Lent Day Thirty Five
“Psalm 22:1–8”
Psalm 22:1–8 Taken from The Passion Translation
1 God, my God!
Why would you abandon me now?
2 Why do you remain distant,
refusing to answer my tearful cries in the day
and my desperate cries for your help in the night?
I can’t stop sobbing.
Where are you, my God?
3 Yet, I know that you are most holy; it’s indisputable.
You are God-Enthroned, surrounded with songs,
living among the shouts of praise of your princely people.
4 Our fathers’ faith was in you—
through the generations they trusted and believed in you
and you came through.
5 Every time they cried out to you in their despair,
you were faithful to deliver them;
you didn’t disappoint them.
6 But look at me now; I am like a woeful worm,
crushed, and I’m bleeding crimson.
I don’t even look like a man anymore.
I’ve been abused, despised, and scorned by everyone!
7 Mocked by their jeers, despised with their sneers—
as all the people poke fun at me, spitting their insults.
8 Saying, “Is this the one who trusted in God?
Is this the one who claims God is pleased with him?
Now let’s see if your God will come to your rescue!
We’ll just see how much he delights in you!”
What an amazing Psalm this is! David wrote it one thousand years before Christ… and then, as Jesus hung on the cross, with his hands and feet pierced by nails, he used these very words, as he called out to God in anguish of soul (Matt 27:46), surrounded by soldiers who gloated over him, and who cast lots for his garments (verses 16-18). We can hear the desolation in the voice of Jesus. And after he cried out, there was no reply. Jesus not only bore the weight of our sins, he bore the weight of silence. He died for us, so that we would never be subject to silence again. Every time we cry out to God, we will be heard!
It’s also amazing that the whole Psalm points ahead to the crucifixion of Jesus, and yet it was truly an encouragement to the Jews of the day, and down through the ages. Like the writer back then, we too have felt bereft. We have wept and moaned, and wondered where God is, in the midst of our struggles. Indeed, it’s our shared human experience, down through the ages. And Jesus, too, would have sung this psalm as a child. I often wonder whether he knew how profoundly it would be fulfilled in his life, as he sang it back then.
But of course, the Psalm doesn’t finish at the cross, with the gloaters, and the mocking and the bones on display. If we read ahead, there is also great rejoicing and celebration and praise – hints of resurrection, and a world responding to God’s glorious salvation in Christ (verses 26-27). It’s a remarkable ending!
I love the sense at the end of this Psalm that even we are included in the story. “… future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” (verses 30-31). As we respond to the grace and victory of God in Christ, we are able to share the message with others. We too can declare God’s forgiveness to a people yet unborn!
‘Lord, sometimes we forget. We feel the weight of our anguish. We weep and groan. And yet Jesus bore the silence for us. He bore the mocking and the taunts for us. Please remind us of your glorious salvation and your wonderful calling to pour out your message to those nearby, and far away, and even the ones yet unborn, that they too might believe.’
Naomi Reed
Naomi Reed grew up in Sydney and trained as a physiotherapist, alongside her high-school sweetheart, Darren. After graduation, they married and worked in Sydney hospitals before answering God's call to the mission field in 1993. They spent six of the next thirteen years working in Nepal with the International Nepal Fellowship and it changed them irrevocably. They now eat rice for breakfast, leave their chappals at the door and pause interminably if you ask them where their home is