The Ascent: The Lord Watches Over

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: Psalm 121.

overview

Psalm 121 was originally composed to be a traveler’s song for people moving toward God, but who still found themselves walking through dangerous and frightening terrain in the middle of their journey. The psalmist identifies three different kinds of danger that one can expect to face throughout life’s journeys: 1) abrupt and destabilizing events (described as a sudden slip in the path beneath one’s feet); 2) relentless and draining circumstances (like the exhausting heat of the sun); and 3) internal attacks within one’s own thoughts (the nighttime fears that afflict the mind).

question 1

Where in your life do you feel like the road is hardest right now — and what kind of trouble are you facing: a slipping path, scorching heat, or disorienting darkness?

discussion

The hills surrounding Jerusalem were filled with shrines to various pagan deities, each offering a way to numb pain, escape hardship, or secure blessing. But instead of turning to any of these false saviors, the psalmist boldly declares that true help comes from Yahweh alone, the Maker of heaven and earth. He alone is our faithful keeper, the One who watches over us and safeguards our lives.

question 2

The Hebrew word for “keeper/watcher” is used six times in this short psalm to emphasize the point that God will never let us out of his sight. How might your response to your current struggles look different if you truly believed God has not lost sight of you for a single moment?

At first glance, verse 7 seems to be saying that God will not let anything bad happen to us: “The LORD will keep you from all harm”. But the promise is actually much deeper. Jesus said we would face trouble in this world, yet he told us to take heart because he has overcome the world. As we follow him by dying to ourselves daily, we begin to discover that suffering is no longer the same as defeat. In Christ, even our wounds can become a testimony that evil does not have the final word. God gets the final word.

question 3

Where are you most tempted to equate hardship with defeat, and how does this psalm challenge that?

Prayer Practice

As our community prepares for our upcoming move at the end of March, we are joining together in 8 weeks of prayer.

Week 5 – God’s Provision for Our Next Church Home

Focus: Facilities, finances, and God’s provision.

Scripture: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer Prompt: Lord, you are our provider. We ask you to prepare the right place for our community – at the right time and in the right way. Open doors that no one can shut. Provide everything we need to continue worshiping, gathering, and serving our community.

Daily Prayer Practice

As families, friends, roommates, and individuals, we commit to pray every day at dinner for our community of Branches.

Pray simply and faithfully: Lord, please bless your church, Branches. Lead us, protect us, unite us, and guide us into the future you have prepared for us.