Day 46: Why Have You Left Me
Read: Psalm 22:1–11
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
— Psalm 22:1 (ESV)
Reflect
These are some of the most painful words in Scripture. And they are words Jesus chose.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The word is 'azavtani, "you have forsaken me." It means to leave, to abandon, to walk away from. In Hebrew it is a single word, and the whole relationship is folded inside it: the verb, then "you," then "me." You — left — me.
The prayer is all the more startling for being so short. There is no warm-up. No careful lead-in. The psalmist opens his mouth and the hardest thing comes out first.
He goes on: God is "far from saving me, from the words of my groaning." That word for groaning is closer to a roar — the sound of someone in anguish who can no longer keep quiet.
And yet, even here, he says "My God." Twice. He does not stop speaking to God in order to complain about him. He brings the complaint to God, by name.
When Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out these words. In his deepest suffering, the Son of God prayed a psalm. He did not reach for new words for the darkness. He used the ones Scripture had already given.
But his forsakenness was unlike any other. He was bearing our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), so that all who are in him can hear God say, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
Across Scripture
Moses promised Israel that the LORD "will not leave you or forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). Isaiah speaks of a brief moment of being deserted that gives way to great compassion (Isaiah 54:7). And Matthew and Mark both record that at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, praying this very verse (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
Sit With It
If you have ever thought that a faithful Christian would never pray this, notice who did. And notice that the psalm does not stop at verse 1. It keeps going for thirty more verses.
Pray
My God, my God.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.