Rev. Richard Smith
Psalm 22:1 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.
The Bible, as you so well know, can be brutally honest. It can be real; it can be raw; it can be honest. Such is the case here with the 22nd psalm. The psalmist is deeply spiritually disillusioned and he minces no words about it: 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.
This is no mild-mannered complaint before God; it is a full-blown spiritual melt-down. Again, it is real; it is raw; it is honest. The psalmist clearly feels that God has abandoned him.
What are some insights we can embrace when we reflect on this experience of the psalmist?
In The Right Circumstances Any Of Us Can Feel Like The Psalmist
Now should any of you feel like this is not the case; that you would never become so spiritually disillusioned; then let me say that you are better person than Jesus.
Keep in mind that on the cross as he was suffering and dying, Jesus quoted this 22nd psalm. As a Hebrew child and adolescent, he would have learned many of the psalms; would have memorized many of these verses. Thus, he could have quoted any particular psalm or any particular verses from the Psalms, but the one he chose was this one. On the cross he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He shouted those words because that is exactly how he felt in those moments; abandoned by God.
Again, in the right circumstances any of us can give into some spiritual disillusionment; none of us are beyond that possibility. One of the poignant moments in theater is when Fantine sings these words in Les Miserables:
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dream.
There are deeply difficult life experiences which can precipitate in any of us times of spiritual struggle and spiritual disillusionment.
God Understands Us And Our Humanity
As I’ve said so many times before, God understands us and our times of spiritual struggle. In essence, He understands our humanity.
We must never forget that God made us the way we are. He made us as human beings who have feelings, thoughts, and emotions and who have the need to express them. God didn’t make us spiritual robots; He made us flesh and blood people who have our natural human ups and downs, times of real belief and times of struggling faith.
God is our loving Divine Father who doesn’t close the door on us; doesn’t write us off; doesn’t reject us. Again, He in fact understands us and our very real human feelings and emotions; including our times of doubt and spiritual struggle.
In The End, We Lean Into Faith
Without falling prey to a Pollyanna faith which ignores all the struggles and prospective doubts I’ve mentioned, we do need to come to a place where we put our trust in God. This may take time given some life experiences, but as people of the Christian faith, we cannot neglect the promises God makes to us. He is with us; He will help us; He will not abandon us!
After uttering the words of discontent on the cross, Jesus anchored himself in faith as he said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” So can we!!
