Psalm 22 tackles the question of the mystery of suffering as the psalmist cries out, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ (Ps 22:1) Constant crying out initially seems to produce no answer (Ps 22:2); the psalm tackles that sense of abandonment and alienation which seems to be part of the spiritual journey.
Suffering – and where God is in our suffering – is a stumbling-block to many (‘if God is so loving, why…?’ is a common question), and it can be extremely painful to be in that place of deep loneliness and heartache. Keeping a right perspective as we wrestle with God in these times is not easy, but ‘what’s true in the light is still true in the dark’ (‘Weep With Me’, Rend Collective) and Ps 22 gives us strategies to survive in these dark times.
The first thing we have to do is hold on to who God is (‘Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.’ Ps 22:3) The psalmist continues to talk with God, even when he feels abandoned. We are free to ask God the difficult questions (see also Job 13:24, Ps 10:1), even the ‘why’ questions. We may not get the answers we want or can understand, but we must not withdraw from God in the hard times, even if we feel He has withdrawn from us. (Is 45:15)
Secondly, we have to have a good memory! (Ps 22:4-5) We have to remember all God has done in the past (for us and for others) and because God is unchanging (Mal 3:6), we can be confident that He will continue to act in righteous, loving ways. One of the chief ploys of the enemy is to cast doubt on who God is, and in periods of darkness, his insidious lies can seem incredibly plausible. We need to be so soaked in Scripture that we can refute these lies with the truth: ‘it is also written…’ This is one of the benefits of the psalms as songs. Sing the truth about God at every opportunity (whether you feel like it or not, whether it seems true or not!) There is much value in conjunctions, those little words which link sentences and can turn situations around (‘yet’, ‘but’, ‘because’ and so on!) The Bible is full of these. Ps 22 may start in despair and abandonment, but it does not end there (the second half from verse 22 is full of confidence because God ‘has done it!’ Ps 22:32)
Thirdly, we have to understand the Biblical principle that suffering precedes glory. Jesus had to go through the Crucifixion before the Resurrection (see John 12:24-26, Heb 12:2-3, Heb 5:7-10). We cannot expect to know the power of the resurrection if we are not prepared to share in Christ’s suffering. (Phil 3:10-11) We need to have an eternal perspective which sees this world’s troubles as ‘light and momentary’ in the light of eternity (2 Cor 4:17-18), secure in the fact that God is working all things together for good (Rom 8:28), even if we currently do not see that. Waiting for God is never easy. But it is surely worth it!
