GOD IS CLOSE; DON’T TRUST YOUR FEELINGS!

 Here we are, possibly questioning God’s willingness to be close to us, 

while we overlook the cost to Him of re-establishing the possibility of relationship with us. 

What should we be doing in our trials?

Psalm 22: 11-21

11 Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

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.

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!

Psalm 22 continues with the request by David to his God to stay close to him: “Be not far from me”. David knows that trouble is very close, and he certainly wants his God to be even closer.

David has learned that in all circumstances, there is only one avenue of help. Ultimately, whatever strength or help has only one Source. When we stop and think, these are things we know, that we have experienced, but that we often tend   to forget.

God, alone, has the power and ability to come to our aid. And if He doesn’t, it’s not caused by His limitations, but His loving choice. We cannot presume to understand the purposes of God, but we certainly should trust in Him.

The foes that we can encounter are indeed evil, and they can therefore produce much pain and distress in our lives. David is not superficially overlooking the reality of the enemies or the danger he is in, but he is resolved in desiring the closeness of his God.

The reference to our wonderful Savior and His agony on the cross is quite evident in these verses. The cruel death of crucifixion would sap out the life from the condemned person. As one lost his strength, the ability to stand would escape him and he would die of suffocation. Dehydration and total exhaustion were the slow agony that this brutal method inflicted upon its victims. When the executioner finally decided that the suffering of the condemned had been sufficient, the bones of his legs would be broken to expedite his certain death.

When Jesus was crucified, as this psalm predicted, His bones were not broken.  As He watched the soldiers cast lots for His garment and met the stares of those gloating over His death, it was Jesus who laid down His life. His hands, feet, and side pierced for our transgressions.

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. 

As Jesus died for our transgressions, He did it so that God could come close to us. The gulf of separation was bridged for us by the very cross that separated the Father from the Son. His sacrifice, done once for all time, was providing the only acceptable payment for the sins of all who would stop trusting in themselves, recognize their utterly destitute sinful state, and trust the finished work on the cross by the only perfect Son of God.

Here we are, two thousand years later, asking the Holy God to come close and rescue us, and we can only do it because of the willing submission of Christ to the Father.

Here we are, possibly questioning God’s willingness to be close to us, while we overlook the cost to Him of re-establishing the possibility of relationship with us. What should we be doing in our trials?

Hebrews 12:1-3

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Jesus, as our example, is teaching us to look beyond the trial, the pain, the struggle, the humiliation to the end result. For Jesus, in the midst of His suffering, had satisfaction in knowing that we could be reconciled with the Father and enjoy the relationship we could never have had, apart from His sacrifice.

We might not know the purposes that God has for us, but they certainly include these three: our spiritual sanctification, our service in promoting growth in other believers, and our reaching out to the world with the Gospel, thus ultimately bringing glory to the Father, in the process.

The danger of growing weary and fainthearted is always present. If we allow these feelings to overwhelm us or persist, they will produce sinful results. We must guard our hearts as this Psalm instructs us. We must desire to stay close to God and trust that He is close to us in our trials.

May the Lord be our focal point at all times!