The struggle that David went through, every other follower of Christ must go through. Satan has come down with great power, knowing that his time is short. The controversy is being waged in full view of the heavenly universe, and angels stand ready to lift up for God′s hard pressed soldiers a standard against the enemy, and to put into their lips songs of victory and rejoicing (Manuscript 38, 1905).
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5. All Paths Are Beset With Peril—You need not be surprised if everything in the journey heavenward is not pleasant. There is no use in looking to our own defects. Looking unto Jesus, the darkness passes away, and the true light shineth. Go forth daily, expressing the prayer of David, “Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”Psalm 17:5. All the paths of life are beset with peril, but we are safe if we follow where the Master leads the way, trusting the One whose voice we hear saying, “Follow Me.”“He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”John 8:12. Let your heart repose in His love. We need sanctification, soul, body, and spirit. This we must seek for (NL No. 11, p. 2).
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3. Determination Increases Will Power—As you confess before men and women your confidence in the Lord, additional strength is imparted to you. Determine to praise Him. With firm determination comes increased will power; and soon you will find that you cannot help praising Him [Psalm 18:3 quoted] (Manuscript 116, 1902).
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25. An Illustration of Mercy and Uprightness—The psalmist continues: “With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful.”Psalm 18:25. Let us begin to put into practise the instruction given us in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, showing mercy to those who are afflicted. “With an upright man Thou wilt shew Thyself upright.”Psalm 18:25. God will reward men according to their uprightness (Manuscript 116, 1902).
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26. God Meets Us Where We Are—“With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt shew Thyself froward”(Psalm 18:26)—that is, as God meets us where we are, so we are to meet men where they are. Let us not, by refusing to meet our fellow-men where they are, place ourselves outside the compass of God′s love and mercy (Manuscript 116, 1902).
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(Psalm 119:130.) Teach Lessons From the Heavens—God calls upon teachers to behold the heavens and study the works of God in nature. [Psalm 19:1-3 quoted.] Shall we not commit to memory the lessons nature teaches? Shall we not open the eyes of our senses; and take in the beautiful things of God? We would do well to read often the nineteenth psalm that we may understand how the Lord binds up His law with His created works....
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We are to contemplate the wonderful works of God, and repeat the lessons learned from them to our children, that we may lead them to see His skill, His power, His grandeur in His created works.
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What a God is our God! He rules over His kingdom with diligence and care, and He has built a hedge—the ten commandments—about His subjects, to preserve them from transgression. In requiring obedience to the laws of His kingdom, God gives His people health and happiness, peace and joy. He teaches them that the perfection of character He requires can only be attained by becoming familiar with His Word. The psalmist declares, “The entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple”(Psalm 119:130) (Manuscript 96, 1899).
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1-14. A Revelation of Higher Education—When the Son of man came among men, He brought the intelligence of heaven with Him; for He created the worlds and all things that are therein. Man′s study of the sciences and nature, unaided by the divine instruction, falls short of the precious things Christ would have him learn in the things of the natural world. He fails to be instructed by the little things in nature, which teach large and important truths essential for the salvation of the soul.
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