Psalm 22 English Standard Version

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

This is the preface to the 22nd Psalm. Let us think about this preface.

The first emotion expressed is one of forsakenness. For an emotional appeal to work, it should be personalized. Our instincts are ones of self-preservation. “This is about me.” Whatever happened to someone else, we can relate to the emotional turmoil.

The instruction to the choirmaster is to play this psalm according to the Doe of the Dawn. What instruments and melodies for “The Doe of the Dawn” are lost in history. There are no accompanying score sheets for that piece of music.

If we were to write a musical score for this psalm, it would be one that struck an emotional cord where the words themselves inspire the music. At the time of the original score there was no basis upon which we now draw our emotions. Looking into the majority of opinions about that work, many have declared Jesus Christ is “The Doe of the Dawn”. Since Christ had not yet been born they acknowledge a possibility that this whole work is prophetic in design.

Even if we decide that Psalm 22 is prophetic in design, that does not remove the emotional appeal that carries us into familiar personal history. We can still relate because we suffer as Christ suffered and He suffered for our sake. It is relatable.

One might address this piece of music as a melancholy song. It is meant to forster deep emotional connections with the subject of the song.

Like any good melancholy song, hope must be granted. Perhaps for this musical piece the last line expresses it the best.

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

Matthew 15:7-9 English Standard Version

7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

It is one thing to be called out by our Lord for our actions and a totally different thing to be called a hypocrite by the lawless. When I speak of the lawless, I speak to God’s law not man’s.

Isaiah 5:20a English Standard Version (ESV) Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,

A woe is defined as a denunciation by God or grieving God. Let us try and avoid that please.

Rather than allowing this to become political theater, let us address the issue of how we should respond when we are called hypocrites by the worldly. 

What do the worldly know of Christ? They reject Him, His teachings and anyone who calls themselves a Christian. Do not be wounded by their accusations of hypocrisy. Those who do so are acting according to their own true nature. We are asked to respond with our divine nature, one that is still learning what it means to be like Christ.

When accused Christ did not answer. He remained silent. He did so because He knew where He was going and what He had to do next.

This is our dilemma in our moments of accusation. Do we know our calling in Christ and what we are about to do next? We have to look beyond the moment and ignore our human response and to look to Christ in what comes next. We are called to look to the future, not the moment.

In some cases it will be caring more about the opinion of God than the opinion of the world. We cannot allow people who do not know God to tell us how God feels about us and our actions. That is for God to do alone, in our personal time with Him.

Yes the world can wound us, but Christ is the Great Physician, the healer of all wounds.