Morningview Family Worship Week of July 25, 2010
Psalm for Prayer and Praise: Psalm 16 (ESV)
1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Scripture Memory for the Week: Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Praying through the Psalms
Day 1 ~ God’s Goodness In His People
Read: Psalm 16:1-4
Consider:
For Adults: This Psalm is a celebration of God’s goodness (v.2) mediated to the believer through His people (v.3), His providence (v.5-6), His counsel (v.7), His promise (v.9-10), and His presence (v.11). As you meditate upon this Psalm this week, consider how God provides blessing to you in each of these ways. Start today by considering your relationships with those in your church family. Are you delighting in them today or is your heart tempted to find comfort with those who are running after “other gods?”
Older Children: In these verses, the psalmist delights in God by delighting in God’s People. He contrasts the “faithful” in the land of Israel with the “unfaithful” in the land of Israel. Do you think that there are both “faithful” and “unfaithful” in churches today? How are they different from one another?
Younger Children: Do you like to give gifts to your friends, siblings, or parents? How does it make you feel when they like your gift and tell you that they like it? Did you know that God is the source of all the things in our lives that are truly good? How should that make us feel toward God?
Family Application: Talk together about how God’s goodness is showered upon us in all the ways listed above. Talk about how you can follow God in being His blessing to those around you in need.
Pray: Thank God today for how He showers His children with His goodness and pray that He would open your eyes to see His glory in the blessing that He has bestowed upon you. Pray that God would help you to seek Him for your joy and to guard your heart from the temptation to seek false joy in running after “other gods.”
Meditate: Write this week’s memory verses on a white board in your home and/or on index cards that each family member can carry with them during the week.
Day 2 ~ God’s Goodness in His Providence
Read: Psalm 16:5-9
Consider:
For Adults: In these verses, we see how God’s goodness is mediated to the believer through both God’s providence and His counsel. Knowing that his life is entrusted to the care and providence of God, how is the believer comforted even in times of struggle and sorrow? How do you think it can help in these times to both consider the inheritance God has for His people and to recount His word to oneself, even in the quiet moments of the night?
Older Children: Look at verse 6 again. What is an “inheritance?” In these verses, the psalmist imagines the promise that God has given Israel. What is the future inheritance that the New Testament makes clear that God is preparing for all of His people?
Younger Children: Have you ever had a teacher who taught you about exciting and wonderful things? Did you know that God’s word is like a teacher to us? How does God show us His goodness through His word as our teacher?
Family Application: Talk together about how the Christians can be comforted by thinking of how we not only hold Him in His sovereign goodness in the present, but also prepares for Him and joyful rest in the future. Talk together about how Jesus purchased this inheritance for His people and how sinners become His children by trusting Him in repentance and faith.
Pray: Praise God for how He sovereignly holds His children in His tender care and for the beautiful inheritance that He has prepared for all of them through the purchase of Jesus’ blood. Pray that God would help you to trust Jesus more today and to look to Him for your joy and peace.
Meditate: See if anyone in the family can quote this week’s memory verse. Make new note cards of any of the cards from day 1 that may have been lost.
Day 3 ~ God’s Goodness in His Presence
Read: Psalm 16:10-11
Consider:
For Adults: In these verses we see the psalmist celebrate God’s goodness mediated to the belief in His promise and His presence. These verses are quoted by both Peter and Paul in the New Testament in reference to the resurrection of Christ, through them, we understand these verses to point us to the promise of a bodily resurrection of all believers, among whom Christ stands alive as the “first fruits” of what God has yet to come as a part of the great inheritance prepared for His people. Are you seeking to know the joy of His presence today? Seek Him for “fullness of joy” and experience a foretaste of the inexpressible joy that is even yet to come!
Older Children: What is the “Path of Life” that God makes known to His people? Read Matthew 7:14, Prov. 15:24 & 10:17 for help. What does God provide for those who walk this path? Can you stay on it in your own strength? Consider Phil. 2:12-13 as you answer.
Younger Children: Have you ever been lost in a big store where you couldn’t see your parents ? How do think being alone and “abandoned” would feel? Look in these verses again. Does God ever abandon his children, even after they die?
Family Application: Talk together about how God makes Himself known not only in mercy, but also in judgment. Talk about how God made Himself known in Jesus and how we are to spread this “gospel” of God’s free grace to those who do not know Him.
Pray: Praise God for His promise to never abandon or forsake His people and praise Him for the joy that He promises to all those who walk in convent faithfulness to Him in the “Path of Life.” Thank Him, Christ, our great covenant-keeper and pray that He would strengthen you for more faithful obedience in the days ahead and pray that thesein He would grant you an ever more full experience of His joy!
Meditate: See again if anyone in the family can quote this week’s memory verse. Talk about any ways that this verse has encouraged or taught you this week.
Hymn of the Week
http://nethymnal.org/htm/o/j/ojordsbi.htm
