Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 22:1-18 (June 26, 2025)

June 26, 2025:  Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 22:1-18

May the loving presence of Jesus Christ which surrounds all of us, fill you with hope each day.

This morning please keep Henry in your prayers. He is in the hospital for emergency surgery. He is a handyman who has done work for us at the church in the past. Right now, he needs to know how Christ surrounds his every breath in this difficult time. Offer a prayer of joy and celebration for our son Jesse. He has been looking for work for six months. Yesterday he got hired at the new Burlington store which is on the SE corner of Broadway and Kolb. He starts on Monday part time. He is really excited. Now prayers for our Josiah who is also in need of a job, and some energy in his search and applications. Reminder Sunday at 9Am is our donut, pastry, and fellowship hour before church. This week we will be in the parish hall. I will see you there. There will be an alternative veggie tray for those who need to be careful with their sugar levels. Also, tomorrow, Foodies of Faith will have lunch at IHOP on 22nd street at 11:30.

Today we begin our Bible study on the 22nd Psalm, verses 1-18.

Right at the beginning of this Psalm we read very familiar words of frustration, and perhaps even fear. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"  Words of Christ from the Cross on Good Friday ring in our ears. We are uncomfortable with them because our Savior speaks to them in pain and suffering, and we have read them before on the previous Sunday, which is called the Passion of Christ, or more commonly Palm Sunday. We are excited by Christ's triumphant entry into the heart of Jerusalem, and the LORD'S seat in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. But like David as he writes this Psalm, there are obviously signs of David's doubts about how God is handling things in David's kingship. Questions abound in the first part of this Psalm.  At the end of today's passage in verse 18 we read the words about the dividing of the clothing, so isn't this a prophecy about what is coming for Jesus in the distant future? I don't think it hurts anything if that is how you want to view this, but it might be better if we see in this Psalm, a devastating prayer for the faithful ones, who wonder why God has not acted when in the past He has been so close, and His strength has carried the Jewish community forward in the worst of times.  We need to remember that there were certainly worse times than those of David's life. The exiles of the North (Israel), and the later exile of the South (Judah and Jerusalem) were times of great terror and loss as Israel succumbs to her enemies. What we must always remember - no matter how devastating a time in our lives becomes, God is present, but in His Wisdom has chosen to not act in the ways that we have seen him act in the past. It makes great good sense when we realize that even in the mouth of Christ, our Savior must suffer and die if our sins are to be forgiven, and the healing of all of God's creation is to move forward. All of this may not be the answer that we are praying for, yet we must always acknowledge, God is ultimately right, and present with His children all the time. There is a God-plan for creation, and sometimes when we who are His children really mess things up, that God-plan must be adjusted to accommodate our errors and mistakes. In Christ's perfection He followed God's plan faithfully and completely, but it doesn't mean that it was easy. Suffering for the sins of the whole of creation could never be easy! Obviously, David would seem to be in a time in his own life when these words are offered out of his sense of the Father-Creator's choosing to act in ways that David is having trouble understanding. You and I need to realize that each of our lives is intimately a part of God's Great Plan for His Creation. His way is always the right way! We are the ones who must come time, and again, seeking the LORD'S forgiveness for moving against that plan, even when we don't have any way to see the fullness of His God-plan, and are called on to live in faith, sometimes wondering how our loving God can choose to not act as He has in the past.  Jesus, on the day of His Crucifixion, knows Psalm 22 very well, and finds its words right in the moments of His death. When life goes wrong, God is still always eternally in charge of everything.

With love in Christ, Pastor Kim