| Open The Scriptures 1. Read Psalm 116 slowly. What do you notice? 2. In Psalm 116:3 the psalmist uses three images: snares of death, pangs of Sheol, and distress and anguish. What does each image suggest about the writer’s experience? 3. Psalm 116:1 and verses 4–5 describe how God responds to the psalmist. What words or phrases in those verses show God’s character and action toward the suffering person? 4. In Psalm 116:12–14 the psalmist asks what he should render to the Lord and then lists actions (lifting the cup, paying vows, offering thanksgiving). What are those actions and how do they connect to the psalmist’s deliverance earlier in the psalm? Open Your Lives 1. When you feel like you’re on the “crazy train” of anxiety or spiraling thoughts, what is the first thing you usually do and why? 2. Have you ever asked another person for help to “get off the crazy train” when anxiety overwhelmed you? What specific help have you asked them to provide? 3. Psalm 116:1-2 emphasize calling out to God because he listens deeply. Describe a time you cried out to God in distress. What happened and how did you sense (or not sense) God’s presence? 4. The psalmist responds to rescue by offering public acts of thanksgiving and worship. What is one practical way you could publicly show gratitude to God this week? |
| The Bridge Church at Bear Creek |
