Forsaken?

February 13

Exodus 29-30

Psalm 22:1-5

Proverbs 5:3-6

Matthew 26:1-25

Forsaken?

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?  Far from my salvation are the words of my groaning.  O my God, I call by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest.”  Psalm 22:1-5 LSB

It is believed that David wrote this psalm sometime during his reign as king of Israel.  We do not know what was going on in David’s life during this time to cause the distress and pain evident in his words.  Perhaps it was written when his son was trying to take the kingdom from him.  At this point in his life, David had walked with God for many years.  He had an intimate, personal relationship with God.  He had trusted God and God had faithfully been with him during many difficult seasons.  But in this moment, he felt abandoned by God.  He thought that God didn’t hear him and didn’t care about his suffering.  Yet even in his doubts, he turned to God in prayer.  He began the psalm with “My God, my God.”  He recognized that God is God, but he was appealing to God as his God.  “You are God of the universe, but You are also my God.”  He was claiming their personal relationship.   As we read through the rest of the psalm we see that in talking out his situation with God, his perspective changed.  He needed time to vent and process.  He needed a safe place to cry and work through his emotions.  By the end of the psalm, David was praising God for His faithfulness and steadfastness throughout his life. 

David’s experience is not unique.  Every believer, at one time or another, has been at this place.  We have all had moments when we didn’t feel God’s presence.  There have been seasons in each of our lives when we’ve prayed and prayed begging God to intervene in our situation and nothing has changed.  We have all felt alone and isolated.  In those moments, the best thing we can do is continue to cry out to Him.  Keep praying!  Talk it all out with Him.  If you are angry, tell Him.  He can handle it.  He knows our emotions better than we do.  God doesn’t get mad at us for expressing them.  Be honest and let Him help you work through the pain and sorrow you feel. Prayer is not just when we tell God our requests and needs.  It is an opportunity for us to have a conversation with God where He can work in our hearts and minds to help us grow closer to Him. 

                  Looking deeper at this psalm, we discover a prophecy about Jesus’ crucifixion.  Jesus  quoted David’s lament from the cross (Matthew 27:46) indicating the fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, David gave imagery in this psalm of someone being executed, which did not happen to him.  He described many details of the crucifixion of Jesus including the casting of lots for His clothes, the piercing of His hands and feet, and the agony He experienced as He hung on the cross.   Although it is likely he had no idea that his lament was a prophecy about the coming Messiah, God was using his words to point us to Jesus.  He can relate to our suffering and is familiar with our pain because He was human and experienced the pain and emotions of this life just like each of us.