I wondered something last night when studying Psalm 22. I know that the psalm was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that it is a prophecy of the crucifixion, yet I also realize that some truly horrific thing had happened in the life of its writer. So, I wonder…

…here is this thoroughly gut-wrenching psalm (22), and on the same page is one of the most inspiring psalms ever written (23). Same Bible. Same book. Same page. Same writer. Same God. 

How is it that a good, all-knowing, all-powerful God can allow something so tragic to occur that His child begs Him not to be forsaken?

How can the same God that inspired the words, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” also inspire the writer to pen the following plea? “The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet… But you, O Lord, do not be far from me.”

The answer is that we live in a fallen world. To put it another way, we live in a world where sin runs rampant. David eventually learned not to fear what man could do to him in this life, and learned to only fear God. 

That begs the question, “Why doesn’t God simply get rid of all the sin in the world? To do that, He would have to get rid of all the sinners. He could simply wipe them off the face of the earth. In that case, you and I should say, “So long,” for you and I are sinners. We would be gone. 

Well, then, why can’t He just get rid of the sin? He has made provision to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse our hearts of all unrighteousness. However, to fully get rid of all the sin in this world, He would have to remove our free-will, which would make us something like a robot, and not human. He can, however, sanctify believers, and strengthen us with the power of His love, giving us the means by which to resist the temptation of sin. That, though, is up to each and every individual. 

The world will not be made new until the end of days. And until God creates a new heaven and a new earth, there will be tragedy, disasters, and sin and death. This is part of the human experience, the course which mankind has chosen and to which we are bound until Christ returns. 

In the meanwhile, know this: every evil deed will, in the end, be punished, and every evil-doer will be brought to justice. Jesus will return someday to judge the sins of quick and the dead; He will judge those who do not repent of their sins. 

Judgment, though, is at Christ’s second coming. Right now, He offers mercy.  

• “And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” – John 12:47

Yes, we serve a just God, One Who is righteous, and Who will someday judge all who hear His Word and do not believe. 

But, He is a loving God, Who offers mercy to those who believe. 

• Yes, we find every human emotion in God’s Word, for it is a letter inspired by God written by humans for humans. The same writers who record their fear, also write about the God-given courage. They write about their joy and their disappointment. They write about tragedy and reward. They write so that we, who are made lower than the angels, can relate to the stories, I and grasp the eternal truth. 

Ultimately, we learn to

Fear Not, For the same Bible that tells us that Christ will judge the world, also assures us that God sent His Son to rescue those whom believe. 

I have a heckler. He seems to be a deeply disturbed individual who has joined a Christian group on Facebook with the sole purpose of intimidating Christians who post there. To be fair, he tries to intimidate many others beside me. 

That little annoyance – that lonely voice on the internet – is nothing but an itch, unworthy of mention compared to the pain and death that Jesus suffered. 

Jesus was stripped of His garments, beaten about the head with a rod, and had a crown of thorns embedded in His scalp. 

He was beaten so severely with a cat o’ nine tails that His bones were exposed. He was so weak that when forced to carry the cross bar to which He would be nailed, He fell to the ground. 

Three nails – spikes, really – secured him to the Roman cross, one in each wrist and one through His feet, which were placed atop one another. 

He watched as His clothes were given as award in a game of chance. 

It was a brutal scene. Yet, this rather obscure and peculiar incident is mentioned both in Psalms 22, which prophetically looks forward to the cross, and in three of the Gospels, Matthew, Luke, and John, each of which record the crucifixion from their own perspective. It is a minor thing, compared to other brutal acts on that sad day, yet it was important enough to include four times in the Bible. 

That it is such an oddity is what makes it a memorable prophesy. David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this psalm 1000 years before the crucifixion and five hundred years before the founding of the Roman Republic. Yet, he describes the final hours of Jesus in some detail. 

This odd little prophecy was just one of many that inspired Matthew, Luke, and John in the days following the death of Jesus. 

For weeks Jesus had warned those closest to Him that His “time is at hand.” Now, as He die on the cross, His disciples understood that His predictions of a violent death were literal, and they were beginning to understand that the His Kingdom is spiritual. They trembled with fear. 

As they watched from a distance Jesus dying on the cross, they noticed the Romans casring lots to determine which of them would go home with the clothes of the Messiah. The spirit reminded them of this passage in the 22nd Psalm. What they already knew, was confirmed; this is not the death of an ordinary man. Surely, He is the Son of God. 

Fear Not, For His Was No Ordinary Death.

Psalm 22 was written by King David approximately one thousand years before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet most theologians agree it prophetically foreshadows Jesus on the cross. 

Whenever I think of the passion week, I am emotionally drawn to the night spent in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was, for Jesus, something of a quiet retreat in the midst of conflict. A walled compound, a working olive press, a beautiful orchard, it sat at the foot of a mountain, only a stone’s throw from the Temple, opposite Golgotha. 

As Jesus prayed that night, I wonder if He asked Himself why He created such a beautiful garden so close to such an ugly Hill as Golgotha. Did He ever consider calling a legion of angels to rescue him? Did He regret creating mankind? Did He think of the 22nd Psalm, which He had inspired David to write, and wonder, is there another way?

Did He fell abandoned? Did He pray those words?

O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;

And in the night season, and am not silent.

But You are holy,

Enthroned in the praises of Israel…

But I am a worm, and no man;

A reproach of men, and despised by the people…

But You are He who took Me out of the womb;

You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

I was cast upon You from birth.

From My mother’s womb

You have been My God.

Be not far from Me,

For trouble is near;

For there is none to help.

We learn at least thee important lessons from that night in Gethsemane. 

• First, since even the Son of God spent hours in prayer, it is of utmost importance that we spend considerable time in prayer. 

• Secondly, it is not a sin to question God’s plan for our lives, so long as we ultimately submit to His plan. We should be frank with God in our prayers, for He knows us better than we know ourselves. 

• Thirdly, Jesus endured such agony so that we don’t have to; He died in our place. 

I’m forgiven cause You were forsaken

I’m accepted, You were condemned

I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me

‘Cause You died and rose again

– Amazing Love, Billy James Foote