"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Do you know who said that? If you said, "Jesus" you would be right. If you said, "David" you would also be correct. If you said, "me" then God bless you and keep you through your dark days.
One of the best things about the Bible is that it presents life as raw and real. The Bible does not ignore pain, suffering or evil. In fact, Jesus Himself experiences pain, suffering, and agony to the utmost - and it is not pointless! Today is called 'Good Friday' because today is when Christians particularly celebrate the Friday about 2,000 years ago when Jesus died an excruciatingly painful death on a Roman cross. He did this to forgive our sins. It was not a good day for Jesus (in one sense), but it is a wonderful day for anyone who believes in Jesus. Click HERE for a devotion.
As Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out with words to express pain and abandonment to God, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). These were words penned by King David, probably before he was king, and maybe when he was on the run from Saul (see Psalm 22:1). Jesus adopted David's song & prayer to express his own agony of faith. It was agony ("forsaken") of faith ("My God"). Christians are not immune to pain and suffering, and Jesus was not immune to pain and suffering. Jesus suffered the physical and emotional torture of the cross and of feeling abandoned, AND of experiencing God's wrath against sin - all for us! Praise be to God. Today, Christians should worship Jesus and learn from Him. We too need a language to express our pain and suffering in faith to God.
So, Jesus the Savior was still Jesus the Teacher as He showed us how to deal with pain and suffering in faith. We take that pain to God. For many of us, the hardest step in dealing with suffering is to turn from looking only at the pain, or only at ourselves, towards God in prayer. We do not know how long David suffered before he prayed these words. We know that Jesus hung on the cross for approximately 6 hours (from around 9a to 3p), and that around noon he cried these words as an agonized prayer to God. Christian, the beginning of change occurs when you turn from only looking at the painful circumstance to talking about the pain with God.
On this Good Friday, I encourage you to take your pain to God. He knows more than you can imagine what pain and suffering feels like (look at Jesus on the cross). And, Christian parent, teach your children to take their hard feelings to God in faith. Help them understand that God does not punish the honest and hurting believer. One way to teach your children about expressing pain and suffering to God is by studying the Psalm Jesus quoted. Psalm 22 is a treasure of Christian theology, and Christian practice. David's song teaches us that the Messiah will be insulted and pierced, hands and feet; but that God will be praised for His salvation among all the nations. As you read through Psalm 22 with your children, help them see the wonder of the cross.
In our family, we sang Chris Tomlin's Wonderful Cross each night:
Our family devotion time through Psalm 22 was called "Be Not Far From Me" from Psalm 22:11. May God help you admire Jesus, and turn to Him with your hardest feelings. May your genuine turning model for your children the kind of raw faith that David was blessed with. And, may God raise up a generation of Christians who wrestle out their hardest days with God.
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