Directions – November-December 2022
Psalm 41 supplied the theme for our 2022 national conference: Blessed For Life. It also serves as the theme for our Life Sunday 2023 congregational worship resources. This ancient passage encourages compassionate intervention in the lives and needs of the vulnerable ones around us. It emphasizes how our loving Heavenly Father and gracious Savior will and work life even in the context of sickness and suffering. It explicitly connects the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the afflictions we and our neighbors experience. It centers our value and God’s delight on the forgiveness of everyone’s sins. And it anticipates the everlasting blessings we may look forward to sharing as brothers and sisters with all who trust His name!
Psalm 41:1-2 – What does it mean to consider the poor? Who might embody examples of poverty among us?
Whom does the Lord deliver—the poor or the one who considers the poor? In what ways does the Lord deliver?
How do the needs of neighbors invite and involve us in community?
Psalm 41:3-4 – What connection exists between human sickness and human sinfulness? (Check Genesis 3:16-19 and Romans 8:19-22.)
Why is it especially significant that the Lord wills health?
Psalm 41:5-8 – Why does it suggest that those who seek death are called “my enemies”?
How do Gospel-motivated voices For Life sometimes encounter “empty words” and the malice of adversaries?
Psalm 41:9 – How has Jesus made the sufferings of this Psalm (and of our own bodies, hearts, and minds) His own? (See John 13:21-30.)
Psalm 41:10 – How has He repaid those who rise up against Him? (Read 1 Peter 2:23-24, Luke 23:33-34.) With what do we desire to repay our persecutors? (Consult 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Peter 3:9, Matthew 5:39-45.)
Psalm 41:11 – How can we be certain that the ultimate enemy—death—will not triumph? (Look up Hebrews 2:14-15 and 2 Timothy 1:10.)
Psalm 41:12 – Why does “faith” make a good synonym for “integrity”?
What about God’s future blessings surpasses any present discomforts (like in Romans 8:18 and 2 Corinthians 4:17-18)?
How does this motivate and maintain us in the context of advocacy about the sanctity of life?