Confession time. A bit embarrassing but I find myself more often than not, with no one else around, speaking my thoughts aloud. Yes, complete conversations can easily take place. Even more than that, there are questions spoken out loud that are followed by answers. I’m not sure if I realize how often this takes place but no one else has said too much about me doing so. Or so, I think. I imagine David, like me, having the conversation of the torments and the agony that he has been enduring forming in his head and coming out in spoken word. Remembering, moment by excruciating moment, the trust that once was there but is no longer, feeling isolated and alone, seeking comfort.
Psalm 22 has been one of the most amazing prophetic images of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection painted by David one thousand years prior. Our Lord Himself speaks these these words aloud as he was dying on the cross. If Jesus, the Light of the world being broken down, tormented, and placed on a cross for us, can form these thoughts in His head and speak them aloud in lament – for others to hear - we can too. We can express the hurt within us, crying out to God in honesty and pain. But, is this the end? Are we left alone in suffering and hurt? Do we remain forsaken? Then there it is towards the end of the chapter. The questions being answered, the request that God “be not far”, the desperate pursuit of God’s face, and ultimately the remembrance of the One who has never left. On Good Friday we remember Jesus, crying out to God with the anguish of being forsaken. We hear his pain. We bear witness once again to his great love for us in enduring the pain and shame of the cross, and are reminded that we follow a Savior who knows what it is to suffer, to be rejected, to feel cut off from God. As Jesus used the words of David to express his grief and pain, so too we enter into the text of Psalm 22. We express our fear, our pain, and our loss, and cry out to God to remain present with us, trusting in God’s presence even when we cannot see or feel it. Reflection Questions:
Click here to today's additional Scripture readings. Grace and Peace Pastor Debi Hodgerson
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |