Abandoned-
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Psalm 22:1a (ESV) 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Personalize it method (Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word): Lord please speak to me in your Word today and let me know you. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. This statement on the cross by my Son deserves your most sincere attention Jeff. This Psalm in its entirety is a prophesy of the cross and these are the mostly unspoken words of my Son in His hours of anguish as he gave himself up selflessly for you. So read this Psalm as the thoughts of the Son of Man on the cross as He looked down upon his creation for whom he suffered. As he looked up toward me, His Father from all time, who has suddenly also abandoned Him as did mankind in what is the seminal moment of His ministry. What is the event that would forever secure the salvation of all whom ever have or ever would trust me- so long as He completes the job without the man- of which He was surely human- failing by choosing to sustain his life by His deity or by choosing to release His hold on the universe (which is entirely sustained by Him alone lest it cease to exist (cf. Col 1:15-17 & Heb 1:1-3) that He return to perfect commmunion with me in that moment.
Speaking frankly and clearly as Jeff here with no suggestion of ultimate confidence in this next statement- It would seem that just as Jesus seems to have had the option to sin in the desert as He was tempted by Satan, so also should he not have had this option as He hung on the cross? Could He not have reacted decidedly human and terminated this effort by the creative power of His Word as the person of the trinity that created all things and that sustains all things by the power of His Word? Could He not have simply released His hold on the universe and it at once be vaporized to the ceasation of his distress, including His never before experienced separation (but more- abandonment) from (or by) the Father? The answer to the wonder why He did not fail, in His humanness, is revealed in Psalm 22 and holds application for all the saints who would face suffering...
From the Treasury of David-
This is beyond all others The Psalm of the Cross. It may have been actually repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and ends, according to some, in the original with “It is finished.” For plaintive expressions uprising from unutterable depths of woe we may say of this Psalm, “there is none like it.” It is the photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours, the record of his dying words, the lachrymatory of his last tears, the memorial of his expiring joys. David and his afflictions may be here in a very modified sense, but, as the star is concealed by the light of the sun, he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see David. Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this Psalm. Matthew 27:46And 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?”
Reflect on the thoughts of my learned servant Charles Spurgeon to see my Son's heart here as he uses, in part, something akin to the Pronounce It method to study this Psalm.
From Treasuries of David-
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This was the startling cry of Golgotha: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani. The Jews mocked, but the angels adored when Jesus cried this exceeding bitter cry. Nailed to the tree we behold our great Redeemer in extremities, and what see we? Having ears to hear let us hear, and having eyes to see let us see! Let us gaze with holy wonder, and and mark the flashes of light amid the awful darkness of that midday-midnight.
See Jeff my Son's example in the midst of His suffering that He would still hold fast to His trust in me. He holds fast to his trust in my strength and although He cries out with an expression of His pained heart, He maintains in this expression, an understanding that I am still in fact, His mighty God in whom He trusts.
Treasury of David-
He knows the Lord to be the all-sufficient support and succour of his spirit, and therefore appeals to him in the agony of grief, but not in the misery of doubt. He would fain know why he is left, he raises that question and repeats it, but neither the power nor the faithfulness of God does he mistrust. What an enquiry is this before us!
See the hope form in these words, these Words spoken to the Psalmist but that My Son had not hardly the strength to speak again the first sentence. There is hope for those that suffer and comfort for the afflicted. My Son has experienced such abandonment by His own Father to pour such shame upon his already bitter plate that he should be here at the hand of His creation for which it is that he currently suffers their scorn and so endure the shame without even a look from me. He expected this Jeff, but the expectation, the preparation in the desert- nothing could have truly prepared the Son of Man for what He would endure in the hiding of my face from Him on that cross.
Think this- the worst of His suffering was surely unseen. The worst of His suffering was what will be poured out on those that accept not His sacrifice in their place. The worst of his suffering was the absence of my presence, my love, my glory. The relationship He had enjoyed from all eternity had to be severed on that cross Jeff. Understand it not, but weep all the same...this is the endurance that your savior had for you. This is the love that He poured out on you. He decided that you were worth it. Oh yes, you do have a friend in Jesus! See how it is that I sent the Holy Spirit in a special way to touch Him in the river and I proclaimed that I was well pleased in Him? So it is with my Son Jeff- there is none like Him, no not one. Consider how it is now that you enjoy your own relationship with this friend, with my Son. Do you understand what kind of friend you even have?
Treasury of David-
“Forsaken:” if thou hadst chastened I might bear it, for they face would shine; but to forsake me utterly, ah! why is this? “Me:” thine innocent, obedient, suffering Son, why leavest thou me to perish? A sight of self seen by penitence, and of Jesus on the cross seen by faith will best expound this question. Jesus is forsaken because our sins had separated between us and our God.
See now how offensive the utterance from Job was when he judged me for treating him in a manner he saw unjust as he proclaimed his righteousness before me. See how it is that my own perfect Son received thus and yet, would one of the recipient's of this grace look to me and suggest that I mistreat him? That I do not see how it is that he does not deserve his circumstances? O how I have sincere compassion Jeff but understand your position and honor my Son in rejoicing in your suffering. Follow His example here on the cross that is spoken from before Golgotha through the psalmist...
Treasury of David-
“Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” The Man of Sorrows had prayed until his speech failed him, and he could only utter moanings and groanings as men do in severe sicknesses, like the roarings of a wounded animal. To what extremity of grief was our Master driven! What strong crying and tears were those which made him too hoarse for speech! What must have been his anguish to find his own beloved and trusted Father standing afar off, and neither granting help nor apparently hearing prayer. This was good cause to make him “roar.” Yet there was a reason for all this which those who rest in Jesus as their Substitute well know. “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not.” For our prayers to appear to be unheard is no new trial, Jesus felt it before us, and it is observable that he still held fast his believing hold on God, and cried still, “My God.” On the other hand his faith did not render him less importunate, for amid the hurry and horror of that dismal day he ceased not his cry, even as in Gethsemane he had agonized all through the gloomy night. Our Lord continued to pray even though no comfortable answer came, and in this he set us an example of obedience to his own words, “men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” No daylight is too glaring, and no midnight too dark to pray in; and no delay or apparent denial, however grievous, should tempt us to forbear from importunate pleading.
See Jeff that you should pray without ceasing. Here is one way in which I mean- do not cease to pray becasue you feel that the prayers are not answered. Do not cease to pray becasue you feel nothing in response. Do not cease to pray becasue you feel that the day is dark or that the time has past. Never cease to make petition as you should never stop trusting. Do you suppose that Shadrach Meshach and Bednego stopped praying as they were bound and finally thrown in to the furnace? Why would you give up?
Treasury of David-
“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” However ill things may look, there is no ill in thee. O God! We are very apt to think and speak hardly of God when we are under his afflicting hand, but not so the obedient Son. He knows too well his Father’s goodness to let outward circumstances libel his character. There is no unrighteousness with the God of Jacob, he deserves no censures; let him do what he will, he is to be praised, and to reign enthroned amid the songs of his chosen people. If prayer be unanswered it is not because God is unfaithful, but for some other good and weighty reason. If we cannot perceive any ground for the delay, we must leave the riddle unsolved, but we must not fly in God’s face in order to invent an answer. While the holiness of God is in the highest degree acknowledged and adored, the afflicted speaker in this verse seems to marvel how the holy God could forsake him, and be silent to his cries. The argument is, thou art holy, oh! why is it that thou dost disregard thy holy One in his hour of sharpest anguish? We may not question the holiness of God, but we may argue from it, and use it as a plea in our petitions.
Remember my holiness Jeff. Yes, plead with me. Yes, contend with me based upon your understanding of my character. This is good. This is relationship. Jesus did it…so shall you.
Treasury of David-
“Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.” This is the rule of life with all the chosen family. Three times over is it mentioned, they trusted, and trusted, and trusted, and never left off trusting, for it was their very life; and they fared well too, for thou didst deliver them. Out of all their straits, difficulties, and miseries faith brought them by calling their God to the rescue; but in the case of our Lord it appeared as if faith would bring no assistance from heaven, he alone of all the trusting ones was to remain without deliverance. The experience of other saints may be a great consolation to us when in deep waters if faith can be sure that their deliverance will be ours; but when we feel ourselves sinking, it is poor comfort to know that others are swimming. Our Lord here pleads the past dealings of God with his people as a reason why he should not be left alone; here again he is an example to us in the skilful use of the weapon of all prayer. The use of the plural pronoun “our” shows how one with his people Jesus was even on the cross. We say, “Our Father which art in heaven,” and he calls those “our fathers” through whom we came into the world, although he was without father as to the flesh. “They cried unto thee, and mere delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.” As if he had said, “How is it that I am now left without succour in my overwhelming griefs, while all others have been helped?” We may remind the Lord of his former lovingkindnesses to his people, and beseech him to be still the same. This is true wrestling; let us learn the art. Observe, that ancient saints cried and trusted, and that in trouble we must do the same; and the invariable result was that they were not ashamed of their hope, for deliverance came in due time; this same happy portion shall be ours. The prayer of faith can do the deed when nothing else can. Let us wonder when we see Jesus using the same pleas as ourselves, and immersed in griefs far deeper than our own.
Do not be afraid to wrestle with me Jeff. Bring your heart and bring your honesty when you are confused or frustrated or grieving. Come as one trusting but confused, not judging as Job did. I will hear you and I will contend with you over your concerns and heart. I will transform you.
Treasury of David-
“But I am a worm, and no man.” This verse is a miracle in language. How could the Lord of glory be brought to such abasement as to be not only lower than the angels, but even lower than men. What a contrast between “I AM” and “I am a worm”! yet such a double nature was found in the person of our Lord Jesus when bleeding on the tree. He felt himself to be comparable to a helpless, powerless, down-trodden worm, passive while crushed, and unnoticed and despised by those who trod upon him. He selects the weakest of creatures, which is all flesh; and becomes, when trodden upon, writhing, quivering flesh, utterly devoid of any might except strength to suffer. This was a true likeness of himself when his body and soul had become a mass of misery—the very essence of agony—in the dying pangs of crucifixion. Man by nature is but a worm; but our Lord puts himself even beneath man, on account of the scorn which was heaped upon him and the weakness which he felt, and therefore he adds, “and no man.” The privileges and blessings which belonged to the fathers he could not obtain while deserted by God, and common acts of humanity were not allowed him, for he was rejected of men; he was outlawed from the society of earth, and shut out from the smile of heaven. How utterly did the Saviour empty himself of all glory, and become of no reputation for our sakes! “A reproach of men”—their common butt and jest; a byword and a proverb unto them: the sport of the rabble, and the scorn of the rulers. Oh the caustic power of reproach, to those who endure it with patience, yet smart under it most painfully! “And despised of the people.” The vox populi was against him. The very people who would once have crowned him then contemned him, and they who were benefited by his cures sneered at him in his woes. Sin is worthy of all reproach and contempt, and for this reason Jesus, the Sinbearer, was given up to be thus unworthily and shamefully entreated. “All they that see me laugh me to scorn.” Read the evangelistic narrative of the ridicule endured by the Crucified One, and then consider, in the light of this expression, how it grieved him. The iron entered into his soul. Mockery has for its distinctive description “cruel mockings;” those endured by our Lord were of the most cruel kind. The scornful ridicule of our Lord was universal; all sorts of men were unanimous in the derisive laughter, and vied with each other in insulting him. Priest and people, Jews and Gentiles, soldiers and civilians, all united in the general scoff, and that at the time when he was prostrate in weakness and ready to die. Which shall we wonder at the most, the cruelty of man or the love of the bleeding Saviour? How can we ever complain of ridicule after this? “They shoot out the lip, they shake the head.” These were gestures of contempt. Panting, grinning, shaking of the head, thrusting out of the tongue, and other modes of derision were endured by our patient Lord; men made faces at him before whom angels vail their faces and adore. The basest signs of disgrace which disdain could devise were maliciously cast at him. They punned upon his prayers, they made matter for laughter of his sufferings, and set him utterly at nought. “Saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.” Here the taunt is cruelly aimed at the sufferer’s faith in God, which is the tenderest point in a good man’s soul, the very apple of his eye. They must have learned the diabolical art from Satan himself, for they made rare proficiency in it. According to Matthew 27:39–44, there were five forms of taunt hurled at the Lord Jesus; this special piece of mockery is probably mentioned in this psalm because it is the most bitter of the whole; it has a biting, sarcastic irony in it, which gives it a peculiar venom; it must have stung the Man of Sorrows to the quick. When we are tormented in the same manner, let us remember him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, and we shall be comforted. On reading these verses one is ready, with Trapp, to ask, Is this a prophecy or a history? for the description is so accurate. We must not lose sight of the truth which was unwittingly uttered by the Jewish scoffers. They themselves are witnesses that Jesus of Nazareth trusted in God: why then was he permitted to perish? Jehovah had aforetime delivered those who rolled their burdens upon him: why was this man deserted? Oh that they had understood the answer! Note further, that their ironical jest, “seeing he delighted in him,” was true. The Lord did delight in his dear Son, and when he was found in fashion as a man, and became obedient unto death, he still was well pleased in him. Strange mixture! Jehovah delights in him, and yet bruises him; is well pleased, and yet slays him.
So Jeff see that suffering does not indicate that I do not care for you. Even my Son was "as a worm". Do you see the love with which He loved you as he gave up his place on high to come and become a worm?
Treasury of David-
“But thou art he that took me out of the womb.” Kindly providence attends with the surgery of tenderness at every human birth; but the Son of Man, who was marvellously begotten of the Holy Ghost, was in an especial manner watched over by the Lord when brought forth by Mary. The destitute state of Joseph and Mary, far away from friends and home, led them to see the cherishing hand of God in the safe delivery of the mother, and the happy birth of the child; that Child now fighting the great battle of his life, uses the mercy of his nativity as an argument with God. Faith finds weapons everywhere. He who wills to believe shall never lack reasons for believing. “Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” Was our Lord so early a believer? Was he one of those babes and sucklings out of whose mouths strength is ordained? So it would seem; and if so, what a plea for help! Early piety gives peculiar comfort in our after trials, for surely he who loved us when we were children is too faithful to cast us off in our riper years. Some give the text the sense of “gave me cause to trust, by keeping me safely,” and assuredly there was a special providence which preserved our Lord’s infant days from the fury of Herod, the dangers of travelling, and the ills of poverty. “I was cast upon thee from the womb.” Into the Almighty arms he was first received, as into those of a loving parent. This is a sweet thought. God begins his care over us from the earliest hour. We are dandled upon the knee of mercy, and cherished in the lap of goodness; our cradle is canopied by divine love, and our first totterings are guided by his care. “Thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” The psalm begins with “My God, my God,” and here, not only is the claim repeated, but its early date is urged. Oh noble perseverance of faith, thus to continue pleading with holy ingenuity of argument! Our birth was our weakest and most perilous period of existence; if we were then secured by Omnipotent tenderness surely we have no cause to suspect that divine goodness will fail us now. He who was our God when we left our mother will be with us till we return to mother earth, and will keep us from perishing in the belly of hell.
Verses 11-31 tomorrow!
Application and prayer:
Thank you Lord for your amazing love. Thank you love for showing your heart and your emotions from the cross. Let me learn from your example of prayer and trust and hope and selflessness. Thank you for the transforming picture of what you endured on the cross for my sake Lord. Let me regularly bring the tears of this psalm to mind that I might never lose sight of your love. Let me always maintain trust my holy and sovereign God even when all emotion should fail me. Even when all circumstacnes should fail me. Even when all friends and family should fail me. Even when you yourself seem distant and removed. May I yet trust you and claim your promises and wrestle with you in the quiet place of prayer.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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Saturday, June 30, 2012
It is Finished!- Part 1
Today' Reading: Psalm 22:1-10
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Thanks for commenting- I will probably post it if you dont seem to be a crazy person!