Timeless Biblical Truth.
When believers gather to praise the LORD for their great salvation, they are to hear and obey His word if they want His blessing on their life.
- Believers are to praise the LORD with abandon when they gather at the appointed times and remember His salvation (1-5a).
- Believers are to sing and play instruments as they praise Him at His appointed time (1-3).
- Believers are commanded to celebrate their salvation (4-5a).
- Believers are to hear and obey God’s word when they hear of His great salvation and their covenant responsibilities if they wish to have victory over their enemies and experience His abundant blessings (5b-16).
- Believers are to hear God’s Word about what He did for them and what they are to do in response if they seek to avoid divine discipline (5b-12).
- When believers obey they will receive His victory over their enemies and have His superb blessings that satisfy (13-16).
Questions for Second Milers
- Describe the kind of celebration God wants. What is the purpose of such a celebration?
- In the Old Testament God has appointed more feast days to be celebrated than fast days to observe. What does that imply about God and the kind of life he wants you to live?
- How does the exodus from Egypt reveal God in a new way?
- What is the major commandment and desire of God?
- What does God promise if Israel will listen to him?
- When do you not want God around (cf. verse 11)? Why?
- Why is verse 12 a painful punishment? Do you believe that following your own ideas can be a punishment? Why?
- Give your own short title to this psalm.
“If a book is good you find something worth pondering on every time you open it no matter how many times you have read it. Nietzsche wanted cow-like readers: those who chew the cud. He was not disinterested but he was right. Good readers ruminate. To scamper through a book is like bolting your food: you miss the flavor and risk dyspepsia. There are, however, degrees of slowness. You must taste in order to assimilate.Taste is perception, assimilation understanding.” Holbrook Jackson: The Reading of Books, p. 16.
“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” Henry David Thoreau: Walden, p. 74.
“The Bay Psalm Book (1640), a metrical translation of the Psalms by the minister of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was the first bound book printed in the English colonies.” Steven Gilbar: The Book Book, p. 3.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
