Brisley / Cooper Turn Your Eyes

A Bible Study on the Psalms
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-4335-9860-9
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 256 Seiten

Reihe: TGCW Bible Study

Inductive 8-Week Study on the Psalms  The Bible calls us to turn our eyes to Christ, allowing his presence to transform our lives. But amid our busy routines, constant distractions, and the pull of worldly temptations, it can be easy to lose sight of him. The Psalms offer a powerful and practical means of connecting with God. These ancient prayers and songs give voice to our emotions, allowing us to praise God for his grace and faithfulness, no matter our current circumstances. Turn Your Eyes offers a structured, step-by-step approach to help readers observe, interpret, and apply a wide variety of psalms. Over the course of 8 weeks, readers will explore 15 psalms, each week focused on a different key theme, such as wisdom, thanksgiving, lament, kingship, trust, praise, and more. By delving into the Psalms, readers will come to know and love the Lord and his word in new and deeper ways. - Designed for Women of All Ages: Perfect for individuals or groups eager to explore the Psalms - Inductive 8-Week Study: This structured, step-by-step approach helps readers observe, interpret, and apply key psalms each week - Comprehensive: Explores 15 psalms that highlight major themes, including wisdom, thanksgiving, lament, kingship, trust, and praise - Additional Resources: Prayers, memory verses, discussion questions, hymns, and videos help deepen reflection and strengthen retention

Winfree Brisley (BA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) serves as an editor for the Gospel Coalition. She is the coauthor of Turn Your Eyes: A Bible Study on the Psalms, coeditor of Unto Us, and a contributor to Fruitful and The Weary World Rejoices. She and her husband, Will, have three sons and live in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they belong to Uptown Church.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brisley, Winfree

Cooper, Sharonda

Leseproben

Week 1

How to Study the Psalms

Psalm 18

You may have heard the Psalms referred to as the songbook of the Bible. Don’t worry if you’re not musically inclined—there’s no singing required for this study! But knowing the Psalms were written to be sung informs how we read them. Just as we wouldn’t read song lyrics the same way we read a novel or an email, we can’t read psalms the same way we read narratives and letters in the Bible.

So this first week of study will be unique—we’re going to walk through Psalm 18 as an example of how to study the Psalms. We’ll learn some technical terms, consider how various features of the Psalms impact our understanding, and begin to interpret and apply the text. On days 1–4, we’ll explore one aspect of Psalm 18 each day that will help us know what to look for in the other psalms we study. As we turn our eyes to the text this week, I pray we’ll begin to catch a glimpse of God’s glory and grace in the pages of the Psalms.

Turn to God in Prayer

Father, thank you for giving us your word so we can know you and turn to you with all our emotions and experiences. Please “open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” this week (Ps. 119:18). By the help of your Spirit, “turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in your ways” (Ps. 119:37). In Jesus’s name, amen.

Memory Verse

  In my distress I called upon the Lord;

  to my God I cried for help.

  From his temple he heard my voice,

  and my cry to him reached his ears. (Ps. 18:6)

Look for Poetic Devices

Psalm 18

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1  I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2  The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

  my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3  I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

  and I am saved from my enemies.

4  The cords of death encompassed me;

  the torrents of destruction assailed me;

5  the cords of Sheol entangled me;

  the snares of death confronted me.

6  In my distress I called upon the Lord;

  to my God I cried for help.

  From his temple he heard my voice,

  and my cry to him reached his ears.

7  Then the earth reeled and rocked;

  the foundations also of the mountains trembled

  and quaked, because he was angry.

8  Smoke went up from his nostrils,

  and devouring fire from his mouth;

  glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9  He bowed the heavens and came down;

  thick darkness was under his feet.

10  He rode on a cherub and flew;

  he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

11  He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,

  thick clouds dark with water.

12  Out of the brightness before him

  hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13  The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

  and the Most High uttered his voice,

  hailstones and coals of fire.

14  And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

  he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

15  Then the channels of the sea were seen,

  and the foundations of the world were laid bare

  at your rebuke, O Lord,

  at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16  He sent from on high, he took me;

  he drew me out of many waters.

17  He rescued me from my strong enemy

  and from those who hated me,

  for they were too mighty for me.

18  They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

  but the Lord was my support.

19  He brought me out into a broad place;

  he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

20  The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;

  according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21  For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

  and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22  For all his rules were before me,

  and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23  I was blameless before him,

  and I kept myself from my guilt.

24  So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

  according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25  With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

  with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

26  with the purified you show yourself pure;

  and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

27  For you save a humble people,

  but the haughty eyes you bring down.

28  For it is you who light my l

  the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

29  For by you I can run against a troop,

  and by my God I can leap over a wall.

30  This God—his way is perfect;

  the word of the Lord proves true;

  he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

31  For who is God, but the Lord?

  And who is a rock, except our God?—

32  the God who equipped me with strength

  and made my way blameless.

33  He made my feet like the feet of a deer

  and set me secure on the heights.

34  He trains my hands for war,

  so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35  You have given me the shield of your salvation,

  and your right hand supported me,

  and your gentleness made me great.

36  You gave a wide place for my steps under me,

  and my feet did not slip.

37  I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

  and did not turn back till they were consumed.

38  I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

  they fell under my feet.

39  For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

  you made those who rise against me sink under me.

40  You made my enemies turn their backs to me,

  and those who hated me I destroyed.

41  They cried for help, but there was none to save;

  they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

42  I beat them fine as dust before the wind;

  I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43  You delivered me from strife with the people;

  you made me the head of the nations;

  people whom I had not known served me.

44  As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

  foreigners came cringing to me.

45  Foreigners lost heart

  and came trembling out of their fortresses.

46  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

  and exalted be the God of my salvation—

47  the God who gave me vengeance

  and subdued peoples under me,

48  who rescued me from my enemies;

  yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;

  you delivered me from the man of violence.

49  For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

  and sing to your name.

50  Great salvation he brings to his king,

  and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

  to David and his offspring forever.

The Psalms have a unique way of engaging our emotions. They convey various tones with great depth of feeling and help us pour out our hearts when we don’t know what to say. How do they do all that?

While many parts of the Bible are written in prose, the Psalms are Hebrew poetry. In poetry, ideas are conveyed with artistry and beauty, through figurative language and careful arrangement of words. So we pay attention not only to what is said but to how it’s said. Let’s turn to Psalm 18 and...