Apart from the Psalms, C. S. Lewis’s lament after the death of his wife is the most poignant expression I know of regarding the seeming silence and absence of God:
Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms.
When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be—or so it feels—welcomed with open arms.
But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become.
There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seeming was as strong as this. What can this mean? Why is He so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in our time of trouble? (A Grief Observed [New York: Bantam, 1961], 4-5)
This is one of the themes of Psalm 22. And it couldn’t be clearer that Jesus had this psalm in his mind when he hung on the cross, bearing his Father’s wrath for the forgiveness of our sins. Matthew 27:46 says,
About the ninth hour [=3 PM], Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying [in Aramaic], “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [Ps 22:1].
And Matthew obviously wants us to see Psalm 22 running all throughout Christ’s sufferings on the cross:
| Psalm 22 | Matthew 27 |
| v. 1: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? | v. 46: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” |
| v. 7: All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads. | v. 39: Those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads. |
| v. 8: “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” | v. 43: He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, “I am the Son of God.” |
| v. 16: “they pierce my hands and feet” | (Crucifixion) |
| v. 18: They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. | v. 35: And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. |
As you read through the whole psalm, the problem and the pattern quickly emerges in the first two verses.
David groans to God . . . but there seems to be no salvation and none of God’s presence.
David cries to God . . . but there seems to be no answer and no rest.
What I find fascinating about this psalm is the way in which David reasons his way from extreme pain to confident hope. There’s an internal dialogue before God that swings back and forth from the present pain to God’s past presence and faithfulness. The movement eventually propels forward into praise in the future. I’ve tried to illustrate below the way I see this structure and developed. The whole psalm repays careful and prayerful meditation and study.
| Past (Presence) |
Present (Plea) |
Future (Praise) |
| (vv. 1-3)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. |
||
| (vv. 4-5)
YET you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. |
||
| (vv. 6-8)
BUT I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” |
||
| (vv. 9-10)
YET you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. |
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| (vv. 11-21)
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! |
| (vv. 22-31)
I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. |
