Today's Psalm: Psalm 22  &  Matthew 27:32-44,  Hebrews 2:10-13

Psalm 22 is known as the Psalm of the Cross. It is perhaps the most amazing of all the Psalms, for it accurately predicts what Jesus will experience on the cross some 950 years before His crucifixion occurred and is known as one of the messianic psalms. 

David begins with “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” These same words were echoed from the cross when Jesus said, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Matthew 27:46). We can see in Psalm 22 some of the suffering and emotions that Jesus must have experienced on our behalf from the cross. 

David too, must have been dealing with a difficult time in his life; a time when he felt overwhelmed and abandoned, and  before we go any further, can you remember a time when you felt alone and abandoned by God and others? Perhaps, wondering if anyone cared. I may be wrong, but I think all of us can remember a time, or two in our life when we felt exactly that way.  

The trouble is when we get into a state where we begin to feel alone and abandoned our focus tends to be on ourselves and how we're feeling and the circumstances going on around us, and here in this psalm, David give us the solution for rising above our circumstances and placing our focus back on The Lord. 

First, he begins to cry out to God, But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me." (Psalm 22:19 and other verses.) 

Second, he begins to focus on God's promises and turns his prayer into praise and I believe this is key, for there is power found our praises! 

Notice beginning in verse 22, David's focus seems to shift from the circumstances around him, etc. to the truths about who God is and that He will never abandon him. I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! (Psalm 22:22-23a) 

The truth is even in our darkest hour God is never far away. He will come to the rescue and make things better. Here's just a few truths I pulled from this psalm and I hope you'll share others with us on WitW

1.     God does not abandon us (Psalm 22:24).

2.     God will always help us (Psalm 22:19, Psalm 22:26).

3.     We can trust God to be with us through whatever we are up against (Psalm 22:3-5).

4.     With God, there is not a single person or circumstance that can permanently defeat us (Psalm 22:27-28).

Pause to Reflect:

1. Have you ever felt distant from God during a difficult time? What did you experience in both your thinking and feelings?

2. What helps you in difficult times to regain your balance?

3. Does it comfort you to know Jesus experienced all you have and more and can sympathize with all you go through?