Psalm 22:1-2
1 Psalm 22 For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. 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. (NIV)
It seems like only yesterday. About two years ago, I awoke early one crisp morning - while it was still dark out, and traveled to my brother in law’s house. After gathering our guns and donning our blaze orange, we set out on our path of destruction. Craftily we drove my Honda a few miles down the road, to where he knew there was a little cove nestled with deer. A year’s worth of jerky was awaiting us, as we harvested 3 good size deer - two bucks and a doe.
This Psalm which we will be studying for the next seven weeks was written to the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” What happens to a doe in the morning? It gets hunted. Since this song was entitled “the doe of the Morning”, it probably was a song that reflected an animal being hunted. One modern day example might be the Jaws theme or the theme from the Empire Strikes Back. It wasn’t a light hearted beer drinking song made to make you feel good. It was a song that carried along with it the connotations of death and destruction.
David picked this music as the setting of his song. In other words, different lyrics were written for this tune of David’s time. As you can tell from his choice of background music, this psalm isn’t going to be a very cheerful song. The lyrics are sad. They talk about what would happen to the promised Messiah. Sometimes when you listen to a song, you may not listen to the lyrics. We don’t want to do that with this Psalm. This Psalm, psalm 22, is jam packed with predictions and references to the Messiah. So we will want to pay careful attention to it.
Today we will look at vs. 1-2. These are words that Jesus cried out while He was hanging on the cross. Jesus asked the question - My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? We will attempt to answer that question this evening with 3 other questions.
My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me
I. What is a God?
Jesus was calling out to His God on the cross when He said, “My God, My God.” What did Jesus mean when He said, “my God”? What is a god? Luther explained it this way, To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by ‘god’. So a God is something you rely on for good and that which you take refuge in.
Take for instance Ahithophel. He had been King David’s advisor for many years, but decided to rebel against David in favor of David’s son Absolom - the one who got his hair caught in a tree. Ahithophel had grown used to people asking him for advice - he liked the feeling of being needed. But when he tried to give Absolom advice, the Lord frustrated him by having Absolom not listen to him. As a result, Ahithophel no longer felt needed. His whole life and happiness revolved around his advice and his feelings. You could say they were his gods. When they were gone, he hanged himself.
What is your god? What do you turn to refuge in every need? Do you turn to the doctors or medicines when you get sick? Do you turn to your own money managing abilities when crop prices are low? Who do you turn to in time of need? That is your god.
Let’s look at Jesus. Who or what was His God? The only we can find that out is by looking at examples from His life. Right before Jesus was handed over to the chief priests by Judas, look at what He did in Mark 14:32-36: 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." When Jesus stood on trial before Pilate in John 19, Pilate said to him, "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" But how did Jesus answer? 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." So who was Jesus’ God? Who did Jesus trust in for pardon? Jesus only trusted in His Heavenly Father in times trial and through all his life. Luke 5:16 says, Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. In His humility, His God was His Father. It was His Father that He was calling to on the cross.
And who can blame Him? The Father had never let Him down up to this point in His life. When He prayed to the Father to raise Lazarus from the grave, God didn’t let Him down. When Jesus needed strengthening to go to the cross, God the Father was there giving Jesus His approval at the Mount of Transfiguration. It isn’t hard to trust in something that is always there for you. That’s why it’s hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven. They become so accustomed to relying on their money to help them, that it becomes their god. So to rely on something else - an invisible God whom they have never seen or felt before to get to heaven - that is impossible.
II. What does it mean to be forsaken?
But this time, something different happened to Jesus when He relied on His Father for help. Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Instead of being there, Jesus was forsaken. What does it mean to be forsaken? The closest feeling I could have to this was when I was young - I woke up at my grandma and grandpa’s in a dark room all alone. I was scared to death, thinking that I had been abandoned. In the Greek, this word carries along with it the idea of being abandoned, kind of like a new born child being left in a garbage can - abandoned and left alone.
We can look at examples from the Lenten story and understand a little better what it means to be forsaken. Jesus had given His disciples so much - he had shown them the true way to heaven through faith in Him. He had given them power to chase out demons. He opened up His life to them and gave them opportunities to serve with Him. They were his friends and His companions. So when Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, he brought along His close and trusted friends. They had all vowed and sworn, especially Peter, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same. (Matthew 26:35) But then, what happened? His own personal close friend sold him for 30 pieces of silver. And when he came with the mob to arrest Jesus, what happened? Mark 14:50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. Instead of standing by His side, they fled for the hills. That’s a good example of what it means to be forsaken.
But the worst example is in what happened to Jesus with His Father. Jesus knew better than to trust in his disciples, for they were mere men - he was ready for that to happen. But Jesus trusted in His Father for help. He had never let Him down up to this point. When Jesus called out to the Father for help, He was hanging from a cross with nails sticking through His hands and feet. He needed the companionship of His Father during this most trying time. But instead, what happened? The words of David came true. Come to find out, this was a direct prediction as to what Jesus would say on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” God forsook God. The Father turned His back on Jesus - instead of showing His love to His Son and listening to His cry for help, the Father rejected His Son.
When God does forsakes you, it’s a thousand times worse than being shunned by friends or family. In Matthew 25:41 Jesus described what it would be like to be forsaken by God when He explained Judgment Day; 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” In Matthew 25:30 Jesus described being forsaken by God as “darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In other words, it’s just like going through hell. All of us - even unbelievers - enjoy some measure of God’s grace right now as we live on earth. But in hell, God completely witholds all of His love, so that there is only sadness, darkness, and pain. That’s what Jesus had to go through on the cross. His Father completely withdrew His love from Him - let Jesus to go through hell.
III. Why did it happen to Jesus?
But the final question is why? Jesus asked, “Why have you forsaken ME?” If this had happened to the criminals at His side, we could understand. If it happened to us, we could understand - after all, we deserve this kind of treatment from God. But this was Jesus talking here. Remember who Jesus was. This was the same Jesus who didn’t give into the devil’s temptations, the same Jesus who healed the sick, the same Jesus who raised the dead, the same Jesus who turned the other cheek when He was spat upon and mocked and flogged. This is the Jesus of whom the writer to the Hebrews said in 4:15, has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Jesus certainly didn’t deserve to go through this. The only thing that Jesus deserved was eternal life. Romans 2:7 makes it clear, To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But instead, Jesus was only given eternal death. It doesn’t make sense. In his humiliation, in the midst of the worst suffering that anyone could imagine, even Jesus was perplexed as to why this was happening to Him.
Yet Jesus knew, didn’t He? Of course He did. And so do we. John the Baptist made it plain at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry why Jesus was going through hell. When he saw Jesus approaching he declared, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! In the Old Testament, a lamb was good for one thing - to sacrifice for sins. That’s what Jesus had come to do - to be a human and divine sacrifice for the sins of the world. So Peter explains the purpose of Jesus’ suffering in 1 Peter 3:18, For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. Jesus went through hell for one purpose - as our substitute Jesus would take the punishment of God on His shoulders, in our place.
There are certain questions that have been around for centuries. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In a similar way, this question of David and of Jesus has been around for centuries. Long before Jesus ever asked this question on the cross, in Psalm 22 David predicted the Promised One would say - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why did God forsake God? Why did the Father forsake the Son on the cross? God’s Word answers this question for us. You and I must admit - it is my fault, it is your fault that Jesus went to the cross. One teacher of mine put it this way - imagine that every time you sinned it was as if you drove another nail in Jesus’ hands. If we hadn’t sinned, then Jesus wouldn’t have had to go to the cross. It was our fault.
We may feel guilty over this answer, and we should. But we can take comfort in the results of this sacrifice. Through this sacrifice, we have been made holy through the blood of Christ. Our sins are paid for. The righteous paid for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. So even though we are sad that our sins caused Jesus to be crucified, we rejoice in the fact that Jesus’ sacrifice restores our relationship with God. Since Jesus was forsaken, God promises us He will never forsake us or leave us in hell. Since this first prediction of the Promised One came true, we can sing hymn 114 with sadness and joy -
Christ the Life of all the living, Christ, the Death of death, our foe
Who, thyself for me once giving to the darkest depths of woe -
Through thy suff’rings, death, and merit I eternal life inherit.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto thee. Amen.
