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."
2 Cor 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
In this Psalm are several quotation and references from the crucifixion of Jesus, both words he spoke and words from those who watched him die. The many passages from the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the birth, life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus serve as proof of both the Bible as the revealed word of God and also proof of Jesus as the Son of God. It is far beyond coincidence or chance.
At times we feel lonely. We may feel that God has forsaken us and that he does not answer us. We cry in our pain and we groan in our agony. Life seems to have been robbed of its meaning and stripped of purpose. Where is God? Does he hear me? Why does he not answer my cry? When we need him most, he is not here.
Feel the agony of Jesus in the Garden. Let his suffering become our own as he was beaten and mocked, as he had the thorns jammed into his head. The pain of the nails driven in his hands and feet must have been almost unbearable. If ever he needed his Father to answer and rescue him, it was now as he died on the cross.
But he was forsaken. He was despised as the crowd cheered his suffering and gloated in his death. He put his trust in God, but there was no rescue. Or so it seemed. God turned his back on Jesus, in all of his suffering and pain, because of our sin. But God was there and he raised him from the grave as he had promised. We may suffer and we will die but we will be raised too! Praise the Lord!
O Lord God, I thank you for your love and for your way of salvation provided me in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I am so thankful for the forgiveness you extend to me so I can be counted as righteous. Help me never give up on you because I know you will never give up on me as long as I trust you and live for you. Thank you for my family and for my friends who encourage me and who give me so much joy in this life. Use me in your time, in your way. In Jesus name.
Robert
