It's GOOD FRIDAY.
Psalm 22 was written nearly 1000 years before the coming of Jesus and it is both beautiful and disturbing as a Messianic Prophecy.
It is disturbing because it describes the suffering of the cross with uncanny accuracy. It reveals the God-forsaken-ness of the cross, the physical suffering, the hate directed toward Jesus and the pain of body and soul that He experienced.
It is beautiful because David describes this from a first person perspective: It was MY God-forsaken-ness that Jesus took on at the cross. It was MY suffering He carried there. It was MY enemies that He faced there. It was MY brokenness that He paid for there. It was MY darkness, MY pain, MY suffering, MY loneliness that He carried and MY life that He saved.
And the Psalm ends on a powerful note of triumph: He did not fail, He did not falter.
He has DONE it - IT IS FINISHED!
(Now read the excerpts of the Psalm below...)
Psalms22:1-31 (Selected)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
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."
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 in the dust of death.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
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.
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.
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HALLELUJAH! Thank YOU Jesus that You died for me!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
