Foresaken...

 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Matthew 27:46

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?  Psalm 22:1

King David wrote Psalm 22 about 1000 years before Christ died on the cross.  The beginning of this Psalm is a prayer of longing to know if God really hears us, or really cares about us.  David writes that, amidst the ultimate pain and suffering, Jesus is asking (yes, David is writing about Jesus 1000 years before Jesus completed His Mission on earth), "Where are you my God?  Can't you see what they've done to me?  They have taken every last thing that I have, they are mocking me, they have pierced my hands and my feet, what now my God?  Where are you?"  We've all felt this, haven't we?  Of course, not in the same way as Him, but we've all asked, "What the heck, Lord?"  Why this? Are you really there, do you really care?  But when we continue reading Psalm 22, it is ultimately a chorus, a song, about the end of the earthly life of Jesus, the completion of God's plan for helping broken men and women come to Him.  In the end it is a Psalm about the greatness of God's plan, and a Psalm of praise to God.  It is the beginning of the Great Commission, to tell all people about Jesus, all corners of the earth.  Before they came to take him away, remember what Jesus prayed in the garden?  His prayer there was one of hope, "Please, Lord, if this doesn't have to happen, then take it from me."  But in the end, he said, "Your Will [Plan] be done." He was like, let's get this going, he submitted to God even though he knew what kind of suffering was about to take place.  When Psalm 22 is complete, what are the last words he cries out on the cross?  "It is finished!"  And then the curtain tears, and the heavens open, our sins are forgiven, the fences of religion are torn down, and then Psalm 23 follows with the promise to all who believe in Him, Jesus. Unbelievable?  Not to me, what a God I serve and praise, my hope is him!  My hope certainly is not in self, not in man, not in chance. What hope have you?