Seder 3: Psalm 150---The Who, Where, Why, What, How of Praise

 Psalm 150 closes the book of Psalms with a call to praise God.  Commentator Willem Van Gemeren observes that if one embarks on the journey of fearing and following God described in the first psalm, one will be led ultimately to adoration. 

The psalm tells us 

• who to praise:  God, the Creator and ruler of all.
• where he is:  in the heavenly sanctuary.
• why and for what to praise him:  for his mighty deeds that display his greatness.
• how to praise:  with full musical accompaniment, with the participation of the entire creation.

Because of the heavenly setting of verse 1, the midrash on Psalm 150 contemplates great works that God will do in the heavens at the end of the age, judging heavenly beings that he has set over the nations (as in Psalm 82) and bringing the new heavens and new earth.  The midrash quotes passages like....

Isa 34:4:  "All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll.  All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree."

Isa 51:6:  "Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever."

Seder 106: Psalm 119:97-104---In Praise of God's Instruction

 This section of Psalm 119 is a hymn of praise to God's word.  The psalmist makes no petitions here.  

The psalmist's love of God's instruction reflects his love of God himself.  His focused meditation on that word, following the way of wisdom described in Psalm 1:2,  is a form of worship.  

The psalmist praises God as the greatest source of wisdom, greater than any human source.  He is not boasting, and it is not his intention to ignore his teachers or the elders.  It's just that God's Word is greater than any other teaching, and God greater than any other teacher.  

His study of God's instruction leads him to love God's instruction and seek to follow the way of wisdom.  God's Word enables him to discern the right way and to shun the way of evil.

Seder 5: Considering Noah---Gen 6-7

Noah was an example of the righteous man described in Psalm 1.  As we read in Gen 6:9,

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation.  Noah walked with God." 

We see some examples of what this meant in Gen 6-7, where Noah was obedient to the detailed instructions God gave on the construction of the ark. Noah's obedience is emphasized in Gen 6:22; 7:5,9,16.

Reflecting on Noah's situation, Heb 11:7 states,

"By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.  By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

Seder 5: Psalm 1---Comparing Two Ways of Living

Psalm 1 is an example of a "wisdom psalm."  It describes two ways of living and their consequences.  The psalm concludes,

"for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." 

This was an important Psalm for both Jews and Christians living during the time of the Roman Empire.  Jews and Christians stood out, in particular, because they rejected the Empire's rampant sexual immorality, idolatry, and lack of respect for the value of human life.

For these Jews and Christians, staying away from the "seat of scoffers" meant not attending Roman popular entertainment, like the gladiator games, where crowds delighted in seeing the slaughter of humans and animals. I have some discussion of the Roman games and Christian opposition to them here.

Seder 5: Messages at the "Seams" of the Biblical Canon---Ps 1:2

In his Seder 4 sermon, Rob Wilson reflected on the meaning of the very first verse of the New Testament:  "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt 1:1).  Does this verse refer to what has come before this verse, or to what comes after it?  Rob suggested that the answer is "yes".  The entire Bible is the story of Jesus.

Theologian John Sailhamer has contended that there are special messages at the "seams" or transition points in the biblical canon.  Matt 1:1 gives one example.

Sailhamer pointed out a pattern at the transition points between the major divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Torah ends in Deut 34 with anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, the special "prophet like Moses".   Joshua 1, the first chapter in the prophets (Neviim) then begins with God's advice to Joshua:

"This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

At the close of the Prophets in Mal 4, Malachi looks ahead to the coming of the Messiah.  Then in Psalm 1, the first chapter in the Writings (Ketuvim), we are told that a man is blessed who follows this practice:  "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Ps 1:2).

Both Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 seem to be telling us what to do as we anticipate the return of the Messiah.

Such patterns in the biblical canon seem to imply that not only did God inspire the content of Scripture, but its canonical organization as well.

Seder 5 Sermon: Man's Reboot

In this strange time when our activities and physical contacts are greatly restricted, it is interesting to reflect upon the experience of Noah.

Kyle Kettering points out in his Seder 5 sermon that Noah's name means "rest" (Gen 5:29).  For the people and animals on the ark, it was a time that had some things in common with April 2020.  It was a time of turmoil for the world, and an enforced pause or rest for those on the ark.  On the ark there was rest, relief, protection.  The world was being "rebooted".

The reading in the prophets for Seder 5, in Isa 54-55, emphasizes that God's grace and compassion are unfailing (54:9-11).  He is a source of protection--vv 12-14.  He invites us to repent and come back to him (55:1-9).

Kyle also explains that Psalm 1, the psalm connected with this Seder, is linked with Noah.  Noah is seen as a prototype example of the righteous man described there who follows God rather than the world.

Noah is just one of the heroes of faith celebrated in Heb 11, one of that great "cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1).  Kyle notes that they "found relief and refuge from their struggles through their faith relationship with the one true God."  They looked ahead to the coming of the Messiah, who provides the ultimate peace, rest, and reboot for the world.  We are called to walk in their footsteps.

Seder 5: The tree in Psalm 1:3

Psalm 1:3 compares a person who walks with God as a fruitful tree:

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, In all that he does, he prospers."  (ESV)

Such a tree can be compared to the tree of life.  Lupe Wilson makes that connection in a reflection on Psalm 1, posted here.  She connects Ps 1:3 with Rev 22:1-2:

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.  The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."