropriate place for one's hands is raised toward heaven, calling for the presence of God.rather than to keep them low.

The second answer I give to the question, " Why do you lift your hands when you worship?" Biblical Christianity celebrates God's creation of physical reality, ( After all, He did pronounce it "Good " in Genesis). We are more than immaterial creatures. WE are embodied souls, and are to worship God with our whole being. Paul couldn't have been more to the point when He exhorted us to present our " bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to God ", which is our " spiritual worship " ( Romans 12:1 )

" It is the Human Hand which beautifully typifies the Human spirit. It is distinct from the hands of the lower animals in appearance. Observe the Hands of a skilled person; no matter the field it is an amazing exhibition of the genius of our creative Lord.

Does it not seem wholly appropriate, there fore, to raise them to God our creator when we seek Him in prayer and worship. It is like one who surrenders to a higher authority, I yield to God's will and ways and submit to His guidance and power and purpose in my life. It is a way of saying, " God, I am yours to do with as you please.' I have nothing to hide. I come to you open handed, concealing nothing. My life is yours to search and sanctify. I'm holding nothing back. My Heart, Soul, body and will are an open book to you." Because like one who needs help, I confess my utter dependency on God for everything. I cry out: " O God, I entrust my life to you. If you don't take hold and uplift me, I will surely sink into the abyss of sin and death. I rely on yout strength alone. Preserve me. Sustain me. Deliver me." Because like one who happily and expectantly receives a gift from another, I declare to the Lord: " Father, I gratefully embrace all you want to give. I am a spiritual begger. In my self I have nothing tp offer other than my need of all that you are for me in Jesus. So Glorify yourself by satisfying me wholly with you alone.

What matters to me is that God have all : My mind, will, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, heart, affections, and yes, my HANDS

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Psalm 27 has really life impact on me. It is my Prayer that we make it our Song in our Life.

God offers help for today and hope for the future. Unwavering confidence in God is our antidote for fear and loneliness.

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I take Psalm 42 as one of my favorite Psalms, I have two versions here. Oxford Annotated Bible New Revised Standard Version Says:

As a deer longs for flowing streams so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God,When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, Where is your God? This version I think gives us a new look at Psalm 42. It makes the Psalmist wonder when he will behold the face of God. I still think of the song As the Deer pants for the water so my soul longeth after you. You oh Lord are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye. You alone are my strength and shield to you oh Lord, may my spirit yield. Just says it all about God for me. May my spirit yield to Gods because He knows what is best for me.

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From our exercise last week, I am still trying to re-memorize Ps. 139. I was restless after sleeping for a couple of hours last night & had trouble falling back to sleep. I put the light on and oh, how very blessed to repeat those words & those thoughts over & over & to sleep very well afterward.

I am so enjoying all these Psalms. I have been in choirs most of my life & so many wonderful hymns & songs pop up all over the Psalms!! Make a Joyful Noise to our God!!

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This week, I have decided to pray the Psalm 27. I rephrased it as my personal prayer. Here it is;

NOTHING

Lord, I fear nothing coz you promised to be by my side to save me and protect me from any harm and danger. I want to thank you for that.

ONE THING

Lord, the one thing that I seek is to have a growing relationship with you. I want to get to know you better. Be

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This is the 1st bible study on Psalms for me. I hadn't given the book of Psalms alot of thought. This has been interesting, more so than I thought it would.

I like Psalms 63. I read it in several translations and thought about it. This is the faith I want to have in the Lord, to thirst and hunger for the Lord, to want his love more than life, for soul and spirit to be satified, to meditate on the blessings God has given, to be safe in his presence and rejoice, to know it's God that is giving you the strength to go on. God forbid but when trouble or heartache come into my life as it did David's here, that I can stand strong.

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I chose to pray to God through Pslams 42-43. These Pslams really touched my heart this week during our studies. The refrain, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?...." spoke to me in volumes. As a recent expatiriate, I tend to get very anxious about language,career, friends, etc. I know these things take time but sometimes I am overwhelmed with the desire to have my "normal" life again and be settled already. These pslams really put my anxieties and fears into perspective, and several times this week I have repeated this refrain when I started feeling anxious, and immediately God's peace washed over me as I focused on Him.
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Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a similar theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to help you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a shut-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.

My favorite Psalms is 32 and I read this everyday and post it where anyone can see it.

You are my Shepherd

I will not be afraid

You make me dwell in peace

You are my light

And the Lord of my journey

Your rod and Your staff

Comfort me

So I'll sing in the valley

Shout from the mountain,

Drink from the river

Dance near the fountain

Of Your everlasting life

And Your eternal love.

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Psalm 91:

There was a time in my life that I was really experiencing a time of fear and needed protection.I prayed Psalm 91 over myself,my family.At times I even prayed this Psalm over all the boundaries I believed God had given me. I embraced Psalm 91:.

I prayed Psalm 91 everyday of my life.It could have been a year or more I prayed.What I do know is when I prayed Psalm 91,I felt protected from everything satan had been throwing my way.Believe me or not,there were times I felt the fiery darts hit me right in the chest.Drawing strength through that prayer,knowing God was with me ,I made it through the desert.I still pray Psalm 91 when I need,or know someone else needs that special strength and protection.

~Hide Me,Hide Me Away Oh God! Even As You Have Promised In Your Word! Amen.God and His Holy Angels will take charge.

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Exercise for Psalms 27, 42,43, 63

These particular lessons has caused more of a desire to meditate on this particular group of Psalms by thinking on ways the psalmist battled with despair and depression. It shows me how human he was and not a so-called super Christian who totally had it all together but that he battled the same things we all do and there are anwers and they are all in Christ because He is our ALL in ALL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For this exercise I used Psalm 42 & 43 as the basis of a sermon I delivered to my congregation and to a group of jail in-mates.

The theme being that God is the answer to our depression and that we should not permit ourselves to be content to grovel in our misery, but to let God be our God. Let God heal us and bring joy to the areas of our life that is hurting. Let our God be our healer and let Him deliver on His promises to us.

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Hi I know I am behind at this date in loggine my answers into the blogg but I am catching up on a few today.

In lesson two exersize I memorized psalm one just to prove " I could not memorize any longer, wrong i was able to memorize it ".

and went on to memorica psalm 63 after that . It was an eye opener i was not past memorizing skill i still can do it .... Cheers....

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I decided to memorize Psalm 63:1-8. The writer gives a powerful exhortation of his love and worship of God. I love how the words flowed from my heart even as I read them and want them to some day soon flow freely from my lips prompted by the love I feel in my heart for my Father God.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I HAVE TREMENDOUSLY ENJOYED READING AND MEDITATING ON THE PSALMS. THANK YOU PASTOR RALPH FOR THIS BIBLE STUDY.I HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH MY TEENAGED SON THE TRUTHS I HAVE LEARNT ON DAVID'S STRUGGLE WITH DEPRESSION. MY SON HAS BEEN STRUGGLING WITH DEPRESSION FOR A LONG TIME NOW, SO WE HAVE BEEN READING THE PSALMS TOGETHER AND PRAYING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WOULD ENLIGHTEN THE EYES OF OUR UNDERSTANDING SO THAT HE CAN OVERCOME AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S JOY AND FREEDOM.HE SAID THE LORD GAVE HIM PSALS 27:14 THIS MORNING, WHICH SAYS:

WAIT FOR THE LORD, BE STRONG AND LET YOUR HEART TAKE COURAGE;YES, WAIT FOR THE LORD.

THIS WAS ALSO A WORD FOR ME AND I WAS VERY ENCOURAGED AND UPLIFTED BY IT..GOD BLESS...GLORY.

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  • 4 months later...

DEAR LORD, I COME BEFORE YOU TODAY AS HUMBLE AS I KNOW HOW , ASKING YOU TO HELP ME IN MY STUDY OF THE PSALMS. I DO NOT KNOW SOMETIMES WHERE TO START , SO I BEGAN SOMEWHERE ANY WAY. PLEASE HELP ME LORD TO BE BETTER AT WHAT I DO. I GIVE MYSELF TO YOU . KEEP ME IN YOUR PRESENCE. I NEED YOU TO GUIDE ME, GIVE ME YOUR DIVINE LOVE, PROTECT ME, AND KEEP ME DEAR LORD CLOSE TO YOU AT ALL TIMES. I WANT TO BE A PRASING PERSON , SO I ASK YOU TO CONTROL MY PRAYERS TO YOU AND HELP ME WITH MY WORDS. I KNOW YOU CARE FOR ME , AND I LOVE AND CARE FOR YOU WITH ALL MY HEART, SOUL, AND MIND. I KNOW YOU ANSWER PRAYERS , SO I WILL ALWAYS WAIT ON YOU. AMEN.

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  • 1 month later...
I decided to memorize Psalm 63:1-8. The writer gives a powerful exhortation of his love and worship of God. I love how the words flowed from my heart even as I read them and want them to some day soon flow freely from my lips prompted by the love I feel in my heart for my Father God.

Before I go to bed I read Psalm 4 as a prayer back to God.

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God

Give me relief from my distress;

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

the Lord will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Offer right sacrifices

and trust in the Lord

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

You have filled my heart with greater joy

than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O Lord,

make me dwell in safety.

My favorite part is "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety".

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