Series: Songs of Worship—Getting Real With God
Sermon: Forsaken
Speaker and Writer: Elia King

Refresh: Open with prayer. Ask God for understanding through the Holy Spirit.

Read: Psalm 22:1–31 (NIV). As you read the New International Version, note 1–3 insights or questions.

Reflect: Most people recognize the first half of this Psalm because of the stories we tell about the crucifixion, when Jesus cried out the words, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” We know this part of the Psalm because at some point, many of us have asked the same question, even if we used different words.

But few of us know the ending of the Psalm nearly as well as the first few words. I wonder if we did if we would view the whole Psalm differently.

What is it that takes the Psalmist from the place of crying out,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.”

to singing,

“You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
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.”

Maybe we would recognize, like the Psalmist, that God is not absent in our pain. Maybe we would sing along, knowing that while we may go through painful times in this life, there is still promise in the hope of Jesus. Maybe we would say, along with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him (Job 13:15).”

Recalibrate: What is a challenging situation in your life that you don’t want to talk with God about right now?

Respond: Pray that you will recognize God’s presence in your most challenging circumstances.

Research: Write your own psalm of deliverance. What are the circumstances going on in your life that have you feeling helpless? How have you seen God at work in similar situations in the past?