For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
If you call out the mockers for their disrespect or rebuke the wicked for their evil behavior, they will not change their behavior. They will merely insult you or attack you in turn. However, when you point out to the wise where they have done wrong, they will change their behavior and love you for the concern you have shown. I have observed this time and again. The question I need to ask myself, do I take correction to heart and change my behavior? Or am I sure that those who tell me I did wrong are mistaken?
This psalm gives a wonderful template for sharing the Gospel:
- Praise God, all of the time,
- Boast only about what Him.
- Talk about the wonderful, amazing things God has done
- Tell those around you how God has answered your prayers
- Invite them to try it for themselves
That last is so important. All too often I have found myself trying to convince someone of the truth of the Gospel by rational arguments when what I should have done was invite them to check out God’s promises for themselves. I myself spent many years trying to find proof that God existed. It was only when I finally decided that I would assume He was real and see how things worked from there that I discovered the proof of His existence.
When you want to introduce someone to a good food they have never tasted the only way to truly convince them is to have them actually taste it. In the same way, the only way to truly know the joy of following the Lord is to try it for yourself.
Throughout this passage we see references to Psalm 22. In verse 35 there is a reference to the soldiers dicing for his clothes, which matches up to Psalm 22:18. In verse 39-44 Jesus is mocked by various people. This matches up to Psalm 22:6-8. Then in verse 46 Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” This is a direct quote of Psalm 22:1.
A key element to understanding this passage, and what Jesus meant by crying out that final line, is to be aware that it was a tradition that quoting the first line from Scripture was considered the same as quoting the entire passage. So, when Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”, He was not saying that God had abandoned Him. Rather, He was expressing both the despair and hope which He felt at that moment.
My life is poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
melting within me.
Hope:
For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned his back on them,
but has listened to their cries for help.
I am convinced that reading Psalm 22 shows us what Jesus was feeling as He hung upon the cross. He felt deep despair, yet He had a hope which was almost joyous. When we face trials in this life we should share Jesus’ confidence in God’s final victory.
After Moses had given out the very specific instructions for the building of the Tabernacle, he invited those who were gifted craftsmen to contribute the pieces that were needed to complete the construction. As the materials began to come in, Moses appointed two men to be in charge of putting it all together, men who had been given skills by God which made them qualified for this position. As these men, and those they recruited to help them, began their work the people continued to donate materials. Finally, the men had to go to Moses and ask him to tell the people to stop bringing them more materials. Isn’t this where we should be in the Church today? Where the leaders need to tell us to slow down on our donations to help the poor because they cannot distribute it as fast as we are donating it?