Saturday, April 12, 2025

April 20, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – The Theme of Our Praise

The Theme of Our Praise

Psalm 22:22-31 - New International Version (NIV)

22 I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!

Where was David going to declare God’s name (verse 22)?

Who is to “praise him” (verse 23)?

How has God responded to the afflicted ones “cry for help” (verse 24)?

What is the source of David’s praise “in the great assembly” (verse 25)?

Who will “praise” the Lord (verse 26)?

What will “all the ends of the earth” do (verse 27)?

Who does “dominion” belong to (verse 28)?

What will “all who go down to the dust” do (verse 29)?

Who will “be told about the Lord” (verse 30)?

What will be proclaimed (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how can we see the triumph of Jesus in this passage?

Matthew 28:1-15 – New International Version (NIV)

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

When did “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” go to look at the tomb (verse 1)?

Why was there a “violent earthquake” (verse 2)?

How did the angel appear (verse 3)?

Who was afraid of the angel and “became like dead men” (verse 4)?

What did the angel know about the women (verse 5)?

Why was Jesus not there (verse 6)?

What were the women to “go quickly and tell his disciples” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did the women have both “fear” and “joy” (verse 8)?

How did the women react to Jesus when He met them and said “Greetings!” (verse 9)?

What was going to happen in Galilee (verse 10)?

Who did some of the guards report “everything that had happened” to (verse 11)?

What did the priests and elders give the soldiers (verse 12)?

What were the soldiers to say (verse 13)?

Who would keep the soldiers out of trouble with the governor (verse 14)?

What did the soldiers do (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how can we see the triumph of Jesus in this passage?

In your opinion, how is Mary Magdalene and the other Mary clasping Jesus’s feet in Matthew 28:1-15 a fulfillment of David’s words in Psalm 22:22-31?

Hebrews 2:11-18 – New International Version (NIV)

11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again he says,

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Who “are of the same family” (verse 11)?

What is Jesus going to sing “in the assembly” (verse 12)?

Who is “here” with Jesus (verse 13)?

How did Jesus “break the power of him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil” (verse 14)?

Who did Jesus “free” (verse 15)?

Who is it that Jesus “helps” (verse 16)?

Why did Jesus have “be made like them, fully human in every way” (verse 17)?

Why is Jesus “able to help those who are being tempted” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how can we see the triumph of Jesus in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the assurance of Psalm 22:20-31 that “he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help” fulfilled by Jesus in Hebrews 2:11-18?

In your opinion, how does Matthew 28:1-15 provide hope for those Hebrews 2:11-18 refers to as being “held in slavery by their fear of death”?

Revelation 1:10-20 – New International Version (NIV)

10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Where was John “on the Lord’s Day” (verse 10)?

What was John supposed to “write on a scroll” (verse 11)?

What did John turn around to see (verse 12)?

Where was the one “like a son of man” (verse 13)?

What were “his eyes” like (verse 14)?

How was “his voice” described (verse 15)?

What was “his face” like (verse 16)?

How did John react to seeing Jesus (verse 17)?

What does Jesus “hold the keys of” (verse 18)?

What is John instructed to write (verse 19)?

What is the “mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands” (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, how can we see the triumph of Jesus in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the Lord who is praised by David in Psalm 22:20-31 revealed in Revelation 1:10-20?

In your opinion, do you think we will be able to run to Jesus as He is revealed in Revelation 1:10-20 and clasp His feet the way Mary Magdalene and the other Mary did in Matthew 28:1-15?  Why or why not?

In your opinion, how do you feel knowing you are a brother or sister as proclaimed in Hebrews 2:11-18 of Jesus as He is described in Revelation 1:10-20?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Matthew, Hebrews, and Revelation teach us about the theme of our praise?

In your opinion, who should we “go and tell” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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