I watched a biography a while back on comedian Jim Carrey. He had a time in his career where he was the #1 comedian and highest paid actor in the world. He was invited to put his hands and feet in the cement at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood alongside the legends of entertainment. I found it interested what he wrote next to his prints. "Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily . . . " The three dots at the end were actually the fingerprints of his children who were there that day. Without actually saying it, he lead the reader to finish the well-known song in their minds with the words "Life is But a Dream." Very creative.
In what seems like a totally unrelated story, I was reading in Psalm 22 today. It caused me to wonder if Jesus had done the very same thing at a crucial moment of his life when the focus of the world was on Him. Psalm 22 begins with "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" Most of us know these words as the words Jesus spoke while on the cross in suffering and anguish. It is often seen as a time when Jesus' humanity is most visible. Some speak of it as the moment that God turned his face away from Jesus because he was covered with the sins of all mankind for all times. I am not attempting to speak to any of these points, and realize that like so many times, God may; be offering a duality of impact by the stating of these words at this time by Jesus. As you read the rest of this Psalm or song as it actually was, remember that a Jewish person, upon hearing these words may have been reminded of this Psalm written and passed down in the synagogue and families for years since the time of King David. If they were familiar with it, the remaining words of the song they would be confronted with the prophecy stated in the song that was being fulfilled right before their very eyes as Jesus completed his mission here on the earth.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
What an amazing prophetic song written long before it was fulfilled. I believe Jesus was bringing to mind this Psalm to say as He did in the synagogue about the scroll of Isaiah... "Today this is fulfilled...."
Posts
