Family Worship #6
Family Worship Guide
Sunday, April 19, 2020
SING
READ
Psalm 73:1-28 (ESV)
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
LISTEN
WATCH
ASK
I. Who Was Asaph?
Q: Who was Asaph?
A: He was one of the members of the tribe of Levi. King David put Asaph in charge of the worship music that was performed at the Tent of Meeting before Solomon built the great temple in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 6:39). Asaph also authored Psalms 50 and 73-80.
Q: Pastor Kevin said that Asaph was addressing one of life's most difficult questions. What was that question?
A: How is it that the wicked so often prosper while the godly suffer so much?
II. How Do You Transition From Focusing on Temporal Things to Eternal Things?
Q: What did Asaph mention is the solution to his problem?
A: The goodness of God. (v1)
The psalmist mentioned three things that we must do in order for us to transition from focusing on temporal things to eternal things.
Q: What is the first thing he mentioned?
A: Diagnose the spiritual problem. (vv. 1-3)
Q: What was Asaph's spiritual problem?
A: It was envy.
(Envy is a reaction to lacking something. Jealousy is a reaction to the threat of losing something. You are envious of someone when they are getting affection that you wish you had. You’re jealous of someone when they get affection from somebody that you think should be coming to you.)
Parents, ask your children if they ever struggled with envy or jealousy.
Q: What is the second thing he mentioned that we must do in order for us to transition from focusing on temporal things to eternal things?
A: Describe your distorted perspective.
Q: How did Asaph describe the unrighteous?
A: He described the way they died, the way they lived, their pride, their violence, their heart, and their words.
Q: In the sermon, what did Pastor Kevin mention ultimately determines God's goodness?
A: It is God’s presence with His people.
“If earthly good were of much value, the Lord would not give so large a measure of it to those who have least of His love.”
Q: What is the third thing he mentioned that we must do in order for us to transition from focusing on temporal things to eternal things?
A: Desire the presence of God.
Q: Where did Asaph go to find an eternal perspective?
A: Ask your child to read verse 17.
“until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.”
He went to the sanctuary of God.
III. What Three Things Did Asaph Become Aware of?
Q: What three things did Asaph become aware of?
A:
- A new awareness of the destiny of the ungodly. (vv18-20).
He came to see the lives of the wicked from the perspective of eternity. God will judge the unrighteous. - A new awareness of himself. (vv21-22).
He saw that in questioning God’s just handling of life’s circumstances that he was not being wise but rather being “senseless and ignorant.” Indeed, he was behaving as “a brute beast” before God. He compared his thinking and his actions towards God as the thinking and the actions of a wild animal. - A new awareness of God’s presence. (vv21-22)
The psalmist tells us that when God’s presence is with us, He holds us, guides us, captivates us, strengthens us, and protects us.
PRAY
–Pray for God to continue to work in the lives of your children so that they can be saved. If they are already saved, pray that they will continue to find their identity in Christ.
–Pray that God will continue to give your family an eternal perspective.
–Pray against envy and jealousy in your lives.
–Pray for other families, particularly those families of your children’s friends. As much as we miss the gathering together each week, they also miss their friends.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Again, we’d like to direct your attention to our resources page for more info on family devotions.
Here are some coloring sheets, a word search puzzle, and a handwriting sheet that you can print out for your child. These are all meant to be aids to help you with your child(ren). Feel free to print some of these or all of these, whatever will work best for your specific child and his or her age.
