\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d<\/p>\n
This text is probably familiar to you. It is what Jesus utters on the cross before His death.\u00a0You may also know it from the psalm that Jesus is quoting:\u00a0Psalm 22<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Psalm 22<\/a>\u00a0is an example of a prayer of lament. What does it mean to lament? According to the Oxford Dictionary, lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though we aren\u2019t sure of the specifics, we can tell David is crying out about a horrible situation. He feels like his enemies are winning, he is despised and mocked.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the other hand, we know the specifics of Jesus\u2019 circumstances. He was being crucified. He was being unjustly tortured. He was bearing the weight of the sin of the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that lamentation is coming to God honestly and confessing your anger, sadness, pain and despair. It is not less than that. But it most definitely is more.<\/p>\n So what keeps a lament from becoming a complaint?<\/p>\n After David\u2019s initial confession of despair in verses 1 and 2, he orients his heart toward God.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel\u201d (v. 3).<\/p>\n The pain that David is feeling is very real. But so is the goodness and holiness of God. On our darkest nights of questioning and hurting, we must remember who God is.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame\u201d (vv. 4\u20135).<\/p>\n David\u2019s present circumstances were hard. But he remembers the deliverance of God. He knows God saved the Israelites from Egypt. He knows God nourished His people in the wilderness. He knows God gave the Promised Land to Israel, despite the odds stacked against them.\u00a0<\/p>\n On our darkest nights of questioning and hurting, we must remember what God has done. God is faithful. He always has been faithful and always will be faithful. We have 66 books testifying to God\u2019s faithfulness. We have the testimonies of other believers showing God\u2019s faithfulness. We have evidence in our own lives of God\u2019s faithfulness.<\/p>\n Just as David lamented his situation with real, passionate despair and Jesus called out to God in agony, we should confess our hurt and confusion and anger to God. He is a loving and compassionate God. He cares.\u00a0<\/p>\n Psalm 22<\/a>\u00a0has a total of 31 verses. David uses 16 of those verses to praise God. David uses 15 verses to express his feelings of despair and ask God to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n David even directly praises God for doing the very thing he feels empty of in that moment.<\/p>\n David laments, \u201cWhy are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest\u201d (vv. 1b\u20132).<\/p>\n He then worships God because \u201cHe 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\u201d (v. 24).<\/p>\n God will save David because \u201cHe has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.\u201d God will answer David because \u201cHe has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n So don\u2019t be afraid to lament. Bring your emotions, big and small, to God. Confess when you are sad or angry or in despair. But do not neglect to remember who God is and what He\u2019s done. Lamentation is not complaining when your heart is turned toward God and you allow His character and His faithfulness to build you up.<\/p>\n This article was originally published at https:\/\/the-scroll.com\/testimonies\/my-god-my-god-why-have-you-forsaken-me\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHeart orientation<\/em><\/h2>\n
Praises to God<\/em><\/h2>\n
Remember who God is<\/em><\/h2>\n