Theme:
A song of Distress
Scripture:
Psalm 44
Objectives:
(From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)
Know:
No one is exempt from troublesome times, but we can cry out to God
for help.
Think:
I will condition my thinking to trust God even when going through
unexplained difficulty.
Do:
During difficulty, remember God’s past blessings and cry out to Him
for help.
Psalm
44
B1
Outline
C1 Psalm 44:1-8: Israel’s
past deliverance
C2 Psalm 44:9-16: God is
questioned why He doesn’t deliver any more.
C3 Psalm 44:17-26: An appeal
to God for deliverance now
B2
Distress
C1 Images
C2 Defined
D1 Stress is from stressors. A
stressor is a some demand on the body. So, a deadline can be a
stressor, so can pain, allergic reaction, shock, illness, etc. It
usually has a solution.
D2 Distress is when someone
can not adequately respond to stressors. So, chronic stressors can be
deadlines, pain, allergic reaction, shock, illness, etc. Many times
there is no solution, there is no easy solution, or there is no
solution that seems possible.
D3 Sometimes distress is worse
when you know of others who have been delivered, while you haven’t.
In Psalm 44, the psalmist knows of past deliverance for Israel, but
sees no deliverance now.
C3 This is distress: Matthew
27:46 NRSV And
about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli,
lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?"
C4 But: Psalms 30:5 NRSV For
his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping
may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
C5 And: Romans 8:35-39 NRSV
Who will separate us
from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are
accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
C6 Finally, Isaiah 65:24-25
NRSV Before they
call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like
the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt
or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
B3
Psalm 44:1-8,
C1 Why should we pass on to
our children how God helped us in distressing times?
C2 What specific deliverances
does the psalmist pray to God?
C3 The psalmist emphasizes
that God delivered them? Why is this proper?
C4 How can God be our king?
Why is this important?
D1 God reigns: Psalm 97:1 MEV
The Lord reigns; let
the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
D2 God is always and only
king: Psalm 10:16 MEV The
Lord is King forever and ever; the nations perished from His land.
D3 Jesus is king: John
18:36-38 GW Jesus
answered, "My kingdom doesn't belong to this world. If my
kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me
from being handed over to the Jews. My kingdom doesn't have its
origin on earth." 37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a
king?" Jesus replied, "You're correct in saying that I'm a
king. I have been born and have come into the world for this reason:
to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to
me."
D4 Jesus is King over all:
Revelation 15:3 WEL They
were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous [are] your works, Lord
God Almighty; just and true [are] your ways, you King of nations.
C5 Israel’s main enemies
were human, but they also had enemies of selfishness, disobedience to
God and His Law, disbelief, etc. What enemies do Christians have, and
how will God defeat them?
D1 Death: 1 Corinthians
15:55-58 GW Death,
where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?" 56 Sin
gives death its sting, and God's standards give sin its power. 57
Thank God that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
D2 Overcome the world: John
16:33 GW I've told
you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you'll have
trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world.
D3 Overcome temptation: 1
Corinthians 10:13 NKJV No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are
able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that
you may be able to bear it.
D4 Overcome fear of death:
Hebrews 2:14-15 NKJV Inasmuch
then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him
who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release
those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage.
C6 In summary: Psalms 44:8
NKJV In God we
boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah
B4
Psalm 44:9-16,
C1 The psalmist lists 8 (or 16
depending on what you count) claims against God.
C2 Is it permissible with God
to complain like this?
C3 Why does God sometimes
allow what appears to be defeat from our enemies? One reason is to
get us to repent: Luke 18:13-14 NKJV And
the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his
eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me
a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
B5
Psalm 44:17-26,
C1 Even in the midst of
distress, the psalmist does not forget God or turn against Him. He
still prays and asks for God’s help.
C2 How does God know the
secrets of our heart?
B6
Distress
C1 Experienced
D1 By David: Psalm 31:9 NIV -
Be merciful to me,
LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul
and body with grief.
D2 King Hezekiah and Israel:
Isaiah 37:3 CSB - They
said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of
distress, rebuke, and disgrace. It is as if children have come to the
point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.
C2 Turning to God
D1 By Asa after Azariah gives
God’s message: 2 Chronicles 15:4, 7-8 CSB - "but
when they turned to the LORD God of Israel in their distress and
sought him, he was found by them. ... "But as for you, be
strong; don't give up, for your work has a reward." When Asa
heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the
prophet, he took courage and removed the abhorrent idols from the
whole land of Judah and Benjamin...
D2 By the psalmist: Psalm
120:1 CSB - In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.
C3 Deliverance experienced
D1 By Israel: Deuteronomy 4:30
CSB - When you are
in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future
you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
D2 By our Lord Jesus: Luke
24:34 NLT - who
said, "The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter."
B7
Applications
C1 We will have hard times.
Sometimes we know why; sometimes we do not know why.
C2 When difficulties arise, it
does not mean God has forgotten us.
C3 Sometimes troubles happen
from others bad decisions.
C4 Sometimes the enemy of our
soul, satan, attacks us.
D1 Job: Job 1:11 GW But
now stretch out your hand, and strike everything he has. I bet he'll
curse you to your face.
D2 The saints at Smyrna (now
Izmir, Turkey): Revelation 2:10 GW Don't
be afraid of what you are going to suffer. The devil is going to
throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. Your
suffering will go on for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I
will give you the crown of life.
D3 God delivers:
E1 We Christians from satan’s
kingdom: Colossians 1:13-14 GW God
has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the
kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. 14 His Son paid the price to
free us, which means that our sins are forgiven.
E2 From satan and fear of
death: Hebrews 2:14 GW Since
all of these sons and daughters have flesh and blood, Jesus took on
flesh and blood to be like them. He did this so that by dying he
would destroy the one who had power over death (that is, the devil).
E3 From testing: 2 Peter 2:9
GW Since the Lord
did all this, he knows how to rescue godly people when they are
tested. He also knows how to hold immoral people for punishment on
the day of judgment.
C5 We are weak, but He is
strong: Hebrews 11:34 NKJV quenched
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness
were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens.
C6 God’s grace is able to
completely help us through anything: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV And
He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will
rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's
sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
C7 We need to pray to God in
all things. The Psalms are given to help us, comfort us, give reason
for hope, and for worship of God. They are our emotional release.
C8 Trust God even in the
hardest of times. Easily said, but God is able.
C9 We are a family of God. We
are in this life together. Let us pray for each other.
C10 God will not leave us:
Hebrews 13:5-6 GNB Keep
your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what
you have. For God has said, "I will never leave you; I will
never abandon you." 6 Let us be bold, then, and say, "The
Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?"
C11 Praise God: Psalms 34:8 GW
Taste and see that
the LORD is good. Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.
C12 Be encouraged. Do not give
up. He will deliver either in this life or the next.
B8
Next week:
C1 Past, Present, and Future
C2 Theme: A song of God’s
love
C3 Scripture: Psalm 118
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