Why Lord?

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Scripture: Psalm 22:2-5 (NRSV)

2     O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;

and by night, but find no rest.

3     Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4     In you our ancestors trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5     To you they cried, and were saved;

in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

Devotion:

            This psalm is best known for its first verse which Jesus quotes from the cross. However, the rest of the psalm is full of interesting material. The verses seen above show us the mind of David who wrote this psalm. It is a contrast of the psalmist’s experience of God and the God he has heard about in the stories of his ancestors. David cannot help but think that God may be absent from the scene in his day. After all the stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the wilderness wanderings, would have been known to David.

            We can understand David’s frustration in our own day. We cry out to God day and night looking for God’s answer to our prayers for deliverance seemingly these cries are ignored. Yet, we have the entire Bible filled with answered prayers. We look at what we see written in the Bible and we wonder what has happened. Is God no longer there? Does God no longer pay attention to His people?

            We must remember that God often waits some time before He answers our prayers. God’s timing will always remain a mystery to us. We must be still before the throne of God holding our prayers and petitions before him and await an answer. The answer will certainly come but only in God’s time.

God has, in our day, has withdrawn his hand of protection from his people. Wickedness seems to be everywhere. Evil deeds are done, and the world applauds those who do them. We cry out for deliverance and God does not seem to respond to our prayers and petitions. We must be full of faith like Jesus from the cross saying, “Lord, Lord, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus received his answer three days later when he was raised from the dead. So, we may not receive our answer right away. In fact, the answer may wait until after we are dead.

Let us take heart then and worship God. Praising God for all he has done, is doing, and will do to secure our salvation.

Prayer:

            Glory to you O Lord, you have been faithful to many generations before us. You have helped them in all their distress. You have healed their diseases and given rest in times of struggle. Glory to you Lord. Give us strength O God to stand up against the evil and wickedness we see in our world. Declaring the truth  that you are the ruler of the whole earth, and your will shall be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.

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