Seder 70 Sermon: Spiritual Rollercoaster

 In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on May 31, 2025, Kyle Kettering observed that all of us experience  highs and lows in life.  There is a graphic illustration in the life of Moses during the Exodus, with his altitude reflecting his circumstances.  Ascending Mount Sinai and receiving revelation from God marked a high point for Moses.  Descending the mountain and facing the chaos in the Israelite camp (Ex 32) was a low point.  

Another example comes from the life of David.  His time of fleeing for his life from King Saul was a low point, and his rescue from danger was a high point.  He praised God for that rescue in 2 Samuel 22(= Psalm 18). 

The lows we experience, Kyle noted, can be brought about by 

• our own sin.
• circumstances of life.
• God. 

  In a low point caused by our own sin, our proper response is repentance, with restoration being the goal. Lows resulting from life circumstances or a test from God are opportunities to grow in faith and in our relationship with God.  When we recognize the nature of our ups and downs and respond appropriately, we can turn the undulations of life into a positive.

Seder 29: Genesis 30, 1 Samuel 1-2---Rachel and Hannah

 After about seven years of infertility, Jacob's wife Rachel gave birth to a son, Joseph.  We are not told what use she might have made of the mandrakes she obtained from her sister.  The implication is that this detail is irrelevant.  Genesis emphasizes that it was God who "opened her womb" (Ge 30:22).  

Joseph is one of a series of special sons, miraculously given to couples struggling with infertility, who have important roles to play in salvation history.  Others include Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist.  

These sons were answers to prayer.  Genesis 30:22 notes that God "listened to" Rachel.  In the case of Samuel's mother Hannah, we are given some details about one of those prayers.  Hannah vowed to God that she would dedicate a son to his service "if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me..." (1 Sa 1:11).  Her language is very similar to that of Exodus 3;7, where God states, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people."  Hannah asked God to deliver her from infertility as he had always delivered his people.

When Hannah brought young Samuel to the tabernacle, she gave a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving (1 Sa 2:1-10).  Walter Kaiser, in his book on great prayers in the Hebrew Scriptures, divides the prayer into three parts:

• In verses 1-3, Hannah expresses her great joy and praises God's greatness and incomparability.  In verse 3, when she says, "Talk no more so very proudly..," we can imagine that she has her personal tormentor Peninnah in mind, but the word for "your" in this verse is in plural form. 
• In verses 4-8, Hannah describes how God watches out for those in need, stepping in to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  "The barren has borne seven," she declares in verse 5, and she would go on to have at least six children in all (verse 21).  
• In verses 9-10, Hannah looks ahead to the culmination of God's plan, when God will judge the world and send his Messiah.  Samuel would later anoint the first two kings of Israel, contributing to the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Her prayer expressed the thanksgiving of all the barren women who had been granted children.  It also became a template for future songs of praise.  Mary's prayer in Luke 1:46-55 has similiar structure and content.  A psalm of David recorded in both 2 Samuel 2 and Psalm 18 has several parallels with Hannah's prayer:

• In verse 1, Hannah says that God exalts her "horn"---that is, lifts her up and gives her strength---as does David in Psalm 18:2.
• In verse 2, Hannah refers to God as her "rock," as does David in Psalm 18:2.
• In verse 10 Hannah pictures God "thundering," as David does in Psalm 18:13.  In Hannah's case God answers the taunts of Peninnah.  In 1:6, the verb for thundering is used to describe Peninnah "irritating" Hannah.  
• Hannah ends her prayer with an assertion of God's faithfulness to his anointed king, as does David in Psalm 18:50.  

Seder 153: Psalm 28---Depending on the Rock and Shepherd

 Psalm 28 is an individual lament that concludes with an expression of confidence in God.  This is a familiar pattern in the psalms.  The act of praying helps us to see the truth more clearly.  

The psalmist calls upon God as "my rock."  This metaphor, which is prominent in Deuteronomy 32 and is picked up in several psalms (18:2,31; 19:14; 73:26; 92:15; 144:1).  God is strong and dependable and gives refuge and protection.  

The psalmist expresses his dependence on God.  He prays "toward your holy sanctuary" (v 2).  Solomon, of course, asked that prayers directed toward the temple be heeded (1 Ki 8:35, 38, 42).  

We may have a bit of a mixed metaphor in Psalm 28:1, since he asks the rock to "be not deaf to me," and rocks do not really have ears.  But God is strong and dependable in taking action for his people, which is the full meaning of him "hearing" or "being not deaf.

He prays that he not suffer the fate of the wicked (v 3) and asks for justice to be done.  Verses 4-5 say much about the works of God versus human works.  The wicked disregard the works of God and work to undermine God's works with their own works.  He prays that the wicked be judged according to their works. 

Later in the psalm he praises God in anticipation of deliverance and vindication.  He is no longer in despair but confident in "my strength and my shield" (v 7).  God helped David and later anointed kings of Israel and Judah---he is "the saving refuge of his anointed," as verse 8 says. 

He intercedes for God's people (v 9).  "Be their shepherd and carry them forever," he concludes.  We see such imagery elsewhere in Isaiah 40:11; 46:3-4; 63:9. 

Seder 29: Psalm 18---God Gives David the Victory

 David achieved great success as a military commander during his time as king of Israel, whether he was fleeing from Saul or expanding the borders of Israel.  He understood clearly that God was the source of his success.   He gave thanks and praise to God in Psalm 18, which is largely paralleled in 2 Sam 22.

David described being at the point of death and calling out to God for help (vv 4-6), whereupon God came quickly and powerfully to rescue him (vv 7-19).   David praised God's faithful treatment of his servants (vv 20-27) and acknowledged that God was the source of all his military success (vv 28-42).

The psalm ends by describing how God gives his anointed king victory over the nations (vv 43-50).  This part of the psalm points ahead to the work of the Messiah.  

The apostle Paul later quoted Ps 18:49 in Romans 15.  In Romans 15:7, he urged Jewish and Gentile believiers in Rome to accept each other, as Christ had accepted them.  He explained that it was God's plan to build a people from both Israel and the nations.  Jesus had worked with Israelites (v. 8) , coming to carry out God's promise to bless all nations through the seed of Abraham.   Paul showed that the nations were now praisiing God along with Israel, as predicted in scriptures like Ps 18:49, Deut 32:43, Ps 117, and Isa 11:10.          

The Psalms have quite a lot to say about the inclusion of the nations in the people of God.  Michael Heiser devoted a recent podcast episode to this topic, focusing on the "Zion psalms."