Psalms 139, 40, 117

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Review

• In the first lesson, we offered some general pointers for studying the Psalms, and examined Psalm 1, which serves as the intro to Psalms.
• Then we saw how much Psalms teaches us about God and his word.
• In this fourth lesson, we will consider a key factor in drawing close to God: focusing.

Introduction

• Some slander the Old Testament as requiring robotic conformity. (Some criticize all religion this way.)
• Yet the OT is not obsessed with outward behavior, but with our entire being.
• The Psalms shed considerable light on the heart, and how we need to be doubly focused.
  

Inward focus

• Heart focus – 1:2, 19:14, etc.
• We are often unaware of our own hearts. Consider Psalm 139:19-24: "... Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord...? I have nothing but hatred for them...Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me..."
• 141:3-4: "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil..."
• 145:17-18: "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." See also John 4:24.

Outward focus

• Many psalms speak of care for others: the poor, foreigners, those who don't know God....
• 40:2-3 and 51:13 illustrate the outward-focus principle well.
• The desire to bless others flows naturally from own experience of salvation.
  • God is saving me not just from hell, but from this world; not just from external harm, but from myself!
  • God rescues me from the emptiness and vice of the world—not just a one-time event in the past, but an ongoing experience. He rescues us every day! When God touches our hearts, we want others to know his mercy, too.

Heart questions

• Do I tend to be excessively inward-focused?
• Do I tend to be excessively outward-focused?
• Am I giving sufficient attention to cultivating my inner spiritual life?

Prayer points

• "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you" (51:13).
• "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him" (40:2-3).