My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

We are going to be looking @ the 22nd Psalm today.

o The purpose of todays message is to give you hope when you feel abandoned.

o To challenge you to study Gods’ Word

We are going to look @ 3 key points:

? God keeps His promises

? God finishes the job

? Jesus is always thinking about us

Open your bibles to Psalm 22: (Let’s stand as we read Gods Word)

Read Psalm 22:1-6 (Please be seated)

Although we don’t know the exact situation to cause David to cry out to the Lord in such anguish, there were many times in his life that he faced tribulation and persecution. But he is obviously agonizing over something and feeling that God has abandoned him. Have you ever felt like David?

Psychological effects: the feeling of abandonment has severe psychological effects:

? Creates trust issues

? Anxiety

? Feelings of being unloved, unwanted

? Blaming yourself or others

? Depression- which in itself, leads to a host of other illnesses.

In all likelihood, David was experiencing all of these!

Let’s peek into a little bit of history.

As the King of Israel, David undoubtably had an intimate understanding of what we now call the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the OT.

Here’s what is written in Deuteronomy 17:18-19

This is referring to any anointed King of Israel.

“Also it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.

And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.”

So having this knowledge, He knew of Gods promise in

Genesis 28:15

So here’s a quick backstory:

Jacob is on the run from his brother, because Jacob deceived his father Isaac, by telling Isaac that he was Esau.

While he was on the run, he stops at a place to sleep overnight. He uses a stone as a pillow and falls asleep.

Here he has a dream of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven and angels, ascending and descending on it.

God speaks to him and says this:

Let’s begin in Genesis 28:14

“Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

15: behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you”.

This is what God spoke to Jacob, Isaacs son.

Check out what God says to Isaac, Abrahams’ son:

Genesis 26:4 “I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven, I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”.

Now, let’s see what God tells Abraham in:

Genesis 22:17

Quick backstory-Abraham was being obedient when God told him to take Isaac to the mountaintop as a sacrifice, and when God saw his obedience he spared Isaac and blessed Abraham.

Let’s begin in Genesis 22:16 “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

17: blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies”.

Did you catch the prophecy in those verses?

Do you see a pattern here? From Genesis chapter 22 to 28?

? God keeps His promises

? God finishes the job

When we are feeling abandoned, that is the time we most need to go to Gods Word!

David would have also been familiar with:

Deuteronomy 4:31

Let’s begin in v. 30 “When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice,

V31. (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”

Ask others to read v. 31 from their bible.

God is reminding us!

Anyone here ever need to be reminded of things? Anything? Everything?

*Me asking Lisa to remind me of something…

When you are in that moment of despair and forsakenness, know: