The Highway for God......International Sunday School Lesson for December 5, 2010

ATTENTION:  Please note that this lesson on Isaiah 40:1-5, 25-26, 29-31 is for the 12-5-10 ISSL.  You will find the 11-28-2010 lesson, God Is All-Knowing, on the right side.

Jed

The Highway for God

International Sunday School Lesson

December 5, 2010

Commentary

By

Jed Greenough

Isaiah 40:1-5

Comfort for God’s People

 ¹ Comfort, comfort my people,
   says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
   and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
   that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
   double for all her sins.

 ³ A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
   the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
   a highway for our God
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
   every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
   the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
   and all mankind together will see it.
            For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:25-26

 ²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
   Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
   and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
   not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:29-31

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

Can you imagine a place where you are standing where it is completely flat?  There are no undulations, no varying topography, everything around you is the same level and then you look to your right and there roaring out from this plain is…….!

I do not believe I can do justice even in my mind’s eye what this sight will be like one day.  I have looked at the Tetons surging above the sagebrush flats and I have been to Alaska and been in awe as Mt. McKinley dwarfed what would be some major mountains elsewhere, but these all will be tumbled down as if forced to their knees in humility in recognition of our LORD.

Many commentaries for this week’s ISSL lesson will no doubt focus on Israel’s return from captivity in Babylon but I hope many more will not forget God’s use of double fulfillment of prophecy and that truly is what is in sight here as the past has been fulfilled, but the future, well obviously, it is yet to be!

What is yet to be fulfilled for Israel is the time we read about in Zechariah:

Zechariah 14

The LORD Comes and Reigns

 ¹ A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you.

 ² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.

 ³ Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

 ⁶ On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. ⁷ It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.

 ⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.

 ⁹ The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

 ¹⁰ The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ¹¹ It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.

Do you see that?  We see in Zechariah 14:10 the same thing as in verse 4 from today’s lesson, all the land around Jerusalem will be made flat, but Jerusalem will be raised up.  The day of the Lord is what is in sight here.  Finally, Jerusalem’s “hard service” will be completed “her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”

As I said many of the commentaries you so studiously read in your study preparation for Sunday will focus on the past instead of the future, they will be like parrots repeating the same thing.  And with regard to verse 2 just quoted, I will depart from what so many of them have been teaching for so long.

“Her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”  Now it is clear from the words of this verse, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” what city we are talking about and then we read this about Jerusalem, her “sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”  Now let’s look at Revelation 18 and the fall of Babylon, this isn’t the Babylon that invades Israel but a different future Babylon and we read in verse 6, “Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done.”  Read today’s verse 2 again, sound similar?  I am sure you know many who have taught that Rome is Babylon because of it being a city of seven hills and it fits like a neat little package into who they believe the antichrist is blah, blah, etc. etc.  But do a little research yourself and see how many hills Jerusalem has!!

Now today’s scripture contains a verse that we would be remiss if we did not explore it just a little, that being verse 3.

 ³ A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
   the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
   a highway for our God.

Who can read that verse and not think of:

Malachi 3:1 

 ¹ “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

And:

Malachi 4:5-6 

 ⁵ “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

And:

Matthew 3:3 

³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

   “A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.’”

And:

Matthew 17:11-12 

 ¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

Most would teach that John the Baptist fulfilled this and I agree but I don’t think based on the fact that Malachi 4 is talking about the Day of the Lord that we have seen the last of “Elijah”!

Do any doubt that Jerusalem based on all the prophecies we have such as the one we read in Zechariah 14 verse 2 above will not need comfort or that Israel has been paying a price for her sin for over 2000 years?  Or that one day the “glory of the LORD will be revealed and all mankind together will see it”?

No, one day all will know He has no equal, and those left alive in Jerusalem tired, weary and weak will according to Zechariah 12 be “so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God”!

Yes, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak”.

Zechariah 12:10-13:1 

Mourning for the One They Pierced

 ¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on^] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

 ¹ “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

For Discussion:

1. We can all be Elijah’s, we can all be a voice calling to “prepare the way for the LORD” and is in fact what we are to be doing through the work of the gospel.  (See http://workofthegospel.blogspot.com/ )
2. If today’s scripture is directed to Israel, discuss ways that you think it may also apply to Christians.
3. Discuss verse 3/Elijah/John the Baptist
4. Discuss verses 4 and 5, especially the fact that all mankind together will see the glory of the LORD revealed.
5. Find scripture that show Him giving power and strength to those in need.
6. Hebrews 12:1-3

(Please join me next week for commentary on the International Sunday School Lesson for December 12^th, 2010, I Am Your God, Isaiah 41:8-10, 17-20)

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

God Is All-Knowing........International Sunday School Lesson for November 28, 2010

ATTENTION!! As usual I am ahead of the game, please be aware that this is my commentary for the International Sunday School Lesson for November 28th and you will find November 21st below this one or on the right hand side.

Have a great Thanksgiving! 

Blessings!

Jed

God Is All-Knowing……..International Sunday School Lesson for

 November 28, 2010

 By

 Jed Greenough

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16, 23-24

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be.

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

I will bet there are some of you out there today that really don’t like this psalm.  There’s just something that gets in your craw when you read things like, “Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” Or, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Ah, foreknowledge and predestination, these are the things from which entire denominations spring!

I don’t want to get into any debates such as these create but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get a little controversial but first let’s go back to the International Sunday School Lesson for November 21, 2010 where I closed with this question concerning Israel, “If they did not have faith…..why did He choose them?”

During the last couple weeks of the International Sunday School lessons we read Psalm 90 and Psalm 91.  In Psalm 90 we read the prayer of Moses concerning his people who over the course of 40 years were dying in the desert rather than the Promised Land and we contrasted that with last week’s Psalm 91 where the people in sight in this psalm were dwelling in His midst.

And now today’s psalm which says, to put it succinctly, God knows everything.

I am very comfortable with this aspect of God; however I know that many people are not.   They do not like to think that He knows who will be saved or not or who will succeed and who will fail.

Which finally leads me back to that question concerning Israel, why did He choose them?

He knew that when they were free of Egypt that they would almost immediately grumble that they would have been better off there.

He knew that they would turn to idol worship even as He was giving Moses the commandments that contain prohibitions against it.

He knew despite all the victories He gave them over nations there would be doubt about victory over others.

He knew that before His temple was built that it would not always stand.

He knew that this people would crucify His son.

I could surmise things that may or may not be true with why they were chosen but I do know this, there is no doubt that they were and still are chosen and that He knew every choice they would and will make.

What does God know about you?

I certainly have been asking a lot of questions lately and I hope these questions cause you to pause and ponder.  I think this pondering is helpful, I think that it brings maturity to our faith even though some things like God’s foreknowledge as it says in verse 6 from today, “is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”  We just can’t wrap our brains around it if you will, but that is okay because if we trust Him “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.  For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:28-30

If, as I said, there are some out there who don’t like today’s psalm, I am as certain as certain can be that you don’t like Romans 8:28-30 either!

Consider:

1 Corinthians 2:14

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

Are you struggling with accepting some of the aspects of your faith and is that troubling you?

In order to truly come to Him and accept the things that come from Him you must quit this struggle.  Pray to Him the words of verses 23 and 24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Those things in your faith that you are anxious about, that you struggle with, perhaps due to pride that you have been unwilling to leave behind, you need to surrender to Him in order to believe and accept all the scriptures and not just those that suit you.  You must accept that no one can come to Him on their own power, or by their own spirit or on their own two feet but only on their knees.

If you cannot accept this, He knew you wouldn’t and if you do surrender, He always knew you would!

For Discussion:

1. Consider Verses 2 and 4 and Romans 8:26-27 with regard to our thoughts.
2. Gather interpretations of verse 5 from the members of the class.
3. With regard to verse 15, how is the womb like the depths of the earth?
4. There are no doubt wide and varying interpretations concerning God’s foreknowledge and predestination within your class.  These matters should not be avoided but should be handled with discernment.
5. Some would question God’s word when scripture such as todays are read.  Be prepared to defend His word.
6. Consider that verses 23- 24 are easy to say and read but to pray this in earnest one should be prepared for what God will do!  Discussion of this fact may reveal to the class what they truly have buried in their hearts!

(Next week’s International Sunday School Lesson for December 5, 2010 will be The Highway for God looking at Isaiah 40:1-5, 25-26, 29-31)

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

God Delivers and Protects....International Sunday School Lesson for November 21, 2010

^{Psalm 91:1-6, 9-16}

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”

 ³ Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
   and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

When last we met to discuss the scripture for last week’s International Sunday School Lesson we talked about Psalm 90 and the prayer of Moses concerning his people, the people of Israel. 

In that psalm we saw the mortality of man; to put it bluntly we saw death.

There was no salvation in sight for these people who continually had rebelled against God but rather there was punishment.

Punishment is for the guilty and God says He will not leave the guilty unpunished, but here in today’s psalm there is no punishment or death but rather the complete opposite is found for those who call on the name of the Lord.

At first glance, this psalm might be taken as simply poetic, and it is beautiful to read for the imagery that comes in to one’s mind.

For me, I see lofty crags and an eagle’s nest, with a powerful eagle sheltering it’s young beneath its wings, an imposing and formidable guardian should anyone ever dare approach.

The poetic part of this is so strong and beautiful that we might just wax away about this beauty and fail to see the difference between last week and this week.

Last week was really quite sad when we saw the weight that was upon Moses when we read Psalm 90.  Moses must have sent up thousands of prayers over the course of 40 years, but we know that this one would not change the course this time for the people of Israel, God had had enough, He had reached the limit of His patience with them and all that were over the age of 20, with only a couple exceptions, were to die in the desert and would never see the Promised Land.

Today we have the opposite.  What is in sight here are not stiff-necked people but those who bow down to God.  The result is that their dwelling is with God.  Instead of distrust we see trust.  Instead of scorpion stings we see eagle’s wings.

We see sheltering, guarding, lifting, protecting all available to those who call on Him.

The devil in his tempting or testing of Jesus rather foolishly quoted a portion of this vary psalm when he took Jesus to the highest point on the temple and said, “Throw yourself down.  For it is written:  He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”  But of course Jesus answered him, “It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Have you ever put God to the test?  Or how about when you have made the Most High your dwelling, have you been delivered inexplicably from some peril?  I have, ask me about it some time!

What do you think is the difference from the people that are in sight here when you compare the people of last week’s Psalm 90 and this week’s Psalm 91?

Yes, the latter takes refuge in the Lord and clearly the former did not.  But why did they not?  Look at what the people of Israel had to go with.  They had their deliverance from bondage that occurred through clearly visible great wonders that God used against Pharaoh and Egypt.  Imagine witnessing the plagues, the manna, the quail, the water from the rock, the defeating of nations, the pillars of cloud and fire, the parting of the sea, the sights and sounds on Mount Sinai; none of these were enough. 

I do not know why they didn’t have it, but the difference that I see between the people of Psalm 90 and Psalm 91 is that the Israelites despite all that they saw did not have faith.

Why is it that some can see God’s miracles and it isn’t enough for them but some can simply hear of God’s miracles and that is enough?  In other words, why do some have faith and others not?

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

The people of Israel saw all the things I mentioned and had no choice but to believe but yet they did not have faith.

If they did not have faith, I ask you to ponder this question, why did He choose them?

For Discussion:

1. Consider life’s worst moments for those who do not dwell in His shelter.
2. Look at other scripture that references wings especially Matthew 23:37.
3. Have you or has anyone that you know experienced verse 11?
4. Discuss faith.
5. Consider the question of why God chose Israel.

Next week the International Sunday School Lesson for November 28, 2010 will look at Psalm 139:1-6, 13-16, 23-24

Our Days Are Numbered.....International Sunday School Lesson for November 14, 2010

Our Days Are Numbered…….International Sunday School Lesson for November 14, 2010

Commentary

by

Jed Greenough

Psalm 90:1-12 

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

   

 ¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place
   throughout all generations.
² Before the mountains were born
   or you brought forth the whole world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

 ³ You turn people back to dust,
   saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
⁴ A thousand years in your sight
   are like a day that has just gone by,
   or like a watch in the night.
⁵ Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
   they are like the new grass of the morning:
⁶ In the morning it springs up new,
   but by evening it is dry and withered.

 ⁷ We are consumed by your anger
   and terrified by your indignation.
⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
   our secret sins in the light of your presence.
⁹ All our days pass away under your wrath;
   we finish our years with a moan.
¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
   or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
   for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
¹¹ If only we knew the power of your anger!
   Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
¹² Teach us to number our days,
   that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

If you haven’t read it, you may want to go back to the archives and read the lesson from September 19^th of this year.  In that lesson entitled The Golden Calf we read how the people of Israel who had been blessed with so much, had quickly turned to idol worship during the absence of Moses while he was on the mountain with God.

Imagine the pain that Moses, who every day spent all his waking moments and no doubt many of his dreams as well thinking of how to best lead his people, must have felt in coming down the mountain and finding his people engaging in such evil.

God in his anger could have destroyed them but for Moses plea He did not.  God did not destroy them that day but as He says in Exodus 34, “He does not leave the guilty unpunished.”

For Israel that rebellion was not the only one.  God called them a stiff-necked people and they continued to live up to the name and Moses continued to intercede on their behalf.

Finally, their contempt reached a climax at Kadesh (Exodus 13-14) and God vowed that all the people over the age of 20, with a couple exceptions, would not enter the Promised Land but instead would suffer in the desert for 40 years. 

This then is the picture we can have in our mind’s eye when we go back and read today’s scripture again and think of the things that Moses saw being played out in the desert day after day over the course of 40 years.

Moses said, “You turn men back to dust.” And, “You sweep men away….they are like the new grass” that by the evening is “dry and withered.”  “We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.  You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.  All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.”  And finally, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

What do you remember most of your youth?  For most of us, youth is a time of joy and not so much being care-free as being free of care, if you follow me, they don’t even know what care is!

When we are young the world revolves around us so much that when we think about other people it is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that other people have lives too.

It isn’t until we have reached adulthood that most of us start seeing ourselves as one grain of sand on a beach of many and it is from that point on that we seek meaning for our lives.

In my own life the process has led to a regret of years that I didn’t realize that I have a responsibility to you and to all the others that I might reach with the news of God and what it is that He has in store for us. 

If we could somehow impart on the youth and even adults this need to “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”!

Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come.”

The days of trouble, the days when youth disappears and you realize that you are mortal.  With this realization comes a fear, and with that fear we do begin to gain a heart of wisdom.  The sooner we gain that heart the sooner we can make a difference.

What difference would you make?

Moses, I am sure you would agree, was a servant of God.

Israel, it could be said, was a nation of servants to God.

As you can tell from the weight you can sense in this psalm, much was expected of Moses as a servant in charge.

Now again consider yourself; consider Matthew 24: 45-51

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We Christians, you and me, are like Moses. We are the servant in charge and our fellow men, like Israel, are our fellow servants.  We have been given a responsibility, a charge, if you will and if we were to write out our prayers, we should sense the weight of that responsibility as we can sense it in today’s psalm.

May God teach us to number our days so that we might all have the wisdom to see this responsibility.

For Discussion:

1. Not everyone with whom you study is at the same place with the fact that they are like grass that withers away.  Keeping in mind this disparity, discuss this fact with your class.
2. Since not all are ready to confront their mortality, is it important to try and impress it upon them?
3. Discuss how we can draw strength from comparing our mortality to God’s immortality.
4. Discuss the value of learning to number our days, i.e. How would you live if you knew you had 30 days left to live?
5. Despite Moses himself having to wander 40 years in the desert, discuss his reward.
6. If you agree with my teaching that we are “servants in charge” with a responsibility to our fellow servants, discuss this need “to give them their food at the proper time.”

(Next week the International Sunday School Lesson for November 14, 2010 will look at Psalm 91:1-6, 9-16)

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Make His Praise Glorious! International Sunday School Lesson for November 7, 2010 by Jed Greenough

Make His Praise Glorious!

International Sunday School Lesson for November 7, 2010

By

Jed Greenough

Psalm 66:1-12 

 ¹ Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

 ² Sing the glory of his name;
       make his praise glorious!

 ³ Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!
       So great is your power
       that your enemies cringe before you.

 ⁴ All the earth bows down to you;
       they sing praise to you,
       they sing praise to your name."
       Selah

 ⁵ Come and see what God has done,
       how awesome his works in man's behalf!

 ⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,
       they passed through the waters on foot—
       come, let us rejoice in him.

 ⁷ He rules forever by his power,
       his eyes watch the nations—
       let not the rebellious rise up against him.
       Selah

 ⁸ Praise our God, O peoples,
       let the sound of his praise be heard;

 ⁹ he has preserved our lives
       and kept our feet from slipping.

 ¹⁰ For you, O God, tested us;
       you refined us like silver.

 ¹¹ You brought us into prison
       and laid burdens on our backs.

 ¹² You let men ride over our heads;
       we went through fire and water,
       but you brought us to a place of abundance.

As I have said elsewhere in this blog, you don’t have to be a member of a church or Sunday School class that follows the ISSL to use this schedule for studying His word, but I do hope that what we discuss today will result in your sharing it with others.

I think that God, like you, enjoys being praised!  I hope that it hasn’t been so long since you were praised that you have forgotten how good it feels!  Some praise is of such a nature that it can carry you along, smooth out some rough days and be played back in your head when things aren’t so great.  Thinking about your self, consider that God might not be so different.

The vast numbers of people are broken down into different categories:

Those that give God no consideration

Those that curse God

Those that only ask things of God

Those that have a relationship with God

The final group is the one we want to belong to of course.  When we are in a relationship with Him, He is in our thoughts always, we ask and He answers and we thank Him.

Our psalm for today’s International Sunday School Lesson begins with “Shout with joy to God” and “make His praise glorious”.  Do I, do you, do that as well as we should?

The next time you attend worship service, and those going forward, make an effort to keep the words of this psalm in mind as you are singing praises to Him.  Don’t let your mind drift to the roast at home, or the fact that your neighbor is a little off key.  Instead, use the voices of the others so that you feel less conspicuous and make your joyful noise to God.  Make it as glorious a praise as your ability allows!

And it isn’t just worshiping with others that calls for this level of praise.  You might be in the quiet of your room or even the space of your mind and you can still praise Him in the spirit of this type of praise.  Lift up your heart to Him in ways that words cannot even express, for the Spirit that is within you will convey it to Him!

The next thing I would like you to notice from today’s psalm are verses 5 and 6.  Here we see God being praised for a long past deliverance.  The people remembered and they gave praise and thanks.  We would be remiss if we ourselves do not learn from this example.

I am happy to say that there are things that I still thank God for concerning matters from several years ago in which He answered my prayers, but yet I am also sad to say that there are things that I have forgotten to thank Him for at all.

This brings to mind the lyrics I remember from a Garth Brook’s song, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers”.  Sometimes I remember to give thanks for those things unanswered as well.  Unfortunately, it might take a little while, sometimes years for me to be grateful I am afraid, but you know “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

So remember what He has done for you and yours, those things known and the unknown both now and forever and praise Him!

If we look ahead to verses 10-12 we read, “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.  You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.  You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.”

We could certainly do much with the word refine, but alas I said last week we wouldn’t go into prophecy and I would have to in order to give the subject its due but I think we can give these verses the attention they need by again visiting the book of Romans.

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:1-5)

And:

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

As is often the case when those that choose the verses we study for the ISSL leave off part of a chapter I have to consider all of it.  (Why do they do that?)  Anyway, I look at the remaining verses and would like to pull out verses 16-20 to add to today’s lesson.

 ¹⁶ “Come and listen, all you who fear God;
       let me tell you what he has done for me.

 ¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
       his praise was on my tongue.

 ¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
       the Lord would not have listened;

 ¹⁹ but God has surely listened
       and heard my voice in prayer.

 ²⁰ Praise be to God,
       who has not rejected my prayer
       or withheld his love from me!

To summarize these 5 verses, may we remember to speak to others about what God does for us, that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16a), that God answers prayers according to His infinite wisdom, and that we need to praise Him for doing so.

So as we close today, let’s recall how I broke down people into those groups, and consider how few in the world really praise Him and thank Him and unfortunately how that number includes those He has blessed. 

Let’s take the time to praise Him without asking Him for anything, thank Him when He answers our prayers and remember to praise Him long afterwards!

For Discussion:

1. The deliverance of Israel from Pharaoh in the Red Sea is mentioned in verse 6 and God is praised all this time later.  Share praise to God for a past deliverance and encourage others in the class to praise Him in this way.
2. Discuss with your class the need to consider verses 16 through 20 as we discussed them.
3. Discuss with your class how we are encouraged to sing hymns and psalms in our worship as individuals. (as seen in today’s psalm and many others including Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16)
4. Is this still possible with all forms of contemporary worship today?
5. Consider verse 9 and ways you may not have considered previously that God may have kept your “feet from slipping”.
6. How has God refined or how is God refining you?

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.