Daily Devotion

28 Mar – My God, My God…

Audio

Prepare

Today is Friday, 28th of March.

Friends, we have come together as the family of God to offer him praise and thanksgiving, to hear and receive his holy word, to ask his forgiveness of our sins, and to seek his grace, that through his Son Jesus Christ we may give ourselves to his service.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let us pause for a moment to confess our sins to almighty God. Join me in saying this:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, 
we have sinned against you and against our fellow men,
in thought and word and deed
through negligence, through weakness, 
through our own deliberate fault.
We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. 
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, 
who died for us, forgive us all that is past; 
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life;
to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent, 
have mercy upon you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins, 
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, 
and keep you in life eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Psalm

The appointed Psalm for today is Psalm 22. Here we read verses 1 to 5:

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

³ Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Prayer/Reflection

We will draw our reflection from Psalm 22 verse 1.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

As we will witness on Good Friday, these were also the words that Jesus uttered on the cross. We always wonder about the sufferings that Jesus went through on the cross. Was it physical, social, emotional or spiritual? Perhaps it was a bit of everything.

This cry of Jesus, without a doubt, gives as an insight into his pain; caused by a sense of abandonment by His Father. Was it just how He felt? Is it even possible for the Father and Son to be separated? Down through the centuries, theologians have discussed this.

What we can be certain is that Jesus; on the cross; identified with the deepest sufferings of humanity. Human suffering is not just about physical pain. For social and spiritual abandonment hits us at a deeper level.

Ask a child who has been abandoned or rejected by His parents. Or a spouse who has just gone through a painful divorce. Some teenagers find it difficult to cope with friendship rejection or betrayal, resorting to extreme measures.

Or a man in his mid-fifties who was just told that he is retrenched. The news is simply devastating.

For those of us in the church, we are not spared either. A pastor or an elder can say or do things that convey this sense of rejection or abandonment. Whether it is real or apparent, from the very source of fatherly love, we can experience the reverse. And like Jesus, the searing pain goes deep. For some, the hurt can be permanent.

Pain and suffering is a reality humanity needs to face. This cry of abandonment from the Psalmist, repeated by Jesus, is the universal cry of humanity too. It is also our cry.

If you are a victim, will you let Jesus heal the pain. After all He has said in Matthew chapter 11:

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

He is able… for He himself has suffered our deepest pains.

Collect

We close with the Family Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation 
but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.

We close with this moving lament, O God why are you silent?, written by Marty Haugen.

O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice;
the proud and strong and violent all claim you and rejoice;
you promised you would hold me with tenderness and care.
Draw near, O Love, enfold me, and ease the pain I bear.

Now lost within my grieving, I fall and lose my way,
My fragile, faint believing so swiftly swept away.
O God of pain and sorrow, my compass and my guide,
I cannot face the morrow without you by my side.

My hope lies bruised and battered, my wounded heart is torn;
My spirit spent and shattered by life’s relentless storm.
Will you not bend to hear me, my cries from deep within?
Have you no word to cheer me when night is closing in?

Through endless nights of weeping, through weary days of grief,
My heart is in your keeping, my comfort, my relief.
Come, share my tears and sadness, come, suffer in my pain;
O bring me home to gladness, restore my hope again.”

Come pain draw forth compassion, let wisdom rise from loss;
oh, take my heart and fashion the image of your cross;
then may I know your healing, through healing that I share,
your grace and love revealing, your tenderness and care.

Link to today’s Morning Office