Tuesday

 

Not only should this glimpse of the cross make me keenly aware of my sin and His mercy, but I should trust Him when He ordains suffering to come into my own life.

That's a tall order.

But it's do-able. With His help.

Look at verse fifteen:

My strength is dried up like a piece of pottery,
And my tongue clings to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death. (v. 15, NSAB)

The Hebrew word used there for "lay" also has the meaning of "ordain" or "appoint." Evil, hate-filled, godless men crucified our Lord Jesus, but they did it in accordance with the plan and the fore-knowledge of God.

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (Acts 2:23) 

There are sections of this psalm that show Christ's response to the Father. A human being might have cried out in anger and bitterly shook a fist in God's face. Not our Savior: He affirms the holiness of God in verse three, and recalls God's faithfulness in these verses:

Yet You are holy,
You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You rescued them.
5 To You they cried out and they fled to safety;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed. (v 3-5)

How do we respond when trials come? When we go through hard times, we learn to obey; we learn to submit and to trust God. 

Jesus endured by entrusting Himself in the hands of a loving Father. So can we!

 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:3)

Our other response to this look at the cross should be that we continue to trust God when our prayers seem to go unanswered. Jesus went through crucifixion and death before the answer to His prayers was revealed. Sometimes God will answer our prayers in a better time - or in a better way -- from His perspective.

But sometimes we don't understand.

We must continue to trust Him as our God . . . recently I have been praying for something that I truly believe to be God's will, but it seems sometimes as if things couldn't have gone worse if I had not asked in faith for an answer! It's so, so easy to slip into doubt when we pray and don't see His answer with our human eyes . . . 

It's at times like that we need to turn back in our Bible to the miraculous prophecies in this psalm. Read other prophecies and promises, too, and let them bolster our faith. If this psalm could accurately describe crucifixion hundreds of years before that horror was practiced . . . if this psalm could predict specific details of Jesus' death, even the words said and the gambling for His robe . . . this is solid evidence that the Bible is real and true! It's God's Word! We can trust His Word, even if we are going through trials and our prayers seem to be unanswered.

Psalm 22 doesn't end on a down note. 

It goes on to victory! Join us tomorrow.