WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

      "Eli, Eli, lema sahachthani?" "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Ps. 22:1; Matt. 27:46)
      In our ongoing discussion of the Bible's great questions, we now encounter one of its loneliest questions. It was first asked by David in the 22nd Psalm, when he was surrounded by enemies and  treated like a worm. David, who had trusted in God since his birth, felt betrayed by a God who had promised him steadfast love... and he lifted his voice in a protest borne of desperation. The question- my God, why have you forsaken me- is not irreverent, and it doesn't betray a lack of faith because David knows that God will triumph in the end (read the rest of Psalm 22). But, in the midst of faith, the question does reveal the deep emptiness and the sense of unworthiness that accompany betrayal.
      I loved you... and you left me for another. I trusted in you... and you betrayed my trust. I gave you keys to my home... and you took everything I had. I confided in you... and you broke our covenant. Who among us hasn't lifted his voice and cried, "Why have you forsaken me?" You, who I have loved so dearly- you, to whom I have stood so vulnerably- have betrayed me. You of all people! Yes, we know the pain of betrayal and we've come face-to-face with the overwhelming emptiness that fills us... when we are forsaken. Even if we continue to hope, perhaps even continue to believe, that our lover/trusted friend will save us in time, the pain of feeling abandoned cannot be contained.
      Jesus lived out the 22nd Psalm in remarkable detail. He had trusted God his entire life. In fact, he was always within his Father's will. He was perfectly faithful and fully obedient, and he knew that his trust would lead him to Golgotha's Hill. He knew that, if he surrendered to his Father's plan, he would be scorned and abused. He knew that he would be "poured out like water," (Ps. 22:14) and his mouth would be "dried up like a potsherd," (vs. 15) precisely because he trusted in God. He knew this. He had prophesied it, and we should not take his question as a lack of faith. But IT IS a confession of deep pain- a pain that cannot be contained and should not be denied. Some people seem to think that people of faith should never cry out. They believe that crying out is a sign of weakness or disbelief... but it is not. It is an honest confession that there are times when God seems to be far away, and that we desperately need to see His face! It seems to me, then, that the question David and Jesus asked IS a statement of faith.
      But it is also a very real and authentic expression of pain within the context of faith. Maybe those of us who expect everything to go our way ...have never trusted as deeply as David did. Perhaps, we've never surrendered enough to end up on Calvary's Hill.