Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 22.2 and following. Indeed, more than any other portion of Scripture, this one must be approached with “shoes off.” For it contains the most unfathomable of subjects: the feelings and prayers of Christ during the hours of the cross. First exposed to the wickedness of men, suffering for justice, He then knows, during three hours of impenetrable darkness, the abandonment of his strong God. Entirely alone, the perfect Man goes through this unparalleled trial with the unique inner support of his incomparable love. And He does not cease for a moment to entrust Himself to the One who for a moment cannot give Him an answer. He publicly proclaims his shame and weakness, but without anything resembling impatience, despair, or a defensive reaction.
This psalm expresses what the Lord’s feelings were on the cross (Mt 27:46). Although he expressed only the first words of the psalm, his spirit tested it in its entirety. He begins as if his cries to the One who could save him from death (Hb 5:7) had not been heard, since, God having hidden his face from him, he was then in darkness. This was the death of a victim, not the death of a martyr; it was death under the judgment of sin. Nothing can ever come close to that. See what difference there is between the death of the martyr Stephen and the death of the Lamb of God (Acts 7). And yet the perfect victim fully justifies God – the faithful God of the fathers, his God from the matrix. That is why his cry still rises before God to whom he exposes one by one all the outrages he suffers at the hands of men. And is it not strange to note that, in that moment, his enemies were fulfilling against themselves the word of God even in his letter? (Mt 27:43). But in the end the holy victim seems to be aware that his prayer was heard – heard from among the horns of the buffaloes – heard, no doubt, by the One who could save him from death (Hb 5:7). We can notice that the cry of Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” was later followed by another cry: “Father, in your hands I surrender my spirit.” It was obviously in the consciousness that his first cry had been heard that the second was expressed.
For in the consciousness of having been heard by the one who delivers him from death, he vows, first of all, to proclaim the name of God to his brothers, and secondly to praise him in the congregation (that of Israel), and in the great congregation (that of all nations). He began to fulfill the first of these vows as soon as he was delivered from death (John 20:17), and he continued to fulfill them in all the saints (Rom 8:15); he will perform the second in the kingdom on the day when Israel and the nations are reunited, when the seed of Jacob will glorify him, and when the families of the nations will bow down before him. Then, as Jesus declares here, the kingdom and all its offerings will be to Jehovah. Also, although during his life and ministry, the Lord Jesus was here on earth to save and not to judge (he lowered himself and wrote on earth as if he did not hear, rather than throwing a stone against a sinner – John 8), yet he presented to God’s attention and judicial gaze the world in its wickedness. This is what he does in John 17 by saying, “Just Father, and the world has not known you.” It seems that he does the same in this psalm of such a special and touching character.
As for the external sufferings, we notice how profound they were; but Christ alone, among all the righteous, had to bear the weight of God’s abandonment: he who had often expressed his trust in Jehovah, and the intimacy of his relationship with him, and who had taught his disciples to put their trust in the One who always answered prayer, he should publicly proclaim that he is not answered, but abandoned. What an expression of what this hour was! As we have already pointed out, Christ’s sufferings on the part of men bring judgment to his enemies; while the abandonment he suffers on the part of God, being atoning, – and this was, for him, to endure judgment – all that follows from it is only grace without mixing. Once the horns of buffaloes have been answered, everything is graceful. A river of grace flows for the residue, then for Israel, for the world, for the generation to come -and the one and only source of that grace is the unwavering and divinely perfect work of the Atonement, accomplished in the death of Christ. As for the work, in the sufferings, it was alone. – This being done and accomplished, he takes place in the middle of the congregation with which he surrounds himself.
Let’s note how perfect must have been in Christ the knowledge of the name of his God and Father, in whose enjoyment he entered as man after he had taken away sin, how perfect was in him the joy that flowed from it, as well as the full satisfaction of God in him and in his work. All that God has been against him then, he is against him now, by virtue of the excellence of his work. What knowledge Christ must not have of what it is to pass from the unfathomable sufferings of the cross into this light of divine joy! This deliverance is here the reason for his praise, and this must also be the character of our praises; they must flow from the blessed certainty that we have come out of the precincts of sin, death and judgment, and entered into the perfection of divine favor. Anything that does not flow from this feeling is at odds with the One who leads our praises.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Why did you abandon me? :
· Discontent, men’s complaints to God
Jb 10.1 My soul is disgusted with life! I will give effect to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. Jb 23:2 Oh! if I knew where to find him, If I could get to his throne, Ps 55:3 Listen to me, and answer me! I wander here and there in my sorrow and restless, Ps 77:4 I remember God, and I groan; I meditate, and my mind is dejected. -Pause. Ps 142:3 I spread my complaint before him, I tell him of my distress.
· Imploring God, crying out to God, examples
Ex 14:10 Pharaoh was approaching. The children of Israel looked up, and behold, the Egyptians were walking behind them. And the children of Israel were in great fear, and cried out to the Lord. Jg 3:9 The children of Israel cried out to The Lord, and the Lord raised up a liberator for them, Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. Jg 6:7 When the children of Israel cried out to Jehovah about Midian, 1 Kings 17:20 Then he invoked Jehovah, and said, Jehovah, my God, would you afflict, to the point of killing his son, even that widow to whom I was received as a host? 2 Ch 13:14 Those of Judah who turned around had to fight in front and behind. They cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded trumpets. Ps 34:6 When one looks to him, one is radiant with joy, and the face is not covered with shame. Lm 2:18 Their hearts cry out to the Lord… Wall of the daughter of Zion, pour out torrents of tears day and night! Do not give you any relaxation, and let your eye have no rest!
· Human Weakness Leads Man to Despair of God
2 Ch 20:12 O our God, will you not exercise your judgments over them? For we are powerless before this numerous multitude that is advancing against us, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. Ps 127:1 Song of degrees. From Solomon. If the Lord does not build the house, those who build it work in vain; If the Lord does not guard the city, the One who keeps it watches in vain. Jer 10:23 I know, O Lord! Man’s way is not in his power; It is not up to man, when he walks, to direct his steps. John 3:27 John answered: A man can only receive what has been given to him from heaven. Jn 15.5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who dwells in me and in whom I dwell bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. 2 Cor 3.5 This does not mean that we ourselves are capable of conceiving something as coming from ourselves. Our capacity, on the contrary, comes from God.
· Inheritance, the good influence of the righteous
Ps 25:13 His soul will rest in happiness, and His seed will possess the land. Ps 69:37 The seed of his servants will make his inheritance, and those who love his name will have their abode there. Ps 112:2 His seed will be powerful on earth, The generation of righteous men will be blessed. Pr 14:26 He who fears jehovah has firm support, and his children have a refuge with him. Pr 20.7 The just walk in its integrity; Happy his children after him!
From all of the above, we note that the answer reaches the One who is “between the horns of the buffaloes.” It is the resurrection and at the same time the joy of rediscovered communion. But in his love, Christ is eager for this joy to be shared. So his first thought is to make known to “his brothers” the new relationship in which his work has placed them, by telling them of his Father who becomes their Father, of his God who becomes their God. Unlike other psalms that deal with the sufferings of Christ, there is no question of judgment in this one. Jesus bears sins there, and therefore everything is only grace and blessing. Blessings for the Assembly (originally composed of Jewish disciples); for restored Israel, called “the great assembly”; for “all the families of the nations” under the reign of 1,000 years; finally for all those who will be born during this glorious reign. As waves expand around the center where they were provoked, so extend to all creation the wonderful consequences of the work of the cross. And then we understand a little bit why Jesus was abandoned. That is why, at the cross, man gave his full measure; he showed how far he was able to go in his hatred, his violence, his cynicism, his moral baseness. But at the same time, God has also given the full measure of what He is: In perfect righteousness against sin, in perfect love for the sinner. The cross magnified everything. Ah! may this contemplation of Jesus dying for us produce in each of our souls humiliation and gratitude, love and adoration. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the faithful need to know God’s ways.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.