Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 22:1-8
Ps 22:1-8
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy one; you are the praise of Israel. 4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
Matt 27:41-46
41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
If we live long enough, all of us have been or probably will feel we have been forsaken by family, friends and even by God. To be forsaken (even when it is only in our own minds) is to be rejected and makes us feel worthless. We don’t matter and our feelings of loneliness are ours alone. There are very few things that can make us feel any lower than being ridiculed and forsaken by the ones we love.
Never has anyone been more forsaken than Jesus. When he was arrested by the mob, his disciples fled and they all forsook him. As he hung on the cross, his own Father turned his back on him because he was being punished and dying because of sin, though not his own. The religious leaders who should have recognized him for who he is, in their rebellion even quoted from our Psalm to mock him. He was forsaken but he continued to entrust himself to him who judges righteously.
Heavenly Father give me greater faith to trust you when it seems I am all alone and it seems all have forsaken me. Help me never forget that you are always with me, no matter what I face. What a friend I have in Jesus who has been where I am and has shown me how to be faithful, even when deserted. Lord, while there have been times I have felt alone, I am thankful for my family and so many fellow Christians who stuck by me and helped me. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
