Session One: The Object of Our Prayer
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Background
Background
Our conversations are greatly affected by our perception of the other person. Praying to God is similar. Some people approach God with fear and trembling, hoping they utter just the right words. Others look at God as a kindly grandfather or as a vending machine that dispenses what we want. The way we approach God should be based on what He has revealed about Himself. The Bible presents a clear picture of God as our almighty and loving Father.
Question: Have you ever heard a non-Christian refer to the OT God as an angry God and the NT God as one of love?
The One we pray to desires only good for us: a
The One we pray to desires only good for us: a
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
What relationship does Jesus use in His model prayer to show how His followers are to approach God? How does this simple brief passage clarify the difference between a believer and a non-believer?
What relationship does Jesus use in His model prayer to show how His followers are to approach God? How does this simple brief passage clarify the difference between a believer and a non-believer?
6:9 Father (Gk. patēr, “father” <<pa-TARE>>) would have been “Abba” in Aramaic, the everyday language spoken by Jesus (cf. ; ; ). It was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers.
36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
What relationship does Jesus use in His model prayer to show how His followers are to approach God? How does this simple brief passage clarify the difference between a believer and a non-believer?
This is what distinguishes the one true God from the god of Islam
The idea of praying to God as “Our Father” conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care, while in heaven reminds believers of God’s sovereign rule over all things. This intimate Father is also in heaven, emphasizing His transcendence and divinity.
The theme of “heavenly Father” is found throughout the OT (; ; ; ; ).
The pattern of meaningful prayer is to begin by majoring on the person and nature of God and his kingdom interests, coming to personal requests and needs only secondarily.
The words Father and heaven together demonstrate the loving closeness and awesome transcendence of God to his child.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
David’s Psalms are so personal aren’t they?
What challenge does David issue to himself in relation to the Lord?
What does it mean to “bless the Lord”?
103:1–2 Bless the Lord, O My Soul, and Do Not Forget His Benefits. Each member of the worshiping congregation urges himself to bless the Lord, i.e., to speak well of him for his abundant generosity. Thus forget not all his benefits is a crucial step in blessing the Lord, and the body of the psalm lists these benefits in order to bring each singer to an admiring gratitude.
it means praising Yahweh for who He is. Compare 106:48 and note.
bless his holy name This refers primarily to the essential character and nature of Yahweh. See 94:14 and note.
Humanity is obligated and privileged to bless (i.e., to express praise and thanksgiving to) the Lord for the manifold benefits, and should be careful not to forget any of these blessings.
In their scope, God’s benefits are both spiritual and physical; David began by pointing to the central benefit of the Lord being the One (i.e., the only One; cf. ; ) who pardons all man’s iniquities and redeems [his] life from the pit (v. 4, death and separation from God; cf. 30:1).
The psalm also praises God as the One who (ultimately; cf. ; ; ) heals all your diseases (v. 3). The blessings are personal and relational: the Lord crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion and satisfies your years [lit., “desires”] with good things (v. 5). Describing youth being renewed like the eagle is appropriate because the eagle is a symbol of strength, vitality, and endurance (cf. ).
1 a.m. 2970. b.c. 1034. Bless. ver. 22. ; , . , . all that. ; ; ; , ; ; . . . . Phi. 1:9. . holy name. . . .
Israel had a long history of forgetting what God had done for them. Compare these other verses to reminding Israel to not forget the goodness of God:
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
12 What shall I render to the Lord
for all his benefits to me?
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
6 Do you thus repay the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.
1 Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
7 I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
4 redeemeth. ; ; . . . . crowneth. ver. 12, marg. ; ; . Ja. 1:12. .
5 satisfieth. ; ; ; ; ; , . . thy youth. . . .
The One we pray to is our compassionate Father:
The One we pray to is our compassionate Father:
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
What is to be our attitude toward God after reading this?
103:11–13 These are three comparisons for the kindness of God toward his people, to show its abundance (v. 11; cf. 36:5), decisiveness (103:12), and enduring quality (v. 13).
103:13 God is a father to his people as a whole (), and to the particular faithful members (). Of course many human fathers fail to embody this idea; this image assumes that biblically informed people have an intuition of what fathers ideally should be like. But it also serves as a goal for faithful fathers: they will seek more and more to be the kind of father who shows compassion to his children.
What does it mean to fear God?
103:11–14 The psalmist connects Yahweh’s compassion to knowing Him. While Yahweh does show love to those who fear Him, His love is not dependent on their faultless observance. He is aware of human weakness, and loves people even though they sin.
103:11 those who fear him An attitude of pious reverence toward God. See note on .
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 90
90:11 your wrath according to the fear of you. God’s wrath toward his unfaithful people is in accordance with the “fear” (reverence, faith, and humble, holiness-seeking love) that they ought to have toward him (cf. note on Prov. 1:7).
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
“The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”
― Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, 1741
103:11–14. God’s lovingkindness [is] toward those who fear Him (cf. 111:10) and as far as the east is from the west so far will He remove our transgressions from us (v. 12). This was accomplished in the OT by the offering of sacrifices with a faithful heart, and in the NT by faith in Messiah Jesus the final sacrifice (cf. ).
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
11 as the, etc. Heb. according to the height of heaven. ; ; . . . . ; , . his mercy. ver. 17. .
12 as the east. ; . . so far. . ; . Mi. 7:18. . 1 .
13 Like. . . . , . , . , . , ; , . . . them. ver. 11, 17. . , ; . .
The One we pray to is Almighty God:
The One we pray to is Almighty God:
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
ps103
103:19 His throne … his kingdom refers to God’s universal rule over all creation (see note on ). The marvel of being God’s people is that the one whose kingdom rules over all offers the privilege of gratefully embracing his rule.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 93
Psalm 93. Psalms 29; 93; and 95–99 are hymns of praise for divine kingship, namely, God’s kingly rule over creation. The idea of God as universal king is of course rooted in the creation account; the specific words first appear in Ex. 15:18. When the OT speaks of the kingship of God, it can mean his kingship over all creation, or it can mean God’s acknowledged kingship over his people (1 Sam. 8:7; 12:12–15); the NT expression “kingdom of God” focuses on the way God ministers to and governs his people through the heir of David. In each case, it is important to discern which of these is primarily in view. The psalms of divine kingship especially celebrate God’s kingship over his creation. Even though it is important to distinguish these ideas, one should not separate them: it is Israel’s great privilege that the God who rules over them is the universal Creator and Lord, who one day will rule all nations. Psalm 93 ends with this experience of wonder. The conviction that God reigns is the ultimate antidote to doubt and despair (cf. 89:38–51).
103:20–22 Let All Creation Join in Blessing the Lord. After listing all these benefits, the psalm returns to urging various creatures to bless the Lord, echoing vv. 1–2. The addressees go beyond the individual “soul” to include the angels and mighty ones (vv. 20–21) and even the material creation (all his works, in all places of his dominion; cf. v. 19). The overflow of goodness and steadfast love that God’s works reveal compels his people to call on the angels and all of nature (cf. 19:1) to join in their celebration. The song closes with the singer returning to urge his own soul to bless the Lord, with a deeper appreciation of how much praise and admiration he owes.
Make a comparison to verse 21 and
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Too often, our own will gets in the way
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
103:21 who do his will. Jesus echoes this in , teaching his followers to pray that God’s “will be done” with the same ready obedience shown by the angels (“in heaven”).
103:21 who do his will. Jesus echoes this in , teaching his followers to pray that God’s “will be done” with the same ready obedience shown by the angels (“in heaven”).
103:20–22 The psalmist concludes with a series of commands to bless (or praise) Yahweh that echo the opening of the psalm. He closes the psalm by reaffirming his devotion to Yahweh.
103:20 his angels The Hebrew term used here refers to messengers that accomplish an assigned task. Here it is a reference to supernatural beings sent from Yahweh.
103:21 his hosts The Hebrew word used here, tsava, may refer to military armies or to Yahweh’s heavenly host; when referring to the heavenly realm, it can also refer to stars and other heavenly bodies. People can also be a part of Yahweh’s hosts.
his attendants This can refer to the service priests do before Yahweh, but here it seems to refer broadly to those who follow Yahweh. Compare .
6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
103:19–22. David referred to the Lord as the Creator who established His throne in the heavens (cf. ; ; ) and as the King who in His sovereignty rules over all (“everything” more accurately signifies every created thing, whether animate or inanimate, material or immaterial). To affirm His benefits, compassion, forgiveness, eternality, and lovingkindness, the only response must be the threefold Bless the Lord (vv. 20–22), punctuated by the climactic declaration, Bless the Lord, O my soul! (v. 22).
Cross Refs
19 prepared. ; ; ; . . . his kingdom. . , , . , . Phi. 2:9, 10. .
20 Bless. . , . , . that excel in strength. Heb. mighty in strength. . . . . . do his. . . .
21 all ye his hosts. . . . . . . ministers. ; . . , . ; , . , . , , . , .
22 all his works. ; ; . ; ; ; . . bless the Lord. ver. 1. , ; .
Self-Reflection
Self-Reflection
If God is your Father, assess how you are responding to Him as His child. In what ways or in what areas of your life do you need to be strengthened to live more faithfully as His child?
Takeaways
Takeaways
1. The blessing of forgiveness, healing, and life come to us from a God of love, goodness, and righteousness
2. The Lod acts in love toward His people beyond what they deserve
3. All creation is to join in giving praise to Almighty God
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