When you feel abandoned (Ps 22)
Have you ever felt that God has left you? You know what I mean – you are in desperate need and he seems to have just abandoned you. It may have been that you were ill or maybe had a friend or a parent or child that was desperately ill and you were crying out to God, asking him for help. Maybe it was a situation at work or school that was just too hard to take - maybe you were in a new school with no friends and just hated it; maybe there is conflict at work and you can not cope – you just wanted out of there and you were praying to God that he would deliver you from that situation, but you heard nothing. Maybe you were desperate for work and you prayed and prayed for god to answer your prayers. You were desperate for an answer and prayed day and night, but to no avail.
What do you do in these situations when God is silent? When you are suffering and he just doesn’t seem to care. He just seems to be on holidays or avoiding you or worse still - maybe he is just a figment of our imagination. Do you ever feel like that?
It doesn’t seem fair does it. I mean Think back to the Old Testament and the people of Israel. God was with them. He delivered them and they praised God for it. They only had to cry out to him and he came running to save them. They only had to trust him and he delivered them. Its all well and good for them, but what about me?
Have you ever thought like this? You feel like you are not even worth enough to worry about. You mut be one of the lowest of all people for God not to care for you – you must be scorned and despised. No come to think of it, that is even too important, it is as though you were a worm – not even a human being – not even that important.
How do you feel when this sort of thing happens? Does it shake your faith? It is difficult, because here I am a Christian who trusts in God. I have faith, but what a witness I am turning out to be. … my friends all look at me and laugh - All they see is a person who believes in something that can’t be seen or proven – a person whose prayers are not answered, whose “loving” and “caring” God seems to have abandoned them. They only see me continuing to suffer and snicker at my misplaced trust.
A pre-kindergarten teacher found an exciting new thing for the Sunday School class. The teacher wrote a song about popcorn, taught it to the children, and had them crouch down on the floor to sing it. At appropriate points in the song, all the children would "pop up." The teacher soon had them "popping" all over the classroom.
One day, the popcorn song was in full swing, when the teacher noticed one child remained crouching on the floor while the other children "popped" all over the room. "Why can’t you ’pop;like the other children?" The little child replied, "I’m burning in the bottom of the pan."
While the world goes merrily along around us, we can be burning in the bottom of the pan. Where is God when this is all going on? Where is he when we need him the most?
Does he expect us to go it alone? Surely not … isn’t he a sovereign God who brought us into the world and nurtured and protected us throughout our entire life. Surely he doesn’t repay our loyalty with isolation. We need him most when trouble is near us and there is plenty of that …
When faced head on with our biggest problems, they look so scary. Like a herd of bulls encircled around us ready to trample us to smitherines. Or like a pride of roaring lions ready to rip me apart. How do you feel when faced with your suffering, your problems, your anguish alone? Do you feel empty and drained? You are so uptight, your body feels as though it is tied up in knots. Its as if every bone in your body is out of joint. Your heart melts like wax – you don’t have any courage left – it is gone. You just don’t have the energy to keep going, you are ready to die.
I guess most of you can relate to some of this. The pain of suffering is real and can’t be underestimated. The feeling of being abandoned is intense and is not to be belittled and so is the guilt that we are somehow failing in our faith because of our doubts. But let me assure you that you are in good company here because all that I have just said above is a paraphrase of Psalm 22. King David wrote it Why don’t you open it up with me now and we’ll read it together. While we read it, see if you can identify who else has used some of this psalm during a time of suffering. .
Read Psalm 22
As we read this, you can see that David felt the feelings of abandonment we talked about before. He …
- felt alone & cut off from God (vs 1)
- felt that God was not listening (vs 2)
- compared himself with Saints of old and concluded he must be a worm (vs 3-6)
- felt the ridicule of those around him (vs 7&8)
- wondered how this fitted into God’s sovereign plan & his past experiences of God (vs 9-10)
- felt the pressure of his enemies encircling him (vs 12-13)
- felt all strength & dignity melt away (vs 14-18)
As we were going though it, did it remind you of anyone else? Who quoted this Psalm? Jesus on the cross. Matt 27:46 tells of Jesus quoting the first verse of this Psalm. He too felt abandoned and rejected and in a real sense he was as he carried the sins of the whole world on his shoulders.
I don’t think we often grasp the consequence of Jesus quoting of this verse. You see, the psalms in the bible were used as hymns in the synagogues. This was why they were written in the first place. Psalm 22 would therefore have been well known by those people standing around the cross and all the imagery of the psalm would have been brought back to their minds. Some may even have started to sing it in their minds. And if they had – what an amazing revelation would have been given for Psalm 22 speaks of Christ’s crucifixion in vivid detail. Listen to it again from Vs. 12
PS 22:7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." – See Matt 27:41-42
PS 22:12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. - A picture of Jesus’ enemies hovering around the cross
PS 22:14 I am poured out like water,and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax;it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. – A picture of the exhaustion and suffering of the cross. His joints are pulled apart from hours hanging on the cross. He is dehydrated and thirsty. His heart is broken. He can no longer fuction as a human being for his bones, heart, strength and tongue fail him.
PS 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me;a band of evil men has encircled me,they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones;people stare and gloat over me.They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. – Dogs was a common name the Jews used for the Gentiles (i.e. the Romans). They pierced Christ’s hands, they divided his clothing among themselves (Matt 27:35)
What a picture of the death of Christ – What a prophecy – accurate, detailed all written 1000 years before the event – before Crucifixion had even been invented.
Christ knows what abandonment feels like for he was there – he felt it, he endured it for us. He understands what you are feeling – trust me.
But that is only half of the Psalm. When we examine these words spoken by Jesus on the cross, we often leave it there, believing that that the full meaning of these words were wrapped up in misery and depression of being abandoned, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. To do this, is to lose sight of the whole reason why Christ uttered these words on the cross.
The Psalmist interjects in Vs 19 with the imperative “But You, O LORD don’t be far away.” He knows that only God can save him and that his hope rests on God and God alone. So he begins a final urnest prayer to God – a prayer of faith and trust that he would deliver him from death, and from his enemies that encircle him. Read vs 19-21.
And then the mood changes completely from a lament to a song of thanksgiving and praise. Read vs 22-31. The Psalmist sees through the present darkness to the glory of God and testifies to God’s goodness. God has not despised the afflicted ones and he certainly has not abandoned them – So the psalmist wants to bring praise to God. Even though we sometimes want to ask the question “God, why have you abandoned me?” we can rest assured that he has not and will not ever leave us.
But even more than a general glorification of God, this latter section speaks volumes about Christ Though suffering on the cross, Christ was not despised or rejected. In stead he has been accepted and found righteous in the eyes of God.
It was for a long time a common practice for people to make vows before God. When these were carried out, there was what was called a votive offering where the person discharging the vow puts on a celebratory feast to which he would not just invite his friends, but also his servants, some levites and other needy people. At the feast he would testify to God’s goodness.
Picture now Christ’s votive feast in heaven. The poor (in spirit) will eat and be satisfied – those that are unworthy to be there (i.e. you and me). We are poor spiritually because of our Sin, but through God’s grace and Christ’s redeeming work, we have an invitation. And people just like us will come from all parts of the earth – all who bow down to him. God is God over the whole earth and so will gather people from all corners of the globe – both those alive at God’s coming and those who have already died.
So in conclusion when Christ quoted the first line of this Psalm on the cross he was doing 4 things. Firstly he was associating with the feelings of loneliness, pain, suffering and abandonment. But that is not it. Secondly, he was calling to the memory of those around about, the fact that God is a sovereign God, a God who deserves all praise. He then goes onto call the people around the cross to look forward to his resurrection and that future time where he will host a great feast which will be attended by believers from all parts of the world. The invitation is open to all, but each individual needed to recognise his claims and respond to them.
And lastly, he shows that his work is finally complete. Note the last phrase – “For he has done it.” This is literally “It is Finished” which is the same words used again by Christ on the Cross. With the death and resurrection of Christ, the work of salvation for the whole world was accomplished and so it is right for Christ to state “It is finished”
The words “My God, My God - Why have you forsaken me” is then a cry of empathy, praise hope and victory.
Where are you today? Are you in the middle of one of those times where you doubt God and his ability to bring you through? Do you feel alone … abandoned? Are you ready to give up on something because you believe God is just not interested. Please don’t give up. Yes it is alright to vocalise the words “My God, My God … Why have you forsaken me” – Just like the psalmist did, just like Jesus did, but let that lead you to a sure conviction that God has not deserted you in your hour of need. God has given us His assurance, that he will never leave you nor forsake you and this one thing you can be sure of. He wants you at his votive feast – he has a place ready for you – so hang in there and have faith – He knows and he understands.
