Daily Lesson for Tuesday 2nd of January 2024

The Psalms make the believing community aware of the full range of human experience, and they demonstrate that believers can worship God in every season in life. In them we see the following:

(1) Hymns that magnify God for His majesty and power in creation, His kingly rule, judgment, and faithfulness. (2) Thanksgiving psalms that express profound gratitude for God’s abundant blessings. (3) Laments that are heartfelt cries to God for deliverance from trouble. (4) Wisdom psalms that provide practical guidelines for righteous living. (5) Royal psalms that point to Christ, who is the sovereign King and Deliverer of God’s people. (6) Historical psalms that recall Israel’s past and highlight God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness to teach the coming generations not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors but to trust God and remain faithful to His covenant.

The poetry of the Psalms demonstrates distinctive power to capture the attention of readers. Though some of these poetic devices are lost in translation, we can still, in our native language, appreciate many of them.

1. Parallelism involves the combining of symmetrically constructed words, phrases, or thoughts. Parallelism helps in understanding the meaning of corresponding parts. For instance: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalms 103:1, NKJV). In this parallelism, “my soul” is “all that is within me,” namely one’s whole being.

2. Imagery uses figurative language to strongly appeal to readers’ physical senses. For example, God’s refuge is depicted as “the shadow of [His] wings” (Psalms 17:8, NKJV).

3. Merism expresses totality by a pair of contrasting parts. “I have cried day and night before thee” denotes crying without ceasing (Psalms 88:1, emphasis supplied).

4. Wordplays employ the sound of words to make a pun and highlight a spiritual message. In Psalms 96:4-5 the Hebrew words ’elohim, “gods,” and ’elilim, “idols,” create a wordplay to convey the message that the gods of the nations only appear to be ’elohim, “gods,” but are merely ’elilim, “idols.”

Finally, the word “selah” denotes a brief interlude, either for a call to pause and reflect on the message of a particular section of the psalm or a change of musical accompaniment (Psalms 61:4).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-01-a-song-for-every-season/

Key Thought: Accepting the psalms in their historical, theological, and liturgical contexts is key for understanding their messages which span across thousands of years to our time.
January 6, 2024

A. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:8, Psalm 18:1, Psalm 30:1,2.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What were some reasons or occasions that inspired the writing of some of the psalms?
3. Personal Application: Have you, or do you use the psalms in your own private or corporate worship?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “The Psalms were written in the Old Testament for praise and worship of God for the Jews. They have no applicability to us today as New Testament Christians. They are mostly about war and conquering their enemies.” How would you respond to your relative?

B. Have a volunteer read Psalm 3:5-8, Psalm 33:1-3, Psqalm 109:6-15.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What different occasions of human experience do these psalms convey?
   (Note: Hymns that magnify God. Thanksgiving psalms. Laments and cries for God’s deliverance. Wisdom psalms for good living. Royal psalms to the king and deliverer.)
3. Personal Application: What kind of psalms would you most likely be apt to use or write in your references to God in your life? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why does David write so many psalms that seem to focus on destroying his enemies and bringing judgment on others? Where is Crist’s love for the erring and sinners in his heart?” How would you respond to your friend?

C. Have a volunteer read 2 Samuel 23:1-2, Romans 8:26,27.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts teach us about prayer?
3. Personal Application: How comforting is it to know that God’s Spirit is interceding for us with God according to God’s will when we pray? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “When the Spirit intercedes for us in groanings; is that speaking of the tongues of angels so God can hear and understand our prayers?” How would you respond to your relative?

D. Have a volunteer read Psalm 16:8, 44:8, 46:1.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What place does God occupy in the psalmist’s life?
3. Personal Application: Are there any parts of your life that you may trying to keep the Lord at a distance? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/1-how-to-read-the-psalms-teaching-plan/

Welcome to 2024 

The beautiful picture on the front of our lesson pamphlet brings us our theme hymn for this quarter with it’s two variations in melody: 
Hym 552/546 – The Lord’s My Shepherd.

This week’s study shows that the Psalms were for us to give 
Praise To The Lord – Hymn 1, 
Praise Ye The Father – Hymn 70, 
Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven – Hymn 4, and a choral-type hymn 
Praise and Thanksgiving – Hymn 563

We may also ask 
Come, Holy Spirit – Hymn 268.

Psalms are also Inspired Prayers – Wednesday: 
Hymn 671 – As We Come To You In Prayer, 
Hymn 684 – Hear Our Prayer, O Lord and 
Hymn 658 – Heavenly Father, Hear Our Prayer.

“Ultimately, the Psalms envision when all peoples and the entire creation will worship God (Ps 47:1, Ps 64:9)”: 
Hymn 6 – O Worship The Lord.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/1-how-to-read-the-psalms-singing-with-inspiration/