Psalms 22:1

I was deeply effected this morning when I read from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Readings. I trust you will be encouraged as well. I have tried to rewrite this without the Old style of English- but if you prefer that & you have your own copy of this helpful reading - you may want to go straight to it (pg. 226)- otherwise, you can read it here...

Psalms 22:1 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

When we read these words, we are reminded of the depth of the sorrows of our Savior. There really is no other place that shows the grief of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as that in which His cry fills the air - 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

It was in this moment on the cross that we see physical weakness being united with acute mental torture from the shame and infamy through which he had to pass; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of His Father's presence. It is here, we see the great darkness of His horror; then it was that He descended the abyss of suffering. No one can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think that sometimes we could cry out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And sure there are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed my clouds and darkness; but let's remember that God never does really forsake us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawing of our Father's love; but the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him?

In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Him for a season. O you poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God's face, but is now in darkness, remember that He has not really forsaken you. God in the clouds is as much our God as when He shines forth in all the luster of His grace; but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Savior have been when He exclaimed, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

We can rejoice that He will never leave us, nor forsake us...

This surly causes your heart to rejoice?!