Apr 27th

Numbers 4     Song of Solomon 2     Psalms 38     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

 

If our previous Psalm (37) was about trust, then this one (38) is an example of the sharp end of trust. When it comes to the crunch and all is against us, how to we respond? In some ways, it is when times are tough that we discover where our faith lies and how strong it is.

Here in verses 21-22 of Psalm 38 David declares: “O Lord, do not forsake me; be not far from me O my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Saviour”

Perhaps you are old enough to remember a television program called “The A-Team”? At the start of each episode we were told: “If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team!”

The incredible, predictable and ultimately rather boring thing about the A-Team was that they always beat the bad guys – invariably through the use of incongruously non-lethal violence and improvised weapons made of duct tape and whatever was close to hand.

Like the A-Team, God can tackle any problem we have. But unlike the A-Team there is no doubt that God can be found: no question of ‘if’ or ‘maybe’ we can find Him. We can be sure that will never forsake us and never be far away. Like the A-Team, God always succeeds, but unlike the A-Team His methods are never predictable.

Oh, and another thing: unlike the A-Team, God is real!

(homegroup leader)

Apr 26th

Numbers 3     Song of Solomon 1     Psalms 37     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

The Bible is not just a book about God – it is also about His people and their relationship with Him. One thing that makes the Bible so useful and relevant is that the people in it are real people, dealing with real problems and experiencing the same temptations, emotions, pleasures, pains, hopes and fears as ourselves. The book of Psalms teaches us about the relationship between people and God by allowing us to eavesdrop on their praise, petitions and (in some cases) ranting to (or at) God. The beauty of the language of the Psalms makes them attractive, but it is the frankness and honesty of the words that makes them so compelling. Every one of the Psalms oozes sincerity – we are reading the words that the psalmist wants to say to God – and not necessarily the words that he thinks God wants to hear.

If the Psalms expose us to real feelings of real people about their relationship with God, then the Song of Songs deals with the relationship between men and women with equal candour. The psalmist is not restrained in the language he uses, and neither is Solomon in the Song of Songs. We may find the Song of Songs a little shocking or surprising in places (and if that is the case, the problem lies not with the Bible but with today’s cultural attitudes towards love and sex) but it shows a straightforward honest and candid approach to our relationship with God. 

(homegroup leader)