Title: When We Trust God Together
Series: Songs for All Seasons
Text: Psalm 115

The community of God is called to remember God’s greatness and to choose to trust Him, instead of idols. When we do so, God will bless us and renew us in Him.

General Questions:

1. Read through Psalm 115. What does the text reveal about the psalmist’s understanding of and relationship with God? Considering this, in what ways does our understanding of and relationship with God need to change?
2. The text of Psalm 115 suggests it was sung corporately in the nation of Israel. What did Israel, as a community, sing about? What truths did they proclaim about God? What is the role of the community in proclaiming these truths with and to one another?
3. Put yourself in the shoes of an Israelite, during a festival celebration when Psalm 115 was sung. What impact would hearing the words of Psalm 115, sung by your fellow Israelites, have on you, especially if you were feeling discouraged? How does this experience enrich our understanding of gathering as a spiritual community? Why is it important for us to gather?

Perspective Questions:

1. Psalm 115 tells us to praise God together. What is the difference between singing songs of praise in private or recording our testimonies in our diaries, as compared to singing together and sharing our testimonies with one another? How does this affect our attitude towards gathering for LG and for weekly services? 
2. Manmade idols can never replace the place of God in our community. What are some manmade idols (e.g. busyness, success, people’s approval, performance, self-dependence) that we are susceptible to worshiping? Verses 4-8 describes such manmade idols: what do these verses show about the manmade idols we seek? How has worshiping these idols affected us as well as our understanding of God and His power?  
3. In what ways might we have become over-familiar with God’s grace and works? How has this over-familiarity affected the way we respond to and relate with God? What can we do to avoid being over-familiar with God’s grace and works?
4. If God gives you a blank cheque to ask for anything that is godly for the LG, what would you ask for? Why do we not regularly ask God for these things in our LG? What does our lack of asking reveal about our understanding of and relationship with God?

Application Questions:

1. What are some areas in which we can change how we conduct our LG meetings?
   • How can we help one another to remember that God is active in our lives?
   • How can we, when we gather, be more proactive in involving God in the seemingly mundane things (e.g. work, bringing our children to/from school) in our lives?
   • As a community, how can we develop the habit to seek God for breakthroughs?