THE SAME GOD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

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.

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.”

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 near and there is no one to help.

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.

But You, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

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, honor 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 fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him — may your hearts live forever! 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!

Psalm 21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

The words of Jesus from the cross haunt the hearts and minds of all Christians who place their love on the Savior. Dying an agonizing criminal’s death through crucifixion although perfectly innocent, Jesus found Himself alone with the weight of our sins hanging on His body, pulling down on His nailed hands. His Father could not be with Him in the presence of the sins of the world. The people who He loved so dearly had turned on Him, rejected Him, and many stood and were jeering Him as He died for them. And as He hung and died, his clothes were divided by casting lots.

Indeed, Jesus suffered more than you and I will ever understand and more than most people will ever experience themselves.

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

Words Jesus spoke from the cross but words first written by David in the 22nd Psalm. In what can only be explained as divine prophetic words given by God, David profiles the coming Christ and much of what He will soon have to endure. Indeed, Jesus’ death and suffering was very similar to the dangers David faced as his enemies wished him harm. And David’s feelings of distance from God in the midst of trouble were feelings we would see in Jesus at the cross.

Facing dangers, David tried to cry out to God for His help but received no immediate answer. His anxieties and fears made David restless and anguished over his future. He wondered where God was at when he needed Him so much, who God would remain seemingly far away in David’s time of need.

Maybe we all have been like David or Jesus at some time in our life. Maybe you are in that place right now, wondering where God is when you are going through terrible difficulty.

David used great literary imagery to paint the picture of his danger. He wrote the following:

“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.”

“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.”

Yes, David clearly detailed what he was up against. It was clear he faced great peril and needed God to intervene. And David could have ended his writing right here, leaving it open for God to respond. But he didn’t and thanks be to God he didn’t.

For no matter how much David was puzzled by God’s seeming absence, he never allowed his faith to dwindle. We know by the rest of his words in this psalm.

We read where David still saw God as sitting in His throne as the Holy One worthy of the praise of Israel. God was the same God who delivered David’s ancestors who placed their faith, hope, and trust in Him, and He was the God who could and would rescue again.

Indeed, God was God and would never change. He was the God who was present as David emerged from his mother’s womb and the same God present as David was nursed and nurtured at his mother’s breast. The same God who was with David when he was born was the same God who was with him in adulthood when he was in need. God had provided for David from the very start and He would provide for him now.

Friends, this is the good news for you and me today. God is God. He doesn’t change even when our life circumstances do. Like David, He was present when we were born, He walked with us and protected us when we were in our youth, and He still is with us as our loving, caring Father today. If He seems distant, it’s not because He is but rather because He’s testing and refining our faith in Him. And like His first disciples, we too often have little faith in the power of God to deliver, the power that Jesus used fully to save the disciples when they faced danger.

So how do we respond to this good news, to this truth about the mighty God we serve?

Maybe we should follow David’s lead and enter into praise. Read again his closing words of this psalm:

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, honor 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 fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him — may your hearts live forever! 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!

Declare God’s holy name and proclaim His righteousness to all people.

Honor and revere God in every way.

Bow down, worship, and praise the God who has dominion and rule over all the nations, over all He has created.

As we consider Jesus and how the words of the psalm would later apply, why would we respond to these words of God any other way?

For the God of Creation, the God of Israel and David, the God who was Father to Jesus, is the same God who is our God and will be that forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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