Week 18 Where Does Your Light Come From?
“Let your light shine. Be a source of strength and courage. Share your wisdom. Radiate love.”
Wilferd Peterson
Passage
27 For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.
28 For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:27-30 (NASB)
"where is the light?" by alixroth is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Background
Quote-Wilferd Arlan Peterson (1900–1995) was born in Whitehall, Michigan and lived most of his life in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was married to Ruth Irene Rector Peterson (1921-79). He credits his wife Ruth as being the inspiration for his work (saying that while he "wrote about the art of living, she lived it"), and they collaborated often on producing these inspirational books. Peterson was an American author who wrote for This Week magazine (a national Sunday supplement in newspapers) for many years. For twenty-five years, he wrote a monthly column for Science of Mind magazine. He published nine books starting in 1949 with The Art of Getting Along: Inspiration for Triumphant Daily Living.
Passage-The genre of Psalms is Songs and Poetry of all kinds. It is written by multiple authors; David wrote 73, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 9, Solomon wrote 3, Ethan, and Moses each wrote one (Ps. 90), and 51 of the Psalms are anonymous. They were written over the span of approximately 900 years (Beginning at the time of Moses 1440 B.C. and through the captivity in 586 B.C.).
The Psalms include praises of joy, laments, blessings, and thanksgivings. They are directed at God and they help us to express and communicate ourselves to Him. We read about the Psalmist’s emotions from one extreme to another, from praising, delighting in and worshiping God with fervor, to repentance and crying out to Him in despair.
Psalms sits at the very center of the Bible. The major themes found in Psalms are Praise, God’s Power, Forgiveness, Thankfulness and Trust. “My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever” (145:21).
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
Some people are self-reliant. Others are fully dependent. Most are somewhere in between. Some need help but have trouble both asking for help and letting others help them. The trick is to know where you stand, what you can do and not do, and when it’s appropriate to both offer help and accept it.
Ask: Why do you need saving?
Point: The point is individual but the convicting scripture is verse twenty-seven from today’s reading.
Ask: What are we “afflicted” by as indicated in verse twenty-seven?
Point: Sin.
First Reading (Romans 3:10 (NASB)
Ask: What does Isaiah mean when he says, “…but haughty eyes you abase?”
Point: See Definitions for haughty and abase
Ask: What gets you excited? What gets you fired up?
Point: Like college football fans or any other sports fans on gameday, this is an open-ended question.
Re-read verse twenty-eight from today’s passage
Ask: How are we in darkness?
Point: The answer to this question is another question that is likely rhetorical: Do we know everything?
Ask: If we are in darkness, how does God illuminate that darkness?
Point: Second Reading (Proverbs 1:1-9 (NASB)
Ask: Why did God light your flame?
Point: Third Reading (Philippians 4:13 (NASB)
Ask: If we can do anything as long as God is the one who lights our fire and strengthens us, then what should we do?
Point: I don’t know what you should do, but God does.
Ask: What does that mean, “God does?”
Point: We are back to gifts, using our gifts, and not letting them go to waste.
Fourth Reading (1 Peter 4:8-11 (NASB)
Closing Statement
Your lamp is lit. The light shines forth. Whether it is under a basket or not is the question. What motivates you to action? What energizes you to move? What anchors your resolve to stay the course? If we are to be the People of God, our source of energy should be Jesus Christ. Because God is love and His Son proved that with His sacrifice for all the world. That’s what God did. That’s what Jesus did. It was done for us. What are we going to do in response?
Questions for the Week
Question 1 Where does your light come from?
Question 2 Why did God light your flame?
Question 3 What does the third reading mean to you?
Question 4 In light of the third reading what does the fourth reading motivate you to do and why?
Scripture
First Reading
10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
Romans 3:10 (NASB)Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3
Second Reading
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction, To discern the sayings of understanding,
3 To receive instruction in wise behavior, Righteousness, justice and equity;
4 To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and a figure, The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction And do not forsake your mother's teaching;
9 Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head And ornaments about your neck.
Proverbs 1:1-9 (NASB)
Third Reading
13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 (NASB)
Fourth Reading
8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:8-11 (NASB)
Definitions
haughty
haw-tee
adjective, haugh·ti·er, haugh·ti·est.
disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant; snobbish; supercilious: haughty aristocrats; a haughty salesclerk.
Archaic. lofty or noble; exalted.
abase
uh-beys
verb (used with object), a·based, a·bas·ing.
to reduce or lower, as in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; humble; degrade.
Archaic. to lower; put or bring down