Questions, Questions, Questions

Old Testament: Joel 1

Poetry: Psalm 103

New Testament: 2 Timothy 1

Some days do you feel like you have more questions than answers? Me, too. But, that’s okay. Because, actually, every educator knows that when we can ask and eventually start to answer some really good questions on our own we learn a lot more than if we just read someone else’s answers. So, today, I have NO answers for you. But instead, here’s a whole devotion full of some reflection questions to get us thinking more about Psalm 103, a beautiful psalm of David. In our Bible reading plan we are going to spend today and the next four days reading and re-reading Psalm 103 so today we will just include questions for the first 5 verses but go ahead and read the whole Psalm over and over this week.

So, let’s open up our Bibles and start to look at Psalm 103 verse by verse. Besides thinking about these questions below – what other great questions can you think of?

VERSE 1 – How many times is the word “praise” repeated in this Psalm? What is praise? What does it look like to praise God with “all my inmost being”? How deep does your praise go, or is it more often somewhat shallow? What would be needed to praise the Lord with your inmost being – and do it more regularly? What makes God’s name holy? Do you treat it in a holy manner?

VERSE 2 – What are at least ten (feel free to list more) of the “benefits” God has given you personally? Which ones do you often take for granted? How can we work at not forgetting them – or the God who gave them? What happens when people DO forget what God has done and given to them? What is the relationship between praising and thanking and remembering?

VERSE 3 – Have you asked for and accepted God’s forgiveness for ALL of your sins? How does asking for God’s forgiveness look different now compared to what it looked like when David wrote these words? Why does God want to forgive you of all of your sins? What would it be like to serve a god who loved but never forgave? What diseases (perhaps some physical and some not) has God healed?

VERSE 4 – What does the word “redeem” mean? What pit does God redeem you from? King David says that God “crowns you with love and compassion”. What does it mean to you to be crowned by God – with His unfailing love and compassion? How does it feel? Why do you think He does it? What would it be like to serve a god who forgave but never loved? How would you explain this verse to a kindergartener?

VERSE 5 – What desires have you had that God has already satisfied with good things – perhaps in the way you were imagining, perhaps in another way? What can we learn from David in a similar (but slightly expanded passage) about the desires of our heart – Psalm 37:3-5? What desires are you still waiting for God to satisfy? What do you do while you wait (see Psalm 37)? Might that change what you desire? What might King David be thinking of/imagining/feeling/experiencing when he writes about God satisfying desires, “so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”? It might depend on what your actual age is, but have you ever felt like God’s blessings were knocking years off your life, renewing you, or just plain, helping you soar? Where would you be without God’s goodness and generosity in your life? How do His blessings renew you?

What can we learn about God in His Word? What can we learn about our relationship with Him?

Thank you for trying something new with us today. Enjoy your time in Psalm 103! Is there someone you can start a conversation with today by asking them a question about Psalm 103?

-Marcia Railton