This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) Welcome to day two of week five of our look through the book of
Psalms. We're looking at Psalm 22 today. Psalm 22 one says, "My God, my God,
"why have you forsaken me?

" Matthew 27, 46 says, "About the ninth hour, "Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani," which means, "My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? " Jesus quoted Psalm 22 from the cross. And I believe that Jesus
had this entire Psalm, Psalm 22 in his mind as he gave his life for us on the
cross.

Specifically, we're going to look at this together in these next few minutes.
Specifically, he had the predictions of his crucifixion in mind that are in this
Psalm. And he had the response of his accusers in mind that are in this Psalm.

And he had you in mind and what he was doing for you on that cross that's found
in this Psalm. As Jesus quoted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " He
knew this whole Psalm.

He'd memorized it as a boy. He knew it backwards and forwards. So he knew that
later in the Psalm, there were these predictions of his crucifixions, what he
was facing at that very moment.

He had that in mind as he quoted Psalm 22 from the cross. Psalm 22, 14 to 18.
It's going to sound like it's from the Gospels.

No, this is from Psalm 22, from the Old Testament, hundreds and hundreds of
years before Jesus died on the cross. Verse 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. 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.

Dogs have surrounded me. A band of evil men has encircled me. They have pierced
my hands and my feet.

I can count all the bones. People stare and they gloat over me. They divide my
garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

" Well, that's exactly what happened when Jesus gave his life for us on the
cross. They pierced his hands, they pierced his feet. They divide my garments.

Psalm, Matthew 22, verse 18 says, "They divide my garments among them, and they
cast lots for my clothing. " It's the same thing as in Matthew 27, 35, when they
crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. What Jesus faced on
the cross, he knew he was going to face.

He'd known it all his life. And now he's experiencing what this Psalm tells us
he was going to experience. He's going through it for you, and he's going through
it for me.

He's allowing his life to be poured out on that cross, and in so doing, he's
pouring out his love for us. Jesus did not go to the cross unknowing. None of
what happened was a surprise to him.

It had been prophesied for hundreds and hundreds of years. He knows the
suffering that he's going to face, the physical suffering, the emotional suffering,
the relational suffering, the spiritual suffering. And yet he willingly, fully
knowing what he would face, goes to the cross for you and I.

He had the predictions of his crucifixion in mind, as he quoted Psalm 22 from
the cross. He also had the response of his accusers in mind. There were some
religious leaders, those who had taken Jesus through the mock trials, and those
who had been mocking him all through the day.

And they also had Psalm 22 memorized. They'd learned it also since they were
children. So they knew when Jesus said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?

" They knew where it came from. And they knew that Jesus was quoting from this
Psalm. And they responded with their own quote from the Psalm.

In Matthew 27, 39, those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their
heads. And then a few verses later in verse 43, they said, "He trusts in God.
Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.

'" Well, they knew that that was from Psalm 22. Psalm 22, verses seven and
eight. "All who see me mock me.

They hurl insults at me, shaking their heads. He trusts in God. Let the Lord
rescue him.

Let him deliver him since he delights in him. " Now, these religious leaders
that day, they meant it as a joke. Oh, he wants to quote from the beginning of
the Psalm.

We'll quote from the middle of the Psalm. He wants to quote about being
forsaken. We'll quote the part of the Psalm that says, "Oh, who's going to come and
rescue you now?

" They tried to make a mockery of Jesus all through this day. And they tried to
make a mockery of Jesus as they quote this part of the Psalm. But they could not
mock him.

Because their words ring now as an endorsement of the truth about Jesus. Even as
they were saying, "Let God rescue him," God was rescuing them. God was preparing
the way of rescue for all of us.

He offered them rescue. Jesus didn't need to be rescued. He went to the cross
willingly.

He came to be our rescuer. So as they say this as a joke that day, "Let God
rescue him," it's like they're drowning men, almost ready to go under for the
last time. And they're joking towards the lifeguard, the only one that can save
them, "Let God rescue him.

" And Jesus is looking at them and saying, "No, I came to rescue you. " And some
of those, even some of those who mocked him that day, they did allow Jesus to
rescue them. That's why Jesus gave his life on the cross, to offer us the
rescue.

As he died on the cross, he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? "
He didn't quote those words just as a expression of truth from the Old
Testament. He quoted those words as an expression of what he was going through
at that moment.

When Jesus died on the cross, he took all of our sins, all the sins of mankind
on him. And in that moment, he felt what you and I feel because of the reality
of sin. He felt what it meant to be separated from God.

He felt what it meant to be forsaken. And so he cries out, "Why have you
forsaken me? " Because he was taking your sin, my sin, in that moment on the
cross.

So as Jesus dies on the cross, he had what he would face in mind, he had his
accusers in mind, but he also had you in mind. He was dying for your sin on the
cross. And even as he took your sin upon him, he teaches us what to do when you
and I feel forsaken because of our sin.

What do you do when you feel like God isn't there? You're not the only one
that's felt that way. Jesus felt it.

And when he said, "Why have you forsaken me? " He was experiencing that sense of
separation that we all have from God because of our sin. And he's teaching us
what to do when we feel that sense of separation.

This is the scripture, Psalm 22, that Jesus turned to when he faced his greatest
spiritual test. There are obviously some truths here that you and I need to
remember. We often think of the meaning of these words, and we should think of
them this way, that these words tell us that Jesus took our sins upon himself,
that he felt in his soul as well as his body the penalty for those sins.

But we also need to look not only at the meaning of these words, but at the
model of these words, what Jesus showed us that day, what he teaches us to do
when we feel forsaken. He teaches us to remember to pray, and to remember to
praise, and to remember God's faithful love. Remember to pray.

Don't be afraid to tell God how you feel. Even if you don't feel like God is
there, tell God how you feel. That's what Jesus teaches us to do.

When you tell God that you feel like he's not there, that you feel forsaken by
him, you take your first step toward remembering that he is there, that he's
going to be faithful to you even when you feel forsaken. You remember to pray. And
then you remember to praise.

In verses 23 to 25 of Psalm 22, all you who fear the Lord, praise him. All you
descendants of Jacob, honor him, revere him, all you descendants of Israel. 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. From
you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly. I love that.

The theme of my praise in the great assembly, shouting out our praise to God.
Praise is God's required reaction to suffering. Why?

Because praise exchanges the loneliness of suffering for the comfort of God's
presence. I'm not going through this alone. Jesus understands what I'm going
through.

It's a comfort that gives you the power to overcome. Praise is not pretending
that the suffering doesn't exist. Praise is recognizing God's presence and power
even in the midst of the suffering.

You remember to praise, and then you remember God's faithful love. Prayer and
praise will be empty unless you remember the first two words that Jesus spoke,
the first two words from Psalm 22. We remember the striking words why and
forsaken, but Jesus began by saying, "My God, my God.

" His greatest cry of need began with his expression of his personal
relationship with his father. Jesus had taught his disciples to pray, "Our
Father," but on the cross, Jesus focuses on his personal relationship, "My God.
" When you feel the most alone, you need to remember the truth of God's love.

You need to remember that God so loved the world. You need to remember that God
loves every one of us, but you also need to remember God loves me, my God.
Remember verse 19 from Psalm 22, "But you, O Lord, be not far off, O my
strength.

"Come quickly to help me. " Let's pray together. Our Father, it's a holy moment
for us as we listen to these words from Psalm 22 that you knew from the
beginning that them being written would be words that were spoken from the
cross.

And in that holy place of the cross, of Jesus giving his life for us, we remind
ourselves that even in our suffering, you are there. The suffering of our sin
and the suffering that results from our and other's sin, you are there. And we
remember to pray, to talk to you no matter how we feel.

We remember to praise, to recognize that no matter what the suffering, God, you
will show up. The end of the story is going to be written by you. And we
remember your faithful love, that you are with us.

You will not leave us alone. In Jesus' name, we remember these things. Amen.