There’s a memorable moment in The Pilgrim’s Progress where Christian arrives at a steep hill called Difficulty. The true path to the Celestial City leads straight up that hill, but two easier-looking roads—Danger and Destruction—veer off to either side. Christian pauses, tired and hesitant, but remembers the King’s instructions and begins the hard climb, declaring, “The way to life lies here.” His companions, Formalist and Hypocrisy, choose the easier paths, assuming they’ll all reconnect later. But they never do. This moment illustrates what Psalm 1 sets before us: two paths, two ways of life—one that leads to blessing and life, the other to futility and judgment. And standing at the end of both roads is the same Judge—the Lord Himself.

Psalm 1 describes the righteous as those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. There’s a progression here: what starts as casual influence becomes shared identity, and eventually, settled rebellion. But the righteous are marked by what they avoid and what they delight in. Instead of being shaped by worldly ideologies, they are rooted in God’s Word—meditating on it day and night. They don’t merely read it; they delight in it. It shapes their thinking, nourishes their soul, and anchors their life. Like a tree planted by streams of water, they flourish even in dry seasons. But the wicked? They’re like chaff—weightless, rootless, easily blown away. If we’re not rooted, we’ll drift. So check your distance—what’s shaping your heart today?

The paths lead to different outcomes. The righteous bear fruit in season and prosper—not with worldly success, but with lasting contentment and spiritual vitality. The wicked, however, face futility now and judgment later. Psalm 1:5 gives us a sobering reality: The wicked will not stand in the judgment. If you stand with sinners now, you won’t stand in the presence of the Lord then. The Judge is coming. And in that moment, it won’t matter how successful, busy, or impressive your life looked—only whether your life was rooted in Christ and His Word.

Here’s the tension: if Psalm 1 presents only two ways—righteous or wicked—where do we stand? All of us, if we’re honest, have walked in sinful counsel, stood with sinners, and even sat with scoffers. But the good news is that the path of righteousness is not found by our own strength—it’s found in a person. Jesus is the only truly righteous man. He never walked in wickedness or sat in mockery. Yet He took the path to Calvary so we could walk the path to life. On the cross, the Righteous One was treated as wicked so the wicked could be made righteous in Him. By grace, He plants us, nourishes us, and keeps us. He invites us to repent of the empty counsel of the world and be rooted in Him.

Main Idea – The path to life is found in resting in Christ’s righteousness and being rooted in His Word.

Study Questions

1. According to Psalm 1, what shapes the life of the righteous? Read Psalm 119:9-16. What does it practically look like to delight in God’s Word and meditate on it day and night? What practices can you cultivate in your own life to grow in your love for God’s Word?
2. What other passages in Scripture make clear our need to be formed by God’s Word instead of the wisdom of the world?
3. How does Psalm 1 expose the subtle progression of sin (walking, standing, sitting)? Where do you see this drift in your own life or the culture around you?
4. Psalm 1 presents only two ways: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. How does Jesus fulfill the role of the Blessed Man in Psalm 1, and how does being united to Him change our path? How can sinners now “stand in the congregation of the righteous” (v5) because of him?
5. The righteous “prosper in all they do” (Psalm 1:3)—but what kind of prosperity is this & how is this an encouragement to you? How is biblical prosperity different from worldly success? What other passages in Scripture help us understand this kind of flourishing?

Psalm 84 is a rich expression of longing for the presence of God. The Sons of Korah write from the heart of a pilgrim, yearning not just for a place, but for the God who dwells there. This psalm reveals the unmatched joy of being near the Lord—a joy so powerful that even the birds nesting near the temple are envied. The cry of the psalmist is clear: true, lasting joy is found in the presence of God, and nothing else in this life can compare.

The journey to God’s presence, however, is not always easy. The passage describes a difficult road—one that leads through the Valley of Baca, a place of dryness and sorrow. And yet, those who place their strength in God continue moving forward, growing stronger along the way. In the same way, our own spiritual journeys often lead us through hardship. But God is faithful to refresh and strengthen those who seek Him through His Word, prayer, and worship. His presence sustains us even in life’s valleys.

At the heart of this psalm is a prayer for God to look on His “anointed one.” While this likely referred to Israel’s king, it ultimately points forward to Jesus—the true and greater King, the Anointed One who became our shield through His death and resurrection. Because of Jesus, we have full access to God’s presence. The psalmist’s desperate longing to be near the temple is now our everyday reality. Through Christ, we no longer stand on the outside looking in—we are welcomed in as beloved children of God.

This truth should transform how we approach worship, prayer, and life with God’s people. The psalmist says one day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere—and that even being a doorkeeper in God’s house is more satisfying than a life of comfort apart from Him. Do we believe that? Do we live like that? God is both our sun and shield, our light and our protection. In Him, nothing good is withheld. Joy isn’t found in the world’s offerings—it’s found in dwelling with God. May we be people who long for Him, who draw near, and who live daily in the blessing of His presence.

Main Idea- True joy is found in the presence of God.

Study Questions

1. What are some things in your life that you often seek for joy, comfort, or satisfaction more than God? How can you turn from your affections to find joy in God’s presence instead?

2. Psalm 84 speaks of going “from strength to strength” even in the Valley of Baca.
   In what ways have you not relied on God in seasons of dryness? What does it look like to lean on God in seasons of suffering and what good things come from it?

3. How does understanding Jesus as our temple, sacrifice, and high priest shape the way you approach God today?
   What difference does this gospel reality make in your daily life?

4. What does it mean that we are also the temple and that Christ is the cornerstone of that temple (1st Peter 2:14-16)?

5. Verse 10 says one day in God’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
   Do your daily priorities reflect that conviction? What practices help you pursue God’s presence consistently?

Psalm 42 paints a beautiful picture of how to fight for joy by a crushed man. The author is a Son of Korah, one of the most notorious rebels in Israel’s history. God redeemed his sons, and gave them a place of honor in leading worship in his house. This Psalm, meant to be sung, is a brutally honest and desperate fight to put his hope in God. Even though God is far, even though he feels forgotten, even though he feels waves crashing over him, he remembers who God is, and commands his soul to put his hope in God.

Here’s the tension: He knows God loves him, that he will praise God again, and that God will save him, but he doesn’t feel any of it right now. The example he gives is by acknowledging his plight. He isn’t where he wants to be and he makes it known to his God. He also remembers who God is, what he has promised, and the times he was in God’s presence. With both of those in place, he preaches to himself that, in spite of his situation, he will hope in God and praise him again.

Main Idea – When we are cast down, we are called to fight for hope

The example in Psalm 42 shows 3 ways:

1. Acknowledge
2. Remember
3. Preach

Study Questions

1. 1. Have you felt like the author before? Has there been power in acknowledging it before God? Others?
3. 2. v8 is sandwiched in between 2 verses steeped in despair. It stands out as a testimony of God’s love and commitment to the Psalmist in the midst of abject misery. What are times when you, or someone you know, have had a “moon is always round” moment?
5. 3. “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” Screwtape Letters. This man is standing at a place the devils fear most. Reflect on this.
7. 4. Do you believe God can bring forth praise and joy from affliction, and even those who feel abandoned by God can still be used to declare his mercy? Do you really? 
9. 5. Chuck Templeton hated God because he couldn’t worship a God who allowed suffering. When Lee Strobel asked him about Jesus, he broke down crying and said, “I miss him so much.”  Do you see the beauty in his statement, relative to this Psalm? How does Jesus as “the knowable God” answer, or encourage us through times of Psalm 42.
11. 6. “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning… Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you.” (Spiritual Depression, it’s in the church library). Take it from here… how do these conversations go? How can you talk to yourself in a way that will, eventually, lead to healing?

Have you ever felt like you were wandering in a dry, weary land—desperate for something real, something lasting, something that truly satisfies? That’s exactly where David found himself when he wrote Psalm 63. Whether he was fleeing from King Saul or his son Absalom, David was in the wilderness, physically and spiritually—separated from safety, his people, and it seemed, even his God. Yet, from that place of fear and uncertainty, he cries out, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you…” (v.1). In these verses, David reminds us of a profound truth: our souls were created for God, and only in Him can we find the satisfaction we long for.

This Psalm lays out four powerful movements of the heart: our longing for the Lord, seeing His glory, responding in worship, and trusting in His victory. We were designed for relationship with God and for worship. But in a world filled with distractions and substitutes, it’s easy to seek fulfillment elsewhere. I once had a friend who ended up in the ER from dehydration—not because he had no access to water, but because he’d only been drinking coffee. His body craved something deeper. In the same way, our souls often settle for lesser loves—jobs, relationships, status—while the Living Water stands before us, waiting. David understood that God’s steadfast love is “better than life” (v.3), and from that understanding, he worshipped—even while in the wilderness.

David also shows us how remembering God’s past faithfulness brings present hope. In verse 2, he reflects on seeing God’s power and glory in the sanctuary. He meditates on God’s help through the night (v.6), and clings to Him because he knows it’s God who holds him up (v.8). His response is wholehearted praise—not just with his lips, but with his life. The kind of worship David models is not just emotional; it’s rooted in truth, memory, and trust. His joy wasn’t dependent on circumstances—it was anchored in the unchanging character of God. That’s what allowed him to say, even in hardship, “My soul will be satisfied as with rich food” (v.5).

Psalm 63 ends with a promise of vindication. David’s enemies may have seemed powerful, but his confidence was in a greater King. And we too can rejoice in that same hope. Jesus, the true King, was hung on a tree not for His own rebellion, but for ours. He bore the wrath of God to give us life, joy, and peace. So where are you looking for satisfaction today? Is it something temporary, or eternal? My prayer for you is this: may you thirst for God like David did. And when you do, may you find that in Him—not in success, not in comfort, not even in good things—your soul is truly, deeply satisfied.

Study Questions:

1. What are some ways that sin gets in the way of worshipping God correctly? Describe a time in your life when you felt separated from the Lord? What do you think was the root cause of that feeling?

2.  The Jews put the ten commandments, Aaron’s staff, and some manna in the ark of the covenant in order to remind them of God’s faithfulness.  What are some things we can do to remind us of the same thing?

3.  Of David’s list of responses to God’s goodness in v3-8 which ones do you do well with and which ones need improvement?  Why do you think that is?

4.  David rejoiced in the Lord for His faithfulness in defeating his enemies. In what ways does the Lord give you victory daily?

Psalm 19 is a poetic and theological masterpiece that reveals how God makes Himself known to humanity. The text is structured around three key revelations: general, special, and personal. In verses 1–6, David praises God’s general revelation through creation. The heavens, sun, and sky are not silent—they proclaim the glory of God to all people, everywhere. This universal witness leaves no one
without a glimpse of the Creator’s majesty and power.

Verses 7–11 shift to special revelation, where God reveals Himself through His Word. This is highlighted in the transition from the generic name “El” to the covenantal name “YHWH,” showing that God is not only powerful but also personal. The Word of God is described as perfect, sure, right, and true—bringing wisdom, joy, and enlightenment. This section emphasizes that Scripture is not a burden but a gift, meant for our good and flourishing.

In verses 12–14, David responds to God’s personal revelation with humility and confession. He acknowledges both hidden and willful sins, recognizing his need for God’s grace and redemption. There is a clear connection to the gospel, showing how Jesus—the Word made flesh—is the ultimate revelation of God. Through Christ, we are fully known, fully loved, and fully redeemed. It is essential that we engage with Scripture daily. God has given us His Spirit, His Word, and His Church—not to burden us, but to bless us.

Psalm 19 is a call to worship the God who made Himself knowable for His glory and our good.

Small Group Discussion Questions
1. What stood out to you most from the way Psalm 19 describes God’s revelation through creation?

2. How does understanding God’s Word as “perfect, sure, and right” change your approach to reading the Bible?

3. In what ways do you relate to David’s confession of hidden or willful sins in verses 12–13?

4. When you hear the phrase: “The Word of God is not something to master. It is something to be mastered by.” What does that mean to you?

5. What are some practical barriers that keep you from reading the Bible regularly? How can your group help you overcome them?

6. How does Psalm 19 point us to Jesus, and why is that connection important for understanding the
whole Bible?