Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide” is titled “Teach us to Pray”. “Praying the Psalms has helped many believers establish and maintain regular and fulfilling prayer lives. This week we will continue to look at the Psalms, especially in the context of times when things are not going great for us” (quarterly for Sabbath, January 6). I liked this lesson. That each Psalm is a fertile field. We are listening-in on each writer’s thoughts and feelings as they reach-out to God from their inner being. One such Psalm that Tuesday’s lesson addresses is Psalm 22. On the surface, that Psalm seems to be a general “Psalm of Despair” (Tuesday’s title). Yet, it is really so much more.
As you read Psalm 22, it is full of words and phrases that Christ himself actually said from the cross… or allusions to events that happened on crucifixion Friday. As the quarterly states, “These words, of course, have become famous among Christians because they were the same words that Jesus Himself, while on the cross, uttered, showing us how central to Christ’s experience the Psalms were” (ibid). This thought is more profound than it first appears. It is true, that Psalm 22 does have wording that Christ said on the cross. But more. The very last phrase in Psalm 22, translated “That He has done this” in the NKJV, can also be translated “it is finished”. Woooooo!! This means, Christ was reciting (maybe singing) Psalm 22 from the cross. Why? Because that very Psalm penned centuries before by David and inspired by the Holy Spirit of truth, prefigured the very sentiment Christ would have while on the cross. That the words expressing such despair… and finishing with such abiding confidence in God, were Christ’s sentiments.
Do you realize what this means? It means that this Psalm accurately reflects Christ’s own heart, mind, thoughts, feelings while on the cross. Do you want to know Christ’s inner heart while dying on the cross? Read Psalm 22. You will see despair, yes. But halfway through the Psalm you will see a shift. Even though “the Savior could not see through the portals of the tomb” (Desire of Ages pg. 753), he looked higher and saw the Father. Here are EGW’s remarkable words…
Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father's acceptance heretofore given Him. He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of the loss of His Father's favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor. {Desire of Ages pg.756}
God in Christ revealed Himself in Psalm 22. Revealed the intense despair sin has wrought, and intense conviction God has that love alone will win His children back Home. Revealed how God has been carrying each of us and our sin, lo these many millennia. Because this is what the cross reveals. “The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God” (Education pg. 263). The cross is not some unusual occurrence. It is a literal, physical demonstration of the heart of our eternally loving Father. Amen and Amen!
Read the Psalms. Enter into the sentiments there expressed. Realize these are the honest, heart sentiments expressed in plain language to our Father of Love. Who loves us. Who longs for us to be honest and open with Him. Who wants us to “tell it like it is”. But to stay with Him long enough so His Holy Spirit can reinforce His loving care and continual abiding presence with us. God can turn our despair into hope. Love alone does this.
With brotherly love,
Jim