TPT The Book of Psalms—Part 2 E-Book

Brian Simmons

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 152

Beschreibung

The book of Psalms places praises inside poetry that spills out of a fiery, passionate heart. It frees us to become fervent, sincere worshipers by giving us words to express every emotion of our beings. These beautiful songs share praise, prayer, wisdom, prophecy, and pictures of Jesus, ushering us into the presence of God.   This 12-lesson study guide on the psalms of comfort provides a unique and welcoming opportunity to immerse yourself in God's precious Word as expressed in The Passion Translation®. Begin your journey with a thorough introduction that details the authorship of the Psalms, dates of composition, first recipients, setting, purpose, central message, and key themes. Each lesson then walks you through a portion from the book and includes features such as notable verses, historical and cultural background information, definitions of words and language, cross references to other books of the Bible, and character portraits of figures from the Bible and church history.   Enrich your biblical understanding of the book of Psalms, experience God's love for you, and share his heart with others.  

Leseprobe

BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC

Savage, Minnesota, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

TPT: The Book of Psalms, Part 2: Psalms of Comfort: 12-Lesson Study Guide

Copyright © 2023 BroadStreet Publishing Group

9781424566280 (softcover)

9781424566297 (ebook)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2020 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible, public domain. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Stock or custom editions of BroadStreet Publishing titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, ministry, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected].

General editor: Brian Simmons

Managing editor: William D. Watkins

Writer: Christy Phillippe

Cover and typesetting by Garborg Design Works | Garborgdesign.com

Printed in China

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Contents

From God’s Heart to Yours

Why I Love the Book of Psalms: Comfort

Lesson 1  Welcome to the Book of Psalms

Lesson 2  Comfort in Times of Sorrow and Despair

Lesson 3  Comfort When You Feel Abandoned and Alone

Lesson 4  Comfort in Times of Fear and Anxiety

Lesson 5  Comfort during Conflict

Lesson 6  Comfort in Times of Sickness

Lesson 7  Comfort When You Need Forgiveness

Lesson 8  Comfort in a World Gone Wrong

Lesson 9  Comfort When God Seems Distant

Lesson 10 Comfort When You’re Discouraged

Lesson 11 Comfort When You Need a Purpose

Lesson 12 Taking Comfort in God’s Promises

Endnotes

From God’s Heart to Yours

“God is love,” says the apostle John, and “Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of him” (1 John 4:7). The life of a Christ-follower is, at its core, a life of love—God’s love of us, our love of him, and our love of others and ourselves because of God’s love for us.

And this divine love is reliable, trustworthy, unconditional, other-centered, majestic, forgiving, redemptive, patient, kind, and more precious than anything else we can ever receive or give. It characterizes each person of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and so is as limitless as they are. They love one another with this eternal love, and they reach beyond themselves to us, created in their image with this love.

How do we know such incredible truths? Through the primary source of all else we know about the one God—his Word, the Bible. Of course, God reveals who he is through other sources as well, such as the natural world, miracles, our inner life, our relationships (especially with him), those who minister on his behalf, and those who proclaim him to us and others. But the fullest and most comprehensive revelation we have of God and from him is what he has given us in the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) and the twenty-seven books of the Christian Scriptures (the New Testament). Together, these sixty-six books present a compelling and telling portrait of God and his dealings with us.

It is these Scriptures that The Passionate Life Bible Study Series is all about. Through these study guides, we—the editors and writers of this series—seek to provide you with a unique and welcoming opportunity to delve more deeply into God’s precious Word, encountering there his loving heart for you and all the others he loves. God wants you to know him more deeply, to love him more devoutly, and to share his heart with others more frequently and freely. To accomplish this, we have based this study guide series on The Passion Translation of the Bible, which strives to “reintroduce the passion and fire of the Bible to the English reader. It doesn’t merely convey the literal meaning of words. It expresses God’s passion for people and his world by translating the original, life-changing message of God’s Word for modern readers.” It has been created to “kindle in you a burning desire to know the heart of God, while impacting the church for years to come.”1

In each study guide, you will find an introduction to the Bible book it covers. There you will gain information about that Bible book’s authorship, date of composition, first recipients, setting, purpose, central message, and key themes. Each lesson following the introduction will take a portion of that Bible book and walk you through it so you will learn its content better while experiencing and applying God’s heart for your own life and encountering ways you can share his heart with others. Along the way, you will come across a number of features we have created that provide opportunities for more life application and growth in biblical understanding.

   Experience God’s Heart

This feature focuses questions on personal application. It will help you live out God’s Word and to bring the Bible into your world in fresh, exciting, and relevant ways.

   Share God’s Heart

This feature will help you grow in your ability to share with other people what you learn and apply in a given lesson. It provides guidance on using the lesson to grow closer to others and to enrich your fellowship with others. It also points the way to enabling you to better listen to the stories of others so you can bridge the biblical story with their stories.

   The Backstory

This feature provides ancient historical and cultural background that illuminates Bible passages and teachings. It deals with then-pertinent religious groups, communities, leaders, disputes, business trades, travel routes, customs, nations, political factions, ancient measurements and currency…in short, anything historical or cultural that will help you better understand what Scripture says and means.

   Word Wealth

This feature provides definitions for and other illuminating information about key terms, names, and concepts, and how different ancient languages have influenced the biblical text. It also provides insight into the different literary forms in the Bible, such as prophecy, poetry, narrative history, parables, and letters, and how knowing the form of a text can help you better interpret and apply it. Finally, this feature highlights the most significant passages in a Bible book. You may be encouraged to memorize these verses or keep them before you in some way so you can actively hide God’s Word in your heart.

   Digging Deeper

This feature explains the theological significance of a text or the controversial issues that arise and mentions resources you can use to help you arrive at your own conclusions. Another way to dig deeper into the Word is by looking into the life of a biblical character or another person from church history, showing how that man or woman incarnated a biblical truth or passage. For instance, Jonathan Edwards was well known for his missions work among native American Indians and for his intellectual prowess in articulating the Christian faith, Florence Nightingale for the reforms she brought about in healthcare, Irenaeus for his fight against heresy, Billy Graham for his work in evangelism, Moses for the strength God gave him to lead the Hebrews and receive and communicate the law, and Deborah for her work as a judge in Israel. This feature introduces to you figures from the past who model what it looks like to experience God’s heart and share his heart with others.

   The Extra Mile

While The Passion Translation’s notes are extensive, sometimes students of Scripture like to explore more on their own. In this feature, we provide you with opportunities to glean more information from a Bible dictionary, a Bible encyclopedia, a reliable Bible online tool, another ancient text, and the like. Here you will learn how you can go the extra mile on a Bible lesson. And not just in study either. Reflection, prayer, discussion, and applying a passage in new ways provide even more opportunities to go the extra mile. Here you will find questions to answer and applications to make that will require more time and energy from you—if and when you have them to give.

As you can see above, each of these features has a corresponding icon so you can quickly and easily identify them.

You will find other helps and guidance through the lessons of these study guides, including thoughtful questions, application suggestions, and spaces for you to record your own reflections, answers, and action steps. Of course, you can also write in your own journal, notebook, computer document, or other resource, but we have provided you with space for your convenience.

Also, each lesson will direct you toward the introductory material and numerous notes provided in The Passion Translation. There each Bible book contains a number of aids supplied to help you better grasp God’s words and his incredible love, power, knowledge, plans, and so much more. We want you to get the most out of your Bible study, especially using it to draw you closer to the One who loves you most.

Finally, at the end of each lesson you’ll find a section called “Talking It Out.” This contains questions and exercises for application that you can share, answer, and apply with your spouse, a friend, a coworker, a Bible study group, or any other individuals or groups who would like to walk with you through this material. As Christians, we gather together to serve, study, worship, sing, evangelize, and a host of other activities. We grow together, not just on our own. This section will give you ample opportunities to engage others with some of the content of each lesson so you can work it out in community.

We offer all of this to support you in becoming an even more faithful and loving disciple of Jesus Christ. A disciple in the ancient world was a student of her teacher, a follower of his master. Students study, and followers follow. Jesus’ disciples are to sit at his feet and listen and learn and then do what he tells them and shows them to do. We have created The Passionate Life Bible Study Series to help you do what a disciple of Jesus is called to do.

So go.

Read God’s words.

Hear what he has to say in them and through them.

Meditate on them.

Hide them in your heart.

Display their truths in your life.

Share their truths with others.

Let them ignite Jesus’ passion and light in all you say and do.

Use them to help you fulfill what Jesus called his disciples to do: “Now wherever you go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to faithfully follow all that I have commanded you. And never forget that I am with you every day, even to the completion of this age” (Matthew 28:19–20).

And through all of this, let Jesus’ love nourish your heart and allow that love to overflow into your relationships with others (John 15:9–13). For it was for love that Jesus came, served, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. This love he gives us. And this love he wants us to pass along to others.

Why I Love the Book of Psalms: Comfort

Life can bring us sorrow and stress. We lose someone we love. We go through a trial that tests our faith. We are pushed into corners by those who reject us. What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

I read a psalm until my heart is at rest.

I have loved the book of Psalms for over fifty years. They steady my soul when my steps falter. Their comfort brings me peace when there is nothing peaceful in my environment. I have never gone to the Psalms in my hour of need and failed to experience the comfort of God, who has offered his embrace to us through the Psalms.

The soothing words I read in the Psalms recharge and restore me. Their bright melodies turn the dark clouds into rainbows of refreshing. When I pour over the words of David, I often feel like I have found a friend, a man who understands the movements of my life. David was not afraid to display his emotions. He tasted the sting of grief and shame, he walked through dark valleys (like we do!), yet he continually returned to the comfort of God’s love. I love the Psalms because they become a mirror to my soul. These mercy-filled verses encourage me to go on.

The comfort of your love takes away my fear. (Psalm 23:4)

Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control, the soothing comfort of your presence calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight. (94:19)

Send your kind mercy-kiss to comfort me, your servant, just like you promised you would. Love me tenderly so I can go on, for I delight in your life-giving truth. (119:76–77)

I love the Psalms because their truths have rescued me from despair and set my feet to dancing. Get ready to receive the greatest, heart-warming words you’ll ever read. They are found in the Psalms. May the God of all comfort bring you the light of hope as you study these lyrics of love.

And may the Lord himself “turn and comfort us once again” (71:21).

Brian Simmons

General Editor

LESSON 1

Welcome to the Book of Psalms

Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.

You perceive every movement of my heart and soul,

and you understand my every thought

before it even enters my mind.

You are so intimately aware of me, Lord.

You read my heart like an open book

and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence!

You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.

…Where could I go from your Spirit?

Where could I run and hide from your face?

If I go up to heaven, you’re there!

If I go down to the realm of the dead, you’re there too!

If I fly with wings into the shining dawn, you’re there!

If I fly into the radiant sunset, you’re there waiting!

Wherever I go, your hand will guide me;

your strength will empower me.

It’s impossible to disappear from you

or to ask the darkness to hide me,

for your presence is everywhere,

bringing light into my night.

—PSALM 139:1–4, 7–11

A passionate relationship with God is the heart-cry of every person, but many of us don’t know how to express our praise, our prayers, or our passion to God. When we face times of heartbreak, jubilation, confusion, loss, or thanksgiving, it may be difficult to find the words to share our thoughts and feelings with the Lord in prayer. The book of Psalms is a help and a comfort to all of us, for it allows us to pray and praise along with the writers as they express the deepest longings of their hearts and the most exuberant worship and thanks for God’s amazing work in their lives.

The book of Psalms is a model of praise and prayer that we can follow. In fact, many believers have prayed through the Psalms, making the passages their own as they use them to speak and cry out to God and listen for his voice as he speaks to them. Psalms is a collection of different groups of prayers and songs used by the people of God for centuries, beginning in Old Testament times. The word psalms comes from the Greek word psalmos, translated from the Hebrew word mizmor, which means “songs” or “a poem set to notes.”2 In the centuries before Jesus was born, the Psalms helped a largely illiterate population learn and remember God’s Word by setting his words to music. They also played a critical role in the community as the people came together to worship God in the temple as well as in the many synagogues.

• Have you ever had trouble finding the words to express your thoughts and feelings to God or difficulty putting language to your heart’s deepest feelings and concerns? Describe a time or two when this occurred.

• Did you find a way to get past this time? What did you do and learn from it?

Authorship

The Psalms were composed by a number of people who lived in Old Testament times: David wrote seventy-three psalms; his son, King Solomon, wrote two. Other authors include Asaph, the sons of Korah, Jeduthun, Heman, Etan, and Moses. The various psalms were collected over centuries, but most were written between the time of David’s reign (ca. 1000 BC) and Ezra’s ministry (ca. 450 BC).

The book of Psalms that we have in our Bibles today is a collection that is divided into five sub-collections, or books, which seem to relate to the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The Pentateuch is a book of instruction for God’s people, just as the book of Psalms is a kind of instruction manual on worshiping God and going to him with our joys and sorrows.

A popular phrase some years ago provoked thought by asking, “What would Jesus do?”—enabling believers to consider different options when they faced confusion in life or had to make important decisions. As we read the book of Psalms, we could consider the question “How would David pray?” when we need help expressing our thoughts and feelings to the Lord.

• Have you ever used one or more of the psalms in the Bible to express your feelings to God? If so, what was the result? If you have not, do you think this would help you as you engage with God in prayer? In what ways?

Key Themes