Feeling Forsaken?

All the ends of the earth shall remember 

and turn to the Lord;

and all the families of the nations 

shall worship before you...

Posterity shall serve Him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 

they shall come and proclaim His righteousness

to a people yet unborn, that He 

has done it.

Psalm 22:27,30-31

David was a melancholy, a thinker, and a poet, as well as a prophet.  I feel assured that as he penned Psalm 22, he did not know that he was writing a prophetic Psalm about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Likely he was writing about himself, and yet the details of the Psalm are remarkably accurate.  

I ask myself, "How does this relate to me?  Am I allowed to apply this somehow to my life without compromising the Scriptures?  And I realize that David was applying it to his present situation; therefore, so may I.  God's Word is teaching that we may and must apply to our lives if we are to grasp it and grow.

In verse 1 we read the words of Jesus on the cross as He was dying for the sins of mankind:  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Have you ever felt forsaken by God?  I have.  There have been times when I cried out to the Lord and felt no hint of His presence.  It was as though He had forsaken me.  

I believe that when that happens to us, God has withdrawn the feeling of His presence, perhaps because of sin, or perhaps just to cause us to trust His Word more fully.  So what do we do when these feelings come upon us?  He promised in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us or forsake us.  In John 10:28-29 Jesus told the disciples that no one is able to pluck His sheep out of His hands.  We are securely kept by the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What do we do?  I believe that we are always safe to test ourselves to be sure that we are in the faith.  It's okay!  Paul told the Corinthian church:  "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?"  If you pass the test, then rely on the Word of God, the promises of our Savior, assured that He is near.  Our feelings are unreliable; God's Word is our safeguard.

Let us say with David, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praise of Israel" (verse 3) as we "proclaim to the coming generation His righteousness."  (verse 31)

On faith, not feelings,

Gloria