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HopeLives365

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2024: Psalms

Mark Finley

01 How to Read the Psalms

02 Teach us to Pray

03 The Lord Reigns

04 The Lord Hears and Delivers

05 Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land

06 I Will Arise

07 Your Mercy Reaches Unto the Heavens

08 Wisdom for Righteous Living

09 Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

10 Lessons of the Past

11 Longing for God in Zion

12 Worship That Never Ends

13 Wait on the Lord

Don't you love the images in the book of Psalms?

In our lesson number 4, titled, The Lord Hears and Delivers, we have some very beautiful images of God.

He's our defender, He's our refuge, He's our fortress, He is our strong tower.

And here in this lesson, we're going to focus on the fact that the God who is sovereign, who sits on the throne of the universe, cares for each 1 of us.

In the first paragraph under Sunday's lesson, I read again and again, the Psalms highlight the truth that the sovereign Lord, who created and sustains the universe, also reveals himself as a personal God who initiates and sustains a relationship with his people.

Now this is vastly different than the idea of the pagan gods that surrounded the Hebrew nation.

The gods of the Amorites, the Amalekites, the Jebusites, these gods were gods that demanded sacrifice, that demanded obedience unswervingly, But these gods were separate and distinct from any daily relationship with the people of Israel.

The God of Israel, the God of the Psalms, is a God that wants personal relationship with his people.

He's a God that's interested in their joys, their sorrows.

He's interested in that which is happening in their life, in the circumstances of their life.

So when you read about the God of the Psalms, he's the God of relationship.

I like the way that our lesson puts it in the second paragraph, introduction.

The Psalms unswervingly uphold the truth that the Lord is the living God who acts on behalf of those who call upon him." So God is for us.

He longs to have a positive relationship with us.

When we come to Sunday's lesson, it focuses on the 139th Psalm, My Frame Was Not Hidden From You.

It's 1 of those psalms in the Bible that you read it and you take a deep breath And you say, this is absolutely amazing.

You know, there are some, every Psalm has meaning and purpose, but this Psalm 139 is really an incredible Psalm.

We're going to start with Psalm 139, And I'm going to look at verse 6.

David says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

In other words, what's in this psalm, David is saying, is so incredible.

It's far beyond anything that I can imagine.

David then says, verse 7, where can I go from your spirit?

If I make my bed in hell, that's Sheol, the grave.

So he's saying, God, wherever I go, you're there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me.

I shall say, surely the darkness shall fall on me.

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide me from you, but the night shines as day, the darkness and light are both alike to you.

In other words, God, when I'm in the darkest moments of my life, you are there.

When I'm on the mountain peaks, you're there.

Then he says, verse 14, I praise you, for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are your works that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret, skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance being unformed." In other words, even when I was in the womb, God, you knew me.

You saw the genes and chromosomes that came together and orchestrated them.

You know everything about me, Lord, and you care for me that much.

Then verse 17 and 18 are, I think, 2 of the most significant verses in all the Bible.

How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God.

If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.

God, how precious are your thoughts toward me.

You think about me so much that I can't even count the times you think about me all day.

That's amazing, that the God of the universe, the God that created sun, moon, and stars, the God that spoke and Earth came into existence, that this God thinks about us, That we're not some speck of cosmic dust left on planet Earth.

This is an amazing divine truth of the book of Psalms.

Here in our lesson under Sunday, it says, God's presence is highlighted by depicting God as reaching as far as Sheol, the grave, and darkness, places not typically depicted as where God dwells.

His presence also is depicted as taking the wings of the morning in the east to reach the uttermost parts of the earth, of the sea in the west.

What these images convey is the truth, that there's no place in the universe where we can be out of God's reach.

Though God is not part of the universe, as some believe, he is close to it all, having not only created it, but sustains it as well.

This realization of God's greatness, God's goodness, God's care is life transformational.

It gives us a confidence and a security that we're not alone.

Monday's lesson highlights this in the assurance of God's care.

Psalm 40, verse 1 to 3, David says, God hears our cry.

Psalm 50, verse 15, call on me and I'll deliver you, God says.

And then Psalm 55 verse 22, if you're carrying some heavy burden today, if there's something that's crushing out your joy, if there's something that is destroying your happiness, listen to this.

Psalm 55, verse 22, cast your burden on the Lord and he shall sustain you.

He'll never permit the righteous to be moved.

It means throw the full weight of your anxiety.

Some problem that's perplexing you, give it to God.

Some decision you have to make that's confusing, give it to God.

Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you.

And I love the way it's put as well in Psalm 121.

The Psalms reveal that this God of the universe is our personal God.

And that's the theme of our lesson this week.

A hundred and 20 first Psalm puts it this way.

Series

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2024: Psalms

04 The Lord Hears and Delivers

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The Mystery of God

The Mystery of God- Part 3

36m

Hebrews 11- Faith

16 The Faith of Gideon

40m

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

10 Spiritualism Exposed

26m

All My Goodness

1h 1m

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2024: Psalms

03 The Lord Reigns

24m

Being True to Our Trust

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

1h 4m

Hebrews 11- Faith

21 The Faith of David

45m

You’re Being Conditioned for a Lie

31m

Jesus on Prophecy

55m

Preparing For the End Times

Close of Probation and the 7 Last Plagues

46m

Admonitions for the Last Days

2. New Theology & Half-Hearted Christians

47m

The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Jesus: Wonderful, Counselor

54m

Sound Doctrine