Pastor Phill Howell provides the 34^th sermon of the Songs of the Savior series by expositing Psalm 34. The psalmist invites the people of God to join him in praising the LORD for delivering them from themselves. Pastor Phill states that the three reasons for the acrostic nature of Psalm 34 (and all acrostic psalms) are to communicate exhaustiveness, completeness, and orderliness. Psalm 34 also answers when God is good, how God is good, and who God is good to. Ultimately, Jesus Christ is the exhaustive, complete, and orderly expression of God’s goodness; God is good all the time, and He is good to us, believers and followers of Jesus Christ. The scripture readings from our worship service were from 1 Peter 3:8-17, 4:18, and 2:1-3.

Discussion Questions:

1. How you experienced God’s goodness and deliverance from troubles? What did it look like?
2. How do you tend to view God and/or respond to God when circumstances are difficult?
3. How is God’s goodness expressed?
4. How do we know God hears us when we cry to Him? How have you experienced this?
5. How do we know that the LORD is good? What does His goodness look like?
6. Do you crave and long for tasting and seeing that God is good? If so, why? If not, why not?
7. What you crave shows what you love. What do you love?
8. What do we try to satisfy our hearts with? What do you tend to go to often?
9. What is the hunger of our hearts to be loved? What are ways we look to something or someone other than God? how does it not work?
10. What are ways you are making the vehicle you are in your home?
11. How does following Jesus mean that we do not get denied pleasure? How have you seen this?
12. Who is God good to?
13. How have you seen God deliver and hear the cries of people in affliction?
14. Who does God provide refuge and goodness to those in Psalm 34?