Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

nic."songs."them and He knew all their circumstances. Theymust trust Him that thosecircumstances werefor them at that time.the bestGod alwaysknows best and "always gives the bestto those who leave the choice to Him"for He made us and He died for us.When the Israelites were bitten bythe serpents they suffered pain andthen they wanted God. So boys and girlssometimes are naughty and disobeytheir parents, even run away, but whenthey are in pain or sick they want"Mother"and"Daddy."When the Israelites acknowledgedthey had done wrong and asked for forgiveness Moses prayed to God and Godanswered his prayer. He told Moses tomake a fieryserpent and set it on astandard. Then anyone bitten by a serpent would look upon the serpent of brasswould be immediately healed because heobeyed God and trusted Him to heal.Today we are to look to Jesus in faithand obey Him and He will give us aclean heart that will want to obey Himevery day. "Trust and obey for there'sno other way to be happy in Jesus butto trust and obey."Our memory verses point to Jesus'power to save us. He was lifted up onthe cross for our sins and we are to liftHim up in our lives to the world. Writein your notebook a number of ways inwhich we Christians can lift Jesus up tothe world.SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONAugust 7, 1955Rev. W. J. McBurney(Lessons based on international Sunday SchoolLessons; the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted by the InternationalCouncil of Religious Education.)THE EXILES IN BABYLON,Psalm 137:1-6; Jeremiah 29:1-14;Daniel 3:17, 18.Printed Text, Psalm 136:1-6; Jeremiah29:1, 5, 7, 12, 13; Daniel 3:13-18.Memory Verse, Daniel 3:17, 18.By the rivers of Babylon! This is oneof the sadest and most beautiful Psalms.The story is very simply told. The captive Jews in B'ablylon sat down besidethe river under the willow trees andwept when they thought of Zion, fromwhich they had been carried captive.Their captorscame and asked themto sing a song of Zion, to sing it withmirth. Nothing is stated as to the feelingof these slaves and their captors toward each other.Some think that the overture of themasters was in cruel ridicule. A metricalversion of the Psalm that we sang inthe 90srendered the third verse asfollows;"There cruel captors,flushed withpride,A song required to mock our wrongs;July 20, 1955Our spoilers called for mirth, andcried,Come, sing us one of Zion'sThe words in italics introducethoughts not offered in the Psalm. Matthew Henrysupports this charge ofcruel intent. He thinks the captors chosethe place of meeting as "the most melancholy place .... of solitude. "Then hethinks that they added to this wrongby insulting them, asking them to sing.He says, "This was very barbarous andinhuman."The translators of King James version showed a like view by the use ofthe word "required" in the third verse.The Hebrew word shaal though usedmany times, is not the common wordfor required. 87 times it is translatedask, 8 times ask counsel; 22 times request. In only 7 places is it translatedrequired. In the other six of theseplaces,the context would not permitthe thought of command or compulsion.Now look at the evidences of afriendly overture. Those slaves were allowed a holiday. At least a period ofleisure. They were not kept in a stockade under guard. They were allowedto meet together. If their masters chosetheir place of meeting, what more pleasant place could be described in so fewwords? Beside the river, under the willows. "Let's go there for our next picThe Babylonians had either heard, orheard of, the Hebrew songs. They evenknew the kind they wanted; the gladsongs of Zion. They do not require, butrequested mirth,a word usually translated gladness or joy. The captives wereweeping. Their masters thought thatjoyful songs would cheer them up. Thosepoor captives! When they thoughtof the glad songs of Zion, theywept the more. They had oftenneglected them, or sung them thoughtlesslyat home when the sun wasshining. But now, exiled from Zion, theyfelt their loss, and their shame. Theycould not sing those joyful songs. Butthey sang another; a song of heartrending sorrow. The sang of their captorsin words that were true and respectful,that could give no offence. They pouredout their hearts in lament for their losthome where they found their chief joyin their meetings to worship God. Perhaps their masters wept a little too.Then perhaps there was a mingling offeelings of sympathy, sorrow and revenge, they sang from their own prophets the story of the doom of Babylon.Whatever their feelings toward theircaptors, their song was true.We learn from Jeremiah in the nextpart of our lesson,that these slaveswere allowed to build their own homes,plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.Jeremiah urged them to take adventageof this generous opportunity. Where elsewere slaves ever allowed to have suchhomes? Not in America! In lessons following, we will see more of the kindness that king of Babylon offered toobedient Jews. Even the jealousies thatplotted the destruction of the Jewsproved that theywere given a goodchance to become prosperous.Tried By FireIn this incident we see both theunspeakable cruelty and the kindness ofBabylon's king. He had built a greatimage. We are not told what it represented. Perhaps it was an image of theking himself. In that case, bowing before it would have a little of what wemean by removing our hats when theNational Anthem is played. Even inour peaceful land, it might go ill withone who deliberately refused to take offhis hat in a football crowd when theband plays the Star Spangled Banner.At the Dominionpresume everyFair in Ottawa, IAmerican uncoveredwhen the U. S. Navy Band played "GodSave The King." And Every Canadianstood with hat off then they played"The Star Spangled Banner." The Jewsmight have eased their consciences bysaying that theywardly,could conform outwith mental reservation, butthat image attributed divinity to thestate through its king. This was morethan a patriotic or friendlygesture. Itwas having another god before God.The decision was not so difficult asit might seem. Shadrach said that theywere not careful to answer. The American Revised renders it more accuratelythat they "did not need toanswer."TheKing knew them. They had lived honorably in his service, and had not consealedtheir loyalty to the God ofIsrael. The had made the decision whenthey had accepted salvation through thecoming Messiah. There is a very definite value in the temperance pledge,whether written or "purposed in theheart."The temptation maycome unexpectedly among friends, business associates or fellow patriots. It may comeunder unusual, unexpected circumstances. One might hesitate to decide. Butif the decision is already made, that ismore than half the battle. It is all of it.There is nothing left to do, but to standvictorious.The Kingwas a victim of his ownpower. He could make a decree.could not unmake it.boys.HeHe knew theseHe liked them. He could trustthem. He wanted them in his service.He almost begged them to save himfrom his own decree of which he wasa helpless victim. God showed His powerby setting aside the king's decree, marvelously.43