Ben Gatrelle

Why Have You Forsaken Me? Part 1

"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

There is a peace that comes from God that protects and stabilizes our hearts and our minds. This peace comes in part by a knowledge of the truth of God. But sometimes we feel something in our heart, in our soul, in the seat of our emotions that is contrary to what we know with our mind to be true. And we find ourselves in conflict. When the emotions of our heart lead us away from the peace of God we must fall back on and rely on the truth that God has given us. The mind should hold to a truth in spite of what we may feel to the contrary.

The Psalmist said, my foot almost slipped when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He was letting an emotional response take over his attitude, but then he remember the truth of God, that their end is judgment, that their prosperity is a passing illusion. He let the truth of God rule over his emotions.

Proverbs 25:28 puts it this way, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." When we let our emotions lead us contrary to the truth that we know then we are like a broken city: defenseless, ruined, defeated. We should know, for example, that God loves us so much that Christ died for us while we were his enemies. With our mind we should know this. But sometimes we do not feel loved, by others or by God, and we can let our emotions get the best of us. And when we let our emotions rule over us instead of God's truth we become like that broken city without walls.

But how do we rule over our spirit with our mind? How do we stand firm in the truth of God in the midst of negative emotions that threaten to overthrow us, make us slip, and forget the truth of God? The first thing we must do is to know God's truth. We must hide God's word in our heart. We must pray. We must commune with the holy spirit within us that God has given to all believers. Jesus said that he would send his Holy Spirit called "The Comforter" who would guide us into all truth (see John 14). So we must be open to the Spirit of God. We must go to God for our comfort. "And David was greatly distressed... but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (1 Samuel 30:6).

Paul writes this to the church at Ephesus, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ " (Eph. 5:19-20). Take on the attitude of praise, singing the words of worship, looking for the smallest thing for which you can give thanks to God. Look to the scriptures themselves for inspiration, comfort, and hope. "...For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Rom 15:3-4).

Look to Jesus who while he hung on the cross, cried from out of the pain of his body and out of the pain of his emotions, feeling abandoned, forsaken, having the weight of the world on his shoulders saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Look to Jesus who like David before him, encouraged himself in the word of the Lord. And like Paul admonishes us to do Christ spoke to himself out of the psalms and from them received hope.

He took the word of God that was hidden in his heart, and encouraged himself in the TRUTH of scriptures. He was able to put aside the weight of his emotional and physical distress and step into a place of praise. At his darkest hour, at the point where Christ was closest to being overwhelmed, having been abandoned by his disciples, feeling forsaken by God, when he felt like a failure, when he was tempted to come down from the cross so that someone, anyone, would believe in him, He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" quoting Psalm 22.

Psalm 22 of all the old testament scripture most accurately describes the crucifixion of the Messiah. And it begins with the Messiah crying out to God, Why have you forsaken me? But as he recounts all that happens to him, the pain, the piercing of his hands and his feet, the suffering he endures, Christ cries out to God, be not thou far from me, haste thee to help me, save me, deliver me, and then he begins to praise God. Why? "For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. (vs 24)". There comes a glimmer of hope as the Messiah remembers the truth of God and looks past his emotions and what he was feeling and stands on what is true, even if it doesn't "feel" true at the moment.

And this hope turns into praise. "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee... My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation... The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him... For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations..." I believe all of this psalm went through his mind as he hung on the cross. Of all the scriptures, Christ knew best those concerning himself. And he encouraged himself in the word of God. He remembered he was there for a purpose. He remembered that it was God's will for him to be in this place at this time, suffering these things.

The truth is that God did not forsake Christ, nor has he forsaken you.

(Continue reading in part 2 where we will prove through scripture that God did NOT turn his face away from Christ on the cross and forsake him.)