Daily Lesson for Tuesday 5th of March 2024

Psalms 106:1-48 also evokes the major events in Israel’s history, including the Exodus, sojourn in the wilderness, and life in Canaan.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

It stresses the heinous sins of the fathers that culminated in the generation that was carried into exile. Thus, the psalm almost certainly was written when the nation was in Babylon, or after they had returned home, and the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recounted for God’s people these historical incidents and the lessons that the people should have learned from them.

This psalm, too, as the others, points to God’s faithfulness to His covenant of grace, by which He saved His people in the past (Psalms 106:45). It expresses hope that God will again show favor to His repentant people and gather them from among the nations (Psalms 106:47). The plea for present deliverance is not some wishful thinking but a prayer of faith based on the assurance of God’s past deliverances (Psalms 106:1-3) and the unfailing character of God’s faithfulness to His covenant with His people.

The recollection of Israel’s historical failures in Psalms 106:1-48 is an integral part of the people’s confession of their sins and acknowledgment that they are not better than their forefathers. The present generation admits that it is even worse than its ancestors because it knew the consequences of the past generations’ iniquities and how God exercised His great patience and grace in saving them, even though they had deliberately walked in wicked ways in the past. If this were true for them, think about how much more so for us, today, who have the reve­lation of God’s character and saving grace as revealed in Jesus and the Cross.

The good news of Psalms 106:1-48 is that God’s steadfast love always prevails over the people’s sins (Psalms 106:8-10, 30, 43-46). The key role of Moses and Phinehas in turning away God’s wrath points to the significance of Christ’s intercession on behalf of believers. Only personal experience of God’s grace can transform a past story into our story.

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Daily Lesson for Monday 4th of March 2024

Psalms 105:1-45 recalls key events that shaped the covenantal relationship between the Lord and His people Israel.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

It focuses on God’s covenant with Abraham to give the Promised Land to him and his descendants, and how this promise, confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, was providentially fulfilled through Joseph, Moses, and Aaron, and in the time of the conquest of Canaan. The psalm gives hope to God’s people in all generations because God’s marvelous works in the past guarantee God’s unchanging love to His people in all times (Psalms 105:1-5, 7, 8).

Psalms 105:1-45 resembles Psalms 78:1-72 (see yesterday’s study) in highlighting God’s faithfulness to His people in history, and it does so in order to glorify God and to inspire faithfulness. However, unlike Psalms 78:1-72, Psalms 105:1-45 does not mention the people’s past mistakes. This psalm has a different purpose.

Instead, history is retold in Psalms 105:1-45 through the lives of Israel’s greatest patriarchs, showing God’s providential leading and the patriarchs’ patient endurance of hardships. The patriarchs’ perseverance and loyalty to God were richly rewarded. Thus, Psalms 105:1-45 invites people to emulate the patriarchs’ faith and trustingly wait on God’s deliverance in their time.

Psalms 105:1-45 possesses a hymnal note (Psalms 105:1–7), showing that in order to truly praise God, God’s people need to know the facts of their history. History provides both validation for our faith and countless reasons for praising God.

The worshipers are addressed as the seed of Abraham and children of Jacob (Psalms 105:6), thereby deeming them to be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation (Genesis 15:3-6). The psalmist underscores the continuity between the patriarchs and the subsequent generations of God’s people. The psalmist stresses that “His judgments are in _all the earth_” (Psalms 105:7, NKJV; emphasis supplied), thereby admonishing the worshipers not to forget that “our God” is also the sovereign Lord of the whole world and that His loving-kindness extends to all peoples (Psalms 96:1, Psalms 97:1). It is, clearly, a call to faithfulness to every generation of believers.

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

Psalm 57:9 “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations”.

 “In numerous psalms, praise takes the form of narrating the Lord’s mighty acts of salvation” as do 
Hymn 646 – To The Name That Brings Salvation and 
Hymn 339 – God Is My Strong Salvation. Just as the people in the past needed God’s help, we also can request 
O God, Our Help – Hymn 103.

 Sunday gives us the wonderful hymn 
Great Is Thy Faithfulness – Hymn 100 which helps to sum up the study of the day.

Monday’s study commences with the inspiration of being faithful:
Hymn 602 – O Brother, Be Faithful and takes us on a small journey of our Shepherd’s leading in 
He Leadeth Me – Hymn 537 and then shows our growth in 
I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus – Hymn 535.

 Our repentance transforms our past story in the 
Marvelous Grace – Hymn 109 of our Loving Lord throughout Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday’s study times. Then, with our hearts overwhelmed by His marvellous grace, “the psalm demonstrates that God is to be praised as both Creator and Savior of His people”: 
The God of Abraham Praise – Hymn 11

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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Key Thought: Some of the psalms are called historical psalms. They help us see our lives as a part of the history of God’s people and claim the past as our own.
March 9, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Psalm 105.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How should we, as Seventh-day Adventists, see ourselves in this line of people from Abraham on? What lessons should we learn from this history?
3. Personal Application: What lessons have you learned, or should have learned, from your past mistakes? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “.Why should we study the Old Testament and the history of the Jews? We are New Testament Christians and Jewish history is a thing of the past and doesn’t apply to Christians today.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Psalm 80.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How are God’s people portrayed, and what great hope do they plead for?
3. Personal Application: How have you experienced repentance and a return to God? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I think I’ve done too much bad stuff for God to forgive me and save me. I don’t know if I could ever believe that I could be forgiven or change my life.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Psalm 135.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What historical events are highlighted here? What lessons does the psalmist draw from them?
3. Personal Application: How can we make sure that we don’t have idols in our lives? Why might idolatry be wasier to do that we realize? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How has God lead you in the past? Is it easy to forget or ignore the lessons of the past? Why is it important to remember how God has guided and worked for you in the past?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Psalm 106.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What historical events and their lessons are highlighted in this psalm?
3. Personal Application: How often do we remember God’s works and don’t wait to ask for God’s direction when we make decisions? 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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Daily Lesson for Sunday 3rd of March 2024

The reviews of Israel’s past highlight God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness.

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

They also should teach coming generations not to repeat their ancestors’ mistakes but to trust God and to remain faithful to His covenant. The psalmist uses history as a parable (Psalms 78:2), which means that the people should deeply ponder the psalm’s message and search for the meaning for themselves. Psalms 78:1-72:2 is a prophetic description of Jesus’ method of teaching in parables (Matthew 13:34-35).

The psalm also reflects on the time of the Exodus (Psalms 78:9-54), the settlement in Canaan (Psalms 78:55-64), and the time of David (Psalms 78:65-72). It demonstrates the Lord’s glorious deeds and the consequences of the people’s breaking of their covenant with God. Israel’s history recounts many forms of the people’s disloyalty to God, especially their idolatry (Psalms 78:58).

The psalmist, however, stresses the root of the Israelites’ unfaithfulness: they forgot what God had done for them, did not trust God, put God to the test (Psalms 78:18,41,56), rebelled against Him, and failed to keep His law, His covenant, and His testimonies (Psalms 78:10,37,56). By stressing these specific forms of disloyalty, the psalmist implies that the rejection of Israel in history has resulted from one core sin, namely, the people’s failure to trust the Lord (Psalms 78:7-8).

When reading the psalm, one is overwhelmed with the people’s constant stubbornness and spiritual blindness in contrast to the Lord’s boundless patience and grace. How was each new generation so slow to learn?

Before we get overly judgmental of past generations, we should consider ourselves. Aren’t we, also, forgetful of God’s past wonders and neglectful of His covenantal requirements? The psalm does not encourage people to rely on their own deeds. Instead, Psalms 78:1-72 shows the futility of human will unless it is grounded in constant awareness of God’s faithfulness and an acceptance of His grace. The unsuccessful battles of God’s people (Psalms 78:9, 62–64) elucidate the psalm’s lesson that human efforts apart from faithfulness to God are doomed to end in failure.

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