For the choir
director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
My God, my
God, why have You forsaken me? (v.1)
It was a somber
day. The air chilling; death inevitable; hate abounding. Christ is hanging on
the cross. He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (see Phil. 2:8). He is seeking the Father’s
face, but for a brief moment in time, heaven has turned away. Jesus feels the
despair of being separated from the Father. He is nailed to the tree to bridge
that gap for all mankind. In His suffering, Jesus reaches back almost
one-thousand years to the prophetic Psalm of David;
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46 ESV).
Far from my
deliverance are the words of my groaning. (v.1)
Jesus felt the
separation from the Father when He took the sin of the world on His shoulders.
It felt as though God was far away. It feels like that for us to sometimes in
the midst of our anguish.
O my God, I cry
by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. Yet You
are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel (vv. 2-3).
Many times we
suffer through trials and the heavens seem as brass. Sleep is lost to the
tossing and turning, the writhing of the hands, the swirling of the thoughts.
But we, like David, must remind ourselves of who God is. He is always faithful.
In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. To
You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed (vv.4-5).
David begins
by declaring His trust in the faithfulness of the Lord, but then in the same
breath exempts Himself:
But I am a worm
and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who
see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the
head, saying, “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him
rescue him, because He delights in him” (vv. 6-8).
These words
are prophetic and evoke the events at the cross that day. These words ring
familiar from Matthew’s gospel:
He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if
he desires him… (27:43 ESV).
Don’t buy the lie that God delivered the
patriarchs but ignores your cries. When God seems silent, it does not mean He
is far away. He is calling you into fellowship with Him. Do you trust Him? Is
He faithful? Is He far away? Do you believe in Him? He is deep calling to deep…
David in the midst of his despair, remembers yet
again the God of his fathers. He remembers the journey in which God has brought
him. Yes, God is faithful even when He seems silent. I may not be able to trace
Him in the silence, but I can trust Him. I can trust Him by remembering how far
He has already brought me…
Yet You are He
who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon
my mother’s breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my
God from my mother’s womb (vv.9-10).
Before you
were born, He was your God. He has a plan and a purpose for you. He did not
bring you this far only to fail you now. He will not let you drown:
When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk
through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you (Isaiah 43:2 NASB).
Believers are not immune to trouble. Jesus promised that trouble should be
expected. But He also promised that He has already overcome it (see Jn. 16:33).
He made that promise so that we will have peace. The Lord is only a prayer
away. He may not calm the storm, but He may calm you in the midst of it. He wants
us to know that He is our anchor. He is our strong tower. He is a refuge for
all that come to Him.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there
is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan
have encircled me. They open wide their mouth at me, As a ravening and a
roaring lion. I am poured out like water, And all my bones are
out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. My strength
is dried up like a potsherd, And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And You lay
me in the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; A band of
evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. I
can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; They divide my
garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. But You, O Lord, be
not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Deliver my soul
from the sword, My only life from the power of the
dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen
You answer me (vv. 11-21).
These words of
misery and anguish are attributed to the Messiah, and though they seem
hopeless, they are far from it. This prose paints a vivid picture of what Jesus
endured on that cross, and it would seem that He felt that God had forsaken
Him. We feel that way when we are enduring a trial or a hard season. The
loneliness is unbearable at times. It must have been for Christ as well;
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but
One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15).
Christ in all His anguish still trusted in God, even in the moment that He
turned away. He still in the end, committed His spirit into the hands of the
Father. He knew the dark and the loneliness would be only a moment in time.
Though this poetry has Messianic implications, don’t overlook the poet that
penned these words—David. He too is in anguish, surrounded by many who seek to
harm him, and their mocking is unrelenting. But like Christ our ultimate
example, David reaches past the darkness and anguish and finds words of praise
and worship. He recalls the faithfulness of God through the ages. He reminds
Israel to stand
in awe of Him.
Read the remaining verses with awe and meditate on His magnificence. He is
worthy of all glory honor and power. Cast all your cares on Him. Give Him all
your trouble. Praise Him for His deliverance past, present, and future. He is
faithful. He is trustworthy. He is glorious and mighty. He is beautiful. He is
spectacular.
I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. 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 for help, He heard. From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive. Posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it (vv. 22-31 NASB).
He does not despise the afflicted, but when we cried unto
Him for help, He heard.
May we never lose our wonder.
This is my scribbling...
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