Daily Lesson for Thursday 7th of March 2024

Psalms 135:1-21 summons God’s people to praise the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness demonstrated in Creation (Psalms 135:6-7) and in Israel’s salvation history in the time of the Exodus (Psalms 135:8-9) and in the conquering of the Promised Land (Psalms 135:10-12).

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The Lord demonstrated His grace by choosing the people of Israel as His special treasure (Psalms 135:4). “Special treasure” conveys the distinctive covenantal relationship between the Lord and His people (Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 1 Peter 2:9-10). The choosing of Israel was based on the Lord’s sovereign will, and thus, Israel has no ground to feel superior over the other peoples. Psalms 135:1-21:6, 7 demonstrates that the Lord’s sovereign purposes for the world did not begin with Israel but with the Creation. Therefore, Israel should humbly fulfill its assigned role in God’s salvific purposes for the entire world.

The recounting of God’s great deeds on behalf of His people (Psalms 135:8-13) culminates in the promise that God will “judge” His people and have compassion on them (Psalms 135:14). The judgment here is God’s vindication of the oppressed and the destitute (Psalms 9:4, Psalms 7:8, Psalms 54:1, Daniel 7:22). The promise is that the Lord will uphold His people’s cause and defend them (Deuteronomy 32:36). Thus, Psalms 135:1-21 aims to inspire God’s people to trust in the Lord and to remain faithful to their covenant with Him.

The Lord’s faithfulness to His people leads the psalmist to affirm the nothingness of idols and to the unique supremacy of the Lord in the world (Psalms 135:15-18). Reliance on idols renders their worshipers as hopeless and powerless as their idols are (Psalms 135:18). The psalm demonstrates that God is to be praised as both Creator and Savior of His people. This is wonderfully conveyed in the two complementary versions of the fourth commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Because God’s power in creation and history is unparalleled in the world, God’s people should always rely on Him and worship Him alone. As our Creator and our Redeemer, He alone should be worshiped, and worship of anything else, or anyone else, is idolatry.

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Daily Lesson for Wednesday 6th of March 2024

Israel is portrayed as a vineyard that God uprooted from Egypt, the land of oppression, and transported to the Promised Land of abundance. The image of a vineyard conveys God’s election of Israel and His providential care (read also Genesis 49:11-12,22; and Deuteronomy 7:7-11).

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However, in Psalms 80:1-19, God’s vineyard is under His wrath (Psalms 80:12). The prophets announce the vineyard’s destruction as the sign of God’s judgment because the vine has turned bad (Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21).

However, Psalms 80:1-19 does not ponder over the reasons for divine judgment. Given the depths of God’s grace, the psalmist is perplexed that God can withhold His presence from His people for such an extended time. The tension between God’s wrath and judgment, on the one hand, and God’s grace and forgiveness, on the other, causes the psalmist to fear that divine wrath may prevail and consume the people completely (Psalms 80:16).

The psalm’s refrain evokes Aaron’s promise of God’s perpetual blessing of His people (Numbers 6:22-27) and highlights the hope that God’s grace will triumph over the causes of the people’s misery: “Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (Psalms 80:3, NKJV; see also Psalms 80:7,19, NKJV).

The Hebrew word for “restore” here comes from a common word that means to “return,” and it is used again and again in the Bible with God calling His people, who have wandered away, to return to Him. It is closely linked to the idea of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God. “ ‘ “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” ’ ” (Jeremiah 24:7, NKJV).

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Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV

Are there certain Bible characters you identify with more than others? Do you find yourself sympathizing with Joseph because you’ve been bullied by your brothers too? Have you ever felt your own boss was jealous of your success just like Saul was jealous of David? Have you ever felt alone like Elijah and cried out to God, “I am the only Christian left in my community?” 

Isn’t it interesting how much we have in common with people who lived thousands of years ago on the other side of the planet? That’s because when we are studying history in the Bible or studying any kind of history, we are actually studying way more than just dates and famous events. We are studying human behavior. History keeps repeating itself on both sides of the globe because human nature is the same regardless of time or place. 

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One of my pastimes is trying to solve cold cases. Now I try (but not always) to avoid murder cases because I just don’t need to be filling my mind with that, but there are plenty of other cold cases and mysteries that are not so morbid. A few of the cases that intrigue me are from Australia. As I read about or watch the documentaries of these cold cases in Australia I am fascinated by how similar Australian daily life was 60 years  ago with American life today. This reinforces my understanding that human nature is the same in every time and place. It also makes Australia very intriguing to me, and I hope to visit the country one day. There are no real historical places I want to visit, but I want to see the everyday places, churches and communities and meet the everyday people. I want to hear the stories of their lives and learn the lessons their experiences have taught them. 

The Bible is God’s inspired Word with many examples for us to learn from, both by the stories of faith and the stories of disobedience. Just as we have much to learn from the characters in the Bible we have much to learn from one another.  While our lives may be similar in some aspects, we all have different experiences that make our stories unique. While I have 30 years of experience as a Bible worker and pastor, a brand-new Bible worker may have encountered a situation I have never seen before. So even with my 30 years of experience I can still learn from a brand-new Bible worker. 

We all need to study this Bible with humble hearts and learn all we can from the experiences of the Bible characters. We also need to be humble enough to learn all we can from each other. No matter how old or young we are, we all have had different experiences in different stages of our lives. I have friends in their teens who have already lost a parent, while I have friends who are retired and still have both their parents. When my retired friends finally lose a parent, there will be teenagers who have already experienced what they are just now experiencing. In their young lives they may have words of wisdom for my older friends.

Let’s be humble students of the Bible, and humble students of history so we can learn all we can to become the men and women of God that He wants us to be. 

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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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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/10-lessons-of-the-past-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of Lessons of the Past 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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