Summer of Good News – Week 1

Psalm 81                                                                                                  Week of June 2, 2018

 ¹Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! ²Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. ³Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; ⁴this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. ⁵He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand.⁶He says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. ⁷In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.                                                                                                         Selah  (pause for reflection)

1. Take a moment to think on the above. What are some of the things that cause you to want to praise God in a very expressive manner? What would keep you from doing so? What would the importance of regular worship mean to you?

⁸“Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel! ⁹You

shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. ¹⁰  I am

the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will

fill it. ¹¹ “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. ¹²   So I

gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

2. Time and again, God’s people get lax in their attentiveness to His Word, how often to you spend time in God’s Word? What would you rather be reading? Is it something that will strengthen your hope in God? Read this Psalm at least once a day for a week…

¹³“If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, ¹⁴how quickly would

I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! ¹⁵Those who hate the Lord

would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. ¹⁶But you would be fed

with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

3. Deciding to do something different because you have a change of heart can be a good thing. There are many voices that compete for our attention. What are some that you pay the most attention to? Would you say their perspective about life matches what God would say? God says that when people pay attention to His Word and follow His ways, there are some very positive benefits to be had.  What do you find to be the benefits of following God? What would you ask God to help you with? Go ahead and pray about that.

Check back next week for Summer of Good News –  Week 2