Psalm 22 Continued…
This Psalm opens up with the plaintive and desperate cry of the poor, lone Man forsaken by God.
Psalms 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
What we have here is something I want to emphasize from the very beginning—a record of His human suffering. We see Him as a man nailed to the cross, “. . . the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We get more light on this matter by turning to the letter of Hebrews: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9).
This is what we are looking at—the One who left heaven’s glory and became a Man. He became a Man in order to reveal God to us, yes, that is true; but most of all, it was to redeem man. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil—” (Hebrews 2:14).
He could save no one by His life; it was His sacrificial death that saves. “and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:15-18).
We see the Man Christ Jesus on the cross as perfect Man. He had learned to rest upon God. He had learned to trust Him in all that He did. He said, “. . . I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:29b). But all the way back in that desperate and despairing hour He was abandoned by God. There was no place He could turn, either on the human plane or on the divine. He had no place to go. The Man Christ Jesus was forsaken. No entirely human man has ever had to experience that. No one. Only Jesus alone.
When Jesus spoke these words from the cross— “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—He was quoting this verse, and that gives it unique sacredness (Mark 15:34).
Why did God forsake Him?
Psalms 22:2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
Because on the cross in those last three hours, in the impenetrable darkness, He was made sin.
He was forsaken for a brief moment. The paradox is that at that precise moment God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. And the Lord Jesus Himself said, “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” (John 16:32). The Father was with Him when He was in prison, the Father was with Him when He was being beaten, and the Father was with Him when they nailed Him to the cross. But in those last three hours He made His soul an offering for sin, and it pleased the Father to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10).
Forsaken. My friend, you do not know what that is; and I don’t know what it is to be forsaken by God. The vilest man on this earth today is not forsaken by God. Anyone can turn to Him. But when Christ takes my sin upon Himself, He is forsaken by God.
“Why have you forsaken Me?” It is not the “why” of impatience. It is not the “why” of despair; it is not the “why” of doubt. It is the human cry of intense suffering, aggravated by the anguish of His innocent and holy life. That awful and agonizing cry of the loneliness of His passion! He was alone with the sins of the world upon Him.
“Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” (v. 1). Groaning? Yes. At His trial He was silent, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7). When they beat Him, He said nothing; when they nailed Him to the cross, He did not whimper.
The KJV translates that word “groaning” as “roaring.” Why roaring? When God forsook Him, He roared like a lion. It was a roar of pain. Have you ever been in the woods when dogs attacked an animal? Have you heard the shriek of that animal? There is nothing quite like it. And that is what David is trying to convey to us here. I think that shriek from the cross cracked the rocks, for it had been His voice that created them. Now the Creator is suffering! On that cross He cried like a wounded animal; His was not even a human cry, but like a wild, roaring lion. It was the plaintive shriek and the wail of unalterable woe as our sins were pressed down upon Him.
It is true that God did forsake His Son for those last three hours that He hung on the cross; but does He ever forsake His adopted children who come to Him by faith in His Son? Didn’t He say, “. . . I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5); and then He said this in Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” It is true that, in His wisdom and compassion God may not answer my prayer as I expect Him to; but I know Him too well as my God, the God who has covenanted with me, to ever doubt His faithfulness and loyalty to me.
PRAY
Loving Father, forgive us for the times we disregard the sacrifice the Lord Jesus made to secure our freedom. Forgive us for taking unfair advantage of that freedom.