Welcome to Sunday Fuel! This series of questions is designed to assist your personal reflection and fellowship with others about the sermon from this past Sunday.
1. Review Psalm 34:1-3. In what ways or situations are you tempted to make God small? Do you diminish His greatness? Dismiss Him when times are hard? Dispose of Him when He does not help you achieve your ends? Take a moment to confess the ways you have made him small or made out to be less than he is. Pray for His help to magnify Him by seeing how big He actually is.
2. Pastor David mentions four ways King David magnifies the Lord in this psalm. Choose one to reflect on in this season of your life.
a. Are you in trouble today? God is bigger than our troubles. Review Psalm 34:4-7. King David was confident that his God was both sovereign, able to deliver, and cares for him. Which of these traits of God do you doubt—and in that way, minimize God’s greatness? Ask God to help you believe in both His power and His affection for you and pray that in your times of trouble, He will drive you to a deeper relationship with himself. Pray for help to trust His heart for you, regardless of whether he delivers you immediately or not.
b. Do you have an ache of longing in your heart? God’s bigness satisfies our deepest longings. Review Psalm 34:8-10. What specifically are you longing for? What is it that you feel you lack? What alternate “snacks” have you been nibbling on that dull your appetite for the rich feast God has laid out before you—career, pleasure, financial security, experiences, relationships, education, accolades, or even sin? Confess your substitutes to the God who is bigger, better, and more satisfying than the things of this world. Meditate on the greater things He offers you. Pray that you will, in faith, feast on His infinite joys instead of working hard for the little moments that are fleeting and unfulfilling.
c. Do you desire to live a full and good life? God’s bigness transforms our everyday living. Review Psalm 34:11-14. Pastor David points out that this begins with the fear of the Lord, being overwhelmed by the reality of who God is. Take a moment to reflect on how big, awesome and good He is. How might this awareness help you grow in respect and honor of Him in the way you conduct your life, speak, or relate to others? How might your relationship with God help transform you in those facets of yourself that you wish were better? Take time to worship Him and show you where you might “turn away from evil and do good.”
d. Are you struggling with injustice in your life? God’s big plan for the world is to make everything right. Review Psalm 34:15-22. What injustice are you suffering today? Reflect on the truth that God has a plan and He will honor those who are righteous and will deal justly with evil to make everything right. Rest in that comfort. Affirm that confidence in your prayers in faith. Recall this to mind and entrust those wrongs into His hands whenever they arise.
3. Pastor David points out that this is a call to magnify the Lord together (Ps. 34:3). How might your own reflections on God’s greatness be an invitation to others to join you in magnifying Him in their lives? How might we encourage others to worship, trust, and fear Him?
