Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
4. Can a person be good enough to go to heaven? No. Because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He is God, I believe a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
Ice-Breaker:
Scripture
Psalm 13
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Discussion Questions:
- Psalm 13 is what is known as a "lament" psalm. A lament is a passionate, honest expression of deep grief, sorrow or pain. In the first couple of verses of Psalm 13, David is lamenting to God about pain in his life. Four times David SHOUTS the PAIN... How long, Lord?! One thing we look for when we are hurting is a timeline. Like, how much longer do I have to endure this? But most of the time, there is no end date in sight. Philippians 4:6 says that we should make our requests known to God. We should come to him with supplication (asking for something earnestly). Our God is big enough for us to shout at Him. He would rather you shout at Him than walk away from Him. What is your tenancy when you're in pain? Do you internalize and distance yourself from the Lord? Or do you run to Him and cry out for His help?
- Instead of running from Him, we need to SEEK His PRESENCE. Pain will either drive you away from God or draw you deeper into His presence. If we are honest, many of us run ANYWHERE but to His presence. We run to our phones, doom scrolling, work, hobbies, alcohol, shopping. Sadly, instead of running to the One who can actually heal us, we settle for distraction. What do you tend to run to in order to ease the pain? What would it look like to run to Him instead? How might running to Him change your perspective on the situation?
- In verses 5 and 6, David voices his trust in God and praises Him for the promise of salvation. David is choosing to STAY in His PROMISE. He started with, "This is HORRIBLE! How long is this going to last? Where are you, Lord?!" And in verse 5 comes a big "BUT"..."but I TRUST in your unfailing love." His trust is anchored in who he knows God is and who he has known God to be. It's a balance of, "My circumstances are devastating, BUT you are still good and you are still God and I trust you." How often are you looking back and reminding yourself of who God is and what He's done?
- Finally, lament eventually brings you to a place where you can SING His PRAISE. He begins the psalm by shouting in the dark, but he ends it by lifting up a song. He hasn't been rescued yet, but he's singing. Lament is coming before God when you are most vulnerable. When you’ve taken off the mask - and you’re not concerned with saying the right - or trying to sound spiritual. When all you can do is be honest before him. THIS is REAL WORSHIP. There is power in worshiping in the face of trials. When was the last time you brought God your sacrifice of praise in the midst of suffering? What do you think it would do to your heart and perspective to CHOOSE to worship God and proclaim His truth even when you didn't feel like it?
- The big idea from Sunday was to EMBRACE the PAIN. This definitely doesn't sound encouraging, but it's the only way we grow in our relationship with the Lord. Embracing it means more than just admitting we're in pain. But like Paul says in Romans 5, we are to "GLORY in our sufferings." Everything you think will break you, He can and will use to grow you. What is God using right now to grow you? How has He proven Himself to you in the past when He used brokenness and pain to bring you closer to Him, mature you or teach you something?
Prayer Topics:
- That we would learn to embrace the pain.
- That we would learn to worship through pain.
- That we would run TO God and not FROM Him.
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