June 24th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Love Vast As the Ocean

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Great and Loving God, let not these moments become predictable or familiar. Prepare me for meeting You once again.

Read Psalm 22:1-31

[1] For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? [2] My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. [3] Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. [4] In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. [5] To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. [6] But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. [7] All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. [8] “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” [9] Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. [10] From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. [11] Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. [12] Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. [13] Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. [14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. [15] My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. [16] Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. [17] All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. [18] They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. [19] But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. [20] Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. [21] Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. [22] I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. [23] You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! [24] For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. [25] From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. [26] The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him- may your hearts live forever! [27] All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, [28] for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. [29] All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him- those who cannot keep themselves alive. [30] Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. [31] They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“Beyond the darkness of Good Friday shines the brilliant light of Easter Day” (A. Leonard Griffith). And what a brilliant light it is!

Think Further

Jesus’ cry from the cross leaves us in no doubt as to how he saw this psalm. It, and Isaiah 53 with its similar themes, helped to shape his ministry and the understanding of the early Christians. The Old Testament prophecies of Messiah, read properly, reveal that his purpose is achieved through suffering. Jesus, of course, knew this; the apostles knew it; and Paul knew it. The heart of Christian theology is that our salvation is accomplished through suffering, but this is never the end of the matter. Suffering leads to victory (24,28) and to praise (25,26) and then to proclamation (27,30,31). There is a glorious finality about the concluding words, which are reminiscent of Jesus’ cry from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God’s servant is vindicated (Isa. 53:12). God’s work is completed (Heb. 9:23-28).

Both Old and New Testaments tell us that God accomplished a glorious and powerful deliverance of humanity from the grip of sin and the dominion of death. The Messiah is victorious—but not in quite the way that most first-century Jews imagined. In fact, the victory is far greater and more wide-ranging than they ever envisaged. This message of victory and glory through suffering fired Stephen, Philip and Paul, and inspired their mission. This same message is at the heart of our mission and can be proclaimed with the same confidence that God “has done it!” (31).

In a world which avoids pain and suffering, which lives with a sort of corporate analgesia, God’s people endure the suffering which comes as followers of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus did and because we know that through it and beyond it is salvation, the renewal of the created order and the eternal reign of God.

Apply

Pray for persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. That information can be obtained from your church missions board.

Closing prayer

Lord, I’m humbled when I consider what some of my brothers and sisters go through for their faith. Sustain and empower them, I pray.

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