Psalms: Soul Songs
Description
Exploring love, temptation, fear and guilt from the Psalms
How often do you get the tune of a mindless song stuck in your head? It’s one way that Christians can end up thinking and wanting things just like the world around us. So God has given us a collection of songs that can help us re-tune our hearts to what He thinks and wants instead.
You may feel as if your soul is downcast or sick — troubled by worry, sin, suffering, fear or guilt. David, the Israelite king who wrote many of these songs, tells us that the Word of God revives the soul — it’s powerful stuff! And how to revive your soul is the theme of this selection. Mostly written by people rolling in trouble, they take us from the problems we face, and turn us back to God, the rock.
In these psalms you will find medicine for your soul. Learn to fear God instead of others, to trust Him in difficult times and to sing a new song to the God who saves.
Other information
The Good Book Guides have been developed to ensure that each session not only seeks to uncover the meaning of the passage and see how it fits into the big picture of the Bible, but also leads people to apply what they have learnt to their lives. Flexible and practical, the Good Book Guides are ideal for small groups, or individual study.
"The format is very user-friendly and the content is rich and accessible."
- Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition blogger and Vice-President of Editorial, Crossway
"God-centered, application-oriented, and driven by the text throughout, this resource is a gift to God’s church."
- Matt Smethurst, Gospel Coalition reviewer and Master of Divinity student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Here at Covenant Life Church, we have greatly benefitted from the small group resources from The Good Book Company. Many small groups in our family life ministry have used "Colossians: Confident Christianity" in their study of scripture. Additionally, our youth ministry has used "Romans 1-5: God and You" in their small groups. Both resources were very easy to use, helped the reader engage directly with the scriptures, and had a wonderful pastoral emphasis demonstrated in all the questions.
- Dave Brewer, Youth Pastor at Covenant Life Church, Maryland
Table of contents
- Introduction
- 1. A song for sleepless nights (Psalms 3 and 4)
- 2. A song for when sin seems good (Psalm 16)
- 3. A song for when we want to run away (Psalm 18)
- 4. A song for dark days (Psalm 23)
- 5. A song for when we are afraid (Psalm 27)
- 6. A song for secret guilt (Psalm 32)
- Leaders' Guide
Additional Information
| Author | Tim Chester |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 9781904889960 |
| Format | Paperback |
| Dimensions | 140mm x 210mm |
| Pages | 56 |
| No. of studies | 6 |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company/GBG |
Customer Reviews
Refreshing and challenging.
Our group have enjoyed looking at Psalms in this way and we have managed to get quite a lot out of them. It has been refreshing and challenging. One or two of the group have pointed out that some of the questions are repetitive and overly simple, but it possible to get round that.
I have used Good Book Guides quite extensively with two groups and have mainly found the material excellent. Just one comment to make though - it would be helpful if the Leaders Notes were in a separate book, as we find sometimes, instead of thinking things through in the group, the "answers" from the back are just trotted out without much thought, and I like to encourage people to think for themselves! 
Good set of studies to look at some of the key Psalms
The notes explore the main points of the Psalms chosen and provide useful questions for understanding the passage and applying it to life.
Good for invidual or group study and can be adapted for youth.
Refreshing Psalms
This study book is refreshing and just as good as other Tim Chester study guides. Our group have enjoyed finding why the Psalms were written, the circumstances and bible passage that may relate to them being written and how they are SO relevant to us today. It helps us study the bible with more understanding and be encouraged to see just how God uses ordinary people like us, despite their past or present situations in life.
Only one thing I would say as a down side, is that sometimes questions may repeat themselves, or maybe we just hurry on too far and dont think deep enough. But the positive encouragement we have received far outweghs this minor thing.
Very interesting and challenging study
This is a most interesting selection of Psalms put together to provide a very challenging study. We are part way through in our Home group but already the first few sessions have provoke some stimulating debate and some deep discussions.
The short series is especially helpful as so many studies these days are quite long to fit it to any term timetable
The leaders notes are also very comprehensive. Although I do feel it would always be more relevant to have a leaders guide than to include these in every manual
Very helpful and insightful
Using this book with a group of mixed age and experience and it is helping the Bible speak to us all. Useful to have the places to write in, as I can encourage people to go away and think over what we've said and discovered and write down their personal thoughts for themselves.
Simple, relevant, Jesus-focussed look at the church's songs.
Tim Chester understands Psalms!
Here are some of the highlights from the first part of the church's songbook, lovingly handled with study material which I have happily used in an urban priority setting where some Bible study guides miss the mark.
Tim has let the beauty and variety of the Psalms themselves do the work. They deal with our most common stumbling blocks of worry, anger, feeling low etc. And we are gently led to seeing that all these problems find their solutions in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
The explicit stimulus to prayer based on what we've read is a great counter to what I tend to call 'Granny's toenail' prayers!
If I had one (small) regret, it's that even in a clear and simple series of studies, there's still too much to cover. But I guess that's down to us leaders...
Brilliant. Very relevant, Enjoyed by all
In our home groups we have now used this study series for a number of our sessions. This book was by far the best received. All the groups enjoyed it irrespective of age or religious background. The studies are clear, easy to follow and bring out the hidden depths of the Psalms studied. The studied are modern, up to date and relevant to life today even though the Psalms were written nearly 3000 years ago.
Really refreshing and encouraging, I would thoroughly recommend them to a group of any age group
Thought provoking
We used this in our Bible Study Group and it was generally enjoyed by everyone (all women). It showed new aspects and depths to some of the Psalms. Generally very thought provoking, but aren't the Psalms oh so beautiful.
One slight criticism like all these studies there is never enough room to write the answers.
Good combination of theological insights and practical applications
The way in which each study can stand alone meant that this study book worked really well for our group of women during the summer term when continuity of attendance was tricky. We appreciated the combination of theology and application in the questions and the selection of the 6 psalms according to themes.
Helpful short series for group study
We used the book for a fortnightly series of studies during the summer. It was useful for this purpose as each Psalm stands on its own and it doesn't matter too much if you miss a study! The questions were helpful to engage with the text and the study could be easily adapted for shorter duration. There are lots of opportunity for reflection and personal application.
