Daily Bread:  Thoughts and Prayers from the Psalms

~  Psalm 22  ~

Did you read Psalm 21 yesterday?
Yep.  What a change in tone!   Same David, totally different day.
Do you ever feel like you’re riding a rollercoaster with the LORD?
One day praising Him and rejoicing from the highest mountain top, and the very next day crying out from a deep pit, and wondering where He’s gone?
Do you ever wonder if He UNDERSTANDS what you’re going through?

There are a couple of things I’ve been learning from David.
First, life is made up of BOTH of these kinds of days.  I should expect it.  You should expect it.
It shouldn’t take us by surprise.
It doesn’t take Him by surprise!
Kind of like that old song- “Mama said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this, my mama said”!
Just replace mama with David.  Or maybe that’s where mama got her good advice!
When we don’t have the unrealistic expectation of always living those mountaintop days, it isn’t as much of a hard blow when we have those down in the deep pit kinds of days.  Jesus Himself actually told us to EXPECT hard days in our lives on this earth  (John 16:33).

The other thing I’m learning is WHAT TO DO on BOTH of those kinds of days.
It’s quite simple really.  Remember.
On the good days…
REMEMBER the Lord.  REMEMBER He is good.  And remember to PRAISE Him!
On the really hard days…
REMEMBER the Lord.  REMEMBER He is good.  And remember to PRAISE Him!

It’s helpful to know that I’m not the only one that feels like God is far away sometimes, or that He isn’t hearing my prayers for help.  David was loved deeply by God, and he experienced days like this.  HOWEVER, David honestly confesses his feelings to the LORD, and continues to CHOOSE to SPEAK the truth of God’s goodness, even when he isn’t SEEING it.

And what David probably didn’t realize when he penned these words (in 1000 BC !!), was JUST HOW DEEPLY the Lord DID understand the emotions and agony David was experiencing.
Go back and read this Psalm again.

Do the words paint a familiar picture?
“…they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.”

While David asked God if perhaps He had forsaken him, God used David’s words to prophesy and proclaim His Son to every mouth who would recite this hymn, and to every heart that would receive these words for all time to come.

Don’t let the enemy keep you from being honest with God about how you’re feeling.  
Tell Him.  He isn’t going to be shocked!
HE HAS KNOWN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD…
He understands like nobody else possibly could!
Remember Him in both those good days and the bad ones.
He lived here on this earth, confined to a body like ours, suffering until He died, to RISE AGAIN!
AND SING HIS PRAISES!

Still need more assurance?  
Read a little extra today, and check out Isaiah 53.
HE KNOWS!

You LORD,
Are the Praise of Israel,
The HOLY ONE,
The God in whom our fathers
TRUSTED
and were
not DISAPPOINTED!

This is right and true.

WHY then are you so FAR ?
I cry out to you
but you don’t
ANSWER.

Have you forsaken me?

I am mocked and scorned
TROUBLE
is near.
My heart is melting away
and
My strength is dried up !

DELIVER my life !

But to You,
who brought me out of the womb,
I will DECLARE your name
and I will PRAISE you

BECAUSE

You have not DESPISED or DISDAINED
the suffering of the Afflicted One.
You did not hide Your face.
You heard.

May all of us who fear you,
PRAISE YOUR NAME 
TOGETHER !

For one day soon
ALL the ENDS OF THE EARTH
will
REMEMBER 
and
TURN to You.

They will
PROCLAIM
Your righteousness
To a people yet unborn.

For
DOMINION
belongs to the LORD !

For He has done it !

~Read or Listen to Psalm 22.    

~Praying Psalm 23 is next!

~Praying the Psalms Table of Contents~

–Psalm 1
–Psalm 2 & 3
–Psalm 4
–Psalm 5
–Psalm 6 & 7
–Psalm 8
–Psalm 9
–Psalm 10
–Psalm 11
–Psalm 12
–Psalm 13
–Psalm 14
–Psalm 15
–Psalm 16
–Psalm 17
–Psalm 18
–Psalm 19
–Psalm 20
–Psalm 21
–Psalm 22
–Psalm 23
–Psalm 24
–Psalm 25
–Psalm 26
–Psalm 27
–Psalm 28
–Psalm 29
–Psalm 30
–Psalm 31
–Psalm 32
–Psalm 33
–Psalm 34
–Psalm 35
–Psalm 36