The language of faith

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Doug Brown

1. Reflection: What about the world, this culture troubles you — what really troubles you, gets under your skin, makes you mad and or sad? (make a list). Read Psalm 73 :1-16 – What troubled Asaph, the Psalm writer? Compare your lists.

2. What do you think “troubles” God’s heart? What is His heart toward these troubles, injustice, oppression and arrogance?

3. In your group, read Ex 3:10-14, Ps 45:3-4, Amos 5:21-24. What do you learn about the heart of God? What do you learn about what God is doing about the cruelty, oppression and injustice in the world?

4. Discuss together how Moses responded to God’s call. How do you respond to the idea that God is reconciling mankind and all of creation to Himself and one of His ways to is engage you in the process of restoration?

5. What arena of injustice are you joining in with God and “riding on for the cause of truth”? Who are you joining with?

6. Asaph, the Psalmist, almost collapses in his faith (Ps 73:2-3) because of the seeming triumph of the wicked and the proud. What happened to Asaph in Ps 73 that turned his life around and changed his tune and his heart?

7. Even though Asaph’s culture had not changed, he changed. He started out singing the blues but in the second half of the the psalm his songs changes to praising God because he gained an eternal perspective on life — life from God’s point of view. What new words show up in Asaph’s vocabulary as a result of having this heavenly perspective on life?

8. Between you and God —Evaluate your vocabulary. Do you find you have similar words that express faith in God or do you find that your vocabulary is defined more by the words fournd in the first part of Psalm 73?

9. Use the troubles of this world to move you to lose interest in this world and as a motivation to live with a passion, a hunger, and longing for God. Memorize Psalm 73:25 and turn it into prayer-poem to God.