Rescuing the Weak

Monday, September 7, 2015
Psalm 82:1-8 NIV 

1 A psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the "gods": 2 "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 "The 'gods' know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.' 7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler." 8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does Asaph reveal about our God? (v.1)
2) What question does the psalmist ask the readers of this psalm? (v.2)
3) What does the psalmist encourage the readers to do instead? (v.3-4)
4) What does the psalmist write concerning the "gods" of this earth and its foundations? (v.5)
5) What does Asaph write about the "sons of the Most High"? (v.6-7)
6) What plea does the psalmist make to God? (v.8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Do you believe that God is about to judge the nations of this earth? If so, what, if anything, can you do about it?

LIFE LESSONS
8) The Lord God will one day judge all who have refused His rule and reign in their lives and on this earth, as individuals, as well as nations.

9) The Lord will hear the prayers of the righteous and relent from allowing disaster, or calamity, to strike an individual and/or nation that He has purposed to judge.

The Lord Weighs the Heart

Friday, August 14, 2015
Proverbs 21:2-8 NIV

2 A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart. 3 To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. 4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart-- the unplowed field of the wicked--produce sin. 5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. 6 A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. 7 The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. 8 The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What does man think of his own ways, but what does the Lord weigh? (v.2)
2) What is most acceptable to the Lord? (v.3)
3) What will happen to the plans and the ways of the proud and the wicked? (v.4-8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you known, or do you know of, anyone who has a haughty or wicked spirit? If so, what do you think will become of them?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord tests the hearts of all people and will bless the upright in heart.

The Consequences of Changing Behavior

Thursday, August 13, 2015
Ezekiel 18:21-28 NIV 

21 "But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? 24 "But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. 25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What will become of the wicked person who turns from their sins back to God? Why? (v.21-23,27-28)
2) What will become of the righteous who turn from God and begin to act wickedly(sin) ? (v.24,26)
3) Are the ways of the Lord just? If so, why? (v.25)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you, or anyone you know, turned from the ways of righteousness to behave wickedly? If so, what will become of them, according to this passage of Scripture?

LIFE LESSONS
5) The Lord is absolutely just in expecting His people to act righteously by obeying His commands.
6) In addition to physical death, the wicked will suffer spiritual death (separation from God).
7) The Lord promises to restore those who have forsaken wickedness and turned to righteousness.

Justice, Righteousness, and Repentance

Monday, August 10, 2015
Isaiah 1:24-28 NIV

24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: "Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies. 25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. 26 I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City." 27 Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. 28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) After declaring the wickedness of His people (Judah), what did the Lord declare that He would do to His people? (v.24-25)
2) What did the Lord declare He would do to His penitent people? (v.26-27)
3) What would God do to His rebellious people? (v.28)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) What do you generally do when you become aware of sin in your life? Please explain why?

LIFE LESSONS
5) When the people of God commit sins against the Lord, He wants us to repent so that He may restore us. But, if we refuse, He allows trials to correct us.

Sold Out Religion

Sunday, July 12, 2015
Micah 3:5-12 NIV

5 This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, they proclaim 'peace' if they have something to eat, but prepare to wage war against anyone who refuses to feed them. 6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them. 7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God." 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD's support and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord have to say about the false prophets? (v.5)
2) What did the Lord say would befall the false prophets, seers, and diviners? (v.6-7)
3) What did the Prophet Micah proclaim about himself (his character)? (v.8)
4) What did Micah proclaim about the wicked leaders (including prophets) of the people of God? (v.9-11)
5) What would happen to the people of God because of their wicked leaders? (v.12)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) Have you ever encountered, or heard of, a leaders in your church who was more concerned about him/herself than the people of God?

LIFE LESSONS
7) There are leaders among the flock of God who are false because they are more concerned about personal gain than they are about the people of God. 
8)Those who listen to (follow) leaders, motived by self serving gain, may be as deceived as they are unless their trust is in God and in His word alone.

A Day of Mourning and Lamentation

Sunday, June 28, 2015
Amos 8:1-6, 9-10 KJV

1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: [there shall be] many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast [them] forth with silence. 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; [yea], and sell the refuse of the wheat? ... 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What did the Lord show the Prophet Amos? (v.1)
2) What did the Lord ask the prophet and how did Amos respond? (v.2a)
3) What did the Lord tell Amos? (v.2b-3)
4) What did the Lord know about those who oppressed the needy? (v.4-6)
5) What were the Lord's warnings to those who rebelled against Him? (v.9-10)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
6) What, if any, wickedness is prevalent within you, your church, and/or this nation?
7) Have you, or anyone you know, acted wickedly toward the less fortunate? 
8) If so, what if anything, did you (they) do to right your wrong?
9) Do you believe that the end of the age is soon to come? If not, why not?

LIFE LESSONS
10) The end of this age will happen when wickedness in the earth is greatest.

Do Not Forget the Oppressed

Friday, February 13, 2015
Psalm 10:12-18 KJV

12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. 13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require [it]. 14 Thou hast seen [it]; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite [it] with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil [man]: seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none. 16 The LORD [is] King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. 17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: 18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) The psalmist has poured out his complaint against the wicked in previous verses of this psalm. What are the psalmist's three (3) petitions to the Lord? (v.12)
2) What does the psalmist accuse the wicked of doing? (v.13)
3) What does the psalmist believe about the Lord, the oppressed (helpless), and the wicked? Why? (v.14-18)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
4) Have you ever suffered because of the misdeeds of the wicked? If so, what did you do about it?
5) Has it ever seemed that the Lord allowed the wicked to prevail in your life? If so,, please describe one such time.

LIFE LESSONS
6) The Lord may allow the ways of the wicked to prevail in our lives for a season, but never forever.
7) God often allows the wicked to oppress the humble to draw His people closer to Himself.
8) The Lord will always vindicate His people, in due time.

O Lord, We Hope in You

Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Psalm 33:10-22 KJV 

10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he [is] our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What two things does the Lord do to the unbeliever (or, heathen)? (v.10)
2) What lasts forever and to all generations? (v.11)
3) Who is blessed? (v.12)
4) What does God do from heaven? (v. 13-15)
5) What three things are useless to the powerful or mighty? (v.16-17)
6) Who does the Lord watch over? Why? (v.18-19)
7) In Whom does the righteous wait upon? Why? (v.20-21)
8) What happens as we hope in God? (v.22)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) What troubles are you facing this day?
10) In whom, or what, have you placed your hope?
11) In whom, or what, has your family trusted in?

LIFE LESSONS
12) The Lord brings the plans of the wicked to nothing.
13) Only the plans of the Lord will prevail.
14) The Lord weighs the heart of all people to know who, or what, they trust in.
15) The Heart of the righteous, wait upon the Lord, to deliver them.

Worshipping in Awe

Friday, October 31, 2014
Psalm 5:1-12

1 [[To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.]] Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct [my prayer] unto thee, and will look up. 4 For thou [art] not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. 7 But as for me, I will come [into] thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: [and] in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. 9 For [there is] no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part [is] very wickedness; their throat [is] an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. 11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as [with] a shield.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) David asks the Lord to do three (3) things? Why? (v.1-2)
2) What three (3) things does David tell the Lord he will do? (v.3)
3) What six (6) things does David believe about the Lord? (v.4-6)
4) How does David contrast his behavior with that of the wicked?(v.7)
5) What four (4) things does David ask the Lord to do for him? Why? (v.8-10)
6) What five (5) things does David ask/expect the Lord to allow in the lives of the righteous? Why? (v.11-12)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
7) Why do you believe the Lord hears your prayers?
8) How do you demonstrate your love for the Lord?
9) Describe one way in which the Lord has blessed you as you put your trust in Him?

PRINCIPLES
10) The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous.
11) The Lord blesses those who trust in Him.
12) The righteous have much to rejoice about.

How Long Shall I Cry Out?

Monday, September 29, 2014
Habakkuk 1:1-5 

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. 
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee [of] violence, and thou wilt not save! 
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause [me] to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence [are] before me: and there are [that] raise up strife and contention. 
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. 
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for [I] will work a work in your days, [which] ye will not believe, though it be told [you].

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) What was the prophet going to write about? (v.1)
2) What did Habakkuk see in a vision that troubled him? (v.2-3)
3) What did the prophet conclude about all that the Lord showed Him? Why? (v.4)
4) What did the Lord proclaim concerning the wickedness among the nations? (v.5)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have you ever witnessed a time when wickedness seemed to prevail in a nation? If so, please describe what was happening.
6) Have you asked yourself why the Lord withheld His judgment in the face of evil? If so, describe the situation and why it deserved the Lord's intervention?
7) What are your thoughts about the current state of the world and the judgment of the Lord, if you have not already addressed that matter.

PRINCIPLES
8) There is a day coming when the Lord will repay the evil for their deeds.
9) The Lord is long suffering and allows wickedness to prevail, for a season, to preserve the righteous.
10) The Lord is patient, during times of tremendous wickedness, because He is not willing that any perish.