Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever been so burdened with duties that it seems you are about to be destroyed? You feel like a wild animal caught in a cage? Maybe you can find some pill that will calm you, enable you to get a night's sleep; but let's get down to the root of the problem: Satan himself is trying to destroy you.
And from there, let's go to the Source of deliverance: Christ on His cross.
He feels so alone: "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" The original language says He felt like He was crying out like an animal caught in a trap (Psalm 22:1).
Night and day He moans in distress; no help comes (vs. 2).
Contrary to the complaints of "good" people who don't like to hear Him say it, Jesus says He felt so crushed by "reproach of men" that He was a "worm, and no man" (vss. 3-6; the "worm" has been edited out of Isaac Watts' poem in our hymn books; now it's "such a one as I").
It does seem that Jesus has been rejected and humiliated by God Himself: they "laugh [Him] to scorn," ridicule His trust in God (vss. 7, 8). "A raging and roaring lion" is about to kill Him (vs. 13).
Amazing as it is to contemplate, the Son of God is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because it seems to Him in His distress that it is God who is trying to crush Him. "In all points tempted like as we are," He has trouble in the black darkness of His soul distinguishing between Satan and His Father. He must sort it out. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (vss. 14, 15; 2 Cor. 5:21). Here's the ultimate issue.
The biggest problem is knowing who He is (have you ever wondered who you are?). Jesus reviews His own personal history since He was born; "I was cast upon You from birth" (Psalm 22:10). This is the point on which Satan has time and again tortured Him—“IF You are the Son of God ...” You think You're the Messiah! What a Fool You are! Yes, doubts assailed Him.
He seems tossed on the horns of the wild buffalo of Africa; the lion has His head in its mouth; can you imagine greater personal distress (vss. 19-21)? Then in the last moment of His extremity, His faith triumphs and He breaks through into the sunshine. "You have answered Me" (vs. 21, last part).
From verse 22 on to the end, the Psalm becomes a song of praise. He won His battle, and you will win, too. Not because of your faith, no; in this Psalm we see "the faith of Jesus" demonstrated.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 2, 2003.
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