January 10
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed,” Psalm 22:1-5.
Psalm 22 is a Messianic psalm. It also is a prophetic psalm, which was written a thousand years before Jesus was born, and it vividly takes us to the scene at Calvary’s cross where Jesus was crucified. We will have a number of morning devotions based upon this psalm.
The Bible records that Jesus spoke seven times while hanging on Calvary’s cross. This psalm begins with what is generally regarded as being the fourth cry from the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The church fathers have said that this is one of the most difficult texts on which to preach a sermon. We cannot fully fathom the depth of what it means to be totally forsaken by God.
The evangelist Matthew reports, “Now from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3 p.m.) there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?’” Matthew 27:45-46. In His humility, the all-knowing Son of God does not use His divine wisdom, and He cries out, “Why have You forsaken Me?” and then He adds, “Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?”
The Savior was suffering the damnation of hell. Indeed, even in hell, God is present – however, not with His grace and mercy, but with His wrath. In another place, the psalmist wrote, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there,” Psalm 139:7-8. The heavenly Father had withdrawn His divine goodness. What a price Jesus was paying to redeem all people who had ever lived, who were living then, and all who would live in the future until the end of time!
The cry of anguish continues, “O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent.” It was not just a cry of being ignored and forgotten, but a cry of being completely forsaken by the God of heaven and earth. However, even in that hour of intense pain and suffering, the suffering Savior acknowledges God’s holiness. God is always holy and right in everything that He does, and He remained holy even while He forsook His Son! What depth beyond our understanding! With the apostle Paul, we say, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33.
The suffering Savior remembers how God helped His chosen people in the past. “Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” The almighty God miraculously delivered the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the promised land of Canaan. They cried to the Lord repeatedly, and He responded to their pleading; but to save sinners for the heavenly Canaan, He forsook His Son.
Yes, God forsook His Son for a time to save you and me and all people. Jesus redeemed us, not with gold and silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. As you listen to His cry from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” hear Him also say with a loud voice, “This is the price I paid for you!” Dear Father, strengthen my faith in Him! Amen.