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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It was Christ who guided the Israelites through the wilderness. And it is Christ who is guiding His people today, showing them where and how to work (Letter 335, 1904).
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13, 14. The Meaning of Enduring Wisdom—True wisdom is a treasure as lasting as eternity. Many of the world′s so-called wise men are wise only in their own estimation. Content with the acquisition of worldly wisdom, they never enter the garden of God, to become acquainted with the treasures of knowledge contained in His holy Word. Supposing themselves to be wise, they are ignorant concerning the wisdom which all must have who gain eternal life. They cherish a contempt for the Book of God, which, if studied and obeyed, would make them truly wise. The Bible is to them an impenetrable mystery. The grand, deep truths of the Old and New Testaments are obscure to them, because spiritual things are not spiritually discerned. They need to learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that without this wisdom, their learning is of little worth.
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Those who are striving for an education in the sciences, but who have not learned the lesson that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, are working helplessly and hopelessly, questioning the reality of everything. They may acquire an education in the sciences, but unless they gain a knowledge of the Bible and a knowledge of God, they are without true wisdom. The unlearned man, if he knows God and Jesus Christ, has a more enduring wisdom than has the most learned man who despises the instruction of God (Manuscript 33, 1911).
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17 (1 Timothy 4:8). Devotion to God Advances Health and Cheerfulness—The wise man says that wisdom′s “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”Proverbs 3:17. Many cherish the impression that devotion to God is detrimental to health and to cheerful happiness in the social relations of life. But those who walk in the path of wisdom and holiness find that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”1 Timothy 4:8. They are alive to the enjoyment of life′s real pleasures, while they are not troubled with vain regrets over misspent hours, nor with gloom or horror of mind, as the worldling too often is when not diverted by some exciting amusement....
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Godliness does not conflict with the laws of health, but is in harmony with them. Had men ever been obedient to the law of ten commandments, had they carried out in their lives the principles of these ten precepts, the curse of disease that now floods the world would not be.... One whose mind is quiet and satisfied in God is on the highway to health (The Signs of the Times, October 23, 1884).
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18. Christian Life Lights Way for Others—A soul filled with the love of Jesus lends to the words, the manners, the looks, hope, courage and serenity. It reveals the spirit of Christ. It breathes a love which will be reflected. It awakens a desire for a better life; souls ready to faint are strengthened; those struggling against temptation will be fortified and comforted. The words, the expression, the manners throw out a bright ray of sunshine, and leave behind them a clear path toward heaven, the source of all light. Every one of us has opportunities of helping others. We are constantly making impressions upon the youth about us. The expression of the countenance is itself a mirror of the life within. Jesus desires that we shall become like Himself, filled with tender sympathy, exerting a ministry of love in the small duties of life (Manuscript 24, 1887).
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The Light Burns Dimly—The light which is given to shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day, burns dimly. The church no longer sends out the clear bright rays of light amidst the moral darkness that is enveloping the world as a funeral pall. The light of many does not burn or shine. They are moral icebergs (Letter 1f, 1890).
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