Overflow – Let it Flow

Week 3: Overflowing in Praise

During this study, we will be doing a ‘deep dive’ into a scriptural passage. It is strongly encouraged that you study the passage and entire chapter ahead of the study. Also be prepared with your research tools, for example Google or your study Bible, as you will need to reference it during the study. Spend time answering and discussing each question with the intention to gain sufficient understanding to help your own private Bible study as you further explore these topics.

Study Chapters:Psalms 24, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 47, 48, 65, 66, 67, 92, 96, 98, 99, 100, 103, 104, 105, 111, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 134, 135, 136, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149 and 150

Pilot text

Psalm 103:1–12

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 150:1–6
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty firmament!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Introduction:

We spent the first two weeks discovering the source of overflow and learning that the flow does not have to stop when we enter the valley. Now the question is: What does an overflowing life sound like? The Psalms give us the answer: Praise.
Biblical praise is much bigger than singing a song when everything goes our way. Praise is the response of a heart that remembers who God is and what He has done. That is why Psalm 103 begins with a command to the soul: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
David is speaking to himself. He knows that the human heart forgets easily. We forget prayers answered, doors opened, the times God carried us through; the mercy He showed us, and how far He has brought us. And when we forget, our circumstances can become bigger than our God. So David deliberately remembers.
And as remembrance rises, praise follows. This is the final movement of our August journey. What God pours into us begins to flow out of us. Psalm 150 ends the entire book with an extraordinary crescendo: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” It is as though the Psalms have taken us through every possible human experience and brought us to this conclusion: God is worthy. And when that truth becomes deeply rooted in us, praise stops being something we manufacture and becomes something that overflows.
This week, expect God to awaken your remembrance. Expect Him to bring to mind things you have forgotten, your gratitude to rise again, and your perspective to shift.
Often, the breakthrough we need begins when we stop focusing on what is missing and start remembering who God is and what He has already done.

Discussion Point

• Where do we see Christ? he Psalms repeatedly celebrate God’s mercy, forgiveness, redemption and faithfulness. Psalm 103 declares that God removes our transgressions and crowns His people with lovingkindness and mercy. How are these promises fulfilled and expanded through Jesus, whose death and resurrection secure forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation with God?
  Further study: Luke 22:19-20, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:13-14, Hebrews 9:11-15
• Where do we see salvation? Psalm 103 describes a God who forgives, redeems, restores and removes sin completely. Psalm 118 celebrates God’s salvation and deliverance, while Psalm 150 ends with an invitation for everything that has breath to praise Him. How do these themes point towards the salvation we have received through Christ, and why should salvation itself become one of our greatest reasons for praise?
  Further study: Romans 5:8-11, Ephesians 2:4-9, Titus 2:11-14, 1 Peter 1:3-9
• Where do we see ourselves? It is easy to become so focused on what is still unresolved that we forget what God has already done. What would change if remembrance became a deliberate spiritual practice, particularly in seasons when circumstances have not yet caught up with what we are believing God for?

Closing thoughts:

The Psalms end with an explosion of praise. Psalm 150 does not offer a complicated formula. It simply declares, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” But that declaration becomes more powerful when we consider everything the Psalms have taken us through. We have encountered joy and sorrow, confidence and fear, victory and disappointment, abundance and emptiness. Yet the final response is praise. Why?
Because praise is ultimately not a response to perfect circumstances. It is a response to a perfect God.
Psalm 103 gives us the reason. David tells his own soul not to forget God’s benefits. He remembers forgiveness, healing, redemption, mercy and God’s compassion. He remembers that God does not treat us according to our sins. He remembers a God whose mercy is greater than our failure. And this is where the Psalms point us directly towards Christ. What David celebrates finds its fullest expression in Jesus. Through Christ we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). We have been rescued from darkness and brought into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13–14). The cross demonstrates that God’s mercy is not merely an Old Testament promise. It is the foundation of our salvation.
Where are we in this story? Perhaps we have become experts at remembering what has gone wrong while forgetting what God has already done. We remember the unanswered prayer but forget the answered one. We remember the disappointment but forget the deliverance. We remember what we do not have and overlook the grace that has carried us this far.
The Psalms teach us to remember differently. Praise becomes an act of spiritual perspective. It reminds our hearts that today’s circumstances are not the whole story. It shifts our attention from what is missing to the God who remains faithful. And there is something even more powerful about praise: it overflows.
A grateful heart changes the atmosphere of a home. Mercy received becomes mercy extended. Forgiveness experienced becomes forgiveness offered. Confidence in God changes the way we speak when others are afraid. The goodness we recognise in God begins to shape the goodness we release into the lives of others.
This is the true meaning of overflow.

Here is an invitation for you:
Take some time this week to remember.
Remember what God has already done – where He has carried you, the doors He opened, the mercy He showed, the people He placed around you, and the salvation you have received through Christ.
Then let gratitude become praise, and praise become overflow.
Don’t allow what God has done to become yesterday’s testimony. Let it become today’s worship.
Your praise is not merely a response to God’s goodness.
It is an overflow of having recognised His goodness.
So bless the Lord, O my soul.
Forget not His benefits.
And with everything that is within you, praise the Lord!

Application Questions (use scriptures to support your position):

• A brother has spent several months focused on a difficult financial situation and has begun to overlook the ways God has provided for his family. He feels as though nothing is going right. How could Psalm 103’s call to “forget not His benefits” help him develop a different perspective?
• Your group leader at work is carrying disappointment because a project she believed God had called her to has not developed as expected. She is becoming discouraged and questioning whether God is still at work. How might remembering God’s past faithfulness help her respond with renewed confidence rather than frustration?
• A sister has received significant forgiveness and restoration after a difficult period in her life, but continues to struggle to extend the same grace to someone who has hurt her. What does Psalm 103’s emphasis on God’s mercy and forgiveness reveal about allowing received grace to overflow into our relationships?