Good Morning Friends,
Psalm 22 is a prophetic psalm. It does come from David’s heart and expresses
the cry of his soul, but it also looks forward to what would happen to
Jesus. It begins with the cry that Jesus
uttered from the cross: “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?”
Then later in the psalm is a picture of the
agony and pain of Jesus as He hung on the cross: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones
are out of joint. My heart has turned to
wax; it has melted away within me. My
strength 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 have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have
pierced my hands and my feet. I can
count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast
lots for my clothing.” (Psalm 22:14-19)
David had no idea that he was speaking about
anyone but himself. But God used David’s
feelings to speak of what was to come for Jesus. Bones out of joint. Heart that is melted. Thirsty beyond imagination. Surrounded by evil men. Pierced hands and feet. Body stretched out so that the bones of the
chest can be counted. People
staring. Garments divided, lots cast for
them. All of those things happened to
Jesus as He hung on the cross. God knew
they would, He prophesied it.
You and I have never been so abandoned by
God. We’ve never experienced the depth
of pain that Jesus did. But we have been
hurt. We have felt abandoned, as though
even God was nowhere near in our time of trouble.
And what do you do? David cries out to God: “But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my
Strength, come quickly to help me.” (Psalm 22:19) And so did Jesus. From the cross, even in His abandonment,
Jesus cried out to God: “Father, into
Your hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
God heard David’s cry and came to him in his
distress. God heard Jesus’ cry and came
to Him in His distress. And when you
feel abandoned and cry out to God, He will hear your cry, too, and come in your
distress. He didn’t take away David’s
pain and didn’t take away Jesus’ pain, and won’t always take away your
pain. But He’ll come and bring His
presence, His strength, His help.
His, by grace,
Steve
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