Welcome to the Weekly Digest!
Below you will find resources to help you on your journey through the Book of Psalms. We've provided you with a reading plan for the upcoming week, journaling prompts, a weekly Spotify playlist, and ideas for prayer. Be sure to check in every week to see what we have for you next as we continue to enrich our journey through the Psalms.
Reading Plan March 6th - March 12th
Psalms 96-100. Read and reflect on Psalm 95 in preparation for Sunday, March 13th's teaching. You can download the reading guide for the entire series here.
Scripture Memorization
Scripture memorization is an important discipline to introduce to our lives as a way to actively hide God's word in our heart. It allows us to not only internalize the text, but to share that truth with others more readily.
Memory Verses for March: Psalm 101:6
I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.
Journal Prompts
* A quick note on journaling: if you're new to this practice, our journey through the book of Psalms will be a great way to get started. The most important step to forming this discipline in your life is to write anything and write often. Journaling is an incredible way to slow down, digest the content of a text, let your brain internalize thoughts that may come up, and keep a record for future reflection on what God was speaking to you during your reading. Journaling can take many forms such as written prayers, bullet points, stream of consciousness, or even poetry. Try some different methods and find the one that works best for you.
Journal Prompts / Discussion Questions from Today's Teaching
Journal Prompts / Discussion Questions for This Week's Reading
Psalm 96
What aspect or attribute, makes you want to sing to the LORD? Try taking some time and writing down a poem about the attribute or aspect of God that would make you sing.
There is this idea in Psalm 96 that those who rejoice in God must tell the world of how good He is. Where are areas in which you can share the Gospel, and what is the thing that keep you from sharing the Good News everywhere?
Psalm 97
All Christians have reason to have Joy because of who God is and what God has done. A common misconception though is that Joy is not a feeling, and yet a feeling is described as our response to something. Our response to life is Joy not because of what is happening around us, but because of what has already taken place on the Cross. So Joy is felt when our focus is more on Him and what he is doing or will do rather than what is happening in front of us.
- When do you feel Joy?
- How do we balance the Joy we are to have with the grief that this world brings?
Psalm 98
Psalm 96-98 all talk of having this Joy in who God is and the work that he has accomplished. In Psalm 98, we see the culmination of that by having the Psalmist say that our Joy rests, or sits, on the finished work of salvation. This is one of the most difficult aspects of our faith that we have to work to grasp. That no matter what happens around us, we always have reason to have Joy.
- How can we work to root ourselves deeper into the work of Christ so that our response to the things of this world is joy?
- What things are you holding as more important than our eternal relationship with God that causes you to not have Joy?
Psalm 99
The Psalmist calls us to praise and worship God because of His Character. Broken up into three sections that talk about His grace, his law, and his fellowship
- How have you seen God’s grace in your own life?
- Proverbs 3:1 encourages us to keep his teaching and keep his commandments because they are good. Why is God’s law good? How does following his law bring us closer to him?
- How are you walking and fellowshipping with God?
- What is your daily rhythm to commune with God?
- When your fellowship becomes stagnant with him, what are ways in which you can create new rhythms?
Psalm 100
Psalm 100 encourages us to come near to God and to enter into his presence with thanksgiving.
- In verse 2, he says to serve the Lord with gladness. What are ways that you are serving the Lord with gladness?
- Take some time to intentionally slow down and write out this Psalm in your journal or a piece of paper
Spend some time in prayer thanking God for who he is, for the fact that he is good, and that he has made a way for us to be near to the God of the Universe!!
