Iain Duguid's Clear Teaching On The Forsakenness Of Christ

I've enjoyed seeing the Gospel so clearly communicated in Dr. Iain Duguid's family worship devotional, The Lord Saves Me: 40 Christ-Centered Family Devotions From The Psalms. Though recently I've read some very foolish, Gospel-denying exegesis of Psalm 22, especially as it pertains to Jesus' forsakenness on the cross, Dr. Duguid consistently gets it right. Come and see:

Only Jesus can make us faithful and right with God, because he is the Most Faithful One. He was so faithful that he went all the way to the cross. He faced the worst and hardest thing anyone ever suffered: The face of God the Father, which had always shone down on him, turned away from him and left him alone in the dark . . . Because he turned his face away from Jesus on the cross, he will never turn his face away from us or leave us alone. (Page 29)

Did you notice some strange wording in this psalm? It said that God's goodness and love would hunt us down! But for that to be possible, God's anger hunted Jesus down . . . He died on a cross . . . and God left him alone instead of helping him . . . Heavenly Father, thank you that Jesus let himself get hunted by your anger so that we wouldn't have to suffer for our sins. (Page 52)

Jesus suffered under God's attacks - just like the writer of this psalm [Psalm 88] talks about . . . After Jesus suffered God's anger on the cross, God raised Jesus from the dead and took him up to heaven in glory . . . . (Page 95)

Jesus was swept away and didn't see the Father's smile, so that the Father can give us his grace and smile on us instead. (Page 99)

This sermon (see link below) on Psalm 22 is also excellent. Yes, Psalm 22 is hopeful at the end - the Father accepts the sacrifice of the Son and we see this in His resurrection from the dead. But you should never use the end of the Psalm to contradict what Jesus actually quoted from the Psalm in 22:1. Jesus was truly and objectively forsaken on that cross so that we His people will never be forsaken. Dr. Duguid hits this balance out of the park:

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)

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

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 And God’s Good Son!

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!

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’ Righteous Anger Burns!

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!

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 Has All Wisdom Sense!

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!

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!

Oh The Wisdom And Love Of God In His Providence!

I think it was Charles Spurgeon who said that when you can't understand what God is doing in your life - when you can't understand what His hand is doing, trust His heart.

This is a great story Spurgeon told about the great wisdom and love found in God through His unsearchable providence:

There is a famous story of providence in Bradwardine to this purpose. A certain hermit that was much tempted, & was utterly unsatisfied concerning the providence of God, resolved to journey from place to place till he met with some who could satisfy him. An angel in the shape of a man joined himself with him as he was journeying, telling him that he was sent from God to satisfy him in his doubts of providence. The first night they lodged at the house of a very holy man, & they spent their time in discourses of heaven, & praises of God, & were entertained with a great deal of freedom & joy. In the morning, when they departed, the angel stole a great cup of gold from the man. The next night they came to the house of another holy man, who made them very welcome, & exceedingly rejoiced in their society & discourse; the angel, notwithstanding, at his departure killed the man’s baby infant in the cradle, which was his only son, he having been for many years before childless, &, therefore, was a very fond father of this child. The third night they came to another house, where they had like free entertainment as before. The master of the family had a steward whom he highly prized, & told them how happy he accounted himself in having such a faithful servant. Next morning he sent his steward with them part of their way, to direct them therein. As they were going over the bridge the angel flung the steward into the river & drowned him. The last night they came to a very wicked man's house, where they had very untoward entertainment, yet the angel, next morning, gave him the cup of gold. All this being done, the angel asked the hermit whether he understood those things? He answered, his doubts of providence were increased, not resolved, for he could not understand why he should deal so hardly with those holy men, who received them with so much love & joy, & yet give such a gift to that wicked man who used them so unworthily. The angel said, I will now expound these things unto you. The first house where we came, the master of it was a holy man; yet, [delighting] in that cup of godl every morning, it being too large, it did somewhat unfit him for holy duties, though not so much that others or himself did perceive it; so I took it away, since it is better for him to lose the cup of gold than his temperance. The master of the family where we lay the second night was a man given much to prayer & meditation, & spent much time in holy duties, & was very [generous] to the poor all the time he was childless; but as soon as he had a son he grew so fond of it, & spent so much time in playing with it, that he exceedingly neglected his former holy exercise, & gave but little to the poor, thinking he could never lay up enough for his child; therefore I have taken the infant to heaven, & left him to serve God better upon earth. The steward whom I did drown had plotted to kill his master the night following; & as to that wicked man to whom I gave the cup of gold, he was to have nothing in the other world, I therefore gave him something in this, which, notwithstanding, will prove a snare to him, for he will be more intemperate; & "let him that is filthy be filthy still." The truth of this story I affirm not, but the moral is very good, for it shows that God is an indulgent Father to the saints when he most afflicts them; & that when he sets the wicked on high he sets them also in slippery places, & their prosperity is their ruin. (Pr 1:32) (The Treasury Of David, Vol. 2, Psalm 73:17; pages 262-263 in Hendrickson Publishers version)

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36

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: God Who Never Lies!

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!

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!

Mercy Randall's Christian Testimony

I was born and raised in Kisii town, Kenya. My parents were Catholics who throughout my childhood ensured that we attended church every Sunday. I later joined a Catholic Boarding School for my primary education. With its strict rules, my character and morals were greatly shaped.

At 12 years of age, I was baptized and confirmed as a devout Catholic and started attending mass. But in high school, I joined an all-denomination school that pushed me out of my catholic beliefs and into a Pentecostal faith. I was a hard worker and as per society's standards, I was termed to be of "good" character. I was friends with Christian girls and was even elected as a Christian union leader of our class.

Being a hard worker in class, obedient at home, and highly moral made me believe that I was a Christian. I never doubted it. I prayed and read my Bible, but I often wrestled with sin, always confessing my sin but immediately falling back into sin again and again. I didn't know that: “our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6).

After high school, I went to college, and this transition presented me with new challenges. As I entered adulthood, I struggled to find my identity and purpose in life. I began exploring different beliefs, delved into self-realization and self-meditation, and came across self-help books like The Secret. I thought these were firm truths, but indeed they were broken cisterns. 

My attitude toward God began to change. In many ways, I acted as though there was no God and even believed that God doesn't exist. I didn't know that it is from a fool's heart that such lies come from. This made my performance in college drop, and I was often sad. The Holy Spirit then started convicting me of my utter weakness and sinfulness and my need for divine help. I always saw this Bible in my mom's room at home, and after the Holy Spirit started convicting me, I took the Bible and started reading it and praying through the Psalms and repenting of my sins.

God reminded me of the many times my friend, Medah, had talked to me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit began to show me my sin and wretchedness. For weeks I walked in great heaviness and darkness, my sins were ever before me, and I cried out to the LORD for forgiveness, but He, in His wisdom, continued to show me through His Word and in my conscience how sinful I was.

One morning I woke up and I felt a peace and contentedness that I had never had before. Perhaps I had been finally forgiven. The darkness and heaviness I once felt before were no longer there. "I have been saved!", I exclaimed.

I immediately took my Bible and the Holy Spirit showed me from verse to verse and chapter to chapter in the Gospel of John profound truths of Christ's work. I was ever on the phone with my friend Medah, who continued to explain these truths the Holy Spirit was showing me in His Word.

My heart and eyes were opened to understand the Scriptures - as God says that He'll send the Holy Spirit and He'll teach us all truth. The Holy Spirit became my teacher. He taught me in His Word God's majesty, His holiness, and His mighty character. This again left me in despair of my sin. I was greatly discouraged by my previous attitude toward God. I wrestled for assurance that indeed I had been saved and forgiven. The Holy Spirit led me to John 6 and showed me that it is God the Father who draws us to Christ and that those who come to Jesus He'll never cast away and no one will take them out of His hands. I was greatly encouraged.

I eventually found a church that I joined, but Sunday after Sunday I would come home discouraged. The preaching was mainly focused on self-improvement and wealth rather than God's holiness and our need to be saved from his wrath. I would cry to the Holy Spirit that perhaps I was the one who didn't understand the Scriptures. But the Holy Spirit, through the true biblical teachers he had led me to on the internet and His Word (like R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur, John Piper, Voddie Baucham, and Elisabeth Elliot), confirmed in my heart that what I believed about God's character and our sin was true. A friend later invited me to her church, and in January 2020 I was baptized.

But still, I knew for me to grow, I needed a biblical church that didn't water down God's Word. By God's grace, in May 2023, God providentially led me to a Biblical church in Oyugis, Kenya, (a Reformed Baptist Church that subscribes to the London Baptist Confession) where I have been attending ever since.

For years, even after I was saved, I still battled with condemnation. I prayed and studied God’s word often, and Romans 7 and 1 John 1:9 were always my consolation. I battled with perfectionism and always tried my best not to sin, and often when I had fallen into sin, I’d try to earn forgiveness by performing good works.

Since 2023 when we started our study in Romans at Grace Baptist Church Oyugis, I have seen the Lord working greatly in me through His Gospel. It was as though I was hearing the Gospel for the first time. These truths have freshly entered my heart, and I cling tightly to the news that I am redeemed and not on my account but Christ’s. The sweet confirmation that I am His forever has been my song, and I know that nothing will ever separate me from His love.

By God's grace, I got engaged to a Reformed Baptist pastor in November 2024, and we got married on April 18, 2026.

Mercy's husband: Joseph Randall's Testimony

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!

Help For Writing Out Your Christian Testimony

1. Describe what your life was like before Christ.

2. Tell the story of how you realized you were a sinner and offended a holy God and came under the conviction of sin.

3. Tell the story of how you heard of Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection for sinners - how did you hear and come to believe the Gospel?

4. How has your life changed since you've trusted in Jesus?

5. I encourage people to actually cover the basic points of the Gospel in their testimony and use Scripture for each point: For example: God is the creator and holy; all have sinned and deserve death and hell; Jesus lived a perfect life and died for sinners and rose up from the dead; I repented of my sins and trusted in Him, etc. Use Scripture too! Actually include the Gospel!

6. I think including other Bible verses that were central to your conversion is also helpful. John 14:6 was crucial for me.

Below are two articles that give more helpful instructions on how to write out your Christian testimony:

How To Write A Testimony (From Grace Baptist Church)

Here are some leading questions to help you write out your testimony. This is a generic overview, so there's no need to copy this exactly or answer all of these questions. Rather, they're intended to target your thinking. A testimony may be just a paragraph or two, or it may be a couple of pages long. There is no magic formula. The most important thing is to be yourself and speak clearly to the work God has done in your life.

1. What I was like:

My family, friends, and interests were...

I found my hope and security in...

My religious background & attitude about Christ was... 

2. What God used to begin to open my eyes:

I was awakened to my need for Christ by (people, books, meeting, circumstances, etc)...

What I understood and noticed (about myself, God, others) at this point was...

3. What it was I saw and understood:

Those aspects of the gospel that touched me were...

I came to understand that Christ...

A particular Scripture that the Lord used to draw me to Him was...

I saw my need was....

4. How Christ is affecting my life:

My relationships with...

My attitude toward...

My desires now are...

A difficult area of obedience is...

5. Why I want to be a member of Grace Baptist Church:

I obeyed the Lord and was baptized on...

I hope to serve in this church by...

What I value about this church is...

What I value about church membership is...

Guidelines for Writing a Testimony (From Trinity Reformed Baptist Church)

First, confess your faith in Jesus Christ.

1. What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Whom do you say that Jesus Christ is?

2. What has Jesus Christ done? What do you receive through him or in him?

3. How did you come to know the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ?

​Second, describe the change that you have experienced.

1. Speak about conviction of sin, i.e., the realization that you are a sinner in the sight of a holy God and are in need of a Savior. (It is not necessary to identify a precise moment or day in which you were converted. Not everyone’s experience is like that.)

2. Briefly, describe what “things are passed away.” What thoughts and behaviors had ruled over you? How was your life marked by wickedness, before?

3. Also, briefly describe what “things are become new.” What changes show that you are being led by a new Master and a new life? What has changed in your thoughts, behaviors, and relationships?

Advice:

1. Write in your own words. This is Christ’s work, but Christ’s work in you. Use your words and your understanding to tell others what has happened to you and why you want to join the church.

2. Write specifically, but be prudent about the details of what you share (regarding your sin) so as not to cause unnecessary temptation.

3. Be brief. Write a plain and simple testimony of your faith in Christ and conversion to him, not a condensed biography.

Our Marriage Commitments And Vows

By God's mercy, we got married this past Saturday (18 APR 2026). 

Two days before our wedding, I was considering the difference between the traditional wedding vows and the personal vows I was planning to commit to at our wedding. And it hit me: vows are supposed to be kept! You should only take vows before God that you can actually keep, yet the personal vows I wrote were certainly ones that I would fail to keep. For example, one of my vows was from Ephesians 5 - to love my wife as Christ loved the church. Will I seek to do this? Of course! Will I fail at times? Sadly, yes. So I should not take a vow like this. It's like taking a vow that I won't sin anymore. That's not a wise vow to take. And it will heap up sin upon sin. As the Westminster Confession states:

Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself by oath to anything but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching anything that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority.

Traditional Vows 

The traditional vows can be kept. They basically state: stay married no matter what. You can do that, by God's grace. Or, as I told Mercy this morning, if you are a Christian, your choices once you get married are: 1) Stay married, or 2) Go to hell (I understand there are Biblical permissions for divorce and people can repent of unlawful divorces, but I am speaking generally here). True followers of Jesus stay married, no matter what - that's the basic content of the traditional wedding vows that we also took:

I, Joseph, take you, Mercy, / to be my wedded wife / to have and to hold / from this day forward / for better for worse / for richer for poorer / in sickness and in health / to love and to cherish / till death us do part / according to God’s holy ordinance / and thereto I pledge you myself. 

I, Mercy, take you, Joseph, / to be my wedded husband / to have and to hold from this day forward / for better for worse / for richer for poorer / in sickness and in health / to love, cherish, and to obey / till death us do part / according to God’s holy ordinance / and thereto I give you myself.

Personal Commitments

We chose to call our personal promises, personal commitments instead of vows. These are promises we are committed to do as best we can by God's help, grow in them, and pursue faithfulness to them as God commands. We chose to take the traditional vows as well. There is a reason people have been using the traditional vows for so long.

Dr. Michael Osborne, who officiated our wedding, reads the vows he made to his wife (and she to him) every month on the day they were married. This is a great practice, and Mercy and I hope to do the same. Below are the personal commitments we made to each other. May God help us keep them and grow in them.

Joseph's Personal Commitments

Mercy, / in the name of the Father / and of the Son / and of the Holy Spirit, / and by God's mercy / and for His glory, / I promise, with God’s help, / to seek to love you as Christ loved the church / and gave Himself up for her.

I promise to seek to die for you / and give myself up for you daily / and wash you with the water of the Word.

I promise to seek to live with you in an understanding manner / as heirs together of the grace of life.

I promise to seek to outdo you in showing honor, / to live in harmony with you, / to greet you with many holy kisses, / to serve you, / to bear your burdens, / to weep with you when you weep / and to rejoice with you when you rejoice, / to forgive you, / to confess my sins to you when I sin against you, / to encourage you, / to build you up, / to speak the truth in love to you when you sin, / to stir you up to love and good deeds, / to pray for you, / to provide for you, / to protect you, / to lead you to Christ / and help you be more and more conformed into His image / as we focus on the Word of God and prayer.

I promise to give you your sexual rights and not deprive you.

I promise to give you my heart, / my mind, / and my body / and to give them to you and God alone.

I promise to help us be most satisfied in God / because then, / He will be most glorified in us.

I promise to help you get for yourself / the most joy you can possibly get for yourself / in the world to come / and to help you store up treasure in heaven / and not on earth / where moth and rust destroy.

I promise to help us love the Lord our God / with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength / and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

I promise to lead us to believe / and to say to God with the Psalmist: / “Whom have we in heaven but You? / And there is nothing on earth that we desire besides You!” (Ps. 73:25)

I promise to lead us to believe / and to say to God with Habakkuk: / “Though the fig tree should not blossom, / nor fruit be on the vines, / the produce of the olive fail / and the fields yield no food, / the flock be cut off from the fold / and there be no herd in the stalls, / yet we will rejoice in the LORD; / we will take joy in the God of our salvation.” (Hab. 3:17-18)

I promise to remind you often / of who we are in Christ / and of Romans 8:28: / “And we know that for those who love God / all things work together for good, / for those who are called according to his purpose.”

I promise to help us to seek first the Kingdom of God with you, / knowing that all other things shall be added unto us.

I promise to lead us to have a marriage and family / that seeks to obey Jesus’ great commission / and make disciples of all nations, / teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded.

I promise to focus mainly on evidence of God’s grace in your life / and not on your sins and failures, / to focus mainly on how I can be a more godly husband / and not on how you can be a more godly wife, / and to be quick to confess my sin / and not let the sun go down on our anger.

I promise to point you and our family to King Jesus. / That's our King! / And to point you to His everlasting Gospel: / Jesus’ perfect Person and life, / His death on that cross, / His burial, / resurrection, / ascension, / and Jesus’ coming again to conquer all of His and our enemies.

I promise never to leave you nor forsake you / and with all God’s energy / that He powerfully works within me / to do all that I can / to present you as a pure virgin to Christ / on that last day. / And by God’s mercy, / I promise to seek to boast only in the cross with you / all the days of our lives / and to exalt His name together.

Mercy's Personal Commitments 

And today… before God, and the witnesses He has placed before us,

I promise— by God’s grace,

through the lens of our Lord’s holy Gospel,

and with the help of His Holy Spirit—

that I will strive every day to:

respect you,

live with you in submission out of reverence for Christ.

treat you as I would Christ,

always strive to make peace with you,

outdo you in showing honor,

build you up with my words,

not speak evil against you,

live in harmony with you,

bear your burdens,

care for you, count you more significant than myself, and be ready to forgive…

as God has forgiven me.

And…

And above all these…

I promise to put on love,

which binds everything together in perfect harmony,

for the honor and glory

of our Savior, Christ Jesus.

Amen.

One funny note: Mercy originally put these lines in her personal commitments as well, but then decided to remove them :)

And…

to support you in finding all the cheap stuff and stores—

especially Walmart.

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 LORD And Mercy’s Foundation!

Lord willing, we’ll consider Psalm 147:10-11 this Sunday: 

“He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.”

Christ Jesus Is LORD And Mercy’s Foundation

He Bore All God’s Wrath And Endured Our Damnation

He Died For Our Sins To Grant Us Salvation

Then Rose From The Dead For Our Justification

His Mercy’s Amazing Causing True Love Elation

His Mercy-Heart’s Great Knowing Him In Relation

Through Prayer And The Word Enjoy Mercy Contemplation

Mercy Keeps You In Pain And All Tribulation

Then Mercy I Noticed With Preoccupation

I Want Her Forever – There’s No Condemnation

She Comes Straight From God Who Saves Every Nation

Oh Praise Him Forever – Mercy’s Pure Incarnation!

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!

Denying Jesus Was Forsaken By God Is A Denial Of The Gospel

This statement by Scott Aniol is a denial of the Gospel.

It grieves me to see men who should know better - who have large platforms and influence over Christian hearts and minds - to post such terrible denials of the very words of Christ from the cross. Jesus knew what He said and meant what He said - I'll go with Jesus.

Jesus Was Forsaken By God On That Cross

You should never deny what Jesus actually said when he quoted Psalm 22:1 by appealing to another part of the Psalm that He did not quote. That last part of Psalm 22 is about the resurrection, not the cross. If Jesus was not forsaken on that cross, then you and I will be forsaken forever in hell. We must get the heart of the Gospel right. Praise God that Jesus was forsaken so that all those who repent of their sins and trust in Him shall never be forsaken. That is the Gospel! No hope without it! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

We must be careful never to interpret Jesus' words as referring to a part of the Psalm which He did not intend to allude to. On Jesus' quotation of Psalm 22:1 on the cross, 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)), R. T. France)

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)

We Must Get The Cross And The Trinity Right 

We must get the cross and the Trinity right. Considered as the divine Logos (the divine Son) in the eternal intratrinitarian relationship with His Father, the Son was not forsaken. But when considered as the incarnate mediator (the God-Man), however, Christ was at that moment in time on that cross, forsaken and damned, and God was angry with Christ on the cross so that sinners might be saved. Christ, according to His divine nature, was not forsaken, but as the God-man, according to His human nature, He most certainly was. We must affirm that, or we lose the Gospel. Consider this: 

The Person of Jesus was created and born according to His human nature. But the Person of Jesus was not created and born according to His divine nature because God cannot be created or born but exists eternally. (The "according to" language comes from Scripture: Romans 1:3: ". . . concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh . . . .")

The Person of Jesus got tired, hungry, and slept according to His human nature. But the Person of Jesus did not get tired, hungry, or sleep according to His divine nature because God cannot get tired, be hungry, or sleep.

The Person of Jesus died on the cross according to His human nature. But the Person of Jesus did not die on the cross according to His divine nature because God cannot die.

In a similar way, because our sins were imputed to the Person of Jesus, God the Father forsook, was angry with, and damned the Person of Jesus on the cross according to His human nature. But God the Father did not forsake, get angry with, or damn the Person of Jesus according to His divine nature because it is impossible for conflict (forsakenness, anger, damnation) to exist in the intratrinitarian relationship between the Father and the Son. It's also true that the Father was not angry with the Person of Jesus according to His human nature as the perfectly obedient last Adam. Jesus achieved His perfect obedience to the will of God (God's law) as the last Adam according to His human nature, not His divine nature, and so in this respect, Jesus, according to His human nature, was also well pleasing to the Father. But, because our sins were imputed to Christ, it really was God the Son (the Person of Jesus Christ) Who, according to His human nature, experienced the true relational reality of God-forsakenness, the anger of God, and damnation. But it was not the human nature which suffered, but the Person according to this nature. "And since the Person is infinite, all that Christ suffered was of infinite efficacy and value." (Wilhelmus à Brakel). Jesus did all of this so that we will never face those judgments.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

So, as the Heidelberg Catechism states: 

Why must He [Jesus] also be true God? So that, by the power of His divinity, He might bear the weight of God’s anger in His humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

It is always important to remember that the Person Christ Jesus suffered, not merely a nature. Petrus Van Mastricht is helpful on this point:

He suffered not only as man, nor only as God, but simultaneously as God and man.
XI. All these things the Mediator endured, whether in body or in soul, neither only as man, nor only as God, but as the God-man, simultaneously as God and man, just as, according to the nature of the theandric effects, each nature bestowed its own part to Christ's sufferings: while the human nature alone sustained and suffered them (since passive potency does not occur in the divine nature, Mal. 3:6; James 1:17; and much less death, because the divine nature is incorruptible, Rom. 1:23; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16), the divine nature furnished to his sufferings an infinite weight, value, and price, so that they were God's sufferings (Acts 20:28), and the blood of the Son of God (1 John 1:7), suited to cleanse us from all sin. (Theoretical-Practical Theology, Redemption in Christ, Vol. 4, 2023, page 415).

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

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!