Today: Psalm 22.
‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?’ (Ps. 22:1)
Have you ever felt like God had rejected you? Like he was lightyears away? Like he was completely indifferent to your cries for help? I have. And those moments were some of the most difficult of my life.
In this Psalm David too feels like God has abandoned him: ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (v. 1).
Familiar words, aren’t they?
They are, because these are the very words Jesus speaks while hanging on the cross (Mt. 27:46). And it’s no coincidence that Jesus speaks these words of Psalm 22; this complete Psalm is one big prophecy about what would happen to him. How mind blowing and heart warming to realize that these words were written by David (through God’s Spirit) a thousand years before they actually happened in the crucifixion of Jesus.They read like a detailed personal account of him who experienced the pain and horror of being crucified:
‘But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”’ (v. 6-8). ‘I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.’ (v. 14-18)…
Jesus experienced this for you and me. He went through this terrible torture on our behalf. He was punished as the worst criminal so we could go free. He died so we could live. He carried the sins of the world so we would be freed from ours. He was seperated from the Father so nothing could ever seperate us any longer from God.
Jesus cried out the agonizing and desparate ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ so we never have to again. There will be still times that we might feel like God has forsaken us, but looking at the cross we may know, without a doubt, that he hasn’t.
‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:38-39)
Prayer: ‘Lord, words cannot express how thankful we are for what you did for us on the cross. We stand in awe. We kneel in worship before you, our Savior and friend. Help us to always remember that because you were litteraly God-forsaken on that cross, we never will be. Help us to walk by faith and not by feelings. In your powerful and gentle name, Jesus. Yes!
Leef! 