Why Have You Forsaken Me?

             For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

              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. \

 

 

This is a long read, but I didn’t want to break it up because I think we need to feel the pounding, the unending pain, and anger in this song. Of all the psalms of lament, this is the one Jesus quoted from the cross. This psalm includes prophecies about the crucifixion. These accusations, this groaning was the cry of the Son of God in what was the worst and best moment of His life, when He was accomplishing all He set out to, at a price that is none of us can even imagine. If anyone could rest assured of God’s love, it should have been Jesus. If anyone should have been able to go through life without lament, it should have been Jesus. Yet this was the lament He quoted.  And if lamenting was wrong, Jesus wouldn’t have done it.

If we feel the need to lament, we should, and our lament would do well to follow the patterns set forth in the psalms of lament.  We should take our pain to God and work through it with Him, then trust Him to deal with it wisely. We should not allow ourselves the foolishness of expecting life to be without lament when Jesus’ wasn’t. Read it one more time, slowly. Aloud. Listening to where it hurts.