in Hope

 

Hope in Psalm 22

In the worst suffering God is there to save!

 

V 1 ‘My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?’

When you feel God isn’t there remember how He has been there for His people in the past –

V 5 ‘In You they trusted and were not disappointed.’

 

V 6 ‘But I am a worm, and not a man …’

When you feel even less than a human remember God is your Creator and He cares for you –

V 10 ‘You have been my God from my mother’s womb’

 

v 14, 15 ‘I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, melted within me; my strength is dried up …’

When you feel like you can’t even stand, you’re like a puddle of tears, God hears you and helps you –

V 24 ‘God has not despised the afflicted, or hidden His face, but when he cried to Him for help, He heard.’

 

Believe God’s promises as if they have already been accomplished and praise Him!

Vv 25-31 ‘From You comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly … the afflicted will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever ... For dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations … Future generations will be told about the Lord …

for He has done it!’

 

On the cross, Jesus cried, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Though without sin, Jesus, God’s Son went through the death that was punishment for our sins. Written around 1000 years before the event, Psalm 22:11-18 describes the scene at the cross when Jesus died.

In this prayer of Psalm 22 the author expresses the feelings that each of us feel when we suffer. God has allowed His Son to suffer separation from Him so we can have great hope – the hope that He conquered death and hell, and the hope of forgiveness through Jesus and a right relationship with our Creator God Who loves us so much!

Read Psalm 22 and then the famous Psalm 23 where God, and Jesus, are described as our good Shepherd. Jesus says, ‘I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.’ John 10:11