What goes through your mind when you are in a desperate situation, in a season of suffering, in the midst of a pandemic, and you cry out to God for help and deliverance, and He does not answer?
Do you cry out louder? Do you feel abandoned? Do you despair? Do you think it’s not fair? Undeserved? Do you become bitter or angry? Are you overwhelmed and weary? OR, are you reminded of God’s holiness and sovereignty?
Psalm 22 is a perfect illustration of one feeling forsaken in his darkest hour, and is the precise foreshadow of that which Christ felt on the cross. Look at verse one that records this lament, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” These are the exact words of Jesus, in His darkest hour, as He hung on the cross. Check out Matthew 27:46.
David looked beyond his circumstances and saw hope. Listen to the joy in hope expressed by David, the psalmist, in verse 3-4. “BUT, You are holy. In You, our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You did deliver them.” Proof that God did not abandon them. So too, with Jesus. He was delivered when He rose from the dead – victorious! See Matthew 28:6. God raised Jesus from the dead – proof that He did not abandon Jesus.
David was despised by his enemies. Read what verse 6-8 says about being despised by his enemies. They sneered, wagged their heads, and taunted him. The same was true of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 27:39.
Again, the psalmist finds hope in joy. Verse 9-10 says so – especially the last line of verse 10, “…from my mother’s womb, You have been my God.” Why does David have such hope and confidence that he will be delivered? Psalm 22:28 tells us. “For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.” God is sovereign. He does not allow trouble into our lives and then abandon us. On the contrary. God watches over us. He protects us. He shields us. God allows only what is needed for Him to accomplish His purpose which is always for His glory and for our good. He is making us into a people to worship Him.
The psalmist would again praise God with songs of joy. So too, with Jesus as found in Hebrews 12:2. “But for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame.” Jesus was able to look beyond His circumstance and see the coming joy.
Remember, dear one, when you are suffering or are in a desperate situation, or are overwhelmed and weary of what is happening in our world, “Weeping tarries for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” These are the words written by David, the psalmist who also wrote Psalm 22. Why and how was he able to write these words? Because he looked beyond his circumstances with joy in hope.