Charles Spurgeon On The Forsakenness Of Jesus On That Cross

Charles Spurgeon got the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross right. Come and see from his various sermons and writings:

Then comes the "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Here we behold His human soul in anguish, His inmost heart overwhelmed by the withdrawing of Jehovah's face, and made to cry out as if in perplexity and amazement. (Christ's Words From The Cross, Page 6)

The comfortable presence of God, which had all his life long sustained him, began to withdraw from him in the garden, and appeared to be quite gone when he was just in the article of death upon the cross; and meanwhile the waves of God's wrath on account of sin began to break over his spirit, and he was in the condition of a soul deserted by God . . . But though God be angry, as it were, yet he crieth, "My God." (Our Lord's Solemn Enquiry)

Christ in that hour took all our sins, past, present, and to come, and was punished for them all there and then, that we might never be punished, because he suffered in our stead. Do you see, then, how it was that God the Father bruised him? Unless he had so done the agonies of Christ could not have been an equivalent for our sufferings; for hell consists in the hiding of God's face from sinners, and if God had not hidden his face from Christ, Christ could not – I see not how he could – have endured any suffering that could have been accepted as an equivalent for the woes and agonies of his people (The Death Of Christ) 

As to my sin, I hear its harsh accusings no more when I hear Jesus cry, "Why have you forsaken me?" I know that I deserve the deepest Hell at the hand of God's vengeance; but I am not afraid. He will never forsake me, for He forsook His Son on my behalf. (Christ's Words From The Cross, Page 57)

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1; We here behold the Saviour in the depth of his sorrows. No other place so well shows the griefs of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as that in which his cry rends the air—“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which he had to pass; and to make his grief culminate with emphasis, he suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of his Father’s presence. This was the black midnight of his horror; then it was that he descended the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think at times that we could cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” There are seasons when the brightness of our Father’s smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ’s case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father’s love; but the real turning away of God’s face from his Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused him? In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in his case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from him for a season. O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God’s face, but art now in darkness, remember that he has not really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our God as when he shines forth in all the lustre of his grace; but since even the thought that he has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when he exclaimed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Morning And Evening, April 15th, Morning) 

By the help of the Holy Spirit, let us first dwell upon THE FACT; or, what our Lord suffered. God had forsaken him . . . The desertion was real. Though under some aspects our Lord could say, “The Father is with me”; yet was it solemnly true that God did forsake him. It was not a failure of faith on his part which led him to imagine what was not actual fact. Our faith fails us, and then we think that God has forsaken us; but our Lord’s faith did not for a moment falter, for he says twice, “My God, my God.” Oh, the mighty double grip of his unhesitating faith! He seems to say, “Even if thou hast forsaken me, I have not forsaken thee.” . . . This stroke has cut him to the quick: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It was no phantom of the gloom; it was a real absence which he mourned . . . His Father, at that time, gave him no open acknowledgment. On certain other occasions a voice had been heard, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”; but now, when such a testimony seemed most of all required, the oracle was dumb. He was hung up as an accursed thing upon the cross; for he was “made a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”; and the Lord his God did not own him before men . . . But this was not all. His Father now dried up that sacred stream of peaceful communion and loving fellowship which had flowed hitherto throughout his whole earthly life. (“Lama Sabachthani?”)

He said himself, as you remember, “Ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” Here was his constant comfort: but all comfort from this source was to be withdrawn. The divine Spirit did not minister to his human spirit. No communications with his Father’s love poured into his heart. It was not possible that the Judge should smile upon one who represented the prisoner at the bar. Our Lord’s faith did not fail him, as I have already shown you, for he said, “My God, my God”: yet no sensible supports were given to his heart, and no comforts were poured into his mind . . . To our Lord, the Father’s love was the foundation of everything; and when that was gone, all was gone. Nothing remained, within, without, above, when his own God, the God of his entire confidence, turned from him. Yes, God in very deed forsook our Saviour . . . To be forsaken of God was much more a source of anguish to Jesus than it would be to us. “Oh,” say you, “how is that?” I answer, because he was perfectly holy. A rupture between a perfectly holy being and the thrice holy God must be in the highest degree strange, abnormal, perplexing, and painful. If any man here, who is not at peace with God, could only know his true condition, he would swoon with fright. If you unforgiven ones only knew where you are, and what you are at this moment in the sight of God, you would never smile again till you were reconciled to him. Alas! we are insensible, hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and therefore we do not feel our true condition. His perfect holiness made it to our Lord a dreadful calamity to be forsaken of the thrice holy God . . .  Do not forget that he was such a One that to him to be without God must have been an overwhelming calamity . . . Our Lord’s heart, and all his nature were, morally and spiritually, so delicately formed, so sensitive, so tender, that to be without God, was to him a grief which could not be weighed. I see him in the text bearing desertion, and yet I perceive that he cannot bear it. I know not how to express my meaning except by such a paradox. He cannot endure to be without God. He had surrendered himself to be left of God, as the representative of sinners must be, but his pure and holy nature, after three hours of silence, finds the position unendurable to love and purity; and breaking forth from it, now that the hour was over, he exclaims, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” (“Lama Sabachthani?”)

Bethink you, for a moment, that the Lord God, in the broadest and most unreserved sense, could never, in very deed, have forsaken his most obedient Son. He was ever with him in the grand design of salvation. Towards the Lord Jesus, personally, God himself, personally, must ever have stood on terms of infinite love. Truly the Only Begotten was never more lovely to the Father than when he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross! But we must look upon God here as the Judge of all the earth, and we must look upon the Lord Jesus also in his official capacity, as the Surety of the covenant, and the Sacrifice for sin. The great Judge of all cannot smile upon him who has become the substitute for the guilty. Sin is loathed of God; and if, in order to its removal, his own Son is made to bear it, yet, as sin, it is still loathsome, and he who bears it cannot be in happy communion with God. This was the dread necessity of expiation; but in the essence of things the love of the great Father to his Son never ceased, nor ever knew a diminution. Restrained in its flow it must be, but lessened at its fountain-head it could not be. Therefore, wonder not at the question, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” . . . Why, then, did God forsake his Son? I cannot conceive any other answer than this – he stood in our stead . . . He bore the sinner’s sin, and he had to be treated, therefore, as though he were a sinner, though sinner he could never be. With his own full consent he suffered as though he had committed the transgressions which were laid on him. Our sin, and his taking it upon himself, is the answer to the question, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” . . . This was necessary for another reason: there could have been no laying on of suffering for sin without the forsaking of the vicarious Sacrifice by the Lord God. So long as the smile of God rests on the man the law is not afflicting him. The approving look of the great Judge cannot fall upon a man who is viewed as standing in the place of the guilty. Christ not only suffered from sin, but for sin. If God will cheer and sustain him, he is not suffering for sin. The Judge is not inflicting suffering for sin if he is manifestly succouring the smitten one. There could have been no vicarious suffering on the part of Christ for human guilt, if he had continued consciously to enjoy the full sunshine of the Father’s presence. It was essential to being a victim in our place that he should cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” . . . When Jesus bows his head to the stroke of the law, when he submissively consents that his Father shall turn away his face from him, then myriads of worlds are astonished at the perfect holiness and stern justice of the Lawgiver. There are, probably, worlds innumerable throughout the boundless creation of God, and all these will see, in the death of God’s dear Son, a declaration of his determination never to allow sin to be trifled with. If his own Son is brought before him, bearing the sin of others upon him, he will hide his face from him, as well as from the actually guilty. In God infinite love shines over all, but it does not eclipse his absolute justice any more than his justice is permitted to destroy his love. God hath all perfections in perfection, and in Christ Jesus we see the reflection of them. Beloved, this is a wonderful theme! (“Lama Sabachthani?”)

And O my brethren, does it not show us what a real man the Christ of God was, that he could, he forsaken of his God? We might have supposed that, Christ being Emmanuel, — God with us, — the Godhead and the manhood being indissolubly united in one person, it would have been impossible for him to be forsaken of God. We might also have inferred, for the same reason, that it would have been impossible for him to have been scourged, and spit upon, and especially that it would not have been possible for him to die. Yet all these things were made, not only possible, but also sacredly certain. In order to complete the redemption of his chosen people, it was necessary for him to be both God’s well-beloved Son, and to be forsaken of his Father (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

And, another thing, it did not arise from a mistake. I have known believers, in sore trouble, make great blunders concerning what God was doing with them. They have thought that he had forsaken them, for they misinterpreted certain signs, and dealings of God, and they said, “All these things are against us; the hand of God has gone out against us to destroy us.” But Christ made no mistake about this matter, for God had forsaken him. It was really so. When he said, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” he spoke infallible truth, and his mind was under no cloud whatsoever. He knew what he was saying, and he was right in what he said, for his Father had forsaken him for the time. (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

He rightly felt that his Father had withdrawn the comfortable light of his countenance, that he had, for the time being, lost the sense of his Father’s favour, — not the favour itself, but the consciousness of that divine aid and succour which he had formerly enjoyed; — so he felt himself like a man left all alone; and he was not only left all alone by his friends, but also by his God. (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

Can we at all imagine the state of mind in which our Lord was when he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” No; that is not possible, yet I will try to help you to understand it. Can you imagine the misery of a lost soul in hell, — one who is forsaken of God, and who cries, in bitterest agony, “God will never look upon me in mercy, or delight, or favour,” — can you picture that sad state? Well, if you can, you will not, even then, have got anywhere near the position of Christ, because that soul in hell does not want God’s favour, and does not seek it, or ask for it. That lost soul is so hardened in sin that it never troubles about whether God would receive it if it repented; the truth is, that it does not want to repent. The misery, that men will suffer in the world to come, will be self-created misery arising out of the fact that they loved sin so much that they brought eternal sorrow upon themselves. It must be an awful thing for a soul, in the next world, to be without God; but, as far as its own consciousness is concerned, it will be so hardened that it will abide without God, yet not realizing all that it has lost because it is itself incapable of knowing the beauty of holiness, and the perfection of the God from whom it is separated for ever. Yet how different was the case of our Lord Jesus Christ when upon the cross! He knew, as no mere man could ever know, what separation from God meant. (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

But, my dear brethren, you have not got the whole truth yet, for no saint knows the presence of God as Christ knew it. No saint has, to the full, enjoyed the love of God as Christ enjoyed it; and, consequently, if he does lose it, he only seems to lose the moonlight whereas Christ lost the sunlight when, for a time, the face of his Father was withdrawn from him. Only think what must have been the anguish of the Saviour, especially as contrasted with his former enjoyment. Never did any mere human being know so much and enjoy so much of the love of God as Christ had done. He had lived in it, basked in it; there had never been any interruption to it. “I do always those things that please him,” said he, concerning his Father; and his Father twice said, concerning him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ had enjoyed the love of God to the very full, think what it must have been for him to lose the conscious enjoyment of it. You know that you may go into a room, and blow out the candle, but the blind people will not miss it. They miss the light most who have enjoyed it most; and Christ missed the light of God’s countenance most because he had enjoyed it most. Then, reflect upon his intense love to God. Jesus Christ — the man Christ Jesus — loved God with all his heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, as you and I have never yet been able to do. The love of Christ towards his Father was boundless. Well, then, for a frown to be upon his Father’s face, or for the light of that Fathers face to be taken away from him, must have made it correspondingly dark and terrible to him. (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

After all, beloved, the only solution of the mystery is this; Jesus Christ was forsaken of God because we deserved to be forsaken of God. He was there, on the cross, in our room, and place, and stead, and as the sinner, by reason of his sin, deserves not to enjoy the favor of God, so Jesus Christ, standing in the place of the sinner, and enduring that which would vindicate the justice of God, had to come under the cloud, as the sinner must have come, if Christ had not taken his place. (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

Since He, for a little while, was separated from His Father, we may boldly cry, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” and with the apostle Paul, we may confidently affirm that nothing in the whole universe “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (The Saddest Cry From The Cross)

and as the culmination of his grief, he suffered spiritual agony which surpasses all expression, on account of the departure of his Father from him . . . By these words we are to understand that our blessed Lord and Saviour was at that moment forsaken by God in such a manner as he had never been before. (Cries From The Cross)

It was necessary that he should suffer, in the stead of sinners, just what sinners ought to have suffered. It would be difficult to conceive of punishment for sin apart from the frown of Deity. With crime we always associate anger, so that, when Christ died, “the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,” — when our blessed Saviour became our Substitute, he became, for the time, the victim of his Father’s righteous wrath, seeing that our sins had been imputed to him, in order that his righteousness might be imputed to us. It was necessary that he should feel the loss of his Father’s smile, — for the condemned in hell must have tasted of that bitterness; — and therefore the Father closed the eye of his love, put the hand of justice before the smile of his face, and left his Son to cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Cries From The Cross)

There are seasons when the brightness of our Father’s smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness. But let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ’s case it was a real forsaking. God only knows how much we grieve, sometimes, at a little withdrawal of our Father’s love; but the real turning away of God’s face from his Son, — who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused him when he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In our case, this is the cry of unbelief; in his case, it was the utterance of a fact, for God had really turned away from him for a time. (Cries From The Cross)

Hitherto, God had helped his Son, but now he must tread the winepress alone, and even his own Father cannot be with him . . . We can scarcely guess what it was that our Saviour felt when he said, “Why art thou so far from helping me?” His work is one which none but a Divine Person could have accomplished, yet his Father’s eye was turned away from him! (Cries From The Cross)

Christ compares his prayers to those roarings, and complains that God is so far from him that he does not hear him. (Cries From The Cross)

Methinks I hear the Father say to Christ, “My Son, I forsake thee because thou standest in the sinner’s stead. As thou art holy, just, and true, I never would forsake thee; I would never turn away from thee; for, even as a man, thou hast been holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; but on thy head doth rest the guilt of every penitent, transferred from him to thee; and thou must expiate it by thy blood. Because thou standest in the sinner’s stead, I will not look at thee till thou hast borne the full weight of my vengeance. Then, I will exalt thee on high, far above all principalities and powers.” (Cries From The Cross)

This turning away of the Divine Father from hearing his Son’s prayer, is just in keeping with his condition; as the sinner’s Surety, his prayer must not be heard; as the sinner’s Surety, he could say, “Now that I am here, dying in the sinner’s stead, thou sealest thine ears against my prayer.” God did not hear his Son, because he knew his Son was dying to bring us near to God, and the Son therefore cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Cries From The Cross)

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Getting The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

6. Forsaken: A Very Unhelpful Chapter On The Cross

7. Did The Father Turn His Away From Jesus On That Cross?

8. A Satanic Reading Of Psalm 22 That Should Be Forsaken

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

Christ Jesus Is God’s Loved Elect!

Christ Jesus Is God’s Loved Elect

Chosen His Glory To Reflect

True God And Man In Each Aspect

The Devil’s Ways He Crushed And Wrecked

He Died As God’s Full Wrath Object

Then Rose, Killed Death, Life Resurrect

In Him We’re Chosen God’s Elect

Beloved Forever Retrospect

You His Child He Won’t Reject

Predestined, Loved, He Won’t Neglect

He’ll Hold You Fast Always Protect

For You Of All He Did Select!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

John Flavel On The Forsakenness Of Jesus On The Cross

John Flavel:

. . . it was a penal desertion, inflicted on him for satisfaction for those sins of ours, which deserved that God should forsake us for ever, as the damned are forsaken by him. So that this cry (as one observes) was like the perpetual shriek of them that are cast away for ever: this was that hell, and the torments of it which Christ, our surety, suffered for us . . . It was a desertion that was real, and not fictitious. He does not personate a deserted soul, and speak as if God had withdrawn the comfortable sense and influence of his love from him; but the thing was so indeed . . . Did Christ never make such a sad complaint and outcry, till God hid his face from him? Then the hiding of God’s face is certainly the greatest misery that can possibly befall a gracious soul in this world. When they scourged, buffeted, and smote Christ, yea, when they nailed him to the tree, he opened not his mouth; but when his father hid his face from him, then he cried out; yea, his voice was the voice of roaring: this was more to him than a thousand crucifyings. (The Fourth Excellent Saying Of Christ Upon The Cross, Illustrated)

Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

Martin Luther On The Forsakenness Of Jesus On The Cross

 

Martin Luther got the cross and forsakenness of Jesus right:

So then, gaze at the heavenly picture of Christ, who descended into hell [I Pet. 3:19] for your sake and was forsaken by God as one eternally damned when he spoke the words on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" — "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" [Matt. 27:46]. In that picture your hell is defeated and your uncertain election is made sure. (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, Eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), 105.)

[On the cross Christ] prepared himself as a threefold picture for us, to be held before the eyes of our faith against the three evil pictures with which the evil spirit and our nature would assail us to rob us of this faith. He is the living and immortal image against death, which he suffered, yet by his resurrection from the dead he vanquished death in his life. He is the image of the grace of God against sin, which he assumed, and yet overcame by his perfect obedience. He is the heavenly image, the one who was forsaken by God as damned, yet he conquered hell through his omnipotent love, thereby proving that he is the dearest Son, who gives this to us all if we but believe. (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, Eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), 95–115.)

For even Christ suffered damnation and dereliction to a greater degree than all the saints. And his sufferings were not, as some imagine, easy for him. For he really and truly offered himself for us to eternal damnation to God the Father. And in his human nature, he behaved in no other way than as a man eternally damned to hell. Because he loved God in this way, God at once raised him from death and hell and thus devoured hell. (Lectures On Romans, Trans. and Ed. Wilhelm Pauck, (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1961, 2006), 263.)

The passion is threefold: 1. it cries out, because Christ is deserted by God. This is the greatest type of affliction - to feel the wrath of God and to be terrified before God, as if God were to abandon and condemn. These greatest sufferings of hell are often described in the psalms (See Psalm 6[:6-8]). Nevertheless, Christ was without sin, and yet he was a victim for our sins, just as Paul says, "he was made a curse for us," [Gal 3:15] and the scriptures testify that he bore those sufferings, Isaiah 53[:4]: "we esteemed him stricken by God." Again: He will count his own soul as sin, or for sin. And in 2 Cor 5[:21]: "God made him sin who knew no sin," i.e. Christ felt the wrath of God, as though he were scorned and condemned like sin. And he bore this wrath without sin, Heb 5[:4], and there was no one besides him. (Psalm 22: An Introduction by Martin Luther)

And yet, that we may not let so rich a verse as this first pass by entirely without some remarks, I will say a few words about this "being forsaken of God." — This we cannot understand better than by shewing first, what God is! God then, is life, light, wisdom, truth, righteousness, goodness, power, joy, glory, peace, blessedness, and all good! And therefore to be left of God, is to be involved in death, darkness, ignorance, lies, sin, malice, weakness, sorrow, confusion, dismay, desperation, damnation, and all evil. What, then, follows from this? Shall we make Christ, ignorant, a liar, a sinner, a bad person, in despair, and damned? This, as I observed before, is to come to conclusions that produce something difficult and abstruse to make it appear a something wonderful, like the characters above-mentioned. But do thou consider things thus. — It is granted by all that in Christ there were at the same time the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow, the greatest weakness and the greatest power, the greatest glory and the greatest confusion; and so also there were the greatest peace and the greatest trouble; and again, the greatest life and the greatest death: and all this is sufficiently shewn by the present verse: where Christ says, that he was forsaken of God, and yet calls God his God. For no one can say "My God, my God," who is wholly forsaken of God . . . What then shall we say here? Shall we not say that Christ at the same time was (as he stood in our stead) the most righteous person and the greatest sinner, of the greatest lies and the greatest truth, of the greatest glorying and the greatest desperation, the most truly blessed and the most utterly damned? For if we say not these things, I know not how he could be forsaken of God . . . And, as the striking of the Lord with which he strikes for sin is not only death, but also the dread and horror of a distressed conscience, which feels eternal wrath, and feels as if it were utterly forsaken to all eternity and cast off from the face of God, (as David confesses. Psalm xxxi. 22, "I said in my excess, I am cut off from before thine eyes;") — as this is the case, I say, it of necessity and evidently follows, that Christ himself suffered the dread and horror of a distressed conscience that tasted eternal wrath . . . But still, we do not by all these observations say that Christ did not suffer in a different way from us, and that he was not tortured and dismayed in soul differently from us, or different from what the damned feel in their dread of, and a fleeing from, God. For Christ even in his own eyes was like unto one forsaken, cursed, a sinner, a blasphemer, and one damned, though without sin. Because, it was not a matter of play, or jest, or hypocrisy, when he said, "Thou hast forsaken me:" for he then felt himself really forsaken in all things, even as a sinner is forsaken after he has sinned: though he was not in reality left as a sinner, because he was like the sinner before the commission of his sin. — All that Christ suffered he suffered indeed: there was truth in it all: nor are we to lessen or make void the meaning and force of the words of God. (Complete Commentary On The First Twenty-Two Psalms, Pages 359-365)

Here, therefore, we see that Christ suffered all the punishment properly due to sin, and tasted death and hell . . . And when he here mentions the praises of others, and not his own, he thereby shews how much he is like unto the accursed and the damned. And this is the very thing that increases his complaint and his grief, — that Israel, being so many times saved, praised the Lord, while he was utterly forsaken, and was in danger of never praising God at all, but of cursing him only. (Complete Commentary On The First Twenty-Two Psalms, Pages 372-373)

All the prophets well forsaw in the Spirit, that Christ, by imputation, would become the greatest sinner upon the face of the earth, and a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; would be no more considered an innocent person and without sin, or the Son of God in glory, but a notorious sinner, and so be for awhile forsaken (Psal. viii.), and have lying upon his neck the sins of all mankind; the sins of St Paul who was a blasphemer of God, and a persecutor of his church; St Peter’s sins that denied Christ; David’s sins, who was an adulterer and a murderer, through whom the name of the Lord among the heathen was blasphemed. Therefore the law, which Moses gave to be executed upon all malefactors and murderers in general, took hold on Christ, finding him with and among sinners and murderers, though in his own person innocent. This manner of picturing Christ to us, the sophists, robbers of God, obscure and falsify; for they will not that Christ was made a curse for us, to the end he might deliver us from the curse of the law, nor that he has anything to do with sin and poor sinners; though for their sakes alone was he made man and died, but they set before us merely Christ’s examples, which they say we ought to imitate and follow; and thus they not only steal from Christ his proper name and title, but also make of him a severe and angry judge, a fearful and horrible tyrant, full of wrath against poor sinners, and bent on condemning them. (Table Talk, Page 73)

On Psalm 31:32 (I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight."), Luther commented:

This excess of mind is improperly interpreted as referring to Christ's death; it refers rather to that amazement into which, according to Hilary, Book 9, Christ was put when he cried in the supreme exultation of suffering: "Why hast Thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). And this is what it means to be thrust away from God. (Luther's Works, Lectures On The Psalms, Page 144)

We Must Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

6. Forsaken: A Very Unhelpful Chapter On The Cross

7. Did The Father Turn His Away From Jesus On That Cross?

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

Jesus The Apostle And High Priest Of Our Confession!

Jesus The Apostle And High Priest Of Our Confession

There’s No Messenger Like Him Without Any Question

He Took God’s Wrath For Our Every Transgression

Then Rose From The Dead To Crush Death’s Oppression

In Him There Is Mercy – He Makes Intercession

Even Peter Found Grace For His Sinful Regression

So Trust In The God-Man – Through Faith Make Profession

Like Peter You’ll Find Christ To Be Your Obsession!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

Christ Jesus Is Generous – A Lavish Big Brother!

Christ Jesus Is Generous – A Lavish Big Brother

He Gives And He Gives And He Loves Like No Other

He Gave Everything And Took All God’s Curse

He Died And He Rose The Curse To Reverse

By Faith Alone Is Our Justification

His Spirit Now Works For Our Sanctification

We Listen And Learn In Humble Submission

Confess Our Sins And Repent In Holy Contrition

And Now We Are Generous And Give To The Needy

We Die To Ourselves And All That Is Greedy

For Christ Is Our All And Our Joy And Our King

We Give And We Give For He Makes Us Sing!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

"That's My King!" In Proverbs 19!

Christ Jesus Poor And Lowly Came

With Pure Integrity His Aim

No Foolish Speech Or Sinful Shame

He’d Ever Utter, Do, Or Claim

Thought First Then Acted – Overcame

Rich Prince Of Kings – Poor Slave Became

Did Justice, Yet He’d Take Our Blame

Counted Sin – Condemned In Shame

Beaten Like A Fool They’d Maim

He Bore God’s Curse And Wrath Aflame

He Died And Rose His Bride To Claim

So Now We Live – His Life Our Aim

To Walk In Wisdom As He Came

Give Him Honor, Praise, Acclaim

There’s No One Like Him – Spread His Fame

All Wisdom’s His – Oh! Praise His Name!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus: God Who Never Lies

He Does No Sin Or Acts Unwise

None Of His Character Denies

He’s Truest Witness – Breathes Out Cries

Of Truth And Mercy – Grace Supplies

Yet He Was Punished For Our Lies

He’d Not Escape God’s Curse And Dies

Perished Though He’s Heaven’s Prize

He’s Perfect, Wise, And Never Lies

He Conquered Death And Did Arise

Pours Mercy Out And Does Baptize

With His Own Spirit Makes Us Wise

And Now All Lies We Do Despise

On Christ Alone We Keep Our Eyes

Who Is Our All And Treasure Prize!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Has All Wisdom Sense

Has Understanding Heart Immense

Keeps God’s Commandments – No Offense

Feared The LORD With Love Intense

Yet Discovered Bad That’s Dense

Loved Not His Soul To Death That’s Tense

Found No Rest But Wrath Suspense

Was Visited By Harm Immense

He Bore God’s Wrath To Recompense

He Died Alone – No Self-Defense

But These Proverbs Are True And Hence

He Rose Again – New Life Commence

Discovers All That’s Good And Sense

Keeps His Life – Now Grace Dispense

He’ll Never Die – All Death’s Past Tense

So Those In Him By Faith Commence

To Have All This At His Expense

New Life And Rest In Him Intense

Rest Satisfied In Christ Immense!

That's my King! Do you know Him?!

Christ Jesus’ Righteous Anger Burns

He Rages Toward All Those Who Spurn

His Father’s Will – God’s Wrath We’d Earn

Hell, Condemnation, Judgment Stern

But God In Love And Mercy Turns

Away From Wrath – His Anger Burned

Toward His Own Son – His Violence Churned

Christ Died And Suffered All We’d Earn

Then Rose Again – All Death He’d Burn

By Faith Alone We’re Just – Discern

And Walk By Faith – Self-Control Learn

By His Spirit From Anger Turn

For Holiness And Kindness Yearn

Slow To Anger – Let True Love Burn

Overlook Offenses – Show Deep Concern

For Christ Is All And Will Return

May Our Hearts Burn For Him And Yearn!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Is God And God’s Good Son

He’s Prudent – Never Quarreled Or Shun

No Violence Did – Chased Mothers? None!

Cared For Mary When His Life’s Done

But He Was Ruined – Dark The Sun

Bore God’s Wrath For What You’ve Done

He Died – His Father Crushed The Son

But Then He Rose – New Life’s Begun

In Him You Love – From Quarreling Run

You Spank And Discipline Your Son

And Strive For Wisdom – Satan Stun

A Prudent Wife’s From God The Son

Find Joy In Christ – Salvation’s Done

Wisdom’s In Him – Second To None!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Is The Lion King

He’s Good, Not Safe And Makes You Sing

His Wrath Is Kindled – Burns And Stings

All Those Rejecting Him As King

So Kiss The Son And He Won’t Fling

You Down To Hell Where Torments Wring

He Died And Rose – Salvation Brings

By Faith Alone You’re Just And Cling

To Him Alone Who Makes You Spring

Into Action For Your King

You’ll Honor Governments And Bring

Submission, Peace In Everything

Unless It Contradicts Your King

From Olney, Philly To Beijing

For Christ Is All – Your Coming King!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Worked And Served And Bled

He Had No Place To Lay His Head

He Prayed All Night While Others Bed

He Healed And Preached And Cried And Pled

And Worked Like None You’ve Seen Or Read

He’s Never Lazy – Toiled Instead

Yet For Your Sluggishness He’s Dead

Bore All God’s Curse Upon His Head

And On That Cross He Died And Bled

But Rose Alive New Life To Spread

To All Who Trust And To Him Wed

Now By His Spirit Work And Tread

Upon All Laziness And Dread

Serve Your King – Full Steam Ahead

For He’s Your All, Your Love, Your Head!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus’ Plans And Purpose Stand

All Guided By His Sovereign Hand

Though Man Does Plan And Rights Demand

Christ Rules And Reigns O’er All The Land

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand

For Christ Would Die Just As God Planned

He’s Cursed And Crushed Told Beforehand

But Rose Alive – On Death He’d Stand

His All Authority Expand

So Trust The King Who’s Good And Grand

When You Can’t Fathom What He’s Planned

Hope In His Mercy-Heart And Hand

For All Events He Does Command

All For Your Good – Love Understand

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand

All Other Hope Is Sinking Sand!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

Christ Jesus Listened And Accepted Instruction

My King – He’s So Great And Needs No Introduction

He Grew In All Wisdom And Stature Production

Never Needed Reproof But Caused All Sin Obstruction

God’s Holy, Pure Temple Who’s Under Construction

Never Strayed From God’s Word But Obeyed In Perfection

Yet Died As A Curse Bearing All God’s Rejection

Then Rose Up Alive – Our God Resurrection

Now By Faith Alone You Are Just Through Connection

Through Union With Christ To God Your Protection

Now In Humility You Gladly Receive His Correction

And Grow In All Wisdom Showing Forth Your Election

All Because Of Christ Who Gives Life New Direction

He’s Your All And Your Boast And Your Life Resurrection!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Listened And Accepted Instruction

My King – He’s So Great And Needs No Introduction

He Grew In All Wisdom And Stature Production

Never Needed Reproof But Caused All Sin Obstruction

God’s Holy, Pure Temple Who’s Under Construction

Never Strayed From God’s Word But Obeyed In Perfection

Yet Died As A Curse Bearing All God’s Rejection

Then Rose Up Alive – Our God Resurrection

Now By Faith Alone You Are Just Through Connection

Through Union With Christ To God Your Protection

Now In Humility You Gladly Receive His Correction

And Grow In All Wisdom Showing Forth Your Election

All Because Of Christ Who Gives Life New Direction

He’s Your All And Your Boast And Your Life Resurrection!

That's my King!

Christ Jesus Is Generous – A Lavish Big Brother

He Gives And He Gives And He Loves Like No Other

He Gave Everything And Took All God’s Curse

He Died And He Rose The Curse To Reverse

By Faith Alone Is Our Justification

His Spirit Now Works For Our Sanctification

We Listen And Learn In Humble Submission

Confess All Our Sins In Holy Contrition

And Now We Are Generous And Give To The Needy

We Die To Ourselves And All That Is Greedy

For Christ Is Our All And Our Joy And Our King

We Give And We Give For He Makes Us Sing!

That's my King! That's my King!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!

A Satanic Reading Of Psalm 22 That Should Be Forsaken

There is a reading of Psalm 22 as it pertains to Jesus' cry of forsakenness on the cross that is much more like Satan's exegesis than faithful, Biblical exegesis. Very basically and briefly, the argument goes something like this:

Even though Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 from the cross ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46), He really had the whole Psalm in view. So He really meant Psalm 22:24: "For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him."

And thus, Jesus was not really forsaken by God because when He quoted Psalm 22:1, He meant Psalm 22:24. This seems to be the view of men like Scott Aniol - see here: Denying Jesus Was Forsaken By God Is A Denial Of The Gospel

(If you are concerned about the Trinity being broken apart in the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross, see this and this).

Let's consider the problems with this kind of exegesis.

1. Jesus Didn't Quote Psalm 22:24 On The Cross

First, let's just state the obvious. As much as some may wish that Jesus quoted Psalm 22:24 on the cross, He didn't. He didn't quote Psalm 22:24. He quoted Psalm 22:1. And Psalm 22:1 clearly demonstrates that Jesus was truly and objectively forsaken by God. This is how faithful interpreters of God's Word have understood this cry throughout the centuries. Consider:

John Calvin:

As our Savior Jesus Christ, when hanging on the cross, and when ready to yield up his soul into the hands of God his Father, made use of these very words, (Matthew 27:46,) we must consider how these two things can agree, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and that yet he was so penetrated with grief, seized with so great mental trouble, as to cry out that God his Father had forsaken him. The apparent contradiction between these two statements has constrained many interpreters to have recourse to evasions for fear of charging Christ with blame in this matter. 501 Accordingly, they have said that Christ made this complaint rather according to the opinion of the common people, who witnessed his sufferings, than from any feeling which he had of being deserted by his father. But they have not considered that they greatly lessen the benefit of our redemption, in imagining that Christ was altogether exempted from the terrors which the judgment of God strikes into sinners. It was a groundless fear to be afraid of making Christ subject to so great sorrow, lest they should diminish his glory. As Peter, in Acts 2:24, clearly testifies that “it was not possible that he should be holden of the pains of death,” it follows that he was not altogether exempted from them. And as he became our representative, and took upon him our sins, it was certainly necessary that he should appear before the judgment-seat of God as a sinner. From this proceeded the terror and dread which constrained him to pray for deliverance from death; not that it was so grievous to him merely to depart from this life; but because there was before his eyes the curse of God, to which all who are sinners are exposed. Now, if during his first conflict “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood,” and he needed an angel to comfort him, (Luke 22:43,) it is not wonderful if, in his last sufferings on the cross, he uttered a complaint which indicated the deepest sorrow. By the way, it should be marked, that Christ, although subject to human passions and affections, never fell into sin through the weakness of the flesh; for the perfection of his nature preserved him from all excess. He could therefore overcome all the temptations with which Satan assailed him, without receiving any wound in the conflict which might afterwards constrain him to halt. In short, there is no doubt that Christ, in uttering this exclamation upon the cross, manifestly showed, that although David here bewails his own distresses, this psalm was composed under the influence of the Spirit of prophecy concerning David’s King and Lord. (Commentary on Psalm 22:1)

Martin Luther: 

So then, gaze at the heavenly picture of Christ, who descended into hell [I Pet. 3:19] for your sake and was forsaken by God as one eternally damned when he spoke the words on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" — "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" [Matt. 27:46]. In that picture your hell is defeated and your uncertain election is made sure. (Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 42, Eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), 105.)

Wilhelmus à Brakel:

Christ did indeed suffer eternal damnation, for eternal damnation, death, & pain consist in total separation from God, in the total manifestation of divine wrath, & all of this for such a duration until the punishment upon sin was perfectly & satisfactorily born." (The Christian's Reasonable Service, 1.591)

Herman Bavinck:

In the cry of Jesus we are dealing not with a subjective but with an objective God-forsakenness: He did not feel alone but had in fact been forsaken by God. His feeling was not an illusion, not based on a false view of his situation, but corresponded with reality. (Reformed Dogmatics: Sin and Salvation in Christ, Vol. 3, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006, 389)

Petrus Van Mastricht:

What he suffered; not some light affliction, but the greatest of all evils, the highest affliction of all, death, and not only one kind of death, not only natural death, which we sometimes read is sought and desired by men, because it brings them deliverance from pressing evils, and an entrance into a better life (2 Cor. 5:1-2; Phil. 1:23); but in addition spiritual death, wherein deserted by God, exceeding sorrowful, even to death, he walked in darkness and saw no light (Isa. 50:10) . . . God stopping his ears to all his [Christ's] supplications, turning his face away from him (Theoretical-Practical Theology, Redemption in Christ, Vol. 4, 2023, pages 430, 436).

Matthew Henry:

Yet God forsook him, was far from helping him, and did not hear him, and it was this that he complained of more than all his sufferings. God delivered him into the hands of his enemies; it was by his determinate counsel that he was crucified and slain, and he did not give in sensible comforts. But, Christ having made himself sin for us, in conformity thereunto the Father laid him under the present impressions of his wrath and displeasure against sin. It pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief, Isa. 53:10. (Commentary on Psalm 22:1)

Charles Spurgeon:

Verse 1. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This was the startling cry of Golgotha: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani. The Jews mocked, but the angels adored when Jesus cried this exceeding bitter cry. Nailed to the tree we behold our great Redeemer in extremities, and what see we? Having ears to hear let us hear, and having eyes to see let us see! Let us gaze with holy wonder, and mark the flashes of light amid the awful darkness of that midday-midnight. First, our Lord's faith beams forth and deserves our reverent imitation; he keeps his hold upon his God with both hands and cries twice, "My God, my God!" The spirit of adoption was strong within the suffering Son of Man, and he felt no doubt about his interest in his God. Oh that we could imitate this cleaving to an afflicting God! Nor does the sufferer distrust the power of God to sustain him, for the title used —"El"—signifies strength, and is the name of the Mighty God. He knows the Lord to be the all-sufficient support and succour of his spirit, and therefore appeals to him in the agony of grief, but not in the misery of doubt. He would fain know why he is left, he raises that question and repeats it, but neither the power nor the faithfulness of God does he mistrust. What an enquiry is this before us! "Why hast thou forsaken me?" We must lay the emphasis on every word of this saddest of all utterances. "Why?" what is the great cause of such a strange fact as for God to leave his own Son at such a time and in such a plight? There was no cause in him, why then was he deserted? "Hast:" it is done, and the Saviour is feeling its dread effect as he asks the question; it is surely true, but how mysterious! It was no threatening of forsaking which made the great Surety cry aloud, he endured that forsaking in very deed. "Thou:" I can understand why traitorous Judas and timid Peter should be gone, but thou, my God, my faithful friend, how canst thou leave me? This is worst of all, yea, worse than all put together. Hell itself has for its fiercest flame the separation of the soul from God. "Forsaken:" if thou hadst chastened I might bear it, for thy face would shine; but to forsake me utterly, ah! why is this? "Me:" thine innocent, obedient, suffering Son, why leavest thou me to perish? A sight of self seen by penitence, and of Jesus on the cross seen by faith will best expound this question. Jesus is forsaken because our sins had separated between us and our God. (Treasury Of David On Psalm 22:1)

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1; We here behold the Saviour in the depth of his sorrows. No other place so well shows the griefs of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as that in which his cry rends the air—“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which he had to pass; and to make his grief culminate with emphasis, he suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of his Father’s presence. This was the black midnight of his horror; then it was that he descended the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think at times that we could cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” There are seasons when the brightness of our Father’s smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ’s case it was a real forsaking. We grieve at a little withdrawal of our Father’s love; but the real turning away of God’s face from his Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused him? In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in his case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from him for a season. O thou poor, distressed soul, who once lived in the sunshine of God’s face, but art now in darkness, remember that he has not really forsaken thee. God in the clouds is as much our God as when he shines forth in all the lustre of his grace; but since even the thought that he has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when he exclaimed, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Morning And Evening, April 15th, Morning)

John Gill: 

he was now deprived of the gracious presence of God, of the manifestations of his love to his human soul, and had a sense of divine wrath, not for his own sins, but for the sins of his people, and was for a while destitute of help and comfort; all which were necessary in order to make satisfaction for sin: for as he had the sins of his people imputed to him, he must bear the whole punishment of them, which is twofold the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense; the former lies in a deprivation of the divine presence, and the latter in a sense of divine wrath, and both Christ sustained as the surety of his people. (Commentary on Psalm 22:1) 

Keil and Delitzsch:

The forsakenness of the Crucified One, however, is unique; and may not be judged by the standard of David or of any other sufferers who thus complain when passing through trial. That which is common to all is here, as there, this, viz., that behind the wrath that is felt, is hidden the love of God, which faith holds fast; and that he who thus complains even on account of it, is, considered in itself, not a subject of wrath, because in the midst of the feeling of wrath he keeps up his communion with God. The Crucified One is to His latest breath the Holy One of God; and the reconciliation for which He now offers himself is God's own eternal purpose of mercy, which is now being realised in the fulness of times. But inasmuch as He places himself under the judgment of God with the sin of His people and of the whole human race, He cannot be spared from experiencing God's wrath against sinful humanity as though He were himself guilty. And out of the infinite depth of this experience of wrath, which in His case rests on no mere appearance, but the sternest reality . . . . (Commentary On Psalm 22)

W. S. Plumer:

Christ was innocent and holy, kept the law and perfectly pleased His Father, yet when He took the place of sinners, assumed their guilt and bore their punishment, then the wicked of earth and hell were let loose upon Him, His friends hid as it were their faces from Him, and even His Father left Him without succor from the tormentors, and worse than all without His own comfortable presence. He felt the dreadful sting of sin, the sword of justice, the fire of wrath . . . Christ knew that he was the substitute for sinners and that he was suffering for others. But his human nature was ready to sink under the load of our sins, and under the hidings of his Father's face . . . . (Psalms, (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2016), 291-292).

Derek Kidner:

Our Lord's cry of dereliction told, it would seem, of an objective reality, namely the punitive separation He accepted in our place, "having become a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). (Psalms 1-72: An Introduction And Commentary, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 106).

Iain Duguid:

How could God's only begotten Son be forsaken by the Father? We stand on the threshold of the deepest of mysteries. We cannot say that the eternal fellowship of the Trinity was broken at Calvary - God cannot change. And the blessed communion of the three in one cannot be interrupted for a second. But it remains true that it is God who is forsaken by God here - God in the flesh Who was forsaken. Precisely in the confines of His flesh as a man - that's how Jesus bore this forsakenness . . . God was still His God. He would still cling to God, the very God Who was rejecting Him . . . He was heard and that hearing was vindicated in Jesus' resurrection from the dead. You have to be careful to do justice to both sides of the mystery here as they are contained in this Psalm. Jesus was truly forsaken - He was under the wrath of God in a very objective, very real experience for Him. There was no heavenly dove descending on the cross. There was no light from heaven and voice from the Father: "This is my Son in Whom I love!" on that dark day. There was only darkness. The Father's face truly was turned away from His Son in His humanity. And He suffered the absence of God to the utmost degree . . . Jesus could not see God's love with His eyes. (Abandoned By God)

2. You Should Never Use Scripture To Contradict Scripture

When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, the devil used God's Word to contradict other parts of God's Word in order to tempt Jesus:

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." (Matthew 4:6)

Here, the devil used God's Word to contradict God's Word, ripping Scripture out of context and misapplying it. On Matthew 4:6 and Satan's misuse of Scripture, D. A. Carson writes about how Jesus responded:

We see, then, something of Jesus' handling of Scripture. His "also" shows he would not allow any interpretation that generates what he knew would contradict another passage. (Emphasis mine) (Matthew And Mark, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zonderva, 2010, 142)).

In a similar way, using Psalm 22:24 to contradict Psalm 22:1 is a satanic exegetical move in which one Scripture is used to contradict others, and the Bible is misapplied. And even worse, it's misapplied in order to contradict the heart of the Gospel - the forsakenness of Christ. You should never do this.

The following interpreters show us a much more excellent way:

R. T. France writes:

The words are, of course, a quotation of the first verse of Psalm 22, a psalm which moves from despairing appeal to triumphant faith, and the Christian reader can, with hindsight, see the appropriateness of this total message. But it is illegitimate to interpret Jesus' words as referring to the part of the psalm which he did NOT echo. As throughout the crucifixion scene, it is the suffering of the righteous man in Psalm 22, not his subsequent vindication, which is alluded to. (Matthew (Tyndale Commentaries))

Leon Morris, D. A. Carson, and Craig Blomberg are helpful on this point as well:

Speaking loudly as He did, Jesus evidently meant the words to be heard. There is no great difficulty in translating Jesus’ words (as Matthew did for his non-Hebrew-speaking readers): My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But understanding what they mean is a much more difficult problem. For some modern readers the words are so shocking and so different from anything Jesus said throughout His ministry that they feel it is impossible to accept them. One way of doing this is to point out that the Psalm that begins in this way goes on to praise God for deliverance as the Psalmist says, "From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me . . . in the midst of the congregation I will praise you" (vv. 21-22). The suggestion is made accordingly that in his hour of need Jesus was reciting a psalm that brings comfort and that we are to understand from the words quoted that he went through the whole psalm. To this it may well be retorted that if this was the case almost any other verse in the whole psalm would convey the meaning better than those Jesus actually quotes. But in any case it is perilous to argue from the use of one verse that Jesus was quoting the whole psalm . . . . (The Gospel According to Matthew (Pillar New Testament Commentary)) Leon Morris)

A large number of commentators have interpreted the cry against the background of the whole of Psalm 22, which begins with this sense of desolation but ends with the triumphant vindication of the righteous sufferer. The chief difficulty is that though OT texts are frequently cited with their full contexts in mind, they are never cited in such a way that the OT context effectively annuls what the text itself affirms (Bonnard). If the context of Psalm 22 is carried along with the actual reference to Psalm 22:1, the reader of the gospel is to understand that the vindication comes with the resurrection in Matthew 28, not that Jesus' cry reflects full confidence instead of black despair. (Matthew and Mark (Expositor's Bible Commentary)), D. A. Carson)

Just as Jesus would have learned to pray and sing many of the psalms in his private and corporate devotional life, so also it is natural for him to quote one here in a situation so parallel to that of his kingly ancestor. What is more controversial is the question of whether Jesus, in uttering this cry of dereliction (or Matthew in recording it), was thereby alluding to the entire psalm, following the common rabbinic practice of citing just the beginning of a given text when a larger, entire passage was in view. This would enable one to interpret Jesus' words as anticipating the same victory described in 27:19-31 even as he uttered his cry of abandonment . . . However, neither Jesus nor Matthew seems to have employed this technique elsewhere, and nothing in the immediate context of Matt. 27 suggests it (though of course elsewhere repeatedly predicted his resurrection, which in fact does occur). So it is probably safer not to assume that Jesus' cry abandonment was simultaneously a cry of faith. Jesus really did sense the absence of his Father, and this is precisely the moment when we should expect him, in his humanity, to be least confident of his future . . . Readers of the Gospels who cannot accept this concept probably reflect an unwitting Docetism - the heresy that Christ was not fully human. Indeed, if one wants to do more with Matt. 27:46 than hear a cry of dereliction, one is better off looking to other uses of Ps. 22:27-31 in the Gospels as a sign of God's judgment . . . Throughout church history, Jesus' cry of dereliction has been identified as the moment of divine abandonment. Jesus, who died to atone vicariously for the sins of humanity, recognized at this point in his suffering that he no longer was experiencing the communion with his heavenly Father that had characterized his life . . . Jesus, as the sin-bearing sacrifice, must endure the temporary abandonment of the Father. (Commentary On The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament, On Matthew 27:46, Craig Blomberg)

You should never use one portion of the Word of God to contradict another portion of the Word of God. When you do this, you are essentially taking away from the Word of God:

Revelation 22:18-19: I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Using Psalm 22:24 to deny Psalm 22:1 is also satanic because it strikes at the heart of the Gospel. If Jesus was not forsaken on that cross, then we will all be forsaken in hell forever and there is no hope of salvation for anyone. We need the true, objective forsakenness of Jesus on the cross! It's the heart of the Gospel! No hope without it! As the United Reformed Churches in North America state in their Lord's Supper liturgy:

He was once forsaken by God that we might forever be accepted by Him. (“Celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Form 2” in Liturgical Forms and Prayers of the United Reformed Churches in North America)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

3. Psalm 22:24 Is About The Resurrection Of Jesus

Psalm 22:24: For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

This verse and the victorious end of Psalm 22 does not mean Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross or that the Father didn't turn His face away from Jesus while He was bearing the wrath and curse of God on the cross. It means God raised Him from the dead! It is clear that there is a movement from rejection and forsakenness to acceptance, salvation, and victory in Psalm 22. But that doesn't mean that Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross. It means He was forsaken and died, and then God raised Him from the dead. Many faithful interpreters understand the movement of Psalm 22 this way:

John Calvin commenting on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:11-12:

He is not ashamed to call them brethren. This passage is taken from Psalm 22:22. That Christ is the speaker there, or David in his name, the evangelists do especially testify, for they quote from it many verses, such as the following, — “They parted my garments,” — “They gave gall for my meat,” — “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And further, the other parts of the chapter prove the same; for we may see in the history of the passion a delineation of what is there related. The end of the Psalm, which speaks of the calling of the Gentiles, can be applied to none but to Christ alone, “Turn to the Lord shall all the ends of the world; adore before him shall all the families of the nations,” — “The Lord’s is the kingdom, and he will reign over the nations.” These things are found accomplished only in Christ, who enlarged the kingdom of God not over a small space, as David did, but extended it over the whole world; it was before confined as it were within narrow limits. There is, then, no doubt but that his voice is what is referred to in this passage; and appropriately and suitably does he say that he is not ashamed; for how great is the distance between us and him? Much, then, does he let down himself, when he dignifies us with the name of brethren; for we are unworthy that he should deem us his servants. And this so great an honor conferred on us is amplified by this circumstance — Christ does not speak here as a mortal man while in the form of a servant, but when elevated after the resurrection into immortal glory. (Commentary On Hebrews)

John Gill: 

for though he forsook him for a while, and in a little wrath hid his face from him for a moment, that he might bear the whole curse of the law for us; yet he returned again, and did not hide his face from him for even; but when he cried unto him, he heard; cried not only on account of his crucifiers, that God would forgive them; but on account of himself, that he would not be afar off from him; that he would take his spirit or soul into his hands, into which he committed it; that he would deliver him from the power of death and the grave, and loose their bands; in all which he was heard, Hebrews 5:7. (Commentary On Psalm 22:24)

Matthew Henry:

The same that began the psalm complaining, who was no other than Christ in his humiliation, ends it here triumphing, and it can be no other than Christ in his exaltation. And, as the first words of the complaint were used by Christ himself upon the cross, so the first words of the triumph are expressly applied to him (Heb. 2:12) and are made his own words: I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. The certain prospect which Christ had of the joy set before him not only gave him a satisfactory answer to his prayers, but turned his complaints into praises; he saw of the travail of his soul, and was well satisfied . . . (Commentary On Psalm 22:22-31)

Charles Spurgeon:

Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. (Treasury Of David On Psalm 22)

Keil and Delitzsch:

On the other hand, the first portion exactly coincides with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and the second with the results that have sprung from His resurrection. (Commentary On Psalm 22)

W. S. Plumer:

Piscator: "This Psalm is prophetical. For it contains a prophecy of the sufferings and death of Christ, as also of his resurrection and spiritual kingdom . . ." . . . [On Psalm 22:24]: Every step in Christ's exaltation fills the hearts of the pious with joy and praise. His success is the pledge of their victory. His resurrection makes sure the redemption of their bodies. (Psalms, (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2016), 290, 300).

Bruce Waltke:

David’s passion and deliverance are a type of Christ’s death and resurrection . . . While hanging on the cross, Jesus employed the psalm’s opening cry of abandonment (22:1; Matt 27:46), and the writer of Hebrews identifies the antecedent of “I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you” (22:22) as Jesus (Heb 2:12). The section on praise contains soul-stirring prophecies. This remarkable psalm of Christ’s death and resurrection enjoins the whole Church and all nations to worship the living, triune God. (Commentary On Psalm 22)

John Collins:

However, in view of its prominent place in the crucifixion story, Christian readers have found in it a description of the sufferings of Jesus . . . Matthew presents Jesus as a thoroughly good and faithful person who is brutally and unjustly executed, and mocked by those who should have supported him. But this portrayal of Jesus in light of Psalm 22 allows Christ followers as well to expect some kind of vindication, as vv. 22-31 describe; and they are not disappointed as they read the resurrection account. (ESV Study Bible Notes)

Christopher Ash commenting on Psalm 22:22-24: 

This magnificent suffering King is not ashamed to call the people he has redeemed his brothers (cf. Heb. 2:12), and this is exactly what he does after his resurrection . . . The risen Lord stands in the midst of the congregation (his church) leading our praise to the Father for his resurrection . . . The risen Lord summons his people, defined as those who fear the LORD, to join in his praise of the Father . . . The burden of our praise is that our sin-bearing Lord, afflicted by our sins, has been heard when he cried with "loud cries and tears" (Heb. 5:7). Let by Christ, we praise the Father that the atoning sacrifice of Christ has been accepted and Christ has been raised from death to demonstrate to us this wonderful assurance . . . Putting the two parts of Psalm 22 together presses home to us that it is only the gospel of the cross and resurrection that brings the kingdom and blessing of God to the world. We cannot have the blessing without the resurrection, and we cannot have the blessing without the cross. As we meditate on the extraordinary scope and wonder of the blessings (esp. in 22:27-31), we are strengthened in our resolve to keep the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ right at the center of our message and of our corporate worship and devotion. (The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024, 259-260, 263)).

George Guthrie on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:

Given the original context of Ps. 22:22, and the numerous points of contact that its chapter has with the passion of Jesus, the author of Hebrews certainly understood the verse to have been part of a direct verbal prophecy explicitly fulfilled in the person of Christ. Numerous details, in which Jesus' suffering parallels that of this righteous sufferer in the psalm, point to a striking relationship between the OT passage and Jesus' experience . . . As the turning point in the psalm, 22:22 offers a strong note of victory coming out of suffering, and this accords with the vindication of Christ through resurrection and exaltation. (Commentary On The New Testament Use Of The Old, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007, 949))

Kent Hughes on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:

Thus Christ prophetically agonizes throughout the crucifixion, interspersing his agony with prayers. But in Psalm 22:22 - as the crucifixion is over and he is resurrected and exalted - Jesus cries triumphantly to God his Father . . . . (Hebrews: An Anchor For The Soul (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015, 73)).

Richard Philips on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:

As was his custom, the writer of Hebrews proves this point with Old Testament citations. The first is from Psalm 22, which so accurately anticipates Jesus' death on the cross. These words come after the suffering, when the psalmist was sure of deliverance, just as Jesus praised God after his resurrection from the dead: "I will tell of your name t my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise" (Heb. 2:12). (Hebrews (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006, 73-74)).

James Hamilton Jr. on Psalm 22:

David speaks of his sin resulting in him being forsaken by God as his enemies triumph over him, strip  him of his clothing, which they take for themselves, and leave him naked in the dust. That is not, however, the end end of the story, as David continues to call on the Lord and experiences deliverance. As a result he praises God in the congregation of his brothers, anticipating the blessing of all nations in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. This pattern Jesus fulfills: he took the sins of his people, and as he died on the cross he was forsaken by the Father. The seed of the serpent enacted the words of Ps 22, sometimes even taunting Jesus with them as he died. Jesus was stripped naked. His clothing was plundered. He was laid in the dust of death. But he rose. He recounts God's name in the great congregation. He turns the nations from the ends of the earth to the worship of Yahweh. And his righteousness has been declared to successive generations. God has worked salvation in Christ. (Psalms: Evangelical Biblical Theological Commentary, Vol. 1. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021, 292)).

Iain Duguid preaching on Psalm 22:

Jesus was heard. Precisely because of His faithful perseverance in choosing to trust in God, He was heard and that hearing was vindicated in Jesus's resurrection from the dead. (Abandoned By God)

Conclusion

So, the next time someone tells you that Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross because Psalm 22:24 says so, kindly, gently, and with as much love as you can (like when Jesus said these words to Peter) say: "Get behind me Satan. That is a satanic reading of Psalm 22."

We Must Get The Cross Right

We must get the cross right! For more on Christ's forsakenness on the cross, please read:

1. A Concern About The Way Pastor Kevin DeYoung Writes About The Cross In His New Daily Doctrine Book

2. The Bible Says The Father Turned His Face Away From Jesus On The Cross

3. Forsaken, Or Felt Forsaken

4. More Thoughts On Being God-Forsaken

5. The Sufferings Of The LORD Jesus Christ On The Cross

6. Forsaken: A Very Unhelpful Chapter On The Cross

7. Did The Father Turn His Away From Jesus On That Cross?

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!