Scripture Text:
(click to open in a new window)Psalm 132
Questions:
1. Who are your two closest friends? Why are you close? Is your time together prearranged or does it “just happen”?
2. Have you ever had to spend the night in a car? Airport or train station? Out in the brush or on a hillside? Why?
3. What “hardships” has David endured (verse 1; see 2 Samuel 7:1)? What does he promise Yahweh? Does God need an earthly “dwelling”?
4. Where was the Ark of the Covenant prior to David’s conquest of Jerusalem (verse 6; see 1 Samuel 6:21 – 7:2)? Why does he want it in his city?
5. What does the Lord swear to David (verse 11; see 2 Samuel 7:16)? What condition is placed on the promise (verse 12)? Based on what happened to Israel, how would you say his sons did?
6. On what is the permanence of David’s dynasty based (verse 13)? How will Israel be blessed (verse 14 – 18)?
7. What human needs are fulfilled in the building of churches and shrines? In the anointing of human leaders? Should we get beyond such needs?
8. Do you give yourself deadlines? Is it good to put time limits on goals? What is the relationship between human and divine effort?
9. What need does God want you to fill in your church? At home? At work? In the neighborhood? How committed are you to the project(s)? Have you made so many promises, that you can fulfill them all?
10. What do you make of the fact that there is no longer a king in Israel and that Jerusalem was conquered? Is God unable to keep His promises? Or did the people bring it on themselves?
11. How has Israel become the most dangerous place for Jews today?
.
