Joy Comes in the Morning: Hope-Filled Devotions

WEDNESDAY, 23 JULY 2025

TEXT: Psalm 22:1-18

1: 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.

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: THE PRESENCE OF SUFFERING DOES NOT MEAN THE ABSENCE OF GOD

The opening words of Psalm 22 remind us of the passion of Christ (Matthew 27:46).

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, we see David as a type of Christ in his various roles as shepherd, giant slayer, warrior and king.

Many of the Psalms that David wrote, especially Psalm 22, prophetically point to Christ and speaks of Him, especially His passion.

The first section is a lament by the Psalmist who was in deep distress and felt that God had abandoned him. The second is a song of praise to God because of what he had done in the life of the Psalmist.

Although the Psalmist had placed his faith in God, he was suffering and near death.

Faith in God does not exclude suffering. Likewise, the presence of suffering does not imply the absence of God.

When our faith is vacillating between hope and despair, we need to remember that faith is not a vaccine which prevents diseases and suffering.

Faith means that when we go through suffering, the hands of the faithful God are there to rescue us. That is why Psalm 22 starts with a cry of despair but ends with praise of deliverance.

QUESTION: Are there times you feel that you had been forsaken and abandoned by God?

PRAYER: Dear God, as my faith vacillates between hope and despair, help me to hold unto Jesus every day who has the power to change my circumstances.