Daily Lesson for Wednesday 3rd of January 2024

The Psalms are inspired prayers and praises of Israel, and so, in the Psalms the voice is that of God intermingled with that of His people. The Psalms assume the dynamics of vivid interactions with God.

The psalmists address God personally as “my God,” “O Lord,” and “my King” (Psalms 5:2, Psalms 84:3). The psalmists often implore God to “give ear” (Psalms 5:1), “hear my prayer” (Psalms 39:12), “look” (Psalms 25:18), “answer me” (Psalms 102:2), and “deliver me” (Psalms 6:4, NKJV). These are clearly the expressions of someone praying to God.

The remarkable beauty and appeal of the Psalms as prayers and praises lie in the fact that the Psalms are the Word of God in the form of the pious prayers and praises of believers. The Psalms, thus, provide God’s children with moments of intimacy, such as described in Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (NKJV).

Jesus, too, quoted from the Psalms, such as in Luke 20:42-43, when He quoted directly from Psalms 110:1—“ ‘Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: “The Lord said to my Lord, / ‘Sit at My right hand, / Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’ ” ’ ” (NKJV).

Although some psalms have sprung from, or refer to, specific historical events and the experiences of the psalmists themselves, as well as the experiences of Israel as a nation, the Psalms’ spiritual depth speaks to a variety of life situations and crosses all cultural, religious, ethnic, and gender boundaries. In other words, as you read the Psalms, you will find them expressing hope, praise, fear, anger, sadness, and sorrow—things that people everywhere, in every age, no matter their circumstances, face. They speak to us all, in the language of our own experiences.

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Daily Lesson for Tuesday 2nd of January 2024

The Psalms make the believing community aware of the full range of human experience, and they demonstrate that believers can worship God in every season in life. In them we see the following:

(1) Hymns that magnify God for His majesty and power in creation, His kingly rule, judgment, and faithfulness. (2) Thanksgiving psalms that express profound gratitude for God’s abundant blessings. (3) Laments that are heartfelt cries to God for deliverance from trouble. (4) Wisdom psalms that provide practical guidelines for righteous living. (5) Royal psalms that point to Christ, who is the sovereign King and Deliverer of God’s people. (6) Historical psalms that recall Israel’s past and highlight God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness to teach the coming generations not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors but to trust God and remain faithful to His covenant.

The poetry of the Psalms demonstrates distinctive power to capture the attention of readers. Though some of these poetic devices are lost in translation, we can still, in our native language, appreciate many of them.

1. Parallelism involves the combining of symmetrically constructed words, phrases, or thoughts. Parallelism helps in understanding the meaning of corresponding parts. For instance: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalms 103:1, NKJV). In this parallelism, “my soul” is “all that is within me,” namely one’s whole being.

2. Imagery uses figurative language to strongly appeal to readers’ physical senses. For example, God’s refuge is depicted as “the shadow of [His] wings” (Psalms 17:8, NKJV).

3. Merism expresses totality by a pair of contrasting parts. “I have cried day and night before thee” denotes crying without ceasing (Psalms 88:1, emphasis supplied).

4. Wordplays employ the sound of words to make a pun and highlight a spiritual message. In Psalms 96:4-5 the Hebrew words ’elohim, “gods,” and ’elilim, “idols,” create a wordplay to convey the message that the gods of the nations only appear to be ’elohim, “gods,” but are merely ’elilim, “idols.”

Finally, the word “selah” denotes a brief interlude, either for a call to pause and reflect on the message of a particular section of the psalm or a change of musical accompaniment (Psalms 61:4).

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Key Thought: Accepting the psalms in their historical, theological, and liturgical contexts is key for understanding their messages which span across thousands of years to our time.
January 6, 2024

A. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 12:8, Psalm 18:1, Psalm 30:1,2.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What were some reasons or occasions that inspired the writing of some of the psalms?
3. Personal Application: Have you, or do you use the psalms in your own private or corporate worship?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “The Psalms were written in the Old Testament for praise and worship of God for the Jews. They have no applicability to us today as New Testament Christians. They are mostly about war and conquering their enemies.” How would you respond to your relative?

B. Have a volunteer read Psalm 3:5-8, Psalm 33:1-3, Psqalm 109:6-15.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What different occasions of human experience do these psalms convey?
   (Note: Hymns that magnify God. Thanksgiving psalms. Laments and cries for God’s deliverance. Wisdom psalms for good living. Royal psalms to the king and deliverer.)
3. Personal Application: What kind of psalms would you most likely be apt to use or write in your references to God in your life? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why does David write so many psalms that seem to focus on destroying his enemies and bringing judgment on others? Where is Crist’s love for the erring and sinners in his heart?” How would you respond to your friend?

C. Have a volunteer read 2 Samuel 23:1-2, Romans 8:26,27.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts teach us about prayer?
3. Personal Application: How comforting is it to know that God’s Spirit is interceding for us with God according to God’s will when we pray? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “When the Spirit intercedes for us in groanings; is that speaking of the tongues of angels so God can hear and understand our prayers?” How would you respond to your relative?

D. Have a volunteer read Psalm 16:8, 44:8, 46:1.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What place does God occupy in the psalmist’s life?
3. Personal Application: Are there any parts of your life that you may trying to keep the Lord at a distance? 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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Welcome to 2024 

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

This week’s study shows that the Psalms were for us to give 
Praise To The Lord – Hymn 1, 
Praise Ye The Father – Hymn 70, 
Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven – Hymn 4, and a choral-type hymn 
Praise and Thanksgiving – Hymn 563

We may also ask 
Come, Holy Spirit – Hymn 268.

Psalms are also Inspired Prayers – Wednesday: 
Hymn 671 – As We Come To You In Prayer, 
Hymn 684 – Hear Our Prayer, O Lord and 
Hymn 658 – Heavenly Father, Hear Our Prayer.

“Ultimately, the Psalms envision when all peoples and the entire creation will worship God (Ps 47:1, Ps 64:9)”: 
Hymn 6 – O Worship The Lord.

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 Monday 1st of January 2024

King David, whose name appears in the titles of most psalms, was active in organizing the liturgy of Israel’s worship. He is called “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). The New Testament attests to Davidic authorship of various psalms (Matthew 22:43-45; Acts 2:25-29,34-35; Acts 4:25; Romans 4:6-8). Numerous psalms were composed by the temple musicians who were also Levites: for example, Psalms 50:1-23 and Psalms 73:1-28−83 by Asaph; Psalms 42:1-11, Psalms 44:1-26−47, Psalms 49:1-20, Psalms 84:1-12, Psalms 85:1-13, Psalms 87:1-7−88 by the sons of Korah; Psalms 88:1-18 also by Heman the Ezrahite; and Psalms 89:1-52 by Ethan the Ezrahite. Beyond them, Solomon (Psalms 72:1-20, Psalms 127:1-5) and Moses (Psalms 90:1-17) authored some psalms.

The Holy Spirit inspired the psalmists and used their talents in service to God and to their community of faith. The psalmists were people of genuine devotion and profound faith and yet prone to discouragements and temptations, as are the rest of us. Though written a long time ago, the Psalms surely reflect some of what we experience today.

“Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave” (Psalms 88:2-3, NKJV). This is a cry of the twenty-first-century soul as much as it was of someone 3,000 years ago.

Some psalms mention hardships; some focus on joys. The psalmists cried out to God to save them and experienced His undeserved favor. They glorified God for His faithfulness and love, and they pledged their untiring devotion to Him. The Psalms are, thus, testimonies of divine Redemption and signs of God’s grace and hope. The Psalms convey a divine promise to all who embrace, by faith, God’s gifts of forgiveness and of a new life. Yet, at the same time, they do not try to cover up, hide, or downplay the hardships and suffering prevalent in a fallen world.

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