Daily Lesson for Monday 5th of February 2024

God exhibits special care and concern for justice regarding the various vulnerable groups of people, including the poor, needy, oppressed, fatherless, widows, widowers, and strangers. The Psalms, like the Law and the prophets, are clear on that point (Exodus 22:21-27, Isaiah 3:13-15).

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Many psalms use the expression “poor and needy” and avoid representing the oppressed in exclusively national and religious terms. This is done in order to highlight God’s universal care for all humanity.

The expression “poor and needy” is not limited to material poverty but also signifies vulnerability and helplessness. The expression appeals to God’s compassion, and it conveys the idea that the sufferer is alone and has no other help but God. The depiction “poor and needy” also pertains to one’s sincerity, truthfulness, and love for God in confessing one’s total dependence on God and renouncing any trace of self-reliance and self-assertion.

Meanwhile, caring for the deprived (Psalms 41:1-3) demonstrates the people’s faithfulness to God. Evil done against the vulnerable were particularly heinous sins in biblical culture (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). The Psalms inspire faithful people to raise their voices against every oppression.

The Psalms also underline the futility of grounding one’s confidence on perishable human means as the ultimate source of wisdom and security. God’s people must resist the temptation to put ultimate faith for salvation in human leaders and institutions, especially when they differ from God’s ways.

In His grace, our Lord identified Himself with the poor by becoming poor Himself that through His poverty many might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Christ’s riches include deliverance from every oppression brought by sin, and He promises us eternal life in God’s kingdom (Revelation 21:4). Jesus Christ fulfills the Psalms’ promises as the divine Judge, who will judge every mistreatment of the deprived, as well as neglect of duty toward them (Matthew 25:31-46).

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Key Thought : Only the Creator can provide stability and prosperity to the world. Divine judgment includes deliverance of the oppressed and destruction of the wicked in His time, not ours.
February 10, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Psalm 9:18, 12:5, 40:17, 146:6.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What is the message here to us, even today?
3. Personal Application: How much do we think of the poor and needy among us, and how much do we do for them?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “I think most poor people today in the US are poor, not because of circumstances, but because they are lazy, uneducated due to skipping school, drug use, or lack of motivation. The kids may suffer because of parental neglect or one parent families, because adults are not taking responsibility. The government has also been guilty of giving money to lazy and undeserving people as if they deserved it by doing nothing but getting high, drunk, and having babies outside of marriage.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Psalm 82.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What happens when the leaders pervert justice and oppresses the people they are tasked to protect?
3. Personal Application: Do you have any authority over others? How justly and fairly are you exercising that authority? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why is it important not to rely on leaders, institutions, and social movements for justice in the world but rely on God’s word and God’s judgment?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Psalm 58:6-8, 69:22-28, 94:1,2.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the agent of judgment in these psalms? What sentiments do these psalms convey?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever dreamed or thought about vengeance on those who have done you wrong? How might these Psalms help you put such feelings in proper perspective? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How can we understand the harsh language of some of the psalms? How does that language help us relate to the humanity of those who wrote them?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Psalm 96:6-10; 99:1-4; 132:7-9; 13-18.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. When does God’s judgment take place?
3. Personal Application: How does the sanctuary help us understand how God will deal with evil? 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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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:
Hymn 552/546 – The Lord’s My Shepherd.

Psalm 98:5, 6 – “Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn; shout joyfully before the LORD, the King”.

There is a great reminder in our Sabbath afternoon introduction: “the day of God’s judgment is coming”:
Hymn 418 – Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!

Sunday gives us wonderful hymns from the Psalms texts we read:
Hymn 339 – God Is My Strong Salvation and that there will be a
Rescue The Perishing – Hymn 367 time, and a time to
Give To Our God Immortal Praise – Hymn 106. Just as the Psalmist’s do, we will sing
Praise To The Lord – Hymn 1 and
O Praise Ye The Lord! – Hymn 20. Oh, may we stand up and be like “the image of God as Warrior”:
Hymn 616 – Soldiers of Christ, Arise.

Monday concludes with Revelation 21:4 – “He promises us eternal life in God’s kingdom”, and may we be found
Standing On The Promises – Hymn 518.

“God’s children are called to pray for those who mistreat them and even to hope for their conversion” (Psalm 84:18, Jeremiah 29:7) on Wednesday:
Hymn 284 – For You I Am Praying.

Our challenge on Thursday is to forgive as God has for us in the Sanctuary:
Hymn 299 – Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive.

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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Daily Lesson for Sunday 4th of February 2024

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

These hymns praise the Lord for His awesome power over the evil forces that threaten His people. They portray God in His majesty as Warrior and Judge. The image of God as Warrior is frequent in the Psalms and highlights the severity and urgency of God’s response to His people’s cries and suffering.

“The Lord thundered from heaven, / And the Most High uttered His voice, / Hailstones and coals of fire. / He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, / Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them. / Then the channels of the sea were seen, / The foundations of the world were uncovered /At Your rebuke, O Lord, / At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils” (Psalms 18:13-15, NKJV).

The sheer determination and magnitude of God’s action should disperse any doubt about God’s great care and compassion for the sufferers or about His ability to defeat evil. We just need to wait for Him to do it.

In the end, even when God’s people, such as David, were involved in war, deliverance did not come from human means. In his many battles against the enemies of God’s people, King David praised God as the only One who achieved all the victories. It would have been easy for David to take credit for what happened, for his many successes and triumphs, but that was not his frame of mind. He knew where the Source of his power came from.

Although David states that the Lord trains his hands for war (Psalms 18:34), nowhere in the Psalms does he rely on his battle skills. Instead, the Lord fights for David and delivers him (Psalms 18:47-48).

In the Psalms, King David, who was known as a successful warrior, assumes his role as a skilled musician and praises the Lord as the only Deliverer and Sustainer of His people (Psalms 144:10-15). Praise and prayer to the Lord are David’s sources of strength, which are more power­ful than any weapon of war. God alone is to be trusted and worshiped.

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Daily Lesson for Saturday 3rd of February 2024

Read for This Week’s Study

Image © Pacific Press

Psalms 18:3-18, Psalms 41:1-3, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Psalms 82:1-8, Psalms 96:6-10, Psalms 99:1-4, Romans 8:34.

Memory Text:

“ ‘For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,’ says the Lord; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he yearns’ ” (Psalms 12:5, NKJV).

Our age is not the only age in which evil, injustice, and oppression rage. The psalmists lived in such a time, as well. And so, whatever else they are, the Psalms are also God’s protests against the violence and oppression in the world, in our world, and that of the psalmists, as well.

Yes, the Lord is long-suffering and holds His wrath in His great forbearance, not wanting anyone to perish but to repent and change their ways (2 Peter 3:9-15). And though God’s proper time for His intervention does not always coincide with human expectations, the day of God’s judgment is coming (Psalms 96:13, Psalms 98:9). We just need to trust in Him, and in His promises, until that day comes.

Only the Creator, whose throne is founded on righteousness and justice (Psalms 89:14, Psalms 97:2), can provide, with His sovereign judgment, stability and prosperity to the world. The twofold aspect of divine judgment includes deliverance of the oppressed and destruction of the wicked (Psalms 7:6-17).

This is what we have been promised, and this is what will, indeed, one day come—but in God’s time, not ours, a point that the psalmist emphasizes.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 10.

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