Rendition of Psalm 22God, why have you left me here? I would have traded anything For a glimpse of you. Slow syllables that never resolve to words Growl out of me, but no one hears. At night, need holds my eyes open, But no answer comes. There is no peace in the silence, Only disquiet. Yet, you are here; Higher, holy, throned none the less. Since the day you gathered your people, They have trusted you.
My son asked me to memorize Psalm 22 with him this week. My Sunday school repertoire of answers is shocked that praying "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is a biblical prayer. Jesus quoting it on the cross gives it a resounding stamp of orthodoxy. This wasn't some psalmist gone rogue but a prophetic utterance as true for the original mourner as for Jesus. Father God wants our real feelings and not the pretty version where I quickly assure myself all things are being worked for my good. They are. He is. But right here in the midst of all these unanswered prayers, I need to trust him enough to grieve and feel it.
The psalms can be extremely real, unpolished, confusing, and vulnerable. This project has really underscored that for me. If we stop at mining the psalms for devotional nuggets, we aren't reading them fairly.
My son asked me to memorize Psalm 22 with him this week. My Sunday school repertoire of answers is shocked that praying "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is a biblical prayer. Jesus quoting it on the cross gives it a resounding stamp of orthodoxy. This wasn't some psalmist gone rogue but a prophetic utterance as true for the original mourner as for Jesus. Father God wants our real feelings and not the pretty version where I quickly assure myself all things are being worked for my good. They are. He is. But right here in the midst of all these unanswered prayers, I need to trust him enough to grieve and feel it.
The psalms can be extremely real, unpolished, confusing, and vulnerable. This project has really underscored that for me. If we stop at mining the psalms for devotional nuggets, we aren't reading them fairly.
Beautiful! I have found it true in my life too that lament has to happen for hope to be born anew. I love the way resurrection is woven into this.