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Blessings remixed

June 3, 2018 Speaker: Eric Naus Series: For Every Season

Passage: Psalm 1:1–6

Community Group Questions: For Every Season - Psalm 1 - "Blessing Remixed"

Printing Instructions: To print these discussion questions for use in your Community Group or other study, first highlight the text, then right click and select "print" from the dropdown menu that appears.

Read Psalm 1:1-6 and then work through the following discussion questions:

  1. This summer, Christ Community Church will be teaching through a number of the Psalms, exploring how these biblical poems give expression to our emotions with God in all the various “seasons of life.” In your opinion, why did God put a “song book” right in the middle of our Bibles?  Over the years, how have the Psalms been special to you personally, and when have the Psalm been especially relevant to you? 
  2. Psalm 1 tells us what it means to be truly “blessed.” What does our culture think it means to be blessed?  How does this contrast with what we see in Psalm 1?
  3. In verse 1, the blessed man is defined by what he does not He does not walk, stand, or sit down and join in with those who delight in the things that oppose God.  How do these words of wisdom in Psalm 1 relate to Jesus’ teaching that we should be “in the world” but not “of the world” (John 17:15-18)?  How do I know when I’ve stopped living in the world as a “light” and instead, I’ve started living like a “sponge,” absorbing its values and attitudes?
  4. Verse 2 cuts to the chase: the blessed man “delights in the law of the Lord.” The word “law” in Hebrew is the word “Torah,” which means “teaching or instruction.”  This word refers to the instruction of God found in the Old Testament, but we can also rightly apply it to the New Testament Scriptures as well.  So, the blessed man delights in God’s Word.  Do you find yourself delighting in God’s Word, like a passionate hobby you lose yourself in?  Why do we sometimes relate to God’s word out of obligation, or guilt, or mere duty?  How can we cultivate sheer delight in the Bible?
  5. In verse 2, the blessed man also “meditates day and night” on God’s Word. Biblical meditation simply means thinking about the lines of Scripture over and over again until their truths sink deeply into your heart.  Mediation can include reading, listening to, memorizing, praying, studying, and singing scripture.  Which of these practices have you found to be especially helpful for meditating on God’s Word?  Which of these areas do you hope to grow in?
  6. In verse 3, the blessed man is described as a tree planted by a constant water source by which it thrives, bears fruit in every season, never withers, and prospers. What does this image teach us about the power of God’s Word to sustain us in every season of life?  Have you ever met someone who especially illustrated “fruit bearing in ever season”?  What was this person like, and how was their life immersed in God’s Word?
  7. The wicked are described by a contrasting metaphor in verse 4. They are like dry “chaff” that blows away as a farmer tosses grains into the air.  In what ways have you seen this description to be true in the lives of those who deny God and ignore his Word?
  8. Verses 5-6 describe the ultimate destiny of the wicked and the righteous. The righteous are relationally “known” by God forever, but the wicked fall down on the final day of judgment and they will experience eternal perishing.  How does eternity give us motivation to delight in God’s Word today?
  9. Jesus is the only person who perfectly fulfills the portrait of the blessed man in Psalm 1. Why is a relationship with Jesus so essential to lasting fruit bearing (see John 15:5)?  How does Jesus’ work on the cross deal with our failures to live as Psalm 1 calls us to live (see Gal. 3:13-14)?  Putting this all together, how does the gospel of Jesus Christ give us the power to live a truly “blessed” life?

Prayer suggestion: As a group, let Psalm 1 guide your time of prayer.  Beginning with verse 1, go around the circle and have each member pray over one or two lines of the Psalm, elaborating on what they find there as they express their prayers to God.  Proceed in this way, until you work your way through the whole Psalm in prayer.

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