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2: Teach Us To Pray – Teaching Plan — 6 Comments

1. I love steam engines and if I am not watching birds or writing comments for Sabbath School Net, I will sit and watch a YouTube video of a steam engine like the beautiful 3801 as it climbs the bank out of the Hawksbury River. C38 Locomotives used to be the main haulage engines between Sydney and Newcastle but now there are only two operational ones left. They typically haul heritage excursion trains. In their heyday you would sometimes see them sitting at the local station while they built up steam pressure. The fireman would shovel coal into the firebox and then the pressure safety valve would blow. This was not the gentle hiss of a kettle reaching boiling point, but rather, a deep throaty shuddering roar as superheated steam shoots a plume high in the air, often dropping warm tears of rain as it condenses in the cool night air. There is nothing the fireman can do. He cannot hold the valve down – it’s a safety valve afterall and its purpose is the ensure the pressure does not blow the boiler apart. He just has to let the steam blow out.

   Have you ever had to deal with an angry child or student? It is no use trying to stop the angry outburst. You just have to let them blow off the steam and wait for the calm. Sometimes I would have to wait until the next day

   The angry Psalms are the spiritual safety valve kicking in

   Listen to this:

   God, God … my God!
   Why did you dump me
   miles from nowhere?
   Doubled up with pain, I call to God
   all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
   I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

   And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
   leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
   We know you were there for our parents:
   they cried for your help and you gave it;
   they trusted and lived a good life.

   And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm,
   something to step on, to squash.
   Everyone pokes fun at me;
   they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
   “Let’s see how God handles this one;
   since God likes him so much, let him help him!”
   Psalm 22:1-8 MSG

   Interestingly. Psalm 22 is followed by the peace and warmth of Psalm 23

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   • Yes, it is so comforting to know that we don't have to pretend to be happy with God when we are, in fact, discouraged or maybe even angry with Him!

     But this is a Psalm that Jesus prayed on the cross! And it deserves better than an ending at the 8th verse, with the words of the mocking crowd around the cross

     “Let’s see how God handles this one;
     since God likes him so much, let him help him!”

     Actually the KJV version echoes in my mind in the tones of Handel's Messiah:He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him:
     let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
     Okay, so I can't resist sharing this, so you can hear it too, beginning with Ps 22:7:
     

     Here is more, from Christ's point of view:

     For dogs have surrounded Me;
     16 The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
     They pierced My hands and My feet;
     17 I can count all My bones.
     They look and stare at Me.
     18 They divide My garments among them,
     And for My clothing they cast lots.
     19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
     O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
     20 Deliver Me from the sword,
     My precious life from the power of the dog.
     21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth
     And from the horns of the wild oxen!

     Ps 22:16-21

     When Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Ps 22:1, Matt 27:46) I'm sure that all the rest of the psalm was in His mind. I'm sure that He recognized that the psalm prophetically pictured His experience on the cross. His mind would recall the rest of the psalm:

     21b You have answered Me.
     22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
     In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
     23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
     All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
     And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
     24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
     Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
     But when He cried to Him, He heard.
     25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
     I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
     26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
     Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
     Let your heart live forever!
     27 All the ends of the world
     Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
     And all the families of the nations
     Shall worship before You.
     28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
     And He rules over the nations.
     29 All the prosperous of the earth
     Shall eat and worship;
     All those who go down to the dust
     Shall bow before Him,
     Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
     30 A posterity shall serve Him.
     It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
     31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
     That He has done this.
     Ps 21:21-31

     Though still in agony of soul and body, His faith grasped the end result. He could see the "travail of His soul," and He was satisfied. Isaiah 53:11
     And then a let out a great cry, "It is finished!" (John 19:30)

     The psalms are meant to minister to us in the same way as they did to Jesus, and they will, if we make them our own just as He did.

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     • Thank you Inge. I really enjoyed the music as well as your commentary & Maurice's.

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   • In what I thought was error, I read Psalm 22:1 to Psalm 23:1, while doing today's study and was blessed by the relating content; and now to see your comment reinforces the beauty of the everlasting gospel. Thanks to Sis. Anderson for posting this link.

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2. Michael thank you for this post. The breakdown is simple and relatable- makes having a discussion on the topic for the day so digestible. Thanks to the others for their comments. I came across this platform just yesterday. I know so many in my circle have no clue this community exists. Even as I was searching for it this morning and I came across several sites without the community, some of which I have used to share the lesson over the years. Thank you all.

   Personally, I have been going through a difficult time in life that has spanned multiple new years and I am not sure how I am even here today from the emotional weight that I carry at times. Psalm 22:1 I have felt it more than I have said it as I am cautions about how I talk to God. About 8 months ago when a situation went in the worse possible way I broke down: I went to the beach and I lost it- I don’t think I had ever been so raw and open with my emotions ever- I apologized to God when I was in a calmer state “if I were disrespectful.” I did not use any foul language but I know combined with the tears, the body language, the raw pain… I must have come across so ungrateful and loud. I know He doesn’t hold a grudge. I am thankful for this quarter and this week’s lesson because I think there are psalms I refrain from reading more than occasionally or delving into as they felt like “ hell & damnation,” could be brought onto someone’s head- even worse than the fear some preacher instill when looking at Daniel and the Revelation. The introduction to the Psalms and the explanation of categories and writers etc are among as a whole for me more approachable. Thank you Lord.

   However, I know for a fact that God has not forsaken me ~us. But, some answers to prayers, or what seems like stillness during what feels like the most difficult storms are at times hard to comprehend. I continue to praise Him because without Him it’s all in vain. Psalm 22: 24 “For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.” My brain knows these things even my heart and I have to rely on his promise of “power, love, and a sound mind,” to keep me going each day wearing the required masks to function when necessary.

   Thanks to the creators for the opportunity to share. May the Lord continue to bless and keep you all.

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3. Can I tell you? If there's one thing I find comforting...yes, I said "comforting" about Psalm 22 is that Jesus Himself drew on it. So can I; so can you. Pour out pain and angst before God and receive His grace and strength to make it through the most difficult circumstances. Let them laugh, and mock, and scorn - Who has the last laugh? Powerful stuff!🙌🏾

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