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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Obedience to natural laws is obedience to divine laws. Christ came to all as the God of nature. He came to reflect upon all the things of nature in their relative importance, the glory of heaven, to impress human minds with the glory of Him who created all things, to teach men to obey His voice, and impart the science of true education, which is the simplicity of true religion. [Psalm 19:1-6 quoted.]
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Then the psalmist connects the law of God in the natural world with the laws given to His created intelligences. [Psalm 19:7-14 quoted.]
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This psalm reveals that higher education which all must receive, or perish in their sins. Man alone is disobedient to the laws of Jehovah. When the Lord bids nature bear testimony to the things which He has made, instantly they witness to the glory of God.
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Christ represents the earthly things, that they may represent the spiritual. The parable of the sower and the seed has a lesson of the highest importance. As a lesson-book Christ has opened it before us to represent the spiritual sowing. The Lord calls attention to the things which He has created, and those things repeat the lessons of Christ. He bids the things of nature speak to the senses, that man may take heed to the voice of God therein. The things of nature speak eternal truths (Manuscript 28, 1898).
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1 (see EGW comment on Isaiah 40:26). Moon and Stars May Be Our Companions—The heavens may be to them [the youth] a study-book, from which they may learn lessons of intense interest. The moon and the stars may be their companions, speaking to them in the most eloquent language of the love of God (The Youth′s Instructor, October 25, 1900).
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Natural Science, God′s Storehouse—If the follower of Christ will believe His Word and practice it, there is no science in the natural world but he will be able to grasp and appropriate, nothing but will furnish him means by which he can impart truth to others. Natural science is God′s storehouse from which every student in the school of Christ may draw. The ways of God in natural philosophy, and the mysteries connected with His dealings with man, are a treasury from which all may draw (Manuscript 95, 1898).
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Science and Religion Cannot Be Divorced—Nature is full of lessons of the love of God. Rightly understood, these lessons lead to the Creator. They point from nature to nature′s God, teaching those simple, holy truths which cleanse the mind, bringing it into close touch with God. These lessons emphasize the truth that science and religion cannot be divorced.
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Christ came to this earth to teach men the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But men could not by human reasoning understand His lessons. Man′s wisdom cannot originate the science which is divine.... When man is reconciled to God, nature speaks to him in words of heavenly wisdom, bearing testimony to the eternal truth of God′s Word. As Christ tells us the meaning of the things in nature, the science of true religion flashes forth, explaining the relation of the law of God to the natural and spiritual world (Manuscript 67, 1901).
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1-3 (see EGW comment on Psalm 147:4). Study of Creation Lifts the Mind—If the frivolous and pleasure-seeking will allow their minds to dwell upon the real and the true, the heart cannot but be filled with reverence, and they will adore the God of nature. The study of God′s character as revealed in His created works will open a field of thought that will draw the mind away from low, enervating pleasures. The knowledge of God′s works and ways we can only begin to obtain in this world; the study will be continued throughout eternity (The Youth′s Instructor, May 6, 1897).
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1-6. Forces of Nature Are God′s Ministers—[Psalm 19:1-6 quoted.] God encourages us to contemplate His works in the natural world. He desires that we shall turn our mind from the study of the artificial to the natural. We shall understand this better as we lift up our eyes to the hills of God, and contemplate the works which His own hands have created. They are God′s work. His hand has molded the mountains and balances them in their position, that they shall not be moved except at His command. The wind, the sun, the rain, the snow, and the ice, are all His ministers to do His will (Manuscript 16, 1897).
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