Well, we’ll be definitely praying for the Parks while they’re in Korea. We look forward to all that the Lord will do and just being able to put all of the busyness of life aside and take a sabbatical, rest, and meet Jesus.
I think we’re on parallel tracks, our church. We’re also going to be going through somewhat of a reset during these next few months, and I pray that God will do some wonderful things here. We’ll just come back together in a couple of months and have a lot of testimonies.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we just thank you for knitting our hearts together with you at the center. Jesus, you’re the most beautiful, greatest person we’ve ever met, and we want to follow you until you call us home or until you return. We want to get to know you and love you and fellowship with you for all eternity.
We pray that you would stir up as we gather in Your Name, stir up faith and love for you and gratitude. We pray that you would minister and be amongst us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Please turn your bibles to Psalm 22.
If I was a little bit more prepared, I would have printed out something to hand to all of you, and I’m going to try to do this more. But if you have a notebook, now would be a time to bring it out. If you don’t have a notebook, it’s okay. We have some paper in the back.
I want to give you some questions to think through and kind of track the message and write down things from the message. And then afterward, we’ll have a short time of sharing altogether.
But if you need a piece of paper, Jackie is there. Just raise your hand and she will hand a piece of paper to you.
Psalm 22:1.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. (Psalms 22:1-2, ESV)
And also Hebrews 13:5.
5 …”I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5, ESV)
So the first question I like us to wrestle with is, how do you reconcile Psalm 22:1 and Hebrews 13:5? David is talking about feeling forsaken, and God says in his word, he will never leave or forsake us. So how do we reconcile that?
Number two. What are the Psalms?
Number three. If you’re struggling in your faith, what are two concrete things you can do? If you’re struggling in your faith, what are two concrete things you can do?
Number four. Define faith according to Psalm 22. And there are two parts to this. Part one, 4A – what not to do, and 4B – what to do.
And number five. Explain this statement. Our lives at different points along the journey will reflect the very life and path and way of Jesus.
Do you sometimes feel that you are forsaken, that God has left you? God has abandoned you. God is not listening to you anymore. He is far from you, at least emotionally. In some sense, you perceive that you’re not connecting in a close, friendly way, intimate way.
Perhaps you’re offering up prayers and you’re asking for various things, but God seems silent. God doesn’t seem like he’s answering. You feel frustrated. You feel like you’re losing motivation to read the Bible, to pray.
Perhaps you’re distracted. There’s very many things, but the overall feeling is, is God even listening? Is he there? Why do I feel forsaken?
And then you enter prayer with a lot of burdens. And then you start praying. And then by the time the prayer ends, you feel just as burdened.
Nothing has changed, nothing is lifted because of that, despite your efforts to pray.
So King David, or maybe this is before he was King David. Maybe when he’s on the run, Saul is trying to kill him. We don’t know exactly when Psalm 22 was written, but David perceives in his own devotional life that God is far and I am forsaken.
And yet it says in God’s word, he will never leave you or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5. It’s a direct quote from Deuteronomy 31. So what gives here?
If it’s true that God never leaves, never forsakes, even for a millisecond, why do we on occasion or for long stretches perceive that he is not near and we feel abandoned, forsaken?
God has turned his back on us. He’s not listening anymore. If you’re in that kind of season, I encourage you to pray through the Psalms. And maybe it was not by accident that we sang some hymns, because Psalms are theologically rich prayer songs that are recorded for us, for us to pray along with. And I’m singing some oldies these days.
And as I read it, I’m thinking that theology is a little bit off. I can’t really locate the intent of that song in any Bible verse because, I don’t know, it’s just sentimental. It’s just emotional. It’s kind of feeling sensual, but it’s not grounded in truth.
And so the hymns, I encourage you, let’s sing hymns. On your Wednesday, when you’re praying by yourself, bust out a hymnal and sing some hymns. I encourage you to pray through the Psalms. And what are the Psalms? I don’t know what it shows in your Bible. Psalm 22.
At the very top. In my ESV Bible, it says to the choir master, according to The Doe of the Dawn, a psalm of David. And so refers to a praise leader, a choir master, a choir director, and he has a melody that is known to the people, and it is the song. It is The Doe of the Dawn.
It’s either a song or a liturgy. I assume it’s a song, something very familiar. Everybody will know by that description that when you go through this Psalm, think of this melody, think of this tune, and there’s power.
When we bring a theologically rich set of words and we put it to a song like a hymn, when you sing that hymn, it does something. you’re reminded of deep spiritual truths through that singing.
And Psalms are essentially prayers that are sung aloud. So I encourage you not only to pray through the Psalms, I encourage you to sing the Psalms, sing the hymns, sing songs that remind you of the Bible, and verses will just come alive. You will end that singing with a lot of prayers to the Lord, asking for whatever was just sung to come alive internally and in your spirit.
Psalm 22.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord ; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. (Psalms 22:1-10, ESV)
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet — (Psalms 22:16, ESV)
And so here is how, in the midst of a prayer, a song, we have a way of building up our faith.
And you see there are things that are being sung, read aloud, and you see faith rising. And then you read some, the very next verse. And the faith is faltering and falling, and then it rises again, and then it falls again.
There’s this back and forth that David is fighting to wake himself up and to find his faith reignited. And isn’t this a picture of prayer? It is a fight. It is a fight. You have moments where you feel, okay, I believe what I just said. The very next moment, a distraction comes in.
A worry comes in. Something else that you perceive in yourself or your circumstances comes in. And in that moment, your faith starts to fall again.
So here David is coaching us through the Holy Spirit what to do and what not to do. What not to do is verse six. But I am a worm and not a man. What not to do. Don’t look at ourselves. If you look at yourselves, your faith will fall. If you look at yourselves, you will get discouraged. If you look at yourself, it’s not going to go well.
It’s just an endless black hole of inconsistencies and sins and darkness. In that moment, David looked at himself. He says, I am a worm and not a man.
And why is he feeling this way? It is because not only is he looking at himself, he’s looking at other people, and he’s hearing and seeing their faces. They’re wagging their heads. He hears the mockery. They’re just shaking and saying, what, David? You think you’re on God’s side? Why are you trusting in God? He’s not for you. Look at your life, the mockery of the people. He’s looking at himself.
He’s discouraged. Why? Because he’s also looking at people. They’re saying, God is not with you. God is not with you. If anything, shouldn’t you question and maybe conclude God has left you? God has left you.
We should not look at ourselves. We should not look at others. We should not look at our circumstances. Maybe David is in a cave. Maybe he’s on the run. He’s called by God. He knows there’s a call upon his life, but he looks at his circumstances. It’s not going well.
And that could be in so many areas of our life. Something is not going well. We say God is with us, and yet, why is my marriage strained? Why are there issues at church? Why is my boss, like, driving me crazy, and my coworkers make me not want to go to work? Why is my bank account depleted?
There’s so many things. You look at the circumstances, and then on top of it, you have a chorus of voices, maybe even from your extended family, and say, why do you trust God? Why are you trusting God?
God is not with you. You say you trust God, but if he’s with you, then there will be prosperity, right? There will be peace. Everything will be going well.
And so for David. Everybody looks into David’s life and his circumstances, and all that David hears is the mockery. And then David looks at himself. He looks at his circumstances and concludes, maybe all that I’m hearing outside of myself is right. Maybe God has forsaken me.
And so those are examples of how faith falls when we look at the wrong things: ourselves, others, and our circumstances.
Where does faith rise? When David doesn’t look upon any of these things, but he says, yet you. God. But God. Yet you. That is the turning point. That is what, as people of faith in our prayers, we want to sing that aloud.
And maybe you don’t believe it, and your prayers are so anemic, they’re so quiet.
So you just have to find a song that will really energize that faith that is falling because you think, okay, I’m a worm. I’m nothing. I have nothing to show. In my circumstances, everything around me seems to indicate God is not for me. God must have left me.
So you have to find something external that you. When you look at God and you sing it, you’re asking for God’s help to reawaken this faith. Yet you. It’s in verse three. Yet you are wholly enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Despite what you see in yourself, despite what other people are saying, despite what your circumstances seem to indicate, we in our faith, we sing this aloud, yet you. But God, we must find songs that reawaken our faith.
If you can’t just pray it because you’re weak, then sing it. Sing it until you believe it. That’s what the Psalms are teaching us. Not just verse six, verse nine.
9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. (Psalms 22:9-10, ESV)
If you are a Baptist, you may say, theologically, this can’t be right. This is not true. you’re not saved from your mother’s womb. you’re not saved from birth. You have to be a believer. Who knows what they’re saying when you’re 13 years old or 20 years old, and you know what you’re saying, and at that time, you say, okay, now I know I’m a believer because I know what I’m saying.
It can’t happen from my mother’s womb, from birth. And I listen to some people who say, I just grew up in the church. I believe. I don’t know when I didn’t believe. I’ve always believed.
And I used to listen to that and say, yeah, theologically, is that right? Here’s a verse that says, it’s possible from the mother’s womb, God had his hands all over you.
And if you’re a young boy or girl growing up in a house that believes, a house of faith, there’s something special, a special protection, a special blessing, because you’re growing up in that home, like little Frankie. He might not perceive it, but he might say later on, from my mother’s womb, I believed. Like David, there was never a day, a season when I didn’t believe. I’ve always believed. And David, he’s saying, whether it’s true or not, David is saying that much. The Lord.
He was with me from the beginning, and we can even trace back all the years before I met Christ. From birth to age 19, I didn’t know Jesus. I went to church, but I didn’t know Jesus. I met him at age 19.
When I look back from the lens of somebody who believes in Jesus, I see that in those 19 years, during critical moments, he was there. He was there. He had to be there. There was no way that in my lineage, I should have become a pastor, but he was there.
He put me on a certain path. He made sure I didn’t go down certain paths. He was there from the beginning. And now, at the time, I couldn’t perceive it. But I look back at key moments. He was there. He was there. He used my parents. He used the circumstances. He sent me to Berkeley. He sent me to meet Jesus on that campus.
And so I can agree with Psalm 22:9-10, although theologically, I struggle a little bit. I can say from birth, the Lord’s hand was upon me. Psalm 22:17.
17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalms 22:17-18, ESV)
So not only verse one, but in verse 17, we start to see there’s a deeper truth that’s beginning to emerge. And we see this is really reflecting and pointing to the life of Jesus Christ.
So Psalm 1.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalms 22:1, ESV)
These are the very words that Jesus uttered on the cross that were uttered a thousand years plus prior by King David, who later would point to the Son of David.
Psalm 22:8.
8 “He trusts in the Lord ; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Psalms 22:8, ESV)
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! (Psalms 22:19-21, ESV)
As I read these verses, I’m reminded of Revelation 12:10, Satan, who accuses all the brethren day and night before our God. It is also a pointer to Jesus on the cross, all the people while he’s hanging there, from the crowd to the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, everybody wagging their heads, shaking their head, mocking Jesus.
You say you’re the Son of God. You say God is with you. Why don’t you call down the angels and call down your father? And why don’t you just come off of that cross and prove, prove it that you are who you say you are?
All the mockery that David experienced, that later it foreshadowed the mockery that Jesus himself experienced on the cross and as a disciple of Jesus.
Doesn’t it make sense that if we’re truly following Jesus, our lives at different points will reflect the very life and the path and the way of Jesus Christ? Doesn’t that make sense?
Like David is showing exactly the footsteps that Jesus himself would walk, and now we bear our own cross and we follow Jesus. And doesn’t it make sense at various points, shouldn’t our lives reflect the very life, the very path in the way of Jesus Christ? It shouldn’t surprise us.
Don’t we all want our lives, at every point along the journey, to only reflect a small portion of the life of Jesus, like only post-resurrection Jesus? That is where I want to reflect Jesus’ full victory, resurrection, power, confidence, never feeling forsaken, always being close, always being victorious. Don’t we like that portion of the Jesus story? And don’t we want our lives to reflect that section, that portion of the life of Jesus?
We like Jesus when he walks on water. We like Jesus when he performs miracles and casts out demons.
We like Jesus when he conquers sin and death. What about the Jesus who was rejected by family and friends in Nazareth? Does our life reflect Jesus in that way?
What about the Jesus who is hated by all the religious leaders of his day? Do we love that part of Jesus, and do we embrace that part of Jesus?
What about the Jesus who prayed at Gethsemane until his sweat dropped from his forehead like drops of blood? Is that the Jesus that we’re following? And does our life reflect that Jesus in that moment of his life?
We can’t pick and choose. We want the miracles. We want the incredible ministry, the multiplication. We want growth. We want impact. We want smooth sailing. We want everybody to think well of us because God is on our side. It’s so clear to the whole world. We’re not hated by anyone. Everybody loves us.
Is that, is that the Christian life that we bought into? Or do we embrace all of Jesus, all of his life, all of his path, all of his ways, including pre-resurrection, including the Calvary?
Mockery, suffering, and rejection? Like, if we’re following Jesus and we’re denying ourselves and carrying a cross, that part of the journey, it shouldn’t surprise us that it extends for seasons. And we think it should be, shouldn’t even exist. We think it should be short. And Jesus reminds us, I walk this path. Now follow me. Now follow me.
Psalm 22:22.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! (Psalms 22:22-23, ESV)
Psalm 22:24.
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. (Psalms 22:24, ESV)
So if you’re struggling in your faith, keep singing until you get to this point that you begin to start praising from the depths of your being. Keep singing until you begin praising from the depths of your being.
In Psalm 22:24, remember at the beginning we asked the question, are we forsaken? Are we abandoned?
Has God hidden his face from us? Has he shut his ear from us? The answer is in verse 24. It says he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard when he cried to him.
We’re not forsaken. We have to get, our faith has to get to that point. No matter what we see in ourselves, no matter what other people are saying, no matter what our circumstances seem to suggest, we want to get to this point.
God, you have heard me. Thank you for hearing my prayers.
You want to end every prayer time with this declaration of faith. Okay. I’ve prayed, I’ve struggled. My faith has gone up and down during this prayer time. But you want to end every prayer with thank you for hearing me.
We don’t want to end the prayer as a non believer. Did he hear me? I’m not sure if he heard me. Maybe I’m forsaken. I don’t know. I’m unsure. We want to end every prayer, Lord, you heard me. I cried out to you.
And although I don’t, there’s no lightning bolt from heaven, although the circumstances haven’t shifted yet, although people are still mocking me and I hear Satan’s accusing voice, nonetheless, in faith, I believe you heard me. We want to get there. We want to get there. Get to this point of declaring with confidence as we close our prayer time. Father, thank you for hearing me. Thank you for hearing me. I am not forsaken.
Verse 30.
30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. (Psalms 22:30-31, ESV)
I just want to end with a definition of faith. We don’t look at ourselves, we don’t listen to what other people are saying. We don’t look at our circumstances, and we say, yet you but God. Despite what I see, despite what I hear, yet you but God. Even though it seems, although it seems that we are forgotten, forsaken, abandoned, whatever—you fill in the blank.
Although it seems that way, in faith, I believe God has heard me and he will do it. As it says in verse 31, he has done it. Which means if you go back a few steps, if he has done it, that means he will do it, right? If he has done it, if it’s final, it’s guaranteed. He has done it.
That means if you go back a few steps, he will do it, right? Because he will do it means you end. Concluding statement: he has done it.
Whatever you’re facing, he will do it in his time and his way. That is what it means to declare in faith, you’ve heard me. I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but I know you’re gonna do it because you have done it. you’re gonna do it in your time, in your way.
I don’t know how long it’s gonna take. Maybe I will be in this season for another year, another ten years. Like Moses, 40 years wandering in a desert. I don’t know how long it takes.
But, Lord, I believe because you’ve done it, you’re gonna do it in your time and your way. I will do my part. I will try. But I know ultimately, I can’t do anything apart from you.
But I know nothing is impossible with you. You will do it because you have done it. And that just means it’s a matter of timing. We don’t know when. At the very least, we know when we get to heaven, it’s done.
Whatever we’re facing, that doesn’t make sense. That’s a hurdle. That’s a challenge.
We know every tear will be wiped from our eyes. We know at the end it is done. It’s a done deal. Jesus is the victor.
So maybe we don’t see it fully here. John the Baptist, he died being beheaded. Maybe he was expecting to be released from prison like Peter was. Why did he end that way? It’s not up to us. God will do it.
And even if we don’t see it, we know finally he will show it to us in heaven or when he returns. It is done. He has done it.
That means he will do it. We have faith. He’s heard us. He will do it in his time, in his way.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, thank you for meeting us where we are. Many times we feel like we’re in Psalm 22. We offer prayers. We try to read the Bible, but we don’t know. Have you heard us? It seems like you’ve forsaken us. Our circumstances seem to support and reinforce that conclusion. We hear the mockery of friends and family who say, you think God is with you? You think God is on your side? Just give up.
We hear Satan’s voice underneath it all, accusing us day and night. But, Lord, despite all these things, yet you… but God…
We turn to you in faith and we place our trust upon the person of Jesus Christ. You have done it and you will do it. You will do it in your time and your way. you’ve heard us. We declare and we thank you, and we confess.
We know you’ve heard all of our prayers, even the short prayers, even the distracted prayers, even the prayers that had zero faith. You heard them all.
And now we start thanking you. We start believing you’ve heard us and you have done it. And you will answer in your time and your way. We believe it.
Lord, help us to keep singing until we believe it, until we end every prayer with this confession. Thank you, Lord.
We pray that you minister to us as we remember Your Body that was broken for us and Your Blood shed.
We pray that as we partake in the Lord’s Supper, to reflect the unity in the body of Christ, which you brought forward through your bodily death and resurrection and the pouring out of Your Spirit at Pentecost.
We thank you that we can tell the world we are one in Christ every time we partake. Thank you, Lord.
We pray that you receive us during this time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
