Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 27, 2024.

Main Theme: We should remember that the proper response to the Lord’s nearness consists in a life of faith in Him and of obedience to His commandments. Nothing short of this faith and obedience will be acceptable to Him, as the history of Israel often revealed.

Read in Class: Psalm 40:1-3, Psalm 121:1-8. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study:  How is God involved in our daily affairs?

Apply: What are some practical ways that you can better experience the reality of God’s care? How can you better cooperate with God in order to enable Him to work within you and for you?

Share: Tell about a time when God came through for you when all human help failed?

Read in Class: Psalm 17:7-9, Psalm 31:1-3, Psalm 91:2-7. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What does the psalmist do in times of trouble?

Apply: How, though, do we deal with the times when calamity strikes, and we can’t seem to see the Lord’s protection? Why do these traumas not mean that the Lord is not there with us?

Share: Your friend asks, if God always hearing our prayers means we always get what we ask for? How do you answer your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 114:1-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How is the divine deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt poetically described here?

Apply: What are some of the spiritual dangers we face as believers, and how can we learn to lean on the Lord’s power to protect us from succumbing to these dangers that are as real for us now as they were for the psalmist?

Share: Your friend says that God literally delivered Israel from slavery, but does God literally deliver us from oppression or is it just symbolic of God delivering us from sin and spiritual oppression? How do you reply to your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 3:4, Psalm 14:7, Psalm 20:1-3. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study:  Where does help come from in these texts?

Apply: Read Hebrews 4:15-16. In what ways does this passage parallel what the psalmist says about the sanctuary?

Share: Can you think of someone who needs to be encouraged by something in this week’s lesson? How can you encourage them this week?