A servant heart
Warm-up: Have you ever written your own songs or felt like you would want to? Or if not, what do you think motivates others to do so? (i.e. why not just stick to prose?)
Read: Psalm 123
1) How would you describe the sentiment permeating this song?
- What experience could have occasioned the author to compose this song? v4
- What music and what beat would you expect to befit this psalm?
- Do you think it was composed on purpose for pilgrims?
2) vv1-2: Have any of the images in v1 already been used in the preceding two psalms?
- cf Ps 121:1 Why does he no longer look to the ‘hills’ for help?
- cf Ps 122:5 Why is he looking now to a throne above the ‘thrones of the house of David’?
- Why did Jesus teach his followers to pray to God as their ‘Father in heaven’, Mt 6:9?
- v2: The theme of ‘eyes looking to…’ continues in v2 – why?
- What difference does it make if believers view themselves as slaves? cf Col 4:1; Ro 6:16
- What does this mean: ‘…until he has mercy on us’? Does he not always have mercy? Is this song supposed to move God to have (or show) mercy?
3) vv3-4: How did the psalmist hope that God’s mercy would manifest itself?
- What made him so conscious of his own need and the need of his (!) community for God’s mercy? cf Ps 120:1-3
4) Personal and application
- What did you despise most about the Christian faith before you became a believer?
- The world’s scorn of Jesus and his gospel has always resulted in contempt for his followers: How do you explain that?
- How do you deal with the fact that you may think you had enough, when God continues to have patience with the ungodly?
- Are believers supposed to lead people to faith in God by the way how they bear the scorn of this world? cf 1Pet 3:9.16.18
- What is your own prayer to God how you would want to see him show mercy to you in your situation?
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