Opening Prayer: Many of Your children suffer from personal illnesses, grief over lost and sick loved ones, the pressures of society, and the depression of life itself. Give us your comfort and healing O, God. We delight in You but we cry out in our misery and anguish. Hear our prayer of confession and renew our love relationship. We miss the close fellowship of our day of salvation. Forgive us for we have sinned against You. Subdue our suffering. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Today’s Bible Verse: Psalms 22:1-2 and 23-24
(vs. 1-2) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
(vs. 23-24) You who fear the Lord, praise him! …All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
Associated Scriptures:
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord (James 5:10-11).
My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O Lord and I find comfort in them (Psalms 119:50-52).
Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise (Psalms 119:153-154).
Correlative Quotes:
This is beyond all others THE PSALM OF THE CROSS. It may have been repeated word by word by our Lord when hanging on the tree; it would be too bold to say that it was so, but even a casual reader may see that it might have been. It begins with, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and ends, according to some, in the original with "It is finished." For plaintive expressions uprising from unutterable depths of woe, we may say of this psalm, "there is none like it." It is the photograph of our Lord's saddest hours, the record of his dying words, the lachrymatory of his last tears, the memorial of his expiring joys.[1] – Charles Spurgeon
He (David) is here deserted by his friends; trouble and distress are near, and there is none to help, none to uphold, V. 11. He trod the wine-press alone; for all his disciples denied him, and fled. It is God's honor to help when all other help and assistance fails.[2] – Matthew Henry
None but He can ask that question "Why?" with a conscience void of offense. None but He has known the mortal agony of utter separation from God. None but He has clung to God with absolute trust even in the horror of great darkness. In Christ's consciousness of being forsaken by God lie elements peculiar to it alone, for the separating agent was the gathered sins of the whole world, laid on Him and accepted by Him in the perfection of His loving identification of Himself with men.[3] – Alexander Maclaren
Author’s Notes:
INTRODUCTION
The question that the psalmist asks in Psalm 22:1-2 is then answered in verses 23-24. He asks why God has forsaken him. In verses 23-24, He realizes that God has been listening all along. God’s time is always perfect. Most of the time we don’t realize it until He has acted. God will always react to our suffering.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUFFERING
The most common question asked by both non-Christians and Christians is some variation of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” All of creation suffers (Romans 8:22). The biblical answer is straightforward because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No one is righteous not even one person (Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:1-3, and Psalm 53:1-3). No person does good in their power.
Because we had no hope of eternal life, God provided the ultimate and final sacrifice. No one person could step forward and pay the ransom for sin. Only God Himself could make the provision sufficient for the punishment. He would supply the sacrifice for Himself (Genesis 22:8). That punishment was death on a cross. Jesus paid the personal price that no other person could pay for us. He was a man but He was also God. Colossians 2:9 (NLT) says, For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
The exit strategy for sin originates from the acceptance of the lordship of Jesus in unbelievers’ lives through belief in the resurrected Messiah (Romans 10:9-10). Escape from suffering stems from the Christian’s relationship with Jesus through the power of His Spirit who lives in His followers (1 Corinthians 3:16).
How powerful the blood of Jesus.
Cleans us from sin and shame.
Gives us life where once was death.
We’re so thankful that you came.
Wonderous is the love of Calvary
Matchless is His sacrifice.
There was no hope of life eternal.
Only death would suffice.
So unworthy of our position.
We were lost, no hope of peace.
Sacrifice was Your decision.
Your death provided our release.
So for death, our savior came.
He paid the price for ill and strife.
Only He could meet the standard.
Through His blood we now have life.
In 1 Corinthians 13:13, we saw three important words; faith, hope, love, and praise. These four concepts are the basis for our relationship with God. Faith establishes our relationship (Ephesians 2:8-9). Hope continues the relationship (Colossians 1:27). Love perfects our relationship (1 John 4:17-19). Praise gives God the credit for answered prayer.
We react to our suffering with faith. When faced with the difficulties of life, a prayer of faith is the best reaction. Faith would say, “Lord, I know you hear my request. Help me through this difficult situation because I love You and need your guidance and direction.” Faith is an action that is taken at the onset of suffering.
Faith tells us that God will act at the appropriate time. We should never be surprised if a satisfactory response does not come immediately from our prayer of faith. After we exercise our faith, we must rest in the hope that God will act and His action will right the situation. Our faith allows us to rest in the hope that God will resolve the issue in His timing and not necessarily ours.
Love is the next act of the believer. Patience is a function of love. The follower of Christ must love God enough to trust Him to bring about the miracle asked for. Love gives us the inclination. Hope allows us to wait (Isaiah 40:31).
Hope brings about the realization of fulfillment. After the suffering, we must praise God for the outcome. Jesus is in charge. Thank Him when your faith is justified and your hope is fulfilled.
As a consequence of our justification, we now have access to God. God could not communicate with us while our sin separated us. However, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we can communicate with God through prayer. Through prayer, we have hope in God: We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
God’s children have found the secret to true happiness; we are free, and we have direct access to the most powerful being in the universe (John 8:36). Because we are free and because we now have direct access to God, we have no reason to fear life or death. Hope is learning through time that you can trust God.
We learn that He will not disappoint us when we strive to put our faith in Him. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 asserts: For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Spiritual Application:
All suffering has one cause. We suffer because we have sinned against an almighty God. But God understands our pain. Any misery mankind has experienced is dwarfed by the anguish God experienced when humanity sinned and Jesus died on the cross. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13).
Lessons within the Lesson:
Explain a time when you have suffered greatly.
What was your reaction to that suffering?
How does God react to our suffering?
How does hope help with our suffering?
[1] Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 22, Treasury of David, Ibid, P. 324.
[2] Matthew Henry, Psalm 22:22-23.An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Vol. 3, Public Domain, Job–Song of Solomon, Ed Barrington and George Haswell, Philadelphia, P. 155.
[3] Alexander Maclaren, Exposition of the Holy Scriptures, The Psalms Vol. I, Public Domain, A. C. Armstrong And Son 3 and 5 West Eighteenth Street London: Hodder and Stoughton, P. 212-213.