A Plea for Deliverance

October 13, 2024 Background Scripture: Psalm 22; Daniel 3 Lesson Passage: Psalm 22:1 - 11 Today's lesson focuses on God's response to the faith of His servants in times of distress. Psalm 22 and Daniel 3 are used as the Background Scripture. The historic account recorded in Daniel 3 is an example of what David described in Psalm 22 from three perspectives: faith in God for deliverance, deliverance by God, and praise to God for deliverance. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Hebrews living in captivity in Babylon. The Babylonians knew them to be devout men who had faith in the God of the Hebrews. Therefore, they plotted against them by having a law declared in Babylon that they were sure to violate, and that would lead to their punishment. They were faced with the daunting challenge of obeying Babylonian law by bowing down to an idol god or being executed for obeying the Law of the God of the Hebrews. As they stood before the king of Babylon to answer the accusations against them of not bowing to the idol god of the Babylonians, they declared their faith in God's ability to deliver them if He decides to do so. They vowed to continue to obey God even if He did not deliver them. Of course, God did deliver them. And that deliverance led to the king of Babylon proclaiming the Hebrew God as a God to be revered throughout Babylon. Psalm 22 is one of the psalms of David. It begins as a lamentation and ends as a psalm of praise. This transition within the psalm happens because it includes the fact that God answered David's prayer for deliverance. The prayer contains lamentations, confessions, and petitions to God. The psalm opens with a painful cry to God at a time of great trouble when David felt abandoned by God. The question is asked, why have You abandoned me? The cry is to God because He is the one David's ancestors taught him to call upon. God had a track record of delivering David's family because of their faith in Him. So, when David was faced with his own trouble, he knew that God is the only one he could call upon and expect results. The prophetic nature of this psalm is astounding. It is a prophetic psalm that describes the details surrounding the crucifixion and post-resurrection of Israel's Messiah, David's descendant. The actual words spoken by Jesus while nailed to the cross are recorded in this psalm. This was not Jesus merely repeating what He knew David had written over one thousand years earlier. That is evident because this psalm also details what the Gentile soldiers did as well as statements made by the priests during the crucifixion. Some of the reactions of people in the crowd around the cross are also described in this psalm. Again, Psalm 22 has two very distinct parts, lamentations and praise. The first part focuses on the plea for God's deliverance from the agonizing torment of his enemies. It ends by acknowledging God's answer to David's prayer. The second part is a celebration of praise for God's deliverance of His servant. The opening verses of Psalm 22 is our Lesson Passage. Beginning at the first verse of this psalm, our minds quickly go to Calvary's cross. Although we appreciate the pattern within this psalm, we cannot ignore the prophetic description it provides of the Messiah's crucifixion. The details in this psalm are the same as those in the accounts of the Gospel which are the reports of eyewitnesses. This psalm should remind us that God never changes. Whether it is David, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the Messiah, or Christians today, this lesson is a reminder that God is always attentive to the prayers of His servants for deliverance. Robert C. Hudson September 30, 2024

Moses and Miriam Lead in Praise

September 29, 2024 Background Scripture: Exodus 14:21 -31; 15:1 - 21 Lesson Passage: Exodus 15:1 3, 11 - 13, 17, 18, 20, 21 There's nothing like an awe-inspiring deliverance by the Lord to evoke a praise response from His children. As far as biblical history is concerned, few deliverances compare to God delivering Israel from Pharoah and the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. After delivering Israel from four hundred years of Egyptian bondage, God purposely led Israel to the bank of the Red Sea and then provoked Pharoah to attempt to attack them. God had already demonstrated His power to Pharoah and the Egyptians prior to insisting that Pharoah release Israel from bondage in exchange for the Egyptians being relieved from the plagues. After Israel was allowed to leave Egypt, God had one more lesson to teach the Egyptians. That's when God led Israel to the bank of the Red Sea where they would appear to the Egyptians to be confused, lost, and trapped by the sea. It was a setup that allowed God to judge the sins of Pharoah. The Pharoah was worshiped as one of the gods of Egypt. If he could attack Israel in such a vulnerable situation, the Egyptians would believe that Pharoah was stronger that the God of Israel. On the other hand, Israel had no idea what God was doing or what would be the outcome of it. When the people of Israel saw Pharoah and the Egyptian army coming towards them, it provoked fear in them. They believed they were doomed, and many said so. Moses encouraged Israel to be calm and to continue trusting the Lord for their protection. He assured them that this would be the last they would ever see of Pharoah. God told Moses to stretch his hand out over the sea and divide it. Moses did as God commanded him to, and the Red Sea was divided. The water was not cutoff. Instead, it stood in two heaps as walls and the seabed between them was dried. Israel walked through the dry seabed to the other side of the sea, Although they were separated from the Egyptians by the pillar of cloud, the Egyptians pursued after them into the sea. The Egyptians knew that God was fighting for Israel when their chariots became difficult to drive. They attempted to flee back through the sea, but God told Moses to again stretch out his hand over the sea and it returned to its full force. This resulted in the Egyptians, their horses, and Pharoah drowning in the Red Sea. In the morning, Israel saw the Egyptians and their horses drowned in the sea. This evoked a reverent fear for God and respect for Moses as God's servant, Moses and the children of Israel began to testify about God's deliverance. In their overwhelming joy, words of testimony became the lyrics of the song. Many scholars believe those lyrics to be the first psalm recorded in the Bible. It is also believed that Moses was the originator of the words. If so, then it is likely that it was song in one of the African traditions of "call and response", In "call and response", the leader proclaims, or sings aloud, the lyrics and the group sing the same lyrics in response. In traditional Baptist churches it is often referred to as "Old 100's", which are song in long meter fashion. It appears that Moses might have ended his leading of the song, and then Miriam took her timbrel and began the same lyrics with the other women of Israel joining her with timbrels and dance. It was a celebration of God's deliverance in its purest and highest form. The words declared their testimony and the rejoicing in song and dance expressed their praise for God. I close by repeating what was written at the beginning of this, there's nothing like an awe-inspiring deliverance by the Lord to evoke a praise response from His children. Robert C. Hudson September 18, 2024