Read aloud the following:
12H555E229A7110V8844E667N12
Does it make any sense? Now cross the numbers off and focus
on the letters. What does it say?
What is God’s focus and number one goal for us?
Our spiritual lives are more important to God than anything else. His
number one goal is to bring us home to heaven to be with Him eternally. Let’s
study the spiritual promises of God in Psalm 91 so we can grow in confidence
that God will accomplish His heavenly goal for our lives.
·
In what ways does your church give you spiritual
shelter and protection? How does your church help grow your trust in God?
·
What spiritual enemies attack our faith and/or
the faith of believers around the world. What “snares” do these enemies use to
lure or pressure us or others away from Jesus and into the trap of unbelief or
wrong beliefs?
·
God’s protections and refuge become
all-important in reaching the heavenly goal. Reread Psalm 91:4. How could God’s
wings of Law (showing us our sin) and Gospel (showing us our Savior) or Word
and Sacrament provide refuge from the enemy snares?
As we dwell under the Almighty’s wings (v.4), we become spiritually
confident and secure. Read Psalm 91:5-6, 13. Luther explains the terror, arrow,
pestilence, and plague as dangers to the soul. The enemies listed in verse 13
may also describe the same dangers to faith.
·
Give examples of arrows, pestilence, and plague
inflicted on Jesus by the Pharisees (John 11:47-53) Then list examples of those
in your own life and in today’s world.
·
Remember that it is God who protects our faith
and preserves us from these attacks. He is determined to bring us home to
heaven one day. What spiritual truth and
confident hope are also detailed in Psalm 91:7-8?
·
Finally, read Psalm 91:14-16. What comfort and
confidence do these words offer in your life of spiritual struggle?
What confidence we can have that God is at
work---protecting, strengthening, and shielding our faith! All that He does in
our lives works toward bringing us closer to Him and fulfilling His goal of
bringing us home to heaven. As we study His Word, our faith grows, and we, too,
more easily focus on our spiritual well-being and turn our eyes more frequently
to our heavenly home. Focus on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith
(Hebrews 12:2), and confidently pray.