Last week I found myself sequestered in my basement with a roaring fire and snow falling outside. While the setting was tranquil, I must confess that my heart was not. As various circumstances flooded my heart and mind, the providence of God led me to Psalm 22 as part of my Bible reading that day. It’s here that I found myself drawn to the words of David, who said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest” (Ps 22:1-2).
To King David God felt far away, and I doubt he’s the only one who’s felt that way.
The Prophetic and the Personal
I am often quick to apply this psalm to its prophetic fulfillment. After all it is quoted by Jesus on the cross as He languishes under the weight of our sin’s condemnation. Throughout the entirety of Psalm 22 are glimpses into that horrific yet glorious moment where Jesus hung outside of Jerusalem. Unaware of the totality of his words, David speaks of a divinely orchestrated tension within the Godhead as Christ takes on our sin and the Father turns His back. This is a great mystery, and worthy of our consideration, but that’s not the focus of this article. That said, you can hear Pastor Nathan and I discuss that moment on episode 148 of Focused on Christ.
As I was sitting in my basement, I took time to think of this Psalm from this moment in the life of David. It’s clear that he was speaking in accordance with his own struggles. Whether due to the actions of King Saul or David’s son Absalom, he found himself in a place of turmoil and frustration. Yes, Jesus would eventually echo these words but in this moment they are the expression of a broken, human heart that feels the absence of the God he loves.
Given that we all are broken, I wonder how often we would benefit from coming to God with these honest questions:
- Why are you so far from me?
- Do you not hear the words of my groaning?
- Why do I find no rest?
The Weight of Our Brokeness
I believe that all followers of Christ will find themselves considering these questions at times. We may not express them out loud as David did, but we feel them in the depth of our hearts as we endure hardships, relational tension, or profound suffering. The truth is that even when life is relatively comfortable, we feel the weight of our own sin and fallenness. It can grip our hearts in such a way that it shades all our life. The past that we are forever reminded of, the sin that so easily entangles us, and the insecurities that plague our daily life all can feel like ruthless enemies threatening our destruction. In many ways we can echo the Apostle Paul: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Rom 7:19). Paul then goes on to cry out “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).
The good news is that Jesus is indeed the One who will deliver, but for now let us sit in this tension of the now and not yet.
We are fallen people living within a fallen world. Therefore, we live with an aching and groaning in our lives that can culminate in a cry similar to that of David, “Lord Jesus, why are you not delivering me now?”. How often do you express this ache to the Lord? If you have never practiced the act of lament, I would encourage you to watch Pastor Dave’s teaching on Psalm 13 after we trace King David’s lament in Psalm 22.
The Cycle of Lament and Worship
David’s lament in Psalm 22 doesn’t end in despair but ultimately sees the Lord ruling over the land, yet the path to get there is winding and difficult. In verse 3 David writes, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Ps 22:4-5). In the midst of his despair over not experiencing God’s nearness, David looks to the past and remembers that the fathers trusted God and were delivered. He acknowledges that God has shown Himself mighty and has not put His people to shame. He considers the historic work of God in light of his current struggle. This moment of reflection provides historic clarity when his own mind was clouded with suffering. This does not diminish the pain being experienced, but places that pain in context of the power and might of God.
From that mountain top overlooking the peaks of history, David turns back to his current reality and writes, “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.” (Ps 22:6). It’s as if David is saying, “Compared to you, God, I am nothing and the people know it”. He describes being mocked and tells of how others wag their heads, saying, “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him” (Ps 22:8). His faith in God is seen as foolishness to those around him, because all the people see is failure, loss, and suffering. Like Jesus, who heard similar words while on the cross (Matt 27:43), David is surrounded by people who are only looking at the worldly circumstances of the moment without truly considering the grand narrative that God has put into place. They see faith as futile, because all that matters is the moment and the worldly victory of man.
Yet, David, as his faith is mocked, turns his attention back to the Lord in verse 9, remembering: “You are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breast”. He recognizes God’s providence from his very birth and pleads, “Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help”. David’s faith was steadfast, even in the midst of suffering and mockery. He knew where his help would come from – it would come from Yahweh.
- He knew that Yahweh had delivered his forefathers and therefore could deliver him.
- He believed the words of the covenant and therefore held fast to the promises of Yahweh.
- He was not deterred by the cruel words of his kinsmen but rested in Yahweh’s sovereign hand.
Throughout this Psalm, David moves in and out of lament and worship. He cries to the Lord and then rests in the truth. This is good news for us because it means we can do the same.
A Conduit of Hope
As we go into another month and the new year continues to roll out—perhaps in ways we didn’t plan—let us be honest with the Lord. When we feel like God is far off, let’s express that to Him in prayer. Lament is meant to be a conduit by which we find hope in the promises of God in the middle of suffering. This is especially true for those who are in Christ. We have greater revelation than King David had, therefore we have more to rejoice in. Greatest of these is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
This is where we once again intercept the truth of Psalm 22 with the event of Jesus’s crucifixion. It is true that this Psalm prophetically speaks of the coming suffering of the Messiah, but that is not all. The actual death and resurrection of Jesus speaks also to the rescue that David longed for in this song. This is what struck me most last week as I meditated on his words.
As David wrote this song, he was likely unaware of its prophetic nature. Yet, the One who cried out to the Father on the cross, “why have you forsaken me”, would be the very One to unite mankind with God forevermore. While David felt like a worm before other men, it was Jesus who was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable and mocked by those he came to save. David may have experienced the mocking of his faith in the promises of God, but it was the embodied Word, Jesus, who would fulfill every one of those promises by submitting to the Father’s will.
Jesus bore the suffering that David spoke about so that the deliverance that he cried for would be a reality.
Now, like David, we stand in victory and anticipation of the fulfillment of all the promises of God. By faith in Christ we have been reconciled to the Father and now wait for His return. David writes of this coming day at the end of Psalm 22:
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. Ps 22:27–31
Brothers and sisters, that day will indeed come. All our brokenness will be healed, our tears wiped from our eyes, and the experienced distance between us and our God reduced to nothing. Till that day, let us rightly lament the brokenness of our world and ourselves while rejoicing in the promises that are ours now and forevermore in Christ.