“During the patriarchal age the influence of the Holy Spirit had often been revealed in a marked manner, but never in its fullness. Now, in obedience to the word of the Saviour, the disciples offered their supplications for this gift, and in heaven Christ added His intercession. He claimed the gift of the Spirit, that He might pour it upon His people.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 37.
Read Psalm 67. How does this hymn of praise inform your understanding of the role of God’s people in Revelation 14:6–12?
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a new black coating that renders objects painted with it nearly invisible. Created from nanotubes, it is many times darker than any black material previously created. This new material can absorb 99.995 percent of all visible light. Even the brightest light fails to make objects covered in this coating visible.
Read Psalm 75. Read also Matthew 26:26–29 and Revelation 14:9–12. What does this psalm reveal about some of the issues at stake in the judgment, and how do these other texts help us understand these issues?
Read Psalm 47:1–4. What does it say about our place, ultimately, in Christ’s kingdom?
Long term, the future is bright. Until then, humanity ceded dominion over the planet to Lucifer, and by the time Satan appeared at the heavenly council in Job, he boasted that this earth belonged to him.
“ ‘From where do you come?’ ” God asked.
“ ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it,’ ” he replied (Job 1:7, NKJV).
Much of the language in the book of Psalms is symbolic, but when it comes to the language that points forward to the ultimate resetting of our planet, we have little reason to believe that it is merely symbolic. Psalm 46 reminds us that the physical earth will be deeply affected by Christ’s return. But it is not merely the rocks and ocean that will be affected; the grand climax of earth’s history will mean the breakdown of worldly kingdoms—the miserable systems of human government that have caused so much suffering over the millennia.
Read Psalm 46. What message of hope can we take from this amid the turmoil of life now and what we know is going to come upon the earth in the last days as the great controversy plays out here?
Psalm 46 appears to touch on a theme that we find in the book of Hebrews: that of something better. Jesus is better than the earthly high priest, His sacrifice is better than all the animal sacrifices, and the heavenly sanctuary is better than the types that existed on earth.
“The psalms of David pass through the whole range of experience, from the depths of conscious guilt and self-condemnation to the loftiest faith and the most exalted communing with God. His life record declares that sin can bring only shame and woe, but that God’s love and mercy can reach to the deepest depths, that faith will lift up the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God. Of all the assurances which His word contains, it is one of the strongest testimonies to the faithfulness, the justice, and the covenant mercy of God. . . .
After the Lord had appeared to Isaiah in the throne room scene of Isaiah 6:1–8, and after Isaiah had been told that his “iniquity is taken away” and his “sin purged,” he then answered God’s call by saying, “ ‘Here am I! Send me’ ” (Isa. 6:8, NKJV). That is, once he knew that he was right with God, and despite knowing his faults, he was ready to work for the Lord.
Is it not the same with us? How can we proclaim salvation to others if we don’t have it ourselves? And we can have it, by faith in Jesus and what He has done for us.
