PREVIEW: When David cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” he was not just speaking on a personal level about having a rotten day. He was also speaking prophetically of a time when Jesus, the Son of David, would have a really rotten day hanging on a cross as God’s sacrifice for our sins. And even if David may have exaggerated his feelings a bit, our Lord’s words would be no exaggeration when he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus endured that really bad day on the cross so you wouldn’t have to. So, the next time you’re having a really awful day, take a moment to rejoice that even though your day is not so great, you will never have to know a really rotten eternity, thanks to Jesus.
A Journey of Worship // Psalm 22:1-3,22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel…. I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
David — the shepherd boy, the captain of Saul’s army, military hero of the nation, king over all Israel — no matter what season of life he was in, had more than a few really rotten days during his journey on earth. At times, hiding from Saul in a cave, or fleeing from his own son’s murderous plot, or betrayed by people he had trusted, life was tough for David, sometimes depressingly so. What led him to compose this plaintive psalm? We don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling that the depth of despair in this psalm was a bit exaggerated. I mean, really, did he really believe that God had forsaken him?
Whether exaggerated or not, Davide felt that way at the moment of writing Psalm 22. We do that, too, sometimes. When we’re going through a painful experience, we often use hyperbolic language to describe our emotions: “I just want to die…I’ll never get over this…this pain is too great to bear…I am all alone.” It is a universally accepted practice to communicate the depth of our feelings through this sort of exaggeration.
But think about this: David was not just speaking on a personal level about having a really rotten day. He was also speaking prophetically of a time when Jesus, the Son of David, would have a really rotten day hanging on a cross as God’s sacrifice for our sins. And our Lord’s words would be no exaggeration.
Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, bearing the wrath of God on that old rugged cross. We will never in a billion years be able to understand the pain — not just the physical pain, but the spiritual pain of the sinless One taking on sin, and having the Father turn his back on the Son because his holy eyes could not gaze upon the sin his Son had become in that moment. That’s why Jesus fulfilled David’s prophetic utterance in Matthew 27:46 when he, too, cried out,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
I am so grateful that my Lord endured that really bad day so I wouldn’t have to. So, the next time you are having a really awful day, take a moment to rejoice that even though your day is not so great, you will never really know a really rotten eternity, thanks to Jesus.
Try doing that and see if your really rotten day isn’t so bad after all.
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