By The Rev. Dr. Paul A. Leggett
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sermon Series: Prayers of the Bible
Sermon Text: Psalm 22:1-11
Sermon Theme
The Psalms are great examples of wrestling with God. They raise the frequent cries of “Why, O Lord” (Psalm 10:1, 42:9, 44:24, 74:1, 88:14) and “How long?” (Psalm 6:3, 13:1, 35:17, 74:10). These prayers are cries to the Lord in the face of overwhelming distress. We would like to believe that God always protects us and provides for our every need. Yet we are given no such promise in this life. The most desperate prayer in all the Psalms is Psalm 22. This is the prayer that Jesus prays from the cross when he appears helpless and hopeless. We must remember however that the cross is the moment of triumph. This triumph, however, occurs in the midst of total darkness. The cross guarantees the resurrection. This is the promise we must hold onto in the times of greatest difficulty (II Corinthians 1:5).
Sermon Outline
- Pain. Many of the prayers in the Psalms express great pain (Psalms 10, 13, 35, 42, 44, 69, 74, 77, 88). We tend to focus on the psalms that provide us with comfort and assurance (Psalm 1:1-3, 37:23-26). Yet we must hold these in tension with the many psalms that express anger, frustration and even despair. Many times the various psalmists struggle with the fact that God seems to have abandoned them. We face calamities and distress. This is hardly the province of the psalms alone. Job and Jeremiah both curse the day they were born (Job 3:1; Jeremiah 20:14). Moses and Isaiah complain against God (Exodus 5:22; Isaiah 11:13). The prophet Habakkuk cries out, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” (Hebrews 1:2). We ignore these passages at our peril. We have no guarantee of comfort and prosperity in this life. Jesus on the cross cries out in the words of the most agonizing psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).
- Promise. The psalmist gives voice to an experience that many people face. These are the times when God seems absent. In moments of great distress, God may not seem present. Prayer feels hollow and empty: “My tears have been my food day and night, While people say to me continually, / ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:3) These are expressions of loss. This may be the loss of a loved one, of a job, a career, health or home. Jesus is mocked mercilessly on the cross. From a human point of view Calvary offers no hope. Religious leaders are cruel and unforgiving (Mark 15:31). Caesar rules the world and calls himself King of Kings and Lord of Lords (John 19:15). Yet the very psalms that describe devastation are prophetic pictures of the coming Savior. God from the Garden of Eden had promised a savior (Genesis 3:15), yet this savior would be one who suffers (Isaiah 50:4-6, 52:13-15, 53:1-12). The details of the crucifixion are found in the desperate cries of the psalms (Psalm 22:14-18, 31:5, 42:10, 69:21). God’s purpose is at work. He is not absent. He has not forgotten (Psalm 12:5-6).
- Power. It is in the times of greatest desperation that God’s power is most clearly seen. It is a power that is made perfect in weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). God appears to forsake Jesus on the cross in a moment of deep darkness. To follow Jesus Christ is to face that same darkness (Matthew 10:38; Psalm 23:4). It is in these experiences of greatest testing that we remember God’s promise is that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). The psalmist, like Jesus himself, feels forsaken but God is present. We are not to fear (Matthew 10:29-31). This truth is difficult to accept when we feel abandoned. However this is when we most need to lay hold of it. The cross is the hour of victory (John 12:31-32; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14-15). The darkness of Calvary gives way to the dawn of Easter. The whole Bible is a progression from deep darkness to endless light (Genesis 1:2; Revelation 22:5). When we are in the darkness we not only cannot see the light, we cannot even imagine it. The desperate cry of Psalm 22 ends in triumph, “future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it” (Psalm 22:30-31). Even in the darkness Jesus is the light (John 8:12).
Questions for Us
- Why do you think we so easily fall into the trap of thinking that God must provide us with comfort and security?
- How have we experienced the pain of feeling forsaken by God? What lessons have we learned at such times?
- How do we understand the cross as the expression of God's power (I Corinthians 1:18; John 12:31)?
