GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?

Have you  felt this way, too: 

abandoned, too small to even receive attention from God, 

forsaken after years of dependence and trust?

  

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.

As we read this Psalm of David’s, we will see the progression from desperate plea to dependent prayer, and finally, to devoted praise.  This psalm has many messianic references, but it also deals with the real feelings of David when he was experiencing very hard times.

At the height of David’s desperation, he cries out to God, asking if he has been forgotten. This is not a plea to a random god, but the outcry of a man who had placed his trust in the true God. David had dedicated his life to Him and had committed his ways to Him. At this time of desperation, though, David feels that his God is far, far away from him. When David uses the term ‘forsaken’, he is expressing his feeling of total abandonment.

Even though David is in such a desperate state, he does not lose sight of who God is. God is holy, set apart, without sin or any wrong-doing. He has been praised by Israel and He has proven to be trustworthy, as He has rescued them in their times of need. In fact, Israel had never had to be ashamed of their trust in God. David knew that although he was not seeing an answer to his personal plea, God had proven Himself faithful to Israel.

I am sure that David knew the history of Israel well. At this time, though, David is looking at his own circumstances, and is overwhelmed by the scorn of his enemies. He is being treated and made to feel like the worst of human beings; in fact, he compares himself to a defenseless, worthless worm. As he looks around, and all he can see is the scorn and disdain of people.

But rehearsing his relationship to God through his people, he then reminds God of his personal dependence on Him, from his youth.

David remembers that even his birth was not by chance, but it was God who had brought him from the womb and ordained that he was raised in a faithful family where he had learned to trust God. He can’t remember a time when God had not been his God!

These verses may remind us of times when we have felt this way, too: abandoned, too small to even receive attention from God, forsaken after years of dependence and trust.

As we read these verses from our perspective, the references to Christ’s treatment during His crucifixion and the agony of His separation from God are so obvious to us. We realize, however, that as David wrote, he had no such point of reference, but only his bewildered trust in God and the fact that God, Himself, was inspiring what he wrote.

Matthew 27:46

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,” Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When Jesus cried David’s same words from the cross, they were totally true for Him. God had to turn away from Him, as He poured out His wrath upon His Son, who was carrying the deadly weight of our sins. Jesus the Messiah had, from eternity past lived in perfect and holy unity with God the Father, so now their separation was inexpressibly devastating to Him.

Jesus’ prayer and agony in the garden of Gethsemane proves that He knew very well the horrific consequence of bearing our sin. Jesus, God of very God, the sinless Son of Man, experienced the Father’s total abandonment, so that we could be reconciled with God and not be forsaken by Him.

He bore the weight of utter humiliation, knowing that only a perfect Lamb of God could provide the acceptable sacrifice that would achieve forgiveness of our sins and allow believing people to be declared righteous, and thereby able to enjoy true relationship with His holy Father.

As Jesus approached the cross, He experienced like no one else ever has, the reality of being scorned.

Luke 23:35-37

35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

Isaiah 53:3

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus gave up His position with the Father so that we would not be forsaken, as we well deserved.

Philippians 2:5-8

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

As we are reminded of these truths, what is happening to our cries of abandonment? Is it possible that God, who sent His Son to die for our sins, would ever abandon us? Is it possible that He would allow us to be crushed because He doesn’t care? Our negative answer is surely obvious.

Yes, there are times we feel utterly abandoned and totally crushed by people, but does God understand? Does Jesus care?

Hebrews 4:15, 16

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

As we will see, David did not lose heart and we should not either. His trust and prayers did not waver.

There is a danger, during our problems, that we may become so self-focused that we lose sight of God! So, instead, we must turn our focus to the Scriptures, which are filled with His perfections, in order to renew our delight and trust in God.