Forsaken By God

Psalm 22

Forsaken!  That is a very depressing word.  Many of us have at one time or another felt forsaken by others.  Perhaps a spouse walked out on us.  Maybe you had parents who were never there for you, or a friend turned their back on you when you needed them.  There might be someone who could say that all of this describes how they are right now, and that there is no one in their life who cares.  God has never forsaken you, especially if you are His child.  There is One, though, who was forsaken by everyone, including God, and right at the worst time in His life. That person is Jesus.

As I wrote about in my previous meditation, the suffering that Jesus endured to purchase our salvation was horrendous.  The physical suffering alone would be more than most anyone could endure.  What was even worse, though, was that because Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself, God was forced at that time to turn His back on Him.  Sin separates us from God.  He is all-holy and all-pure, and He cannot abide with sin.  Thus while Jesus hung on the cross, and the sins of all mankind were laid on Him, God was forced to turn away from Him.  Forsaken by God!  That was worse than all of the physical torment that Jesus had endured, and He cried out in anguish because of this (vs. 1-2).  He, the sinless Son of God, and now as He hung on that cross, as the sky around Him darkened and all of creation hid their eyes at this, Jesus was forsaken by the Father!  We, if we are children of God through salvation, need never fear that God will ever turn His back on us, because Jesus endured that for us.

As we continue reading through this psalm, we see a very vivid description of the sufferings of Jesus while He hung on the cross.  Many of the events of the crucifixion were prophesied in this psalm, one which David wrote about 1,000 years before they were fulfilled in Jesus.   Crucifixion was a very cruel way to execute someone.  It was very slow and tortuous, often taking more than a day to die, as one hung exposed to the sun, the elements, and even birds of prey.  Verses 7 - 8 were repeated by the enemies of Jesus who stood around the cross, looking up at Him.  Verses 12-13 describe how these people acted as they continued to shout verbal torments to Him.  David describes them like bulls and lions, with how ferocious they came after Jesus.  Verse 16a pictures them like dogs circling around their targeted victim.

Verses 14 - 17 give a very vivid description of the physiological effects of one who has been crucified.  His bones were pulled out of joint (vs. 14a), which would be typical with being roughly forced on the cross for crucifixion.  With one’s arms continually outstretched on the cross, it might be difficult for the heart to beat normally (vs. 14b).  After the cruel scourging, beatings, and then carrying the cross across town, any strength or energy was depleted, and He had terrible thirst (vs. 15).  Hanging there on the cross, exposed for all to see, one could easily count all of His bones (vs. 17).

In verse 16 we see a prophecy that clearly points to Jesus.  “They pierced my hands and my feet” clearly describes a death by crucifixion.  This was prophesied by David as he wrote the psalm, some 1,000 years before Jesus.  Execution by crucifixion was completely unknown at that time.  This is evidence that David, divinely inspired, was prophesying the sacrificial death of Jesus thru this manner.

Verse 18 is also another prophetic verse that very clearly was fulfilled with Jesus.  As He hung dying on the cross, at the ground beneath Him the soldiers they divided up His only earthly belongings, His clothes, and threw dice to see who would get His robe.

This prophetic psalm describing in detail the death of our Savior ends in victory, victory over Satan, and a victory for us.  God was satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, and our salvation was obtained.  The remainder of the psalm speaks of this.  As verse 31 says, the final verse of this passage, we need to tell everyone, all future generations such as our children, that the Lord Jesus has done this for us.