Sunday Recap: A Song of Deliverance.

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Bob & Julie Kauflin came to visit us this past weekend & it was very encouraging!

Bob preached from Psalm 40 & reminded us that God’s faithfulness to deliver us from trials in the past enables us to confidently praise him through trials in the present.

OVERVIEW OF THE SERMON

Psalm 40 helps us praise God in the midst of present trials.

Bob’s sermon followed three points:

  1. Deliverance remembered (verses 1-5).

  2. Deliverance responded to (verses 6-10).

  3. Deliverance anticipated (verse 11-17).

This psalm helps us to see that God promises to abundantly multiply his thoughts & good plans for us. But God’s good plans may not include worldly success or ease. And God’s good plans involve our heartfelt obedience.

Nevertheless, God’s good plans are good & will bring us mercy. No circumstance—not even our sin—can restrain his mercy. And unlike David, we can look back to the cross, where we see Jesus’ delight to do God’s will & our assurance of an ultimate, future deliverance.

As pastor Christopher Ash has said, “We praise, not because the present is easy but because the future is glorious.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Below are a few discussion questions for you to ponder & for us to discuss at Community Group this week:

  1. Read Psalm 40 out loud.

  2. Verses 1-5 describe a past deliverance. What happened? What was David’s response?

  3. In explaining verse 5, Bob said, “God’s wondrous deeds are not random acts of kindness.” Rather, God’s wondrous deeds are the unfolding of innumerable thoughts & plans he has to bless his people, much like a father or mother is with their child. How would we walk differently if we remembered the purposeful plan of our good Father behind each of them?

  4. The next section describes how David responded to this deliverance with his will (6-8) & his lips of praise (9-10).

  5. When have you been prone to move from problem to problem without responding with praise to God’s deliverance in your life? Have you ever been convicted of “lazy lips”?

  6. The final section describes how David anticipated a future deliverance, not only from a trial but from the consequences of his own sin. Do you ever feel like the Lord’s can’t deliver you because you’re the one to blame?

  7. Hebrews 10:5-7 quotes Psalm 40 and applies it to Jesus. In what ways is the meaning of the psalm significantly changed by reading it in light of the person and work of Jesus?

You can listen to the full sermon by clicking here.