September 17, 2017 – Psalm 23 – From the lives of David and Jesus – Dwelling with the Lord

“and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” KJV Psalm 23:6b

2 Samuel 7:18-29 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:

“Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!

²⁰ “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. ²¹ For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.

²² “How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. ²³ And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? ²⁴ You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²⁵ “And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, ²⁶ so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight.

²⁷ “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. ²⁸ Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. ²⁹ Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.”

Who said “who am I, Sovereign Lord” (verse 18)?

What did the Sovereign Lord also speak about (verse 19)?

Who does the Sovereign Lord know (verse 20)?

What has the Sovereign Lord done for the sake of His word and according to His will (verse 21)?

Who is like the Sovereign Lord (verse 22)?

What has God done for Israel (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what does David mean by saying that the Lord has become the God of Israel (verse 24)?

What does David ask the Lord to “keep forever” (verse 25)?

What will be “established” in God’s sight (verse 26)?

How has David “found courage” to make this request of God (verse 27)?

What is trustworthy (verse 28)?

What does David ask the Lord to bless (verse 29)?

How long does David expect the blessing to last (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

John 14:22-27 - New International Version (NIV)

²² Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Who ask “Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world” (verse 22)?

What will the ones who love Jesus do (verse 23)?

How will Jesus and His Father respond to those who love Jesus (verse 23)?

Who will not obey Jesus’s teaching (verse 24)?

When did Jesus speak these words (verse 25)?

What will “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” do (verse 26)?

What does Jesus give (verse 27)?

In your opinion, how does this promise of peace from Jesus help us to obey His invitation to not let our “hearts be troubled” or to be afraid (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is different between the house that David requests the Lord to establish forever in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 and the home that Jesus promises that He and His Father will make in John 14:22-27?

Ephesians 3:14-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

What does Paul do before the Father (verse 14)?

Who derives its name from the Father (verse 15)?

What does Paul pray that the Father will do “out of his glorious riches” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to have Christ dwell in our hearts through faith (verse 17)?

Where does Paul expect that we will be “rooted and established” (verse 17)?

What does Paul pray for us to grasp (verse 18)?

What does Paul expect to happen if we “know this love that surpasses knowledge” (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says that God is “able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (verse 20)?

What does Paul pray for the Father to have “in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever” (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the home that Jesus promised in John 14:22-27 He and His Father would make with those who love Him partially explained by Paul Ephesians 3:14-21 when he prayed for us to be strengthen with power through the Spirit “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”?

In your opinion, how is the greatness of God that David talks about in his prayer in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 demonstrated by the “great and awesome wonders” that David mentions in the prayer and also by the width, length, height and depth of His love that Paul proclaims in Ephesians 3:14-21?

Revelation 21:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

What did John see (verse 1)?

How was the “Holy City, the new Jerusalem” prepared (verse 2)?

What did the “loud voice from the throne” say about God’s dwelling place (verse 3)?

Why will there be “no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain” (verse 4)?

Why was John to “write this down” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does God mean when He tells John “it is done” (verse 6)?

Who will have “water without cost from the spring of the water of life” (verse 6)?

Who will be the God of the victorious (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Paul’s prayer “that Christ may dwell in” our hearts through faith in Ephesians 3:14-21 a wonderful promise for today that anticipates the future that John sees in Revelation 21:1-7 where God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them”?

In your opinion, how is the promise that Jesus and His Father would make a home with those who love Him in John 14:22-27 fulfilled not only by Christ dwelling in our hearts as explained by Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21 but also by the new Jerusalem descending that John saw in Revelation 21:1-7?

In your opinion, how is the truth of David’s statement in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 that “there is no one like you, and there is no God but you” demonstrated by the fact that the house of David that David was praying for finds its final fulfillment not in an earthly throne but in the descent of a new Jerusalem from heaven and God dwelling with “his people” forever in Revelation 21:1-7?

In your opinion, how do these passages from 2 Samuel, John, Ephesians, and Revelation help us understand today’s passage from Psalm 23 “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”?

In your opinion, how can these passages help us to understand both Christ dwelling in us and God dwelling with us for ever?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)