Session 7 – Psalm 130: a thanksgiving song
The deepest thanksgiving comes from the deepest experiences of redemption and restoration … of what we would call resurrection
In session 7 we:
-
- Focus on the final part of Breuggemann’s schema – reorientation.
- Celebrate what God has done for us with our ‘new song.’
- Explore what the ‘new normal’ looks like
- Acknowledge that only God can restore our souls.
Session 7 Outline – from Powerpoint (in video)
(1) Psalm 30 is a thanksgiving song declaring the transforming work of God.
(2) ‘You restore my soul’ (Ps 23:3a) – only God can truly restore (bring back and refresh) our souls.
(3) The spiritual principle of life|death|resurrection.
(4) What does the new normal look like?
(5) Final reflections on what God has done in us.
The structure of the session comes from the Powerpoint (in the video). You can download the powerpoint here.
Exercise - Psalm 30
‘Psalm 30 is one of the best examples of a psalm written after a time or disorientation. Here the writer has come out the other side and is in a period of reorientation. Lament gives way to thanksgiving. Trouble has come and gone; the enemies have been defeated. It is a time of victory. There is new bouyancy to this faith, a new confidence in his step and new insight into life with God. The psalmist writes eith the wisdom that comes from lived experience.’
(Deep calls to Deep, Horsfall, p119)
He restores my soul
The Hebrew word for ‘restore’ is rich in meaning.
It can mean ‘to bring back’ – God brings us back to a position of spiritual health and wholeness (shalom) but it is not the same as before.
It can also mean to ‘renew’ or ‘refresh’. There is something new and different about who we are in our understanding of who God is and our relationship with Him.
Song for reflection – You restore my soul (New Wine Worship)
God alone can restore our soul through:
-
- Rest
- Reflection
- Replenishment
- Refreshing
- Renewal
What does spiritual transformation look like?
CHARACTER CHANGE
What are some of the key changes that God is looking for?
NEW UNDERSTANDING
How might God be seeking to change our thinking?
DEEPENED EXPERIENCE
How is the ‘new song’ different to the old one?
(Questions from Deep calls to Deep, Horsfall, p152)
Reflection: Be still and know that I am God
‘My soul find rest in God’ (Psalm 62:5a)
Our final reflection uses the well-know phrase from Psalm 46 – “Be still and know that I am God.”
It seeks to earth it’s meaning both in the context of the psalm and also in how it might have come across to the Hebrew speaker/listener.