John 7
Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?Psalm 22:1
When we read these words we immediately think of Jesus’ cry on the cross. And yet here we find them as the opening words of Psalm 22. Jesus, as He was dying an excruciating death, didn’t just call out words, He called out Scripture that came to His mind. He was so immersed in Scripture that even as He was dying, His cry to God was a quote from Scripture.
But this Psalm not only reminds us of Jesus’ final words and His death, it reminds us that what we feel is not always a reflection of what God is doing. David was convinced that God had forsaken him and that his cries for help were not being heard. David does what each of us needs to do when we feel that God has forsaken us. He reminds himself that his descendants had trusted in God (vs 4) and how God had delivered them. He reminds himself that God is to be trusted because He has a track record of never letting his people down (vs 5).
There are two challenges for us in these opening verses of Psalm 22. Firstly, in our moments of difficulty and as we face hardships in this life, do we allow our feelings to drive our thoughts, or do we recall the faithfulness of God and what He done for us in the past?
Secondly, in our toughest moments in life, are we so immersed in the Scriptures that our cries of anguish are cries dominated by the Scriptures? These moments are some of the greatest tests of our faith. Our feelings in these moments need to be controlled by our knowledge. Knowledge of the Scriptures and knowledge of what God has done for us.