15th. April. 2022. Daily Devotion.
Instead of reading this as a statement of the forsakenness of the Messiah on the cross, we can read it as posing an idea – that the Lord will forsake his anointed one (and therefore his people). The psalm portrays the forsakenness in graphic terms – providing all the details of what will make forsakenness plausible (rejection by men, mockery, death), but then responding that God has not forsaken the Messiah. In verse 24, the Messiah declares that the Lord has not forsaken him:
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
Thus, we can take the psalm to raise the possibility that God will reject his anointed one and then emphatically denying that the Lord would do such a thing. Even when bearing the sins of the people on the cross, Jesus is never abandoned. The Lord is never far off even when everything tells him otherwise.
The point is that the Lord will not abandon his Messiah even as he bears the totality of our sin. And if he won’t abandon his Messiah, then he will not abandon us, even when everything tells us otherwise. Ben Holloway
Eternal God, in the cross of Jesus we see the cost of our sin and the depth of your love: in humble hope and fear may we place at his feet all that we have and all that we are, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Good Friday
Lord Christ, as we draw near to you this day under the shadow of the cross,
give us a new understanding of your sorrow over us, true repentance for our sins for which you suffered, and an ever-deeper gratitude for your redeeming love for us and for all of humankind. Amen.
Let us pray to the Father, who loved the world so much that he sent his only Son to give us life.
Simon from Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for your Son. Give us grace to lift heavy loads from those we meet and to stand with those condemned to die.
Your Son watched the soldiers gamble to share his clothes. Transform the hearts of those who make a profit from their victims, and those whose hearts are hardened by their work.
The thief, who was crucified with Jesus, was promised a place in your kingdom. Give pardon and hope, healing and peace to all who look death in the face.
From the cross, Jesus entrusted Mary his mother and John his disciple to each other’s care. Help us also to care for one another and fill our homes with the spirit of your love.
The centurion was astonished to recognize your glory in the crucified Messiah. Open the minds of those who do not know you to grasp in your Son the meaning of life and death.
Joseph of Arimathea came to take your Son’s body away. Give hope and faith to the dying and bereaved, gentleness to those who minister to them, and courage to those whose faith is secret.
Simon and Joseph, Mary and John, became part of the life of your Church in Jerusalem. Bring into your Church today a varied company of people, to walk with Christ in the way of his passion, and to find their salvation in the victory of his cross.
Lord of the Church: hear our prayer and make us one in heart and mind to serve you with joy for ever.