Sabbath: Your Mercy Reaches Unto the Heavens
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 10th of February 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
Psalms 136:1-26, Psalms 51:1-19, Psalms 130:1-8, Psalms 113:1-9, Psalms 123:1-4.
Memory Text:
“I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds” (Psalms 57:9-10, NKJV).
The psalmists realize that they are spiritually poor and have nothing good to offer to God; that is, they have nothing in and of themselves that would recommend them before God’s holy throne (Psalms 40:17). They understand that they, as do all of us, need grace, God’s grace.
In short, they need the gospel.
The Psalms stress the fact that people are fully dependent on God’s mercy. Fortunately, God’s mercy is everlasting, as evidenced in both God’s creation and the history of God’s people (Psalms 136:1-26). Before the everlasting God, human life is as transient as grass, but God pities humans and renews their strength (Psalms 103:3,5,15), and in Him they have the promise of eternity.
God’s people take comfort in the fact that the Lord is faithful to His covenant. The people’s appeals, no matter how pressing at times, are often filled with hope because they are directed to their compassionate heavenly Father (Psalms 103:13, Psalms 68:5, Psalms 89:26). Fresh experiences of God’s grace and love strengthen their resolve to worship and serve God and no one or nothing else.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 17.
(29)
In my reading for today's lesson I enjoyed Eugene Peterson's rendition of Psalm 51. So, I am quoting it this morning and letting the prayer speak for itself:
I am trying to put myself into the shoes of the people of Israel living at the time when God Almighty was still introducing Himself to them. The psalmists’ inspired words reach out and bless all still discovering who their God is and how they can relate to Him. And now I am looking all around my country and ask myself: “What has changed?”
Has man really come closer to God? Governments might have become better organized in their ‘civil’ conduct with each other; establishing governments capable of being administered by and for the people, but has the knowledge of God increased in the heart and mind of man? Why is it so difficult to find leaders who desire, speak to and reflect the values of the God in their lives? Why do so many indulge themselves in iniquity?
Are we now better off then Israel when it learned to embrace their God, leaving their old customs behind? Are we not now moving farther and farther away from God the more ‘self-sufficient’ we become? Are the peoples of the world begin to trivialize sin and sinning? God’s Mercy has come down to earth to fill man with His Spirit – may we never forget this!
Psalm 123:1-4
”Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.”
This chapter for is a reflection of my individual miss steps , a lack of regard for others , self satisfaction not considering the hurt to others , the psalms bring me,us back to who is in control and were our focus should be placed his mercy , his grace ,his goodness ,his compassion , willing that none should perish ...
For his mercy endure forever.