Pick a psalm that directly addresses the human condition and death. These are: 8, 23, 27, 39, 46, 63, 69, 84, 88, 90, 115, 130, and 144.
What is Sheol according to this psalm? What happens to people after death, according to the Psalmists?
Is there any possibility for a beautiful afterlife in the Psalms? How does the depiction of the afterlife compare with your own understanding?
What does this psalm say about the value of human life? How does this compare with the teachings in, for example, the Book of Genesis?
Applying the Text:
Many of the psalms express a desire to be closer to God. When the Temple existed in Jerusalem, that was a place people could go. Do you have places where you go specifically to be close to God?
Does the certainty of death give life more meaning? What does the psalmist say about this? How can we use the psalms to make meaning of both life and death?
Psalms often express a deep trust in God’s. What effect does it have on us to read such expressions, either aloud in worship or to ourselves in prayer?