Daily Lesson for Tuesday 26th of March 2024

The Lord’s miraculous deliverances in the past are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for God’s people and their source of hope for the future. The past deliverance was so great that it could be described as a dream-come-true experience (Isaiah 29:7-8). Notice that the generation that praises the Lord in Psalms 126:1-6 for His past deliverance of His people from captivity (Psalms 126:1) is presently in captivity (Psalms 126:4).

Image © Ideals Collection at Goodsalt.com

Yet, the past joy and relief are relived through songs and appropriated in present experience. The new generations keep biblical history alive by counting themselves as present among those who saw the events firsthand. Thus, a living faith cherishes God’s great deeds for His people in the past as something that the Lord has done for us and not simply things that the Lord did only for them (the past generations of believers).

In fact, the memory of the past spurs renewed hope for the present. The image of “the streams in the south” (Psalms 126:4) is a powerful metaphor of God’s acting suddenly and powerfully on behalf of His people. The very south of Judah was an arid desert region. The streams were formed suddenly and filled with rushing waters after heavy rainfalls during the rainy season. The early and late rains played a crucial role in the success of the agricultural year (Deuteronomy 11:14, Deuteronomy 28:12). Similarly, the image of sowing in tears and reaping in joy (Psalms 126:5-6) is a powerful promise of divine leading from a difficult present to a happy future.

The end of the harvest season was the time when the ancient Hebrew pilgrimages brought the fruits of the season to God’s temple in Jerusalem (Exodus 34:22,26). The harvest motif provided a potent spiritual lesson to the people at that time. Just as the hard labor of sowing and caring for the fields, orchards, and vineyards is rewarded with the joy of a plentiful harvest, so the present trials of God’s people will be crowned with the joy of salvation at the end of time. The image of the great harvest points to God’s restoration of His kingdom on earth at Christ’s second coming (Amos 9:13-15, Matthew 9:37). Here, too, however, the theme of waiting arises. As with the harvest, we must wait to see the fruit and results of our labor.

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Daily Lesson for Monday 25th of March 2024

God’s people live in a world that afflicts the faithful, a world full of temptations and hardship for almost everyone. A refreshed conviction that he is a child of God and dependent on God for his life consoles the psalmist and brings him to confess that his pride has no value.

Image © Graham Braddock at Goodsalt.com

The deceitfulness of pride is that it causes the proud to become self-centered and unable to look beyond themselves. The proud are thus blinded to the higher reality of God.

In contrast, the righteous lift their eyes to God (Psalms 123:1-2). The acknowledgment of God’s greatness makes them humble and free from self-seeking and vain ambition. The psalmist confesses that he does not seek “great matters” and “things too high” (Psalms 131:1). These expressions describe God’s works in the world that are beyond human comprehension. Modern science has shown us that even the “simplest” things can be incredibly complicated and far beyond our understanding, at least for now. In fact, there’s a great irony: the more we learn about the physical world, the greater the mysteries that appear before us.

Meanwhile, the metaphor in Psalms 131:1-3:2, “like a weaned child with [its] mother” (NKJV), is a powerful image of one who finds calmness and who is quieted in the embrace of God. It points to the loving relationship a child has with its mother at various stages in that child’s young life.

Through weaning us from insubstantial ambitions and pride, God introduces us to the nourishment of solid food, which is to “do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34, also Hebrews 5:12-14). The childlike trust depicted in Psalms 131:1-3 is mature faith that has been tried and tested by the hardships of life and has found God to be faithful and true to His Word.

The psalmist’s attention at the end rests on the well-being of God’s people. Ultimately, we are called to use our experience with God to strengthen His church. That is, from what we have learned, personally, of God’s faithfulness and goodness, we can share with others who, for whatever reason, still struggle with their faith. Our witness about Christ can even be within the church itself, where many need to know Him for themselves.

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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: Hym 552/546 – The Lord’s My Shepherd.

Psalm 30:4
“Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.”

The climax of our quarter’s studies has brought us to 
Hymn 214 – We Have This Hope. Sabbath afternoon’s introduction to this week’s studies then shows
My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less – Hymn 522 and 
Hymn 535 – I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus to help me to be 
Bringing In The Sheaves – Hymn 369.

Sunday explains all about what waiting is: 
Hymn 287 – The Church Has Waited Long and like our church, and for many people, 
The Saviour Is Waiting – Hymn 289. The day’s study finishes with 
We Have This Hope – Hymn 214.

The study of Psalm 131 on Monday encourages us to see “God to be faithful and true to His Word”: 
Hymn 100 – Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Bringing In The Sheaves – Hymn 369 is pointed out to us on Tuesday and that we can still 
Praise Him! Praise Him – Hymn 249 as the people did in their further captivity (Psalm 126:1).

The beautiful Sabbath Rest we had yesterday (as I write this now) is expounded more on Wednesday, and in 
Hymn 381 – Holy Sabbath, Day Of Rest and Hymn 390 – We Love Thy Sabbath, Lord.

We all await the joy that comes in the morning and can sing this heartily in 
Hymn 430 – Joy By And By.

May we all “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him (Psalm 37:7) as we complete this quarter’s studies and then learn more of the Great Controversy in our next quarter’s studies.

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: Waiting on the Lord is an act of trust and faith revealed in action. It strengthens our hearts with renewed hope and peace. Waiting on the Lord will be rewarded because the Lord is faithful in all His promises..
March 30, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Psalm 126.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What gives hope and strength to God’s people?
3. Personal Application: Think of a time when you saw the Lord work in your life or in the lives of others. How can you draw hope from that experience for what you might be going through right now? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “How do we learn to wait in faith and trust when what we are praying for hasn’t come yet?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Psalm 92.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What two aspects of the Sabbath day are highlighted in this psalm?
3. Personal Application: What hope is found in this psalm, and how can we find comfort in it? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What does the psalmist mean by “mixing oil with other sacrifices? I know that oil sometimes represents the Holy Spirit, but I don’t understand what this psalm is referring to.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Psalm 5:3; 30:5; 49:14; 59:16..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What time of day is symbolically portrayed as the time of redemption and why?
3. Personal Application: Why should we never forget just how temporary death is for us if we are in Christ? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How does waiting purify and strengthen our faith? What are we promised by waiting? What hope do we have, even in the face of death?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Psalm 27;14; 39:7; 40:1.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts implore God’s people to do?
3. Personal Application: What are some things you are waiting now for from God? 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 24th of March 2024

Perhaps one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting. No matter who we are, where we live, what our station in life is, we all at times must wait for things. From waiting in line in a store to waiting to hear a medical prognosis, we wait—which we don’t always like doing, do we?

mage © Bjorn Thorkelson from GoodSalt.com

What, then, about waiting for God? The notion of waiting on the Lord is found not only in the Psalms but abounds all through the Bible. The operative word in all this is perseverance. Perseverance is our supreme commitment of refusing to succumb to fear of disappointment that somehow God will not come through for us. God’s devoted child waits, knowing with certainty that God is faithful and those who wait on Him can trust that if we leave our situation to Him, we can be sure that He will work it out for our best, even if at the time we don’t necessarily see it that way.

Waiting on the Lord is more than just hanging on. It is a deep longing for God that is compared to intense thirst in a dry land (Psalms 63:1). The psalmist waits on many blessings from God, but his yearning to be brought close to his God surpasses any other desire and need in life.

As we read in Paul, in this amazing passage in Romans, God and the whole creation are waiting for the renewal of the world and the blessed meeting of God and His people at the end of time. He writes: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19, NKJV).

What an incredible promise!

Yet, while we are waiting for the ultimate salvation and reunion with God, even as “the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs” (Romans 8:22, NKJV), the Lord still abides with His people now, through the Holy Spirit.

Meanwhile, we are called to bear witness (Acts 1:4-8) to the plan of salvation, which will culminate in a new creation. That new creation is, ultimately, what we are waiting for, the final fulfillment of our hopes as Adventist Christians, whose very name, Adventist, contains the idea of the hope that we await. We wait, but we know that it’s not in vain. Christ’s death and resurrection, at the first coming, is our surety of His second coming.

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