Psalm 22 Devotional

From Forsaken to Answered

“For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.”Psalm 22:24 (BSB)

Psalm 22 opens with the most desolate cry in the Psalms. David asks his God why he has forsaken him and why he is so far from saving (22:1). He cries by day and by night with no answer (22:2). Mockers shake their heads and taunt him for trusting the LORD (22:7-8). His strength drains away like spilled water, and his clothing is divided by lot (22:14-18). The psalm lets the darkness be dark.

Jesus spoke this psalm's opening cry from the cross (Mark 15:34), while soldiers cast lots for his clothing below him (John 19:24). He entered the lowest place this psalm describes, so that those who belong to him would never be finally forsaken. But the psalm does not stop at verse 21. God has not despised the suffering of the afflicted one; he has heard his cry (22:24). Praise spreads to the great assembly, then to the ends of the earth and to people not yet born (22:27-31). The cry of abandonment becomes the beginning of worldwide worship.

To think about: What would it mean for you to bring your own darkest cry to God, knowing that Jesus prayed this psalm before you?