Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. a]">[a]
4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me b]">[b] in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced c]">[c] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save d]">[d] me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you e]">[e] will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.
I will never forget, when I was in middle school and I was starting my journey of studying the bible through quiet times in the morning, and I read this chapter in Psalms. Immediately, I recognized this as a narative of Christ on the cross. How could it not? Christ recited the first line as he hung on the cross. His heart literally melted inside of him, he could count his bones, all of his joints were out of place (that is how you die on the cross), men were gambling for his garments... So many details in this Psalm make up the Passion of Christ... Funny though, this Psalm was written more than 500 years before Christ was even born. Hmm... I wonder what the likelihood of just one of these details to match Christ's death, but several of them? I will not deny God his glory and omnipotence, the rocks will not have to cry out for me.
As a lasting thought, as you read the psalm or the passion story, I personally watched the Passion of Christ (yes, the one directed by Mel Gibson, let's just say God did not let Mr. Gibson get in the way of HIS story, thankfully!) and it is brutal, it is not accurate in the fact that you could still recognize Jesus even after his beating. This death was not an easy or painless death, Jesus did not get to take a Valium and sleep walk through it, He even denied himself alcohol on the cross because he wanted to experience ALL of the pain. I don't want to preach, or make recommendations for your spiritual life. I watched the movie once, and that reminder, that picture of the true death Christ experienced, it made me not want to take advantage of Grace and cheapen it. What God went through in order for Salvation to come to the world, and ultimately let His Glory be made known to the world is horrifyingly incredible.
Thank you Jesus for Your Salvation, thank you for the suffering and tribulation that you went through, so that we may experience priceless, wondering Amazing Grace. May we never cheapen your gift by living how we want and not relying on You for all things.
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