A Song in My Head

         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...."

     

When Finished, Press Button to Submit

     My wife jokes often about the scriptures which tell husbands and wives to "submit" to one another.  Hopefully I have never given her reason to fear that I would trample her individuality and vice-versa.  I had a good laugh, though when she completed an online project and needed to press a "submit" button to send it off to its destination.  The button wasn't working and she kept repeating "I can't submit, I can't submit!"  I don't exactly remember the comment I made at that point, but I remember regretting it.  It was all in fun, but submitting to those who we are called to submit to is sometimes difficult.  I wish it were as easy as pressing a button.
     God calls us to submit to Him and also to those he has placed in authority over us.  Do we need to submit to those people even if we know a better way?  If they are not asking us to go against God, then I would say "yes."  But that doesn't make sense.  Why would we do something one way when we see the value of doing it another way?  Because sometimes it is not about what we are doing, but it is about whether we are honoring the authority of God.
     There are people in our lives that God has given authority over us.  Parents are a good example.  In the arena of family, parents have the authority until you establish your own household and God gives you authority.  That means God has established you as the leader of the house and will hold you responsible for what happens with those that are under your authority.  Do we believe that God puts families together?  Do we believe that has the power to decide who is to be where in order to make all things happen for the greatest good?  Scripture tells us that He does that when we call on Him to be the leader of our lives. (Romans 8:28)  What happens if we decide not to follow those that God has placed in authority over us?  It usually means that things do not continue on the path that God has set for the greatest good.  Conflict arises, people find themselves dealing with more than they can juggle.  They find themselves trying to make decisions that affect other things that they could not see coming.  They find themselves trying to take on God's role.  It's impossible and ends in failure, heartbreak, and hopefully a return to God by submitting once again to His plan.
     Is the person God has placed in authority over you always right?  Of course not.  But if they are striving to follow God, He will lead them in His way.  It is not about agreeing or disagreeing, it is about placing your trust in God over the trust in the person in authority.
      There are times NOT to follow those in authority.  If they are asking you to go against the teachings of God,  if they are themselves breaking God's commandment in what they are asking you to do, and some other reason which could be specific to the arena of authority. God gave us specific rules to follow to keep us safe and to help us live for Him.  He also gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Thirdly he gave us intelligence and understanding to make good decisions.  Many times we use this third thing in place of one of the first two.  We have learned in today's world to live like the world and make decisions using our experience and knowledge first.  We are comfortable with it because if we are not in prayer and seeking God on a constant basis, we tend to use our intelligence and experience as the basis for our actions.  It needs to NOT come before our dependence upon God's power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There is no intelligence the goes beyond God's.   There is no experience that supercedes His.  Every time we decide not to seek God's answer first, we end up walking through this broken world without a map.

Matthew 6: 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33 But seek first the kingdom of God[q] and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Don't replace your dependence upon God with your desire to take care of these things for yourself. Submit to God and to those that he has placed in your life to do the providing for you. Don't blindly give away your security to anyone, but know that God has provided security in some he has placed in authority over you. Sometimes it's hard to press the button to submit and give others control, but sometimes it is exactly what God has called us to do as an act of faith in Him.