38. Feeling God is far away – Psalm 13
A.S.K. - 38
Read Psalm 13 and pages 159-162 of A.S.K.
Questions from the Bible reading
1. Why is the name of God in capital letters – “LORD”? (v1, 3, 6)
2. What does the Psalmist mean by saying “how long will you hide your face from me”? (v1)
3. What thoughts does it seem the writer is especially troubled by? (v2)
4. What may be meant by the phrase “give light to my eyes”? (v3)
5. Why do you think the Psalmist speaks to God about his enemies’ reactions to him? (v4)
6. How does the writer comfort himself in the midst of these struggles? (v5)
7. What drives this man to write his Psalm? (v6)
8. Draw a picture, or write a summary, of how this Psalmist may have looked during the writing of this song. (v1-6)
Questions from the book
1. What types of life issues does the Psalm present to God?
2. Why is it that a Christian sometimes feels that God has forgotten him/her?
3. What is the purpose of the trials which God sends to us?
4. What has not changed for the writer by the end of the Psalm, and what has changed for him?
5. To what person must we look in dark times and what can help us to do that?
6. Write a prayer which a person can pray when God seems far away, including in it both their feelings of Gods absence but then the assurance of God’s promises.
Questions to do at home
1. Ask a Christian to explain what they do when God seems far away to them.
2. Think about your reply to a friend who says to you, “So long as they’re not sinning, a Christian should always know God’s loving closeness to them.”
3. Is it sinful for a Christian to have doubts about God’s care of them?