MrsG

Q2. (Psalm 69:30-32) Why does this lament (and nearly all laments in the Psalms) end with an upswing of hope and praise? What does this teach us about our own laments and prayers? Why is praise, the language of faith, so important in our prayers, especially prayers of desperate pleas for help? Through faith and knowing who God is and remembering how He has stepped in and rescued us time after time after time, will make you realize that He is willing and able to save again and again and again. Be joyful because God is in control, He will never leave or forsake us, He is with us. "Then I will praise God's name w/singing and I will honor Him w/ thanksgiving." A breakthrough has just happened. Deliverance is at hand even before the actual physical manifestation occurs. In the spirit realm you know that you are free. Praise the LORD! Hallelujah!!! This is why praise is so important, it moves one from despair to hope, from fear to faith, from anxiety to peace and joy. Praise opens our spiritual eyes so that we are able to see God's hand moving on our behalf to resuce us from our troubles. In praise we are reminded of God's great love for us and His compassion towards us. In praise we see our victory!!!!

Q1. (Psalm 69:12-18) How could David dare to ask anything from God after the shameful things he had done with Bathsheba and Uriah? How does God's grace and mercy function in the face of our sins? Our God,who is full of mercy and overflowing with grace, is quick to forgive us of our sins. He loves us with a perfect love!!! David, as we, had every right to go before God in sincere and true repentance seeking forgiveness and deliverance for sins. As we study out the word of God we find that past sins are forgiven of God and we strive not to repeat them. I do not recall, but I have not read the bible thru and thru, where David ever committed adultery again.

I choose for this exercise to paraphrase Psalm 98. Praise the Lord all ye people, sing a new song of His wonderful deeds. Sing of the mighty victories He has won by His own power and holiness. Announce His victories and acknowledge His righteousness, O ye nations@ Praise the Lord for He has remembered His promises to love and be faithful to us. All the earth has seen His salvation! Shout all the earth unto the LORD; Break out in songs of praise and of joy! Praise God with your instruments, sing melodious songs unto His holy name! O seas and oceans and eveything in it shout praises to God our LORD. All the earth and all living things join in with them. Rivers clap your hands and be joyful. Hills sings out in praise. Honor the Lord, Worship and Reverence HIm. He is comingg to judge the earth and He will judge rightly. Praise the Lord!!!

Q3. (Psalm 98) What are the reasons given for praise in Psalm 98? Why do you think praise is so exuberant in this psalm? How exuberant is praise in your congregation, in your life? Why or why not is it exuberant? The reasons for praise given in Psalm 98 are for the goodness of God, His wonderful deeds, His mighty victories, and His righteousness. God remembers His promises. He is the righteous judge. This is a song of joy unto the LORD God! It is an exuberant praise that acknowledges God

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm? Psalm 95 gives us ample reasons to worship the LORD. First, the LORD is a great God and the great King above all gods. Next because He owns the depths of the earth, and even the mightiest mountains are His and finally, The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too. Making it plain, I would say, we worship God because He is our creator and He requires, commands that we worship Him. Verses 8-11 offer a warning to the reader because as Dr. Wilson stated, "Too often our worship is empty words, rather than a submissive spirit full of faith in God and a readiness to obey him." We must learn to offer God our praises with a sincere and submissive heart. We must please Him in all our ways. This warning states that those who harden their hearts will not enter into God's rest. God withheld the promise of the promise land from the Israelites when they sinned against Him.

Q1. (Psalm 150) What does this psalm teach us about praise? Where should praise occur? With what should praise be conducted? Who should praise? What does this psalm make you feel like after reading it out loud? Psalm 150 teaches us that praise should be given at all times, in all places, in all situations and by all people. After reading this and many other psalms, it is apparent that the human language is insufficient to effectively praise God. His love for us is beyond measure. With our limited abilities we must try at all times to offer up sincere and loving praises to our God.

Q3. (Psalm 133) What about this short psalm seems to attract you? Why is "dwelling together in unity" so difficult? What kinds of commitments does unity require of us? How do the principles of unity and purity seem to conflict with each other? Why are reconciliation and unity such high values in Jesus' teaching, do you think? Being on one accord, united in harmony is very attractive to me. In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesu said, I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them." (NLT). Philippian 2:2 reads, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. I like how Dr. Wilson defined unity, "not evil compromise but love working itself out amidst the difficulties that tend to divide people." Such difficulties have divided churches, families, friends a like. Unity is precious, pleasant, rich, abundant and refreshing. We must seek after it and nuture it.

Q2. (Psalm 15) The Wisdom Psalms are meant to instruct us. How would you use this psalm in your family to instruct your children? What topics of right living does it cover? Psalm 15 is a call for God's people to live morally upright. In this Psalm, we receive standards to help us to determine how we are doing. Knowing that we are sinners, we need God's mercy and forgiveness constantly. As we mature in our relationship with God, our primary desire is to live so as to please Him. So we began to separate ourselves more and more from the things of this world. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15. Guidelines for right living covered in this Psalm are: do what is right, speak the truth, refuse to gossip, do no harm to your neighbor, do not speak evil of your friends, do not fellowship with sinners, give honor to the faithful, keep your promises, do not lend money for profit and do not accept bribes.

Q1. This short psalm seems to reaffirm what we already know: the righteous will succeed and the wicked will perish. Why do we need to be reminded of this? From an emotional standpoint, what lines in this psalm stand out to you. Why do you think you like them? The righteous will succeed and the wicked will perish, I needed to be reminded of this for this present time while my family and I are going through. It is important to know that we know that we know that the LORD is on our side. Isaiah 49:24(CEV) asked this question, Is it possible to rescue victims from someone strong and cruel? Isaiah 49:25-26 answers, But the LORD has promised to fight on our side and to rescue our children from those strong and violent enemies. He will make those cruel people dine on their own flesh and get drunk from drinking their own blood. Then everyone will know that the LORD is our Savior; the powerful God of Israel has rescued his people. Praise the LORD! These words are sustaining us and have been these 5 years. Ps 1:1-3 speaks of the blessings of those who obey God and follow after His laws and precepts. The promise is that God protects and watches over those who belong to Him. What a blessed assurance, God is with us and He is own our side!!! Hallelujah!!!!

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.

Q3. (Psalm 63) Why is recognition that God loves you the basis of all faith? What does this realization bring about in your life? Love will cover a multitude of sins. I understand the war in Paul's spirit he describes in Romans 7:14b-25. It reads in the Message Bible translation, "I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." God gave freely in LOVE His only Son, to deliver me from sin's debt and provided me with life everlasting. God is Love and I witness His Love everyday!!!

The psalmist may be feeling that God is not near. He is somehow separated from God. He cries out to God; he longs for God's presence. He asks his soul a question, "why are your downcast, why so disturbed and then he answers, put you hope in God, for I will yet praise Him", in spite of my circumstances. Many times, I have been in a similiar state when I felt detached from God, I felt that He was far away from me. I have, however, found myself encouraged by either the word of God, a word from God or a song of hope. I have literally felt my soul rise from the pit of despair onto a mountain of praise and thankfulness. The LORD allowed me to press my way through, back to Him! Hallelujah!!!

David's desire was to live in the presence of the LORD everyday of his life. He was seeking an ongoing fellowship with God that would never be severed as long as he lived. David wanted to be in the presence of God in an intimate and personal way; in communion with God and God in communion with him, abiding in His Holy presence. God is able to deliver, believe in Him, wait for Him, He will help up. So wait expectantly for Him with all your heart. He will surely come. Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

I prayed Psalm 19. Father, I give You glory for Your marvelous handiwork. I concur with the heavens and the skies( they in silence and me with my lips) that You, O God are the true and living God. You are the Only God, the creator of the universe. I bless Your Name because You are true, just, right and holy; You are loving, kind and compassionate; You are forgiving and merciful. I pray Father that You cleanse me from hidden faults and keep me from deliberate sins. I offer my heart to You, change it; I surrender my mind to You, renew it. Let my life bring You joy. Teach me to speak words from my heart that bring pleasure to You and may those words edify and encourage others. In the name of Jesus, AMEN! As I prayed Psalm 19, the words took life for me. I fell renewed, revived in my Spirit. It is a simple prayer but it covers a lot of ground. I believe this is a prayer that I will pray daily.

The heavens proclaim the magnificence of God! They declare God's handiwork throughout the universe. They proclaim God's divine power and His existence, He is our creator. The skies display His craftmanship, the sun burst forth like an eager bridegroom, thrilled with his good fortune. The LORD is truly the keeper of our souls. He revives, makes wise, brings joy, gives insight, is pure and fair. His ways are more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey. He is our God and He loves and cares for us dearly.

The Psalmist is in awe at the majesty of God's creation. He witnesses the awesomeness of God and His magnificent power. God is everywhere and at all times, there is no place that one can escape from Him(not that I would want to), it is beautiful, we will never be far from God's comforting presence. Verse 4, you know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. Verse 16, You saw me before I was born, every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed!!! Praise the LORD! In verses 23-24, the psalmist wants assurance that he gives God pleasure and does not offend God. Search me and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thougths, my intentions, my motives, point them out and lead me along the path of everlasting life. In other words, Lord, search me for sin, point it out than quickly will I repent and quickly I will be forgiven.

God is almighty, all powerful, majestic and holy. He is loving and kind. He greatly cares for us. We belong to Him; we are included in His great plan. He has given us authority over the earth and all that He made. And when we messed us, He sent His only begotten Son to ransom us from our sins and from eternal death. Our responsibilty is to serve Him glady, seeking Him in all we do and loving Him with all that is in us!

Hello My name is Joyce. I live in Alabama and this is my second attempt at an online bible study. I am so looking forward to the studies. Please pray with me for diligience and balance in my life.