‘…those who seek the Lord will praise Him…’ (Psalm 22:26)
Read Psalm 22
Many people will tell you that no matter what situation you find yourself facing in life and no matter how you feel, physically, emotionally or spiritually, there is a Psalm that can ‘speak’ to you and offer you whatever you need to help you at that time, and when we look through all the Psalms who could possibly argue with that. There are also certain Psalms which seem to look at things from different perspectives and appear to be split evenly between a cry for help from the Psalmist and a song of praise for that help.
Psalm 22 is one of those Psalms. The first 21 verses concentrate on the anguish and suffering of the Psalmist as he cries out to the Lord for help – indeed it begins by asking God why He has forsaken the Psalmist. But as we look at verse 22 we see that from here onwards the Psalmist is full of praise as he recalls all God’s goodness and all that God has done, not just for him, but for all people. And what this Psalm reminds us of is that even in our darkest hour, no matter what trials or tribulations we might face, still we can have confidence in the Lord, that He will be by our side, as He always has been, and help us through whatever we are facing.
However, in this Psalm we also find that assurance from another perspective. When we read this Psalm whilst we might initially think of the suffering face by the Psalmist himself, or even more generally to the people of Israel, there are also Messianic overtones here and this Psalm is reminiscent of the Suffering Servant Songs we find in the prophecies of Isaiah. Look again at the Psalm, read it slowly, and note how it ends, ‘They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn – for he has done it..’
Through Jesus Christ God has reconciled Himself to us and by His Spirit He is with us always. Whatever life may throw at us, whatever comes our way, we are never alone – the Lord is with us and always will be.
Lord, we know that as we journey through life that we will face many trails and tribulations along the way, but still we give You thanks and praise for we know that you are with us every step of the way and will never abandon us, and for that we bless You. Amen.
Question Of The Day: What are the names of Jacob’s two sons born to Rachel?