Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dragoslava Santrac, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “The Lord Reigns.”

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View an in-depth discussion of Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.  
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Daily Lesson for Wednesday 31st of January 2024

Psalms 77:1-20 begins with a plea to God for help that is filled with lament and painful remembering of the past (Psalms 77:1-6). The psalmist’s whole being is mournfully turned to God. He refuses to be comforted by any relief except the one coming from God.

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However, remembering God appears to intensify his anguish. “When I remember God, I moan” (Psalms 77:3, ESV). Hebrew hamah, “moan,” often depicts the roar of raging waters (Psalms 46:3). Similarly, the psalmist’s whole being is in a state of intense unrest.

How can remembering God produce such strong feelings of distress? A series of troubling questions betray the cause of his anguish (Psalms 77:7-9): Has God changed? Can God possibly betray His covenant?

The stark contrast between God’s saving acts in the past and God’s apparent absence in the present causes the psalmist to feel abandoned by God. If God has changed, then the psalmist has no hope, a conclusion that he struggles to reject.

Meanwhile, the psalmist cannot sleep because the Lord keeps him awake (Psalms 77:4). This recalls other biblical characters whose insomnia was providentially used by God to advance His purposes (Genesis 41:1-8, Esther 6:1, Daniel 2:1-3). The long sleepless night causes the psalmist to consider the Lord’s past acts of deliverance but with new resolve (Psalms 77:5,10).

The assurance that the psalmist receives from God does not consist of explanations about his personal situation but rather a confirmation of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness (like Job). The psalmist is encouraged to wait on the Lord in faith, knowing that He is the same God who performed miracles in Israel’s past (Psalms 77:11-18). The psalmist also realizes that “Your footsteps were not known” (Psalms 77:19, NKJV), recognizing God’s guidance, even in situations in which His presence is not obvious to human eyes. The psalmist acknowledges that God is simultaneously revealed and hidden, and so, he offers praise to the Lord’s mysterious and sovereign ways.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-05-has-his-promise-failed-forevermore/

Daily Lesson for Tuesday 30th of January 2024

Not only does personal and communal sufferings trouble the psalmist but also, if not more, God’s seeming lack of attention to His servants’ hardships. God’s absence is felt like intense thirst in a dry land (Psalms 42:1-3, Psalms 63:1) and mortal anguish (Psalms 102:2-4). The psalmist feels removed from God and compares himself to lonely birds. “I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop” (Psalms 102:6-7, NKJV).

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The mention of wilderness highlights the sense of isolation from God. A bird “alone on a housetop” is outside of its nest, its resting place. The psalmist cries to God “out of the depths,” as if being engulfed by mighty waters and sinking into a “deep mire” (Psalms 69:1-3, Psalms 130:1). These images depict an oppressive situation from which there is no escape, except by divine intervention.

It is remarkable that the psalmists resolve not to keep silent in the face of God’s silence. The psalmists unswervingly believe in prayer because prayer is directed to the living and gracious God. God is still there, even when He is apparently absent. He is still the same God who heard them in the past, and so, they are confident that He hears them now.

The occasions of God’s silence cause the psalmists to examine themselves and to seek God, but with confession and humble petitions. They know that God will not remain silent forever. The Psalms demonstrate that communication with God must go on, regardless of life’s circumstances.

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For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth. My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my skin. Psalm 102:3-5 NKJV

Do all our prayers have to be upbeat, cheerful, and positive? No! Do we show a lack of faith when we lament? No! Cynicism doubts God’s existence and love. Lamenting is when we grieve, knowing God exists and loves us. There is an entire book in the Bible about lamenting, it’s called Lamentations. A great portion of the Psalms and other portions of Scripture include prayers of lamentations. As a matter of fact, in the end of the book of Job, God rebukes Job’s friends for not allowing Job to lament.

To me, lamenting is clinging to God like Jacob did to the Angel until He blesses us, or until things get better. God wants us to be real with him and pray real prayers. This includes praying prayers of lamentations when our hearts are grieving. Talk to God when you are joyful. Talk to God when you have complaints about the pain and grief He is allowing in your life. Bottom line is talk to God!

“Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the gall.
My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:19-23 NKJV

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