Why Have You Forsaken Me?

“Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2000 to 3000 slaves. The owner had said, ‘No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he’s ship wrecked we’ll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he’s never going to talk to any of us about God. I’m through with all that nonsense.’

Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic, there to live and die without hearing of Christ.

The two young Moravians realised that to go they must become a slave themselves - that was the only way to access them. They sold themselves to the British planter and used the money they received from their sale, for he paid no more than he would for any slave, to pay their passage out to his island for he wouldn’t even transport them.

As the ship left its pier in the river at Hamburg and was going out into the North Sea carried with the tide, the Moravians had come from Herrenhut to see these two lads, in their early twenties, off. Never to return again, for this wasn’t a four year term, they sold themselves into lifetime slavery.

The families were there weeping, for they knew they would never see them again. And they wondered why they were going and questioned the wisdom of it. As the gap widened and the housings had been cast off and were being curled up there on the pier, and the young boys saw the widening gap, one lad with his arm linked through the arm of his fellow, raised his hand and shouted across the gap the last words that were heard from them, they were these,

‘MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!’”

Please turn to Psalm 22.

Let's look first at the outline and context of the Psalm.

Psalm 22 divides into two main sections. The first is v1-21 - that is the sad part. Let’s call it the Sufferings of the King. The second is v 22-31 - that is the happy part. Let’s call that the Glory of the King. We'll break that down into smaller sections in a minute, but for now note that the chapter divides into those two main parts.

The psalms are songs written for a specific situations and the first questions to ask when looking at a psalm is and "What do we know about the context or situation that this has been written in". The first clue here is in the title - we read that it is “a psalm of David”, who was the King of Israel. The rest of the clues are usually found in the psalm itself.

Take a look at v1:-

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Why are you so far from saving me,so far from my cries of anguish?

Clearly David is having a really bad time and honestly expresses that publicly. He is in anguish, he needs saving and it would seem that God is not being much help. Why does he need help? Look at v7:-

All who see me mock me;they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

David's problem then is not feeling guilty, or being sick or not knowing what to do or being in love with someone who doesn't love him back. His problem is other people, who mock and insult him. Is that it? No, look at v20:-

Deliver me from the sword

David doesn't just face insults, he faces death. Execution at the hands of his enemies who like a pack of vicious animals are intent on destroying him.

When was this? Why was this? We're not told, so it can't be important. It could be that David faced that danger all the time. As Shakespeare put it in Henry IV "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown". A king is never short of enemies wanting to take his life.
Let's look more closely now at the structure and content of the psalm.

Part 1 – the suffering of the King - breaks down into six subsections. If you got a highlighter pen and highlighted the sentences where he's talking about himself in one colour and where he's talking about God in another you'd see this very clearly.

These 6 subsections result in 3 cycles of lament and trust. David swings backwards and forwards between pouring out his heart to God about his situation and how he is feeling and looking to God and expressing his trust in God. That happens 3 times. Let's take them in pairs. First v1-2:-

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Why are you so far from saving me,so far from my cries of anguish?My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,by night, but I find no rest. (v1-2)

In the middle of fearing for his life, David was in spiritual agony. Why? Because God appears to have abandoned him to his enemies. It's not doubt, or loss of faith - he still says my God, my God and he's crying out to him day and night. No -David knows God and depends on him, which is exactly why it's so disorientating to face the unusual situation where God seems to have closed his ears. When we face times where that seems to be our experience too, it's reassuring to know that it’s ok to express such feelings to God. Yet the outpouring of agony gives way to a declaration of trust. So verses 3-5:

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust;they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved;in you they trusted and were not put to shame. (v3-5)

David looks up and looks back. He looks up and sees a holy God on the throne of heaven. He looks back and sees a trustworthy God who has never, ever let his people down. And he trusts in that God. In similar times we too need to look up and look back in order to trust God.
That cycle of crying out in pain, followed by a quiet trust in God is repeated two more times. That's so realistic - isn't it the case that times of suffering involve such a rollercoaster of emotions in our prayers to God. Maybe you too are facing death – your own or someone you love. Maybe you are facing opposition from family, colleagues or friends because you’re a Christian. Listen to David and learn from how he cries out to God.
V6 begins the next round:-

But I am a worm and not a man,scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me;they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the LORD,’ they say,‘let the LORD rescue him.Let him deliver him,since he delights in him.’ (v6-8)

David here faces mental agony. In contrast to God's apparent silence is the pain caused by the mocking words of his enemies. They make him feel very small, like a worm. How incredibly powerful words can be, and their impact can hurt more and last longer than a physical punch. With their mouths they say, "He trusted in the LORD. The LORD can give him help" but they're really laughing at David and his trust in God. We all know what that's like.

Yet you brought me out of the womb;you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you;from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me,for trouble is nearand there is no one to help. (v9-11)

But David does trust in God. He again looks back and knows that God has always cared for and protected him even before he was born.

Finally, in v12-18 David faces physical agony as bulls, lions, dogs represent his enemies who crowd around him in animal-like packs seeking to lay him in the dust of death, as it says in v15. Notice the mob mentality, the greedy plundering of his clothes and the gloating, staring and delight in his suffering. In v16 we read that his hands and feet are pierced. But yet again his faith in God gives way to a call on God for help in the final section of V19-21.

Between the end of part one in v21 and the beginning of part 2 in v22 God answered David cry! The suffering of the King, gives way to part 2 - the glory of the King.

Part 2 further divides into two sections. In the first section (v22-26), David offers a sacrifice of thanks to God and then gathers together his people the Jews, the descendants of Jacob, including his servants and the poor for a big party. A speech would be made to praise God for answered his prayers and celebrating his God-given victory over his enemies.

Look at v v22-26:-

I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honour him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfil my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him – may your hearts live for ever! (v22-26)

The second section - from there to the end of the Psalm - is a looking forward to the future effects of the suffering the king has been through and God’s deliverance. Basically, the whole world for the whole of time will bow down before God and recognise that he rules over the nations.

So, that's the structure and the content of the Psalm.

Next I want you to see that as well as being a Psalm of King David – it’s a psalm of King Jesus.

In the reading we had from Matthew earlier, did you notice that in Matt 27v46 as Jesus hung dying on the cross he quotes from line 1 of Psalm 22. Why did he do that?

Well it could be that it’s a very relevant Psalm to draw comfort from in his suffering – in the same way we can if we face a similar situation to David. Jesus was facing a cruel execution at the hands of his enemies who like a pack of vicious animals are intent on destroying him and, for him too, God appears to have abandoned him to his enemies.

That may well be true, but I think he quotes verse 1 because he wanted us to go back and read it and spot that in this psalm David was speaking as a prophet, describing events in the future that Jesus was about to fulfil. This is what Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:10-11. Peter looks back to OT passages like Psalm 22 and explains that God's Spirit spoke through them to prophecy about Jesus in the future.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. (1 Peter 1:10-11)

Notice the two aspects to the prophecy – the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. Exactly the same as the two parts of this psalm!

So with that in mind, turn with me to the reading we had from Matthew 27:

When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”’ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. (Matthew 27v35-44)

Now let me read Psalm 22:12-18 – listen out for the obvious similarities and how much a description this sounds of a crucifixion:-

Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. (v12-18)

What is all the more striking about the links is that when this psalm was written crucifixion didn't exist yet - killing was by stoning. The fact that the crucifixion was predicted a 1,000 years before it happened gives us confidence that this is not plan B! Jesus death on the cross was not an accident! God had planned it from eternity past. So be in awe of God’s sovereign power and foreknowledge.

Now remember that with David we didn’t know the when or why his suffering took place. That’s because it doesn’t matter. Well, that is not the case with Jesus. We know exactly when and why this took place. And it matters more than anything else matters in the world.

When Jesus died on the cross he died instead of you, and instead of me. The Bible is crystal clear – every single human being who has ever lived has rejected the God who created us, who moment by moment puts breath in our lungs and who allows our heart to pump life giving blood around our bodies. We know he exists, but we choose to ignore him.

Anyone who lives with kids, like me, knows about selective hearing. What does my son reply after the millionth time I say 'Isaac it’s bed time'? 'Sorry dad, I didn't hear you'. Had I said, 'would you like a sweet', I suspect he'd have had no problems tuning me in. In a similar way, we don’t want to thank God for who he is and what he has done. We don’t want him telling us what we can and can’t do with our lives. That's far worse than Isaac pretending not to hear me - it's like a declaration of war against God and the result is that we deserve death.

When Jesus hung on the cross and said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he wasn’t just suffering at the hands of those who were crucifying him. No – he was forsaken by God himself. He had done nothing wrong, yet he faced what we will all deserve when we die and meet our creator. It’s the great exchange. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor 5v21

He suffered in our place so that we don’t have to suffer the punishment we deserve. And you know what that means? In Heb 13v5 God says to those who are his children ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”.

Jesus died on the cross and said Psalm 22v1 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?' so that Hebrews 13v5 can be true of us, He went through all that suffering for us, so that we don’t have to. And now we can face death without fear.

And that invitation is open to you tonight. It’s not automatic – you need to accept his offer of forgiveness. But also it is not difficult. All you need to do is ask him to forgive you because of what Jesus did for you. If you have never prayed like that and would like to know more pick up one of these free booklets called 'Why Jesus?' at the welcome desk or come and speak to someone tonight – me or those at the front of the church.

Now, let's look again at the second section of the psalm (v22-31) because that also applies to King Jesus. We know that because in Hebrews 2v12 the words of Psalm 22v22 are quoted and said to be the words of Jesus himself.

David was saved from death but Jesus wasn't. Remember in Matthew 27 he was mocked for saving others but not saving himself. That's true: to save others he had to die- But what about Jesus? How was he saved? Jesus’ deliverance was the resurrection. On the 3rd day Jesus was raised from the dead. It was an amazing victory over sin and death and the powers of evil that had crowded round him intend on devouring him as a lion would tear apart as lunch.

Death had been defeated. The grave could not contain him. There was life from death, hope from despair. Jesus was alive. V24 says of Jesus:-

For he has not despised or scornedthe suffering of the afflicted one;he has not hidden his face from himbut has listened to his cry for help. (V24)

So Jesus was delivered and if we trust in him, everything that is true of him is true of us. Just as David shared his victory feast with his people, so we are invited to join the victory celebration of King Jesus as brothers and sisters in his family. Hebrews 2v11 "Both the one who makes men holy [that is Jesus] and those who are made holy [that is those who trust in him] are of the same family."

Look at v26. Jesus invites to a feast which satisfies for ever- “The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him - may your hearts live forever.”

If you’re a Christian, rejoice in God's amazing gift of grace to undeserved sinners. Think about what that means and praise him. Remember too that all your best things are yet to come. Live for him and him alone. Realise your deepest longings are going to be satisfied in Jesus and in Jesus alone. Stop labouring for things that don’t satisfy.

To end, look at verses 27-31. We see here the extraordinary result of Jesus's suffering:-

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;all who go down to the dust will kneel before him – those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! (v27-31)

What we have here is a confident prediction that in God's Kingdom, at the feast will be those from every nation in the world. Seven times we read that this will happen. That is the fruit of Christ's sufferings on the cross. It also reminds us that this invitation is for everyone - again we read over and over 'all', 'all', 'all'– whatever your age, how much money you have or where you live in the world.

Remember those young German men who were willing to become slaves to reach slaves with the good news of what Jesus has done for us. They said ‘MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!’” They understood this truth that Jesus was slain, and with his blood he purchased men and women for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, as it says in Rev 5:9.

So are we announcing the news to the ends of the earth? Are we supporting those who've gone from this church with the aim of reaching others for Christ. Are you so caught up in a Christian bubble?

How now? Not by our power! We have a job to do, but it's God's work. Own strength? Own power? Own persuasive skills? NO! The sovereignty of God is what guarantees the advance of the Kingdom.

It's worth saying that although Jesus has suffered for us, to bring us forgiveness that doesn’t mean we don’t suffer at all. To follow a suffering Messiah will involve walking where he walked. We too will suffer first and then we need to be willing to suffer with Christ. Remember the Moraviian missionaries. How did they reach the slaves. They became slaves themselves. Hurt! Suffering is involved. Are you willing to suffer?