Sabbath: Lessons of the Past
Read for This Week’s Study
Psalms 78:1-72, Psalms 105:1-45, Galatians 3:29, Psalms 106:1-48, Psalms 80:1-19, Numbers 6:22-27, Psalms 135:1-21.
Memory Text:
“Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done” (Psalms 78:1-72:3, 4, NKJV).
In numerous psalms, praise takes the form of narrating the Lord’s mighty acts of salvation. These psalms are often called “salvation history psalms” or “historical psalms.” Some appeal to God’s people, telling them to learn from their history, particularly from their mistakes and the mistakes of their ancestors. Certain historical psalms contain a predominant hymnal note that highlights God’s past wonderful deeds on behalf of God’s people and that strengthen their trust in the Lord, who is able and faithful to deliver them from their present hardships.
The special appeal of the historical psalms is that they help us to see our lives as part of the history of God’s people and to claim that past as our own. As we have been adopted into the family of the historic people of God through Christ (Romans 8:15; Romans 9:24-26; Galatians 4:6-7), the historical heritage of the ancient people of Israel is indeed the account of our spiritual ancestry. Therefore, we can and should learn from their past, which is ours, as well.
The final goal is to realize that each generation of God’s people plays a small but significant part in the grand historical unfolding of God’s sovereign purposes in the great controversy.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 9.
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When I was a kid my parents did not allow me to read comic books. I still managed to read them though because every child at school had a stash of comic books. They were swapped and traded, and shared with friends. They were as pervasive as computer games are today. Most of the comic books that I read were about war heroes. Biggles and his mates were always beating up the Huns. This is not to be unexpected in a post-war world. My view of World War 2 was shaped to a large extent by a victorious superhero battling an evil enemy in black and white on cheap newsprint.
I mention this because sometimes we get a very warped view of history given to us. And even in the adult world, our history books are just as fictitious as my early reading of World War II history. Worse, they are even deliberately so. Today the epithet, "Fake News", is thrown around with reckless abandon when we want to discredit the perception of others.
Bias in recording and interpreting history became known as "Whig History" in British cirles and was characterised as:
I mention this because this week we are delving into the historical psalms and we will need to ask ourselves whether the Hebrews are remembering both the good and bad things that happened to them and how they relate to them.
It may also serve as an opportunity to examine our view of our own church history. We Seventh-day Adventists come with a history and while we often talk about God's leading in the past, our minds are sometimes shuttered to the times when we have not followed God.
Is the only thing we learn from history that we don't learn from history?
What have you learned from the past? The assignment this week is to think back and pull out a experience that you had in the past that led you into paths of rightousness.
Let me start currently, in the past few days, listening to a SDA sermon confirmed and encouraged me that I am to discourage critism of our church leaders, and members. Guidance and teaching, into truth is good. Basicly the Sermon was encouraging us to get busy spending time in a relationship with Christ daily, and helping others not only physically, with hammer and nail, but also with spiritual encouragement. He said that this takes away our fear, and tendencies to slip away, avoiding Christ from slipping out of our grasp. Now helping family is a good thing, too.
1 Timothy 6:12.
1 Timothy. 6:18-19.
Psalm 62:6.
Now for the distant past. We got in a van and went around to other SDA churches, taking the church service with our mini sermons, and testifying of our love for Christ, with a program called, Say Yes To Jesus. We gave out certificates for all those who read or reread Steps to Christ. We were led in paths of righteousness for His name name sake.