Title: The Highs and Lows of Life
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 19:1-11; Psalms 22:1-22
And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.
2 But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:
3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.
4 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:
5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.
7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.
8 And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.
9 And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.
10 And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin: but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.
11 Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
There are some points to take note of in psalm 22.
- Uncertainty of the inspiration of the manuscript, that is, this psalms in not present in the dead sea scrolls.
- The details described here do not totally fit the life of king David or any other OT person.
- The striking similarity to the experiences of Jesus on the Cross; e.g. crucifixion, clothes gambled for by lot.
Therefore, how should we classify this psalm?
- Typology (that is, an event in the Old Testament parallels an event in Jesus’ life.
- Predictive prophecy
- Multiple fulfillment prophecy
- Historical account of the experience of an Old Testament person.
- The Highs and Lows of life
Three persons should definitely be included when dealings with the highs and lows of life.
Elijah
1 Kings 19:4 says, ‘But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.’
Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 20:7 ‘O LORD, thou has deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.’
David
1 Samuel 18:5 says, ‘David marched out with the army, and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do.’
Saul was holding a spear, and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.”
- Trust that ultimately suffering will end in Victory
Psalms 22:1 ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.’
This psalm definitely forms the background to Jesus’ cry on the Cross, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ This exact cry was in Aramaic ‘eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani’. Jesus quoted this psalm in Matthew 27:46 while on the Cross.
Verse 6 says, ‘he was scorned by everyone, and despised by the people’.
Verse 7 says he was ‘mocked and insulted’. They hurled insults at him, shaking their heads.
They mocked him in verse 8, ‘He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.’
You asked yourself today, ‘why has this happened to me?’ More often than not, the terrible sense of alienation, loneliness, and spiritual confession is the result of the Fall.
There is a purpose: the Gospel. To bring you to the salvation of Jesus. To restore you back to a right relationship with God.
Firstly trust God.
‘he says that he is waiting “…till I know what God will do for me” (22:3).
But David does know that God’s “faithful love is as high as the heavens” and that His “faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 57:10).
Know that God is with you and you are being tested in your faith. “Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good” (1 Peter 4:19).
Secondly. draw near to others.
In 1 Samuel 22:1-2 we see that when David’s family finds out where he is, they go to him; His father, mother, and all in his house all come to him in this cave. But, more joined David at the cave. “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him” (22:2).
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
Paul’s teaching implies that we are closely connected so that we can help one another. “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1).
“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Finally, trust that your suffering will ultimately end in victory.
- Grow in authority through the battles and blessings
I must say that I grow in authority through blessings and battles. What are they?
- Authority to evangelize.
- Authority to lead.
- Authority to teach.
- Authority to heal.
- God will turn the lows into highs.
You don’t need to be anyone special to know what it means to be low. You don’t need to be Job to know that God gives and take away. You don’t need to know the heartsickness of hope deferred, or the bitterness of solitary pain, or the ache of God’s seeming silence. In other words, anyone with a pulse knows what it means to be brought low.
Paul says in Philippians 4:12, ‘I know how to be brought low.’ Can you say, ‘I know how to face financial disaster’, or ‘I know how to be betrayed’. Or ‘I know how to endure years of chronic pains.’
Firstly God works wonders in low places. Being brought low may ruin our plans, but not God’s better, wiser, kinder plans for us. If we will learn how to be brought low, we will one day testify, “I want you to know, brothers, that this bankruptcy has really served to free me from money’s stranglehold.” Or, “I want you to know that this betrayal has really taught me how to forgive.” Or, “I want you to know that this sickness has fueled my hope for heaven like nothing else.”
Secondly God will raise you up from the low places.
George Herbert, in his poem “Bitter-Sweet,”
I will complain, yet praise;
I will bewail, approve:
And all my sour-sweet days
I will lament, and love.
