Growing with God

Seniors Bible Study, 2/19/19

This is the beginning of a new adventure.

Growing with God

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Psalm 71 ESV

1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you. 7 I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. 9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. 10 For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together 11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.” 12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! 13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. 14 But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. 16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. 17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. 19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. 24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.

God’s way to grow old is to develop a walk with Him now.

Romans 8:28–29 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:35–39 ESV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1. How important is it to develop our walk with God beforehand?

In the Potter's Hands

2. How do we develop our walk with God?

I. Develop a deep knowledge of God.

God uses people and experiences to shape us.

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· Ideal if taught from youth,

· How do we get to know God as our refuge, ,?

Genesis 37:3–4 ESV

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

· How do we get to know God as our righteous Savior, ?

1 Samuel 1:21–28 ESV

21 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.” 23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

1 Samuel 2:12–17 ESV

12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

· How do we get to know God as someone who is righteous – that is, someone who faithfully keeps his promises (71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24)

· How do we know God’s might deeds, (71:16), His strength and power (71:18), and the great things He has done (71:19)?

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

· How do we know God as one who brings us into and out of trouble and delivers and restores (71:20)?

· How do we know God as the source of comfort in trial (71:21)?

· How do we know God as one who redeems our soul (71:23)?

· How do we know God as one who receives our praise, (71:8, 19 22, 23, 24).

· Why does a greater knowledge of God lead to a greater trust of God?

Illustration: To put out a fire with a fire extinguisher, what must we know? The more we know how to use it the more we will trust it – True or False?

II. Developing the godly habits of trust, praise, and hope

How do we develop habits? Hint: , , – always, ever, etc.

How important is it to develop habits of:

1. Trust (71:3);

2. Praise (71:6); and

3. Hope (71:14)

A. THE HABIT OF TRUST (71:3)

· When life puts you down how important is it to know on whom you have believed?

· How does true knowledge of God dispel fear?

· When caught in a storm how important is it to keep your eye on the captain? What would you notice?

· How important is it to reflect on past pain that God helped you with?

· Are you developing a faith or fear habit?

· Look what God has done (71:5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24).

· See in your past how God has:

o Strengthened faith

o Preserved your life

o Saved you from your sins

o Sustained you this far

· How can you make this reflection a habit?

B. THE HABIT OF PRAISE (71:6)

What comes easiest for you:

· Praise

· Complaining

· Grumbling

· Not being honest 😊

Yet the aging Psalmist deliberately develops this habit: 71:8, 14, 22-24

· How can we learn to praise God when trials come?

o Hint: How important is trust?

· Can we praise God if we don’t trust Him?

· So, lets review what God has already done for us. It is easy to forget and to fail to count our blessings.

C. THE HABIT OF HOPE (71:14).

· What is the difference between worldly and Godly hope?

· Godly hope is sure because of its object (71:5). T/F? I.e. I place my hope in Jesus returning.

· Worldly hope is uncertain and unstable. T/F? I.e. Stock market.

· For instance: What are the chances that you will make it through these hard “old age” years? The outlook is as strong as the promises of God?

· Instead, some develop a negative & hopeless spirit.

o How will this cause bitterness (,)?

III. We must develop a lifestyle of ministry for God.

· Although the psalmist was old (71:9, 18) and could have kicked back and said, “I deserve some rest,” he did not.

· If he had breath, he was telling the world about God’s awesomeness (71:8, 15-18, 24).

· What is the danger of becoming pew warmers?

· People who are not involved in ministry are self-centered – t/f?

· If you are asking what can I get out of instead of what I can put in you are out of balance – t/f?

· Challenging the idea of retiring from the Lord. If you work till 65 but pass away at 85 what could be done with the “freed up time”?

· Is the purpose of retirement golf, cruses, etc. or giving Gospel to next generation (71:18)?

IV. Discussion Questions

· The psalmist had served God all his life and now, in old age, was beset with problems. Didn’t he deserve better treatment? Why wasn’t he bitter?

· In what ways have we Americans developed a worldly view of retirement?

· Agree/disagree: A non-ministering Christian is too self-centered.

· How can we develop genuine praise when we face overwhelming problems? Is praise a feeling or an act of obedience?