Paulhoward

(Mark 1:33-39) What pattern do you see emerging in Jesus’ prayer life? Why do you think he spends Quiet Time with the Father before the day begins? How does this prepare him for his ministry? How did the disciple desires for Jesus differ from what Jesus felt impelled to do? (Mark 1:37-38) Why? Do you have a Quiet Time? What could you do to improve the quality of your time with God each day? He has a rhythm of working from a position of rest and listening with the Father. He is not letting the "world" set His agenda. This means He has to set His diary with that prayer appointment and the early appointment is best although an all night one is needed at times. It prepares Him in that He is not wrong footed, not taken by surprise. He won't let the disciples set His agenda. He has the "big picture" to be an itinerant preacher and not stay in one place to build the Mega church! I have a regular time of prayer Andrew meditation early in the day, a pattern I had when working as a pastor and now continue in "retirement" , but it doesn't have to be so much in line with the clock and appointments. I could improve by having a time in the morin in game but also a time at night. The early time for me and God, the later time more focussed on intercession.

To being "in Christ" means to participate in everything that has happened to Jesus Christ and also to share everything that is His!!!! In a similar way but much greater way than should happen in an earthly marriage. Hence I share in His death, Romans 6 in His resurrection and His being seated in Heavenly realms. I also am able to share in all of His Riches and access to the Father and the Spirit. It means that I can pray in great confidence for all my needs and know my destiny is secure.

Very good reply.

Q4. (Psalm 51:17) How does one achieve a "broken and contrite heart"? What are the earmarks of this condition? How does this differ from "being sorry" for a sin? How does humility relate to this condition? Ask God for it. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring a deep conviction, ask Him to show you how much you have heard Christ. Fear God's judgement......look at possibility of even losing God's Presence, salvation even?????? Depends on your theology!!!!! Realise afresh what you have lost, Be honest with the Lord, tell Him you have become calloused. Share with a Christian brother or sister over your issue. Ask Lord to show any lie of the enemy I am believing. The earmarks of this conviction is that you loath the sin, ask, how could I???? You want to flee from it when it comes on the horizon. The difference from being sorry is that you are watching for any sign of its reappearance even like a cancer????? Humillity is important because you realise you are not above falling, you lose any self confidence. You have to rely on the Lord & others to keep you safe.

Q3. (Psalm 51:10-12) How is it possible to have a "pure heart" after great sin? What does a "pure heart" consist of? What is the relationship between a "pure heart" (Psalm 51:10) and a "united" or "undivided heart" (Psalm 86:11)? Who purifies the heart? What is the process? A pure heart is only possible if we make a clean break from sin , if we deeply desire to be clean, renounce any idol. The other part is to receive the forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Making our confession to another Christian is Biblical, James 5 for a real healing to take place. Meditation on the power of Christ's blood over our sin, taking communion. In some church traditions being washed with "holy water" can be very effective, particularly if demonic oppression is involved. Ultimately it is God we have sinned against and He has to give us His absolution through the Blood of the Covenant. An undivided heart is one which is totally devoted to God and no longer turned towards an "idol".

Q2. (Psalm 51:3-6) When David says, "Against you only I have sinned" (4a) is he minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah? What does he mean by this? When he mentions his sinfulness from before birth is he excusing himself or blaming Original Sin? What does he mean by this? When David says that he has sinned "only against" the Lord he is speaking figuratively in that ultimately Bathsheba & her husband are both God's creatures & ultimately belong to God. It is like us hurting a child , we have really hurt the parent. He is not minimising the sin, just the opposite, the sin is so grievous because he has offended Almighty God which is part of the basis of Nathan's prophecy. The reference to sinful from birth could include original sin , but sums up his whole life that it has always been affected by sin, perhaps lustful thoughts, or relationships with women that have been far from pure, which would be true for most men. As it says in Psalm 119, "How can a young man keep his way pure", almost as youth it is impossible!!!!!!! He may want to include many of these episodes in his confession, which would make a lot of sense & will make for greater freedom in the future as it deals with other places the devil could use as an entry point.

We have to acknowledge , yes it happened, then we agree with God & not devil & "uncover" our sin & if possible with another Christian, then the last step "confessing" & of course receiving the forgiveness which is where another Christian can help us. We may resist the truth, because we are "enjoying" the sin, we've said to ourselves, "it won't hurt", hence the deception. Pride wants to see ourselves as okay, "better than the next person". Any revelation from God may help us to see the truth, such as a Bible Reading, sermon, prophecy, even someone confronting us!!!!!! Also we may hate the feelings of guilt & wretchedness and decide we need to get right.

There are two strands of reason for praise in this Psalm. One is that God has done an awesome job in everything He has created , there are wonders all around us just in the garden!!!!! The second is the salvation of everything that God has delivered us from as He unveils His salvation. This salvation is also a reflection of Hid great love for us asHis very own people. HE SAVES us!!!?? The praise is so exhuberant because it is so "in the present" , like a person who has just experienced a spiritual victory or when you have just experienced some wonder of creation.

Some of the reasons we are to worship God according to this Psalm , starts with the fact that Fod created us and , like the angels one of our purposes is to offer worship to God. Another reason is that He is our king, ruler. He is also our shepherd and He cares for us. Also because of the salvation on which we stand. Praise is certainly not as exhuberant as it should be. It is necessary if you are English as I am , to get past cultural inhibitions. Also as an Anglican we are not known for loud praise!!!!! However ever since I was first filled with the Spirit I have always enjoyed modern praise & worship. Putting on some music, sometimes on my own using a Psalm to launch out, even singing in the Spirit or with a new song. We have only been in our present church six months, but the vicar who is new & his wife who is a worship leader are trying to encourage everyone. MAy God bless them in it

Praise runs through most of the Psalms, at least somewhere!!!! But in this Psalm we see praise as a great celebration of who God is & what He does. It is extravagant, not holding back, with everything we've got, as though our lives depended upon it!!!! All kinds of instruments are use, ones that give us melody but also very noisy ones. It has great variety and it needs to involve everyone. Praise is happening in the highest heavens all the time, but it needs to be expressed on the earth, the one place where God's rule isn't carried out perfectly. It needs to be accompanied with any instrument we can get our hands on & that includes our voices. Every human being needs to get in on this praise. How it makes me feel is that God is great and awesome. That He is really worthy of it all. That life is not complete for me unless I am truly a worshipper as this Psalm shows us.

What attracts me to this Psalm is the oil, which symbolises the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It's a picture of revival, something of which we experienced in Burton on Trent. Unity is hard work because we are all affected by our own sin & the devil knows he is defeated if we have unity. We have our histories to contend with, past hurts not dealt with, & lies we have ended up believing about other people. Pride often stops us from admitting when we are wron & most of us don't want to be the first one to make a move in repairing a relationship. The commitments it requires of us is to make sure we use the Lord's Prayer & forgive others on a regular basis. It also requires me to always make the first move to put right a conflict & not wait for the other person to make the first move. I don't think the principles of unity & purity do clash with each other. Unity & reconciliation are so important because we are to be like the Trinity. They have absolute unity, we are to be Christ's body and we will never be that if we are divided. Also people will not see Christ in us. The Holy Spirit will not be able to flow over us as the body of Christ if there is any disunity.

If I was using this with a son or daughter or grandchild I would use the structure to make the following points: 1. Choose to live a moral life, to be different, which means being moral in the way of being blameless, having a clear conscience. To be truthful, and to seek be live in a right way. 2. This must then flow into how we relate to our neighbour, maybe even at college, not taking advantage, not speaking badly of them. 3. Verse 4 really is about the people we choose to spend time with, not those who will be a bad influence, but those who will bring God's blessing into my life. 4. To keep your word shows that you are a person that can be trusted. 5. Finally money can always be a snare at any age and therefore to be content & watch out for greed.

The question asks "why we need to be reminded of the success of the righteous and the destruction of He wicked?" The may be a number of reasons, in that it is part of spiritual warfare in that the enemy is always telling us that "this is a wast of term". We need to see the benefits , that God is watching over us, that we will be prosperous & successful in all we do. Laziness can be a big enemy in Christian disciplines. The thing that I like about this Psalm is that it gives us a pathway, definite things we can do. That living the Christian faith doesn't have to be a mystery!!!!! particular verses are about the fact that I am sure to be successful if I walk this way, it doesn't just depend on me. God is watching over things , like a group I am leading, even prosperity!!!! I think I like the fact that the pressure is off me.

If we havn't experienced God's love then we have nothing to long for, we wouldn't know what we are missing. It's when we have tasted that we want more, we don't want to lose what we have. We want to connect with that Presence even in the middle of the night. But we need to get a thirst up. Just like running a marathon gets a thirst up so giving ourselves to praise and worship, gets our thirst going for more of God and to experience more of Him. Going into the "sanctuary" for us may be like entering into Revelation chapter 4-8

His feelings in the Psalm are one of loss, of all that he once had in his relationship with God. He is no longer able to go with others and join in the praise & worship. He no longer feels God's Presence close to him, he feels that it is God who is letting all these things happen to him. To top it all others, particlurly enemies of God are mocking him and asking "where is your God now?" He wonders how long it will go on for. He seeks to combat this spiritual depression by "going over" all that God has done in the past. He rehearses it as we would a lines in a drama, recalling all the occasions of his "testimonies" of God's Presence in his life in the past. This is an important part of "faith", when we can't "see"! He talks to his own soul, he questions himself, self talk and/ or talking to others is an important antidote to depression. He also gives himself hope , that this season won't last forever and he will yet "praise God in the future even in the company of others. I have felt this way and when I was younger suffered depression, I felt there was no hope for me spiritually and even worried I had committed the "unpardonable" sin!!!! It was by learning some of the principles of these Psalms that I came through it . I had to learn the value of self talk, of not "bottling" it all up? I also found that I had to learn to put on God's armour including praise and thanks even when I least felt like it and it always did me "good". I had to choose "hope" over "despair" and choose to belief that God had a "good" future ahead and He could bring me through it and that I had to believe He wasn't "against" me? Discovering Biblical meditation was a great help as were letting those who knew how to pray with authority, to pray against deep fears I had.

The house of the Lord for David is a rich expression of having an intimacy with the Lord' a friendship that he can "come round to His house" , knowing that He will always be welcome. That God has time for him. Even his own parents may not have had that, as David was out in the field when Samuel came, they didn't think to have him there. They may have not much time with a large family to have much time and energy for the last son. But David is confident that God is not like that, that they have a close friendship, and it is this relationship that he knows he can draw on in times of trouble. That God will "come through" for him. His hope at the end comes by spending time , waiting for God. It means He trusts, which is what we have to do when we are waiting, which has been his experience from being a youngster.

In this Psalm his reflection on his own creation brings a deep assurance that nothing outside of Gid's knowledge and control. Our days are allot, the intricacies of our human body is known and charted. The Psalmist feels that this knowledge is almost too much for him. In the closing prayer having reflected on God's intimate knowledge of him in creating him it is now a logical step to let God look into everything he is doing and thinking to see if there is any anxiety, lack of faith etc.

The common thread here is that God is speaking to us, first through the creation, particularly the glory revealed through the sun travelling through the heavens. The link between the 'revelation' of God through creation is in the second half of verse 6 Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith. The sun melts ice , the word melt hearts and brings new life , faith. Basking in God's word, particularly as we learn to meditate, which is what happens at the end of the Psalm, enables us to receive the different benefits which we get each time we read. Whether it is for joy or wisdom or to revive me it is the process of soaking in it that brings the benefits. A mere quick read won't do it. I first learnt this during a time of depression as a young pastor, and had to learn to meditate . Derek Prince's "God's Medicine Bottle" was a great help . (See attached) In the prayer at the end the Psalmist is asking God to use His word to search him and keep him on track. Also he has to take the word inside himself to meditate. Derek Prince - God's Medicine Bottle.pdf

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: " There is not one Psalm that speaks only of creation. It is always the God who has already revealed Himself to His people in His word whom we are to acknowledge as the Creator of the world. Because God has spoken to us, because His Name has been disclosed to us, we can believe Him to be the Creator. Otherwise we could have no knowledge of Him. Creation is an image of the power and faithfulness that God has manifested by making Himself known to us in Jesus Christ. We worship the Creator who has revealed Himself to be our Redeemer. Psalm 8 praises the Name of God and His gracious dealings with mankind as the crown of His work - something which could never be inferred simply from the creation itself."

We begin this Psalm , before we even marvel at creation with marvelling at God's name, "how majestic Your name". It all begins when we sit , kneel, prostrate, before Him. It doesn't matter how weak or puny or young or helpless we are, everything changes when we start to praise, just like children. This puts our enemies in their place. It also puts us in our place as we can live out our identity as those who has put in charge, even seated us in Christ above "spiritual beings"!!!! As the Psalm unfolds and we look at the sky and realise the immensity of His creation we can only gasp at the awesome God who created all this. But immediately it switches in contrast to how "small" us humans are, yet we have been put in charge This too can bring us to worship and awe. Then we are given our awesome identity within creation. Below the angels in position in the creation as we are on Earth. Yet given honour and glory because we are now put in charge of this earthly creation. We need all of God's help to do this well and see what part we have in it, we need to ask every day for this help so we do a good job. Each one of us has a part to play. Lord forgive us for what a terrible job we often make of it and mess up your creation We see a glimpse in Hebrews reference to this Psalm , to how He has put this right through 'the Son of Man' we return at the end to marvel at the awesome God who has created such a creation and put "created beings" in such a place. The question we face is ruling on His behalf "in His Name" and not on our own behalf in "our name".

Hi, I'm Paul, & am excited to be joining this study. I have used Psalms a lot personally to capture my feelings & enable me to pray & develop my prayer life. I have also used them in pastoral ministry with people going through hardship and pain in their lives. I recently enjoyed Dietrich Bonhoeffer's study on the Psalms. I am from Stoke on Trent, England.

We can't miss the fact that God invokes His rightful ownership of His people to Nebuchadnezzar & Darius by demanding that they be free to worship Him. The issue of worship is the defining issue of human history. We were made to worship the One in whose image we were created.. Christ was crucified to restore our place of communion with God in worship. That is, the salvation He purchase for us is not only salvation from death but salvation unto a life of communion with God. In that place of behold img the Lord in worship we are transformed. Since we all become like what we worship there is nothing greater that God would want for His people than for them to worship Him, for there is nothing greater than Himself. God doesn't long for our worship because He is an egotist in need of our affirmation. Instead He longs for our transformation that takes place in the glory of His Presence, the glory that descends in times of extended worship. When Adam & Eve sinned they didn't stop worshipping , they simply started directing their worship towards the wrong thing. The enemy's agenda has always been to rob our destinies by getting us to worship anything but God. We see this reflected in these two stories through Neb & Darius (and their people) who clearly understood the fact that Daniel & his friends worship of God was a threat to their kingdom. Their responses to Daniel reveal the tactics that the devil still uses today as He tries to keep people from entering into complete freedom , which is the true fruit of our lives when we live to worship the One worthy of our worship! Daniel knew what He was up against as his worship was a direct confrontation of the demonic power behind the thrones of these pagan kings.

Our God is a refining fire He may even refine His sons in a physical fire. But here is a parable that He want us to learn to Live in the fire with Him!!!!!!

They have already decided beforehand how they will answer. They have a trust in God's power for miracles. Nothing is too difficult for their God. However they know He is sovereign and if for His higher purposes, glorifying Him to vent in death is their highest concern. His requirements are above an earthly king

this is a helpful analysis of difference between beast & false prophet & how they work together. Obviously in Roman times the "guilds" we're a big issue in terms of trade & getting on, that if you went to their meetings you had to join in with the worship of their gods or the emperor!!! Today as we see that the beast are governments, ones which are atheistic or Muslim may penalise you financially if you are a Christian & is part of the cost. it may begin to operate in Western nations today over issues such as "gay" marriage!!! This can be an issue for teachers, clergy etc in the future, we'll have to see what developed!!!