“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” lamented the Jewish captives by the rivers of Babylon upon being asked by their captors to sing some of the songs of Zion (Ps. 137:1–4, NKJV). Indeed, how can we sing and praise God amid suffering and death? This question embodies one of the great paradoxes of Christianity. Once again, the essential aspect here is understanding the source of joy and praise: God Himself. Having such an understanding does not mean that God forces, or programs, us to sing His praises. On the contrary, if it were true that God predestines us to praise Him, the world would be doing just that in unison; but this is obviously not the case.
Rather, God is the Source of praise by being who He is, our Creator and our Savior, our King and our Father, our Judge and our Friend. He is awesome! One basic principle of Christian life in this world is that praising God in the crucible is possible when we live a continuous—not occasional—life of praise. Another principle is that praising God in times of crises springs out of our relationship with God, in which we know, love, and trust Him.
Lesson Themes: This week’s lesson highlights two major themes.
Joy and praise are rooted in our deep and meaningful relationship with God, as part of our life, as a lifestyle.
Christian joy and praise are not only beneficial to our health and to overcoming crucibles but also are used by God in saving others.
Part II: Commentary
Joy in Suffering
Horace Williams, Jr., the author of award-winning Unleash the Power of Prayer in Your Life, identifies eight purposes God achieves in our lives when He uses our own suffering for our benefit. According to Williams, God uses suffering to “divulge sin in our lives, develop our faith, demolish our pride, determine our paths, demonstrate His grace, display His love, deepen our commitment to Him, deliver hope, comfort, and joy.”—Horace Williams, Jr., The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, Kindle ed. (Black Lillie Press, 2020), p. 11. How does God give us joy through suffering? Williams shares that “joy is more than happiness based on an outcome or circumstance. Joy is the supernatural delight in God’s purpose for our lives. Joy is something that God offers us in the midst of our pain and suffering. We must choose to live with joy. ‘But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness every morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress’ (Psalm 59:16).”—The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, p. 90. Williams concludes that “experiencing joy doesn’t mean that I no longer experience pain. Instead, it means that God is bringing me to a place where I now have the inclination to ask Him, ‘What do You want me to see in this distressing circumstance, Lord?’ ”—The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, p. 97. What Williams himself sees in his sufferings that gives him joy is God’s presence in the present and eternal life in the future.
Polycarp Praises God on the Pyre
Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138–161) continued Emperor Trajan’s policy and practice of persecuting Christians. In a.d. 155, a crowd brought a group of Christians to the authorities of the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor to be convicted and punished. When the Christians refused to acknowledge the gods of the empire, they were punished by death. Afterward, the crowd demanded that Polycarp, the bishop of the church in Smyrna, be brought before the city. A disciple and friend of the apostle John, the old Polycarp also was a widely known and influential Christian leader in Asia and beyond. When Polycarp finally was brought into the amphitheater, the proconsul tried to persuade him to recant his faith and curse Christ.
The faithful disciple of Jesus replied: “For eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king, who saved me?” When, eventually, the proconsul condemned him to be burned on the pyre and the soldiers tied him to the stake, Polycarp prayed and praised God with a loud voice: “Lord Sovereign God . . . I thank you that you have deemed me worthy of this moment, so that, jointly with your martyrs, I may have a share in the cup of Christ. . . . For this . . . I bless and glorify you. Amen.”—Justo L. González, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, The Story of Christianity, vol. 1, revised and updated ed. (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010), p. 54.
Polycarp was only one of thousands of Christians who, following biblical characters such as David and Paul, praised God from amid persecution and the trials of life. Those early Christians praised God from the flames, from the stakes, from the amphitheaters full of wild animals, from crosses, from the prison cells, and from the chambers of torture. They did not think about the injustice done to them; they did not calculate the cost-benefit ratio of their act. They loved and trusted God and did not hesitate to make a radical and ultimate commitment to Him. They did not consider it a hardship to die for their Lord. Rather, they considered it a privilege to suffer and die for their beloved Savior. They unhesitatingly trusted God and His promise of resurrection and considered death but a moment in time on their way to meet their Lord in glory. Writing about the experience of David as he faced the rebellion of his son Absalom, Ellen G. White notes David’s habit in resorting to singing and praising God in times of trouble: “What were the feelings of the father and king, so cruelly wronged, in this terrible peril? ‘A mighty valiant man,’ a man of war, a king, whose word was law, betrayed by his son whom he had loved and indulged and unwisely trusted, wronged and deserted by subjects bound to him by the strongest ties of honor and fealty—in what words did David pour out the feelings of his soul? In the hour of his darkest trial, David’s heart was stayed upon God, and he sang . . . Psalm 3:1-8.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 741, 742.
In chapter 2 of The Great Controversy, entitled “Persecutions in the First Centuries,” Ellen G. White describes how singing and praising God gave Christians the most genuine and deep joy and peace amid the fiercest affliction and persecution: “Like God’s servants of old, many were ‘tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.’ . . . These called to mind the words of their Master, that when persecuted for Christ’s sake, they were to be exceeding glad, for great would be their reward in heaven; for so the prophets had been persecuted before them. They rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the truth, and songs of triumph ascended from the midst of crackling flames. Looking upward by faith, they saw Christ and angels leaning over the battlements of heaven, gazing upon them with the deepest interest and regarding their steadfastness with approval. A voice came down to them from the throne of God: ‘Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’ Revelation 2:10.”—The Great Controversy, p. 41.
Conditions for Rejoicing in Crucibles
Praising God and rejoicing in Him in a crisis are possible only when we are certain about the goodness and justice of the cause or the Person for whom we fight. In our case, the cause and the Person are One. Rejoicing amid trials and persecutions is possible when we trust God, when we understand Him and His plans, when we are convinced that God is just and good and that He and His cause are worthy of our total and radical commitment. Thus, rejoicing amid crucibles springs out of the realization (1) that God is real and that He is good; (2) that He created us, that we are His, that He loves us, and that we love Him back; (3) that the great controversy is real, that it is Satan’s attack on God and on us, and that God is on our side and we are on His; (4) that God redeems us from the power of sin and of Satan and that we and God, in Christ, are, and will be, victorious; and (5) that God’s cause or mission of bringing salvation to the whole world is worth all the suffering we must endure, even, if need be, unto death.
Part III: Life Application
Read Habakkuk 3:16, 17, and think about how you can rejoice in your own suffering. How can you praise God in moments of affliction?
Music is a powerful motivation for such human activities as working, exercising, and fighting. For instance, military forces around the world have their own music that raises the morale of their soldiers. Examine the music that motivates your spiritual life. How much joy and peace do you experience in your life of praise and singing to God?
Commit to learning old and new songs by heart in order to sing them from memory and with understanding. When in a difficult situation, sing a song. How will this experience help you become victorious and/or sustain you?
Notes
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Key Text: Philippians 4:4
Study Focus: Josh. 5:13–6:20, 2 Chron. 20:1–30, Psalm 145, Acts 16:16–34, Phil. 4:4–7.
Part I: Overview
“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” lamented the Jewish captives by the rivers of Babylon upon being asked by their captors to sing some of the songs of Zion (Ps. 137:1–4, NKJV). Indeed, how can we sing and praise God amid suffering and death? This question embodies one of the great paradoxes of Christianity. Once again, the essential aspect here is understanding the source of joy and praise: God Himself. Having such an understanding does not mean that God forces, or programs, us to sing His praises. On the contrary, if it were true that God predestines us to praise Him, the world would be doing just that in unison; but this is obviously not the case.
Rather, God is the Source of praise by being who He is, our Creator and our Savior, our King and our Father, our Judge and our Friend. He is awesome! One basic principle of Christian life in this world is that praising God in the crucible is possible when we live a continuous—not occasional—life of praise. Another principle is that praising God in times of crises springs out of our relationship with God, in which we know, love, and trust Him.
Lesson Themes: This week’s lesson highlights two major themes.
Joy and praise are rooted in our deep and meaningful relationship with God, as part of our life, as a lifestyle.
Christian joy and praise are not only beneficial to our health and to overcoming crucibles but also are used by God in saving others.
Part II: Commentary
Joy in Suffering
Horace Williams, Jr., the author of award-winning Unleash the Power of Prayer in Your Life, identifies eight purposes God achieves in our lives when He uses our own suffering for our benefit. According to Williams, God uses suffering to “divulge sin in our lives, develop our faith, demolish our pride, determine our paths, demonstrate His grace, display His love, deepen our commitment to Him, deliver hope, comfort, and joy.”—Horace Williams, Jr., The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, Kindle ed. (Black Lillie Press, 2020), p. 11. How does God give us joy through suffering? Williams shares that “joy is more than happiness based on an outcome or circumstance. Joy is the supernatural delight in God’s purpose for our lives. Joy is something that God offers us in the midst of our pain and suffering. We must choose to live with joy. ‘But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness every morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress’ (Psalm 59:16).”—The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, p. 90. Williams concludes that “experiencing joy doesn’t mean that I no longer experience pain. Instead, it means that God is bringing me to a place where I now have the inclination to ask Him, ‘What do You want me to see in this distressing circumstance, Lord?’ ”—The Furnace of Affliction: How God Uses Our Pain and Suffering for His Purpose, p. 97. What Williams himself sees in his sufferings that gives him joy is God’s presence in the present and eternal life in the future.
Polycarp Praises God on the Pyre
Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138–161) continued Emperor Trajan’s policy and practice of persecuting Christians. In a.d. 155, a crowd brought a group of Christians to the authorities of the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor to be convicted and punished. When the Christians refused to acknowledge the gods of the empire, they were punished by death. Afterward, the crowd demanded that Polycarp, the bishop of the church in Smyrna, be brought before the city. A disciple and friend of the apostle John, the old Polycarp also was a widely known and influential Christian leader in Asia and beyond. When Polycarp finally was brought into the amphitheater, the proconsul tried to persuade him to recant his faith and curse Christ.
The faithful disciple of Jesus replied: “For eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king, who saved me?” When, eventually, the proconsul condemned him to be burned on the pyre and the soldiers tied him to the stake, Polycarp prayed and praised God with a loud voice: “Lord Sovereign God . . . I thank you that you have deemed me worthy of this moment, so that, jointly with your martyrs, I may have a share in the cup of Christ. . . . For this . . . I bless and glorify you. Amen.”—Justo L. González, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, The Story of Christianity, vol. 1, revised and updated ed. (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010), p. 54.
Polycarp was only one of thousands of Christians who, following biblical characters such as David and Paul, praised God from amid persecution and the trials of life. Those early Christians praised God from the flames, from the stakes, from the amphitheaters full of wild animals, from crosses, from the prison cells, and from the chambers of torture. They did not think about the injustice done to them; they did not calculate the cost-benefit ratio of their act. They loved and trusted God and did not hesitate to make a radical and ultimate commitment to Him. They did not consider it a hardship to die for their Lord. Rather, they considered it a privilege to suffer and die for their beloved Savior. They unhesitatingly trusted God and His promise of resurrection and considered death but a moment in time on their way to meet their Lord in glory. Writing about the experience of David as he faced the rebellion of his son Absalom, Ellen G. White notes David’s habit in resorting to singing and praising God in times of trouble: “What were the feelings of the father and king, so cruelly wronged, in this terrible peril? ‘A mighty valiant man,’ a man of war, a king, whose word was law, betrayed by his son whom he had loved and indulged and unwisely trusted, wronged and deserted by subjects bound to him by the strongest ties of honor and fealty—in what words did David pour out the feelings of his soul? In the hour of his darkest trial, David’s heart was stayed upon God, and he sang . . . Psalm 3:1-8.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 741, 742.
In chapter 2 of The Great Controversy, entitled “Persecutions in the First Centuries,” Ellen G. White describes how singing and praising God gave Christians the most genuine and deep joy and peace amid the fiercest affliction and persecution: “Like God’s servants of old, many were ‘tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.’ . . . These called to mind the words of their Master, that when persecuted for Christ’s sake, they were to be exceeding glad, for great would be their reward in heaven; for so the prophets had been persecuted before them. They rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the truth, and songs of triumph ascended from the midst of crackling flames. Looking upward by faith, they saw Christ and angels leaning over the battlements of heaven, gazing upon them with the deepest interest and regarding their steadfastness with approval. A voice came down to them from the throne of God: ‘Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’ Revelation 2:10.”—The Great Controversy, p. 41.
Conditions for Rejoicing in Crucibles
Praising God and rejoicing in Him in a crisis are possible only when we are certain about the goodness and justice of the cause or the Person for whom we fight. In our case, the cause and the Person are One. Rejoicing amid trials and persecutions is possible when we trust God, when we understand Him and His plans, when we are convinced that God is just and good and that He and His cause are worthy of our total and radical commitment. Thus, rejoicing amid crucibles springs out of the realization (1) that God is real and that He is good; (2) that He created us, that we are His, that He loves us, and that we love Him back; (3) that the great controversy is real, that it is Satan’s attack on God and on us, and that God is on our side and we are on His; (4) that God redeems us from the power of sin and of Satan and that we and God, in Christ, are, and will be, victorious; and (5) that God’s cause or mission of bringing salvation to the whole world is worth all the suffering we must endure, even, if need be, unto death.
Part III: Life Application
Read Habakkuk 3:16, 17, and think about how you can rejoice in your own suffering. How can you praise God in moments of affliction?
Music is a powerful motivation for such human activities as working, exercising, and fighting. For instance, military forces around the world have their own music that raises the morale of their soldiers. Examine the music that motivates your spiritual life. How much joy and peace do you experience in your life of praise and singing to God?
Commit to learning old and new songs by heart in order to sing them from memory and with understanding. When in a difficult situation, sing a song. How will this experience help you become victorious and/or sustain you?
Notes