Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

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Lesson Helps for the Week of February 20, 1955
C.Y.P.U. TOPIC
for February 20, 1955
Charles McBurney
CHRIST IN THE PSALMS
Psalms 8, 30,
and 103
So much has been said and done on
this topic that I am bold indeed to say
here that no one has made more than
a start. But I am right as well as bold.
Jehovah (usually "Lord" in the King
James version)
was doubtless under
stood by Old Testament Psalm-singers
as a name for the promised Messiah, and
we know that apostolic and early Chris
tians sang Psalms in praise and descrip
tion of the Lord Jesus. As we sing them
today our hearts still rejoice in the
Saviour King.
THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN THE
PSALMS by Dr. and Mrs. John Cole
man, twice presented at Grinnell, would
make an excellent outline for singing
the Psalms of Christ, but you leaders
might be embarrassed at the chore of
cutting this arrangement down to the
size of a normal young people's meeting.
I would be.
A look under "Christ" in the topical
index of the Psalter, prepared largely
by our singing Psalm-lover J. K. Robb
for the 1929 edition, opens up several
other splendid outlines for an evening's
praise. A historical sequence could be
followed by selecting appropriate verses
on the pages suggested under "Birth
and Manhood", "Sorrow of", "Betrayal
of", "Resurrection of", "Coronation of",
and "Second Coming."
Or a descriptive sequence of Psalms
for singing might be drawn from the
topics, "Beauty of", "Fullness of",
"Grace of", "Power of", "Preciousness
of", and 'Righteousness of".
For those who like the Shorter Cate
chism as well as I do, or better, here is
another program I want to suggest.
With a little forethought you leaders
might assign to each member of your
group the answer to one of the ques
tions beginning with, "Did God leave all
mankind to perish in the estate of sin
and
through "Wherein doth
Christ's exaltation consist"
I will sug
gest a Psalm selection or two that we
might sing after each question and an
swer. I will always, of course, be just
as happy to sing your selection, which
I am sure is just as appropriate.
78.
Question 20
Psalm 33:7, 9, 10: page
Q. 21 Psalm 146:1-7: page 353.
Q. 22 Psalm 68:18, 19: page 164.
Q. 23Psalm 18:1, 2, 4: Page 36.
Q. 24Psalm 40:8-12: page 103.
Q. 25Psalm 116:1-6: page 282.
February 2, 1955
Q. 26 Psalm 45:1, 5, 6: page 116.
Q. 27 Psalm 69 : 7-9 : page 166.
Q. 28 Psalm 50:3-6: page 127 or 98:
1-3, 7: page 235.
While you rest your voices,
some one
who has a chance to prepare a bit might
read the incidents or teachings of Christ
suggested by various verses of Psalm 8.
Or can anyone besides me hear different
people speaking in the prose version
of Psalm 30 A soldier perhaps One
in good health after long sickness A
wealthy
merchant And
all seem to
speak together the words of verses
4, 8, 10, and last part of 12.
As a part of a Psalm festival at Win
chester a few weeks ago we introduced
each part of Psalm 103 (pages 246-248)
by a scripture passage. I think we used
Luke 5:18-25; Deuteronomy 7:6-9; Isa
iah 40:6-11; and Isaiah 44:21-23. Many
others are equally appropriate and per
haps even more to the point of the
topic.
If you had a voice which entitled you
to a special invitation to sing Christ's
praises in the Psalms before a receptive
and appreciative audience, wouldn't you
pray about it Wouldn't you ask God to
help you make your voice as full and
true as the heart behind it Every
Psalm announced in worship service is
such an invitation to any voice,
needs such a prayer.
JUNIOR TOPIC
February 20, 1955
by Mrs. Philip W. Martin
LORD, I BELIEVE
Scripture: Mark 9:14-29
and
Memory Verse: "And straightway the
father of the child cried out, and said
with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou
mine
Psalms
unbelief."
Mark 9:24
February Memory Psalm 25: 3-6,
page 57
Psalm 30:1, 4, 5, page 69
Psalm 61:1, 2, page 151
Psalm 131:1-3, page 327
The time was coming when the Lord
Jesus Christ was to die on the Cross.
He had chosen twelve disciples to train
as leaders of the Christian church.
Three of these disciples
and John
Peter, James
were closer to Jesus than the
rest of the disciples. One day Jesus took
these three up into a high mountain. As
they were there together a very strange
thing happened. Jesus'
appearance was
changed. His clothes became pure
white and shining. Two men suddenly
appeared, Moses and Elijah. They had
been in heaven for a long time. Moses
was a representative of the Law and
Elijah represented the Old Testament
Prophets. These men talked with Jesus
about His death on the Cross.
Peter was like some boys. He always
had something to say and here he had
a bright idea. Why not make tents for
these three
Jesus, Moses and Elias or
Elijah He didn't think what he was
saying. Then a cloud covered the dis
ciples and Jesus, Moses and Elias. How
frightened the disciples were! Then
there came a voice which said, "This is
my beloved Son: hear him." They looked
around to see who had spoken. All of a
sudden the cloud was gone and so were
Moses and Elijah.
Then Jesus and His three close dis
ciples went down the mountainside. As
they came to the foot of the mountain
they saw a crowd of people. A man had
brought his sick son to Jesus' disciples
hoping that they could heal him, but
they could not. So the father asked Je
sus to help him. His son had an evil
spirit in him which made the son wild
and hurt him many times. Just as he
was talking with Jesus the evil spirit
made the boy fall on the ground and he
foamed at the mouth. The father begged
Jesus to help him. "If thou canst do
any thing, have compassion on us, and
help
Jesus was able to heal the boy in
stantly but first the father had a lesson
to learn which you and I need to learn.
Jesus told the father, "The question is
not whether I am able. The question is,
Do you believe that I am The
father was very anxious to have his son
healed, but he saw the mistake and
cried out with tears, "Lord, I believe;
help thou mine
unbelief."
Then Je
sus commanded the evil spirit to
come out of the boy. The evil spirit
made the boy thrash around this way
and that until it seemed like the boy
would be torn apart. Then all was quiet.
The boy lay very still
so still that it
was just as if he were dead. Jesus took
him by the hand and lifted him up. He
was well!
Jesus is able to do
all things but
many times we do not receive the an
swers to our prayers which we would
like because we do not believe that He
is able.
Questions :
1. What section of the Old Testament
did Moses write
2. Where was Moses buried
3. What happened to Elijah at the
end of his life
4. Whom did Elijah represent
5. What did Jesus, Moses and Elijah
talk about
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