Psalm 22:1-11
January 5, 2022
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why 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. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In 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. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb, you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
If David lived in 2022, he would be tagged with clinical depression, for he seems to go from very high to the lowest of lows. He was a great King, and great warrior, and a very bad dad. But a man who God said was a “Man after His Heart”. He reminds me of the story I heard from a few pastor kids, Dad was a great pastor, a wonderful proclaimer of God’s word, but he was never there for his children. That David’s story, a mighty warrior, and King, but not involved in the lives of his children.
That may have been some of his greatest regrets as he aged. But this question pops into my thinking, David is not that much different than many of us when it comes to crying out to the Father and feeling He has forgotten us. But that is a lie from the pit, He loves you and does hear the prayers of the righteous.
Does the Bible tell us why God might not hear our prayers, and the answer is yes? Let us look for a moment at some of them: Does God hear the prayers of an Unbeliever: this answer came from the “got question” website: “John 9:31 declares, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.” It has also been said that “the only prayer that God hears from a sinner is the prayer for salvation.” As a result, some believe that God does not hear and/or will never answer the prayers of an unbeliever. In context, though, John 9:31 is saying that God does not perform miracles through an unbeliever. First John 5:14-15tells us that God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will. This principle, perhaps, applies to unbelievers. If an unbeliever asks a prayer of God that is according to His will, nothing prevents God from answering such a prayer—according to His will.
What about those who by faith that God has given them, have asked Jesus into their lives: Husband, and in that I am one, who has in days past need often to read 1 Peter 3:7, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you[ of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
We also must pray in faith, James 1:5-8, make that very clear. James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
I often am reminded that I cannot see past the curve, but God has the full view of my life and knows what I need and what I do not. Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” I often forget it not about me but about Him.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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