Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this Friday. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, and we are just one week away from Good Friday. The birth, ministry, passion, crucifixion, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus our Lord were all prophesied. Psalm 22 is one of the Messianic prophesies. It vividly portrays the Crucifixion of our Lord.
How could David, who lived a thousand years before Christ, describe the crucifixion of Christ in such detail? David wrote before the Roman empire existed, and before crucifixion was invented as a means of torture and death. We can understand that Jesus may have chosen to quote this psalm as he was dying on the cross, but how did David literally quote the Pharisees as they stood taunting Jesus while he was on the cross. Centuries before there was any such thing as a Pharisee, David wrote: “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” (Psalm 22:8). Then, at the crucifixion of Jesus, we hear the Pharisees saying: “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:43). This death had been planned before the world began, for the Bible tells us, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:19-20). The book of Revelation says that Jesus was the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
The prophecy of this psalm is just as real as the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah’s suffering by saying: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3-5). It is an amazing word of prophecy.
It is also an expression of human emotion. The psalms are rich with emotion and they are unapologetic in their expression of despair and doubt, as well as their expressions of joy and hope. It gives us comfort knowing that Christ experienced the same emotions that we do. As Isaiah said, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” The writer of Hebrews says, “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. . . . For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15).
David expresses the full range of human emotion as he writes this psalm. He goes from pole to pole, from the pit of despair to exhilarating praise, from wondering why God has forsaken him to expressing confidence that God will rule the nations, from feeling like a worm to understanding his value before God. David is not only expressing his emotions, but he also is expressing the emotions that all of us have felt at different times in our lives. This very moment there are thosewho would say with Erma Bombeck, “If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?” And there are others who are on top of the world today. They are experiencing blessing and everything is going their way. Last year at this time, it may have been exactly the opposite for both of them. God understands our emotions and draws near to us when we are feeling abandoned by the world, and even by him. God has broad shoulders, and he can take it when we feel disappointed and angry with him. God neither wants us to be Pollyannas, nor does he want us to give in to despair. What God honors is honesty. What God honors is the struggle. He honors those who, like Jacob, wrestle with him to receive his blessing. Behind the struggle is a faith that God knows what he is doing, even if we do not. In the struggle is a trust that will not let go of God, even if he wounds us.
The problem with our struggle is that we only see what is happening from this side. On one side is God, who is working out all things for our good and his eternal purposes. But we are on the other side, and all we can see on our side is chaos and disaster. Corrie ten Boom, the beautiful Christian who went through Hitler’s death camp for aiding Jews, used to hold up a piece of her embroidery to demonstrate an important truth. On her side the embroidery was beautiful. The colors were coordinated and pulled together to make a beautiful tapestry. But on the other side dangled strings in a chaotic and knotted tangle. Looking on that side you would have never guessed what was going on the other side. The problem is that although God is beside us helping us, we sometimes don’t feel it. We don’t understand what is happening, even though we desperately want to believe that God knows what he is doing. We see the chaos, but God sees the pattern that he is creating.
In her book, "The Hiding Place", Corrie ten Boom tells about her experience at Hitler’s Ravensbruck Camp. The barracks was extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning Corrie and her sister Betsy secretly read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Betsy said, “Corrie, we’ve got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas.” Corrie replied, “Betsy, there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.” But Betsy insisted that they give thanks — even for the fleas. Months went by, and they realized that the guards were no longer coming into the barracks. The women had freedom to talk, read the Bible together and even pray. It was the only place of refuge from the cruelty of the guards. One day they learned why the guards never stepped foot in the barracks — the fleas. Betsy turned to Corrie and said, “Do you see Corrie? Even the fleas are a part of God’s plan.”
Even the difficulty you are facing is a part of God’s plan. He is weaving a beautiful tapestry of your life that includes trials and blessings. Disappointments become His appointments. Even the reverses in life cannot keep us from going God’s direction. The apostle Paul put it this way: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). It is a message of hope.
Psalm 22 begins with David talking about how abandoned he feels by God. He lists the things that are going against him in his life. He talks about the sinking feeling of betrayal, the hurt, the disappointment about how his life has turned out. But he ends the psalm saying, “For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. . . . The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him — may your hearts live forever ” (Psalm 22:24&26).
There are valleys, but there are also paths out of the valleys. There are troubles, but there is a trouble-busting, problem-solving, loving and blessing God. He is aware of your situation. He knows your need, and though you may not be able to see it, he is still very much in charge of your life, and the rest of the world as well. The Bible says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
If God knew about the cross before the beginning of time and redeemed the events of the cross, which were the greatest evil in history, he knows what is happening in your life and can redeem it as well.
Gladys Aylward was a missionary to China more than fifty years ago, but she was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yangcheng. However, she could not leave behind the children to whom she had given her life. With only one person to help, she led more than a hundred orphans over the mountains toward Free China. In the book "The Hidden Price of Greatness", the authors tell what happened, “During Gladys’s harrowing journey out of war torn Yangcheng . . . she grappled with despair as never before. After passing a sleepless night, she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A 13-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much loved story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. ‘But I am not Moses,’ Gladys cried in desperation. ‘Of course you aren’t,’ the girl said, ‘but God is still God.’ When Gladys and the orphans made it through, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can trust in him.”
We are not Moses — not even close. But God is still God, and He is looking after us. The Word says, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
In Christ,
Brown
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