But You have rejected, You have spurned, You have been very angry with Your Anointed One. Psalm 89:38
"Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself . . . Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Luke 24:26-27, 44 (All bold emphasis mine throughout this article)
Jesus read the Old Testament uniquely inasmuch as it was written to Him and about Him. Nick Batzig
Further intense investigation bears out that the "I," the author of the Psalms, is Christ himself. He is the great voice we hear in the Psalms crying out in prayer to God the Father. James E. Adams
Today, I saw a new book on the cross wrongly claim (following one little either misunderstood or mistaken statement by John Calvin; see this post by Tim Keller as well) that God was not angry with Jesus when He suffered and died on the cross. This is incorrect according to God's Word. Have you not read Psalm 89? Let's get ready for Good Friday!
Though God loved Jesus when He was on the cross, and though God was well pleased with Jesus when He died on the cross because of the glorious obedience and sacrifice that He offered to His Father, God was also angry with His Son at the same time and poured His wrath out on His Son because of our sins imputed to Him so that we might be saved from God's wrath forever! This is the heart of the Gospel! We've got to get this right!
And the Bible actually tells us, plainly and clearly, that God was angry with Jesus on the cross.
All of Scripture everywhere deals only with Christ. Martin Luther
Bruce Waltke and Fred Zaspel write about how the Psalms are about Jesus Christ:
The Psalms are about Jesus. The significance of this royal orientation goes further as we seek to understand the psalms in canonical perspective. We have it on Jesus’s authority (Luke 24:44) that the psalms are about him. Some of the psalms are more directly predictive, such as Psalm 2 and Psalm 110. In others David stands as a “type” or picture of Christ and is prospective of him in more subtle ways.
Chad Bird writes:
Are All 150 Psalms about Jesus? The psalms are the prayerbook and hymnbook of Jesus. About half of them were written by David, and others by Solomon, Moses, or the sons of Korah. The coauthor behind all 150, however, is our Lord. What does this mean? Does it mean that they were inspired by the Spirit of Jesus? Yes, for “all Scripture is breathed out [θεόπνευστος] by God,” (2 Tim. 3:16). That Greek word, θεόπνευστος (theopneuotos) was translated by the Latin Vulgate as “inspiro,” whence we get our word “inspire,” literally, “to breathe into.” But that’s not all Christ’s authorship of the psalms means, for all Scripture is God-breathed. What makes the psalms unique? All the psalms are by Jesus and about Jesus, in one way or another. St. Augustine gives a helpful way to think about this with the analogy of a head and body. Here’s how it works. My head cannot act apart from my body, nor my body from my head. This is true, but certain actions are particularly head-actions or body-actions. For instance, I run with my body, but my head is involved. And I see with my eyes in my head and think with the brain in my head, but my body is also involved. My feet take me to where I can see a canyon or forest. My hand feeds my mouth so I can concentrate on thinking instead of my hunger pains. So it is with the psalms. Some of the psalms are more particularly about the head, that is, Christ. Psalm 2 is about his sonship and messiahship. Psalm 16 about his resurrection. Psalm 22 about his crucifixion and resurrection. But even in these psalms, the body—that is, the church—is involved. For instance, Psalm 2 is primarily about our Lord, but we body of believers are referenced in vs. 12 as those who are “blessed” because we “take refuge in him.” Other psalms are more particularly about the body of believers. Psalm 13 is the brief lament of those who are suffering, then vindicated. Yet the lovingkindness and salvation for which we thank God in vs. 5 is wrapped up in the Messiah, our head. Psalm 23 is our confession as the sheep of the Messiah, those who are kept safe in his body. Yet the Messiah, our head, is our Shepherd-King whose rod and staff comfort us. So it is with all the psalms. Sometimes they are more focused on Christ the head, or are his very words spoken (e.g., Ps. 22). At other times, the psalm is more focused on the body. And at still other times, both are the same. For instance, is Psalm 88 the prayer of a deeply troubled and suffering believer or group of believers? Or is Psalm 88 the lament of Jesus on Good Friday as he sinks into the darkness of death? Yes. It is both, for Christ as The Man subsumes all humanity into himself. His speech becomes ours and ours his. As you pray the psalms, bear this in mind. These 150 ancient poems and prayers are the treasure of the Spirit, in which he enriches us through the Son of God, who comes to reconcile us to the Father and to teach us to pray . . . Which OT book is quoted more in the NT than any other? Psalms. Which OT verse is quoted more in the NT than any other? Psalm 110:1. Which OT book did Jesus quote when he was being crucified? Psalms. Why are the psalms the heart of Scripture? Because, as Martin Franzmann said, "Theology is doxology. Theology must sing." It cannot remain mute words inside a book, but it leaps off the printed page, exits the mouth, and fills the air with a holy sound. In the psalms we sing with Jesus, and Jesus sings with us, in a hymn to the Father through the Spirit, amidst a choir of saints and angels. Here are God's words to us that become our words back to God. The psalms are verbal tears for the suffering, a steady hand to the wavering, a beating heart to the dying. No other biblical book was on the lips of Jesus as he was about to die. Let them ever be on our lips as well, for they are the songs of heaven on earth. (See also: Every Psalm Is The Prayer Of Jesus)
Psalm 89 is about Jesus, God's preeminent Anointed One, and there we read very clearly that God was angry with Jesus:
You have been very angry with Your Anointed One. Psalm 89:38
I'm not sure how much more clear God could be to settle this question once and for all. Yes, this Psalm is about God's Davidic King under God's judgment in exile. But it's also about David's greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! God the Father was very angry with His Messiah on that cross because of our sins counted to Him, and God punished Jesus with the anger we deserve so that we will never face that anger in hell! This is our only hope!
If John Calvin (or any other theologian) misspoke about the cross and what they wrote directly contradicts Scripture, we must always follow the clear teaching of God's infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word. God's Word has the final say, and we must submit to it, believe it, and teach it. And love it! Hallelujah! What a Savior!
This truth is at the heart of propitiation; it's at the heart of the cross; and it's at the heart of the Gospel.
Christ's Sufferings Prophesied In Psalm 89
In his commentary on the Psalms, James Hamilton gives a helpful summary of Psalm 89:
Psalm 89 appears to deal with the end of David's dynasty (89:38 [MT 89:39]). The destruction of the temple and exile of the Davidic king in 586 BC resulted from God's wrath against his covenant-breaking people. The earlier sections of Ps 89 rehearse God's covenant with David (89:1-4, 17-37 [MT 89:2-5, 18-38]) and God's defeat of the serpent-monster at the exodus from Egypt (89:9-10 [MT 89:10-11]). God's promise to David is the foundation for the future return of the king, and the exodus from Egypt is the pattern for the future salvation God will achieve through that king.
As Jesus spoke of his future death in John 2:18-22, he spoke in terms of the temple being destroyed. John seems to present Jesus saying that the outpouring of wrath at the destruction of the temple in 586 BC was a typological anticipation of the way that God would satisfy his covenant justice by an outpouring of wrath at the death of Christ. Thereby God also crushed the serpent's head, recapitulating the redemption accomplished at the exodus, liberating captives and guaranteeing their inheritance.
When he raised Jesus from the dead, God inaugurated the restoration of the Davidic reign through David's greater son. The midday crucifixion darkness of Psalm 89 sets the stage for the rising of the son on the third day, that he might be seated at God's right hand (Ps 110). (Pages 149-150)
Hamilton clearly understands Psalm 89 to be written about Christ. Commenting on Psalm 89:49-52 he writes:
Here, Ethan anticipates the one in whom this bearing of the reproaches of those who reproach Yahweh would be fulfilled (cf. Ps 69:9 [MT 69:10]; Rom 15:3). Those at enmity with Yahweh reproach him, and "they reproach the heels of your anointed" (Ps 89:51 [MT 89:52]). The reference to the "heels" . . . of the anointed seems to allude to the "heel" . . . that would be bruised by the serpent (Gen 3:15). (Page 149)
Though Hamilton limits "the discipline described in 89:38-48 . . . [to] the 'sons' [other Davidic kings] not the 'seed' [Jesus]" (Page 147) (I disagree with him that the discipline here is limited only to the other Davidic kings. He reads too much into the "sons"/"seed" distinction, and he is happy to apply Genesis 3:15 to and Psalm 69:9 to God's Anointed in Ps 89:51, even though "servants" are referenced, not the "seed". The punishments of 89:38-48 come together with the punishments of 89:49-52 and should not be separated), Hamilton does say that what Jesus endured on the cross is far worse than any of the discipline described in Psalm 89:
Surprisingly, Jesus experienced God's covenant curse at the cross in a way that transcended anything borne by his predecessors in the line of David (cf. esp. Gal 3:13). (Page 147)
In his chapter on the book of Acts in the excellent work, Commentary On The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament, I. Howard Marshall includes Psalm 89:38 in the Psalms that are messianic and refer to Jesus Christ:
It is often said that although the concept of the Messiah/Christ is found in the OT, the term itself is not found with this reference, and that this usage developed only later in Jewish literature. However, whereas the original reference in the relevant OT passages was to the reigning monarch (or an immediate successor), by the time the psalms were collected and effectively canonized (cf. Luke 24:44) the references in them were understood, where appropriate, as messianic (cf. Ps. 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; 89:38 . . . .) (Page 540, emphasis mine)
Justin Huffman, in his tremendously helpful article, "The Davidic Covenant: Psalm 89 and the Servant King", writes:
Psalm 89 . . . as an exposition of the Davidic Covenant plainly prophesies concerning the coming Christ. Yet this prophecy . . . includes elements of both a victorious kingship and of a suffering servant of Yahweh [like in Isaiah 52-53] . . . We began this paper by asking the question: can both suffering servant and victorious king be promised and foreshadowed in the same figure, in the same Davidic covenant? And we find, in answer to the psalmist's plaintive cry, that the answer mysteriously and gloriously is, "Yes." In fact, it must be this way, according to Jesus himself. The humiliation of the Davidic king in the days of Psalm 89, then, was not a failing of the Davidic covenant, but was rather a foreshadowing of how God would bring about eventual victory through apparent suffering and defeat in the Messiah. Jesus would be the Servant King. "Ironically this psalm in which suffering and glory jostle sets up a mysterious pattern which was followed by the Heir: 'Here is your king' was spoken of one wearing a crown of thorns."
Huffman also cites Richard Belcher in his book: The Messiah And The Psalms: Preaching Christ From All The Psalms, writing:
Richard Belcher even argues that the placement of Psalm 89 among the royal psalms forms a prophetic pattern for the coming Messiah: the progression of the royal psalms in the Psalter prefigures the ministry of Christ. The royal psalms move from coronation (Psalm 2, used at Jesus' baptism), to the righteous reign of the king (Psalm 72 speaks of Christ's kingship and leads to the Israelites trying to crown Jesus), to the humiliation and rejection of the king in Psalm 89, to resurrection and ascension in Psalm 110 (referred to in Acts 2 in relation to Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven), and then to the final triumph of the king in Psalm 144.
In the book, The Psalms In The New Testament, Sylvia Keesmaat writes about "The Psalms In Romans And Galatians":
A Different Messiah: The second allusion to the psalms in Galatians is also to a psalm of lament: Psalm 89 in Gal. 3:16. The parallels between this psalm and Galatians are extensive; just as Paul emphasizes God's faithfulness to the offspring of Abraham, so the psalmist outlines God's promises to the offspring of David, the anointed one. Although Paul begins by talking about Abraham and his seed, he is moving within a story line where the promises made to the seed of Abraham are continued in the seed of David (Hays, Galatians, p. 264). By using the language of both the anointed (the messiah), and the seed, Paul creates an echo with Psalm 89, an echo that increases in volume when one realizes that there are other points of parallel with Galatians.
However, the most striking parallel is the most unexpected. Psalm 89 begins by recounting God's unconditional promise to David, the anointed, and to his seed for ever . . . Then, suddenly, there is a turn. God is accused of rejecting his people and his messiah in v. 39 [v. 38 ET] . . . In the midst of this rejection, the anguished cry goes up, "How long?" (v. 47 [v. 46 ET]). And, in striking parallel with Galatians, the psalmist ends this way:
Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted,how I bear in my bosom the insults of the nations,with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,with which they taunted the footsteps of your messiah . . . .(Ps. 89:51-52 [Ps. 89:50-51 ET])
This psalm describes the suffering of the messiah, a suffering which is central to Galatians (2:20; 3:1; 6:17). The close identification of Paul with the suffering messiah in the letter (2:20; 6:17), and the assertion that those advocating circumcision were doing so in order to avoid persecution for the cross of the messiah (6:12) creates points of resonance with the text. Such echoes firmly place the messiah that Paul describes in Gal. 2:16 in the story line of the promise to Abraham and to David. Psalm 89 describes a messiah who suffers; Jesus is such a messiah. The intertextual matrix of this psalm, then, serves to support Paul's argument that it is the story of the suffering messiah, Jesus, who fulfills the promise for these Christians, not the law (Brueggemann, "The Costly Loss Of Lament", p. 102). (Pages 159-160).
This excellent Ligonier article argues for the suffering Messiah aspect of Psalm 89 as well:
In light of the person and work of Christ, we understand why this psalm belongs to the category of messianic psalms. Our Savior endured God's wrath in the place of His people, bearing the sins of David's line and the sins of His chosen ones (Rom. 3:21–26). He was likewise insulted by His enemies (Matt. 27:27–31). In receiving this wrath in our place, Jesus revealed the steadfast love of God for David and for His people, and in raising Jesus from the dead to reign forever, God fulfilled His promise to David (Phil. 2:5–11).
Ligon Duncan, in his book When Pain Is Real And God Seems Silent: Finding Hope In The Psalms, shows how the sufferings endured in Psalm 89 foreshadow the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross:
Ultimately, we'll never appreciate this psalm fully until we see how it points to our Savior . . . Psalm 89:38-45 is a picture of the dashed hopes of the people God. They were promised that David and his line would reign forever, but now that promise seems to have failed.
Yet Scripture often shows us that what seems like a failure of God's promises is actually the very way he delivers on them. This description of David and his line cannot be exhausted by the experiences of David and his sons. Instead, these words are true, in the fullest sense, of David's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we know?
The New Testament, on nearly every page, teaches that Jesus is the true and better David, the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and the restorer of David's throne. Consider, for instance, Peter's sermon at Pentecost:
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,
"I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence."
Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Acts 2:22-32
As Peter explains, the psalms chronicling the suffering of David and his children are fully realized in the sufferings of Christ. David's flesh did, in fact, see corruption - he is, after all, still dead in his tomb. So, Peter reasons, this psalm must refer to David's greater son! Where did he get this idea? From the Lord Jesus himself. When Christ encountered the disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, he bemoaned that they did not see in the Old Testament the many evidences that Christ would undergo death and exile to restore what Adam and Israel had lost:
And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27
The suffering of David and the people of Israel - rejection, curse, and judgment - were ultimately and consummately experienced by David's greater son, the servant of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus experienced Psalm 89:38-45. And by that suffering Jesus restored the throne of David and saved the people of God . . . Psalm 89 gives us hope ultimately because it points us to the one who endured a suffering far beyond anything we will ever know. He was mocked and shamed and forsaken of God, so that we might be God's precious inheritance into eternity. (Pages 48-52) (You can listen to a sermon Dr. Duncan preached on Psalm 89 at Capitol Hill Baptist Church here.)
In Matthew Henry's commentary on Psalm 89, he mentions "Christ" 45 times. And on Psalm 89:38, he writes:
When the great anointed one, Christ himself, was upon the cross, God . . . was wroth [very angry] with him . . . .
In The Treasury Of David, commenting on Psalm 89:46: "How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?", Charles Spurgeon gave these hints to the village preacher (Oh be a village preacher, Brother Pastors!), and they include God's hiding Himself from Christ and His wrath burning like fire as afflictions on Christ. Spurgeon understood that God hid Himself from Christ on the cross, and God's wrath burned like fire upon Christ on the cross:
Verse 46. The hand of God is to be acknowledged.
1. In the nature of affliction. "Wilt thou hide thyself", etc.
2. In the duration of affliction. "How long, Lord?"
3. In the severity of affliction. Wrath burning like fire.
4. In the issue of affliction. How long? for ever? In all these respects the words are applicable both to Christ and to his people.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Jesus is not only the suffering servant, He's the suffering psalmist: ". . . everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Luke 24:44
Here is a chart I made showing how Jesus fulfills Psalm 89 (Link to larger version here):
Heim has pointed out that the messianic hope of Psalm 89 is also addressed in the NT in Rev 1:5. There Jesus is described as “the faithful witness,” “the firstborn of the dead,” and “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” This intertextual interplay shows that Jesus is the answer of Psalm 89 (“The (God-)Forsaken King of Psalm 89” 316–21). He is the faithful witness, the guarantee of the “Lord’s adherence to his oath (v. 35). Yahweh has not lied to David. His covenant still stands, now renewed, to be consummated in Christ’s glorious return as foretold in Revelation” (320). He is the firstborn of the dead, which is informed by the parallel in 89:28. The title “highest of the kings of the earth” and the reference to overcoming death find their significance in the apparent overcoming of the death of the king in 89:49 (320–21). In other words, Christ is the king of kings, the sovereign one whose resurrection confirms his sovereignty. He is the universal ruler, the one who has international influence as the Lord’s “vacarius dei” (321).
Heim also writes:
In vv. 47-51 the lament comes to a powerful climax, culminating in a whole series of urgent questions. Most relevant to the present discussion are those in v. 49: "Who can live and never see death? Who can escape the power of Sheol?". Both are rhetorical questions expecting a negative response: No, nobody can live without dying! Nobody can escape Sheol! Yes, in stark contrast to this, the book of Revelation puts forward the one who can. Readers may pick up that there is a Davidic "king" who did die, yet lived and escaped (from) Sheol. (Knut M. Heim, "The (God-)Forsaken King Of Psalm 89: A Historical And Intertextual Enquiry," in King And Messiah In Israel And The Ancient Near East, (Sheffield Academic Press: Shefield), 1998), 320)
Herman Witsius: Since there is an exchange of persons between Christ and believers, and since the guilt of our iniquities was laid upon him, the Father was offended and angry with him.
Thomas Goodwin: That he, that is God blessed forever, should be made a curse, this you have in Gal. 3:13. That he, that is, "the Holy One of Israel," should be made sin, aye, and what is more, he that cannot endure sin, for nothing is more contrary to the holiness of God than sin, and yet "he that knew no sin was made sin," this you have in 2 Cor. 5:21. That God should never be more angry with his Son than when he was most pleased with him, for so it was when Christ hung upon the cross, God did find a sweet-smelling savour of rest and satisfaction even when he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Thomas Goodwin: Our Lord and Saviour Christ is God blessed for ever; therefore, say the papists, he did not suffer the displeasure of God in his soul. Why, say they, can God love his Son and be angry with him at the same time? And he that is God blessed for ever, can he be made a curse in his soul? Yes, take him as a surety. They take part with one truth of the gospel to exclude the other, whereas the gospel is a reconciliation of both these, and therein lies the depth of it.
Thomas Goodwin: And also this offering up himself was so sweet a smelling sacrifice to God (as Eph. V. 2), that although God expressed never so much anger against Christ as when he hung upon the cross, yet he was never so well pleased by him as then . . . .
Samuel Rutherford: The Lord . . . punished Christ, who was not inherently, but only by imputation the sinner, with no hatred at all, but with anger and desire of shewing and exercising revenging justice, but still loving him dearly, as his only Son.
Wilhelmus à Brakel: Christ did indeed suffer eternal damnation, for eternal damnation, death, and pain consist in total separation from God, in the total manifestation of divine wrath, and all of this for such a duration until the punishment upon sin was perfectly and satisfactorily born.
Klaas Schilder: At that time, therefore, Christ had been dead. He had also endured this death in His body, for His whole human existence suffered the affliction of hell. The flesh, too, had been consumed in God’s anger, and forsaken.
Donald Macleod: It was the Father who was delivering him up (Rom. 8:32) and everything spoke of HIS anger. That anger was no additional circumstance. It was in the circumstances: in the pain, in the loneliness, in Satan's whispers and in heaven's deafness; and under that anger his identity contracted to the point where . . . he was the sin of the world. He was carrying it, heaven held him answerable for it, and he WAS it. It was here, all of it, in his body (1 Pet. 2:24), being condemned in his flesh (Rom. 8:3); because of it he was a doomed and ruined man, korban, devoted to destruction. God's pure eyes could not look on him, nor heaven entertain his cry . . . Clearly, the unity of the divine Trinity remains unbroken throughout the passion. Even while the Father is angry with the Mediator, the Son is still beloved and still fully involved in all the external acts (the opera ad extra) of the Trinity.
Stephen Wellum: In saying that the Son bears the Father's wrath for us, we must never forget that the unity of the triune persons remains unbroken. Macleod rightly notes: "Even while the Father is angry with the Mediator, the Son is still the beloved and still fully involved in all the external acts (the opera ad extra) of the Trinity." (Page 209)
Ligon Duncan: And notice, by the way, God in both of those instances was not simply angry at sin, He was angry with sinners. We often say God loves the sinner and hates the sin, and there's something very important and true about that truth. But you also need to understand that God is angry with people, and not simply with acts. He was angry with Solomon when Solomon married many foreign wives, who led him astray from his fidelity and devotion to the one true God. He was angry with Israel when Israel strayed into idolatry. His anger comes to rest on people. Does not the cross teach us that? That His righteous anger found its place on the head of His own Son?
Kevin DeYoung: It is a cry of real, objective, God forsakenness . . . Jesus felt forsaken because He was, at that moment, forsaken . . . God was angry, at this moment, with His Son.
Mark Jones: Much was given to Jesus by way of gifts and graces, and much was required. He gave all that was required. Yet he was still the recipient of his Father's anger. He became an object of wrath that no redeemed saint will ever fully comprehend; for, as Charnock says: "Not all the vials of judgments, that have, or shall be poured out upon the wicked world, nor the flaming furnace of a sinner's conscience, nor the irreversible sentence pronounced against the rebellious devils, nor the groans of the damned creatures, give such a demonstration of God's hatred of sin, as the wrath of God let loose upon his Son." The anger of Christ proves the reality of the mercy he shows toward sinners. Indeed, even in the way that God saves, he could not be merciful towards us if he was not angry towards his Son on the cross at Calvary. (Knowing Christ, Page 72)
Mark Jones: Let us remember the salient fact that the Father would soon abandon His beloved Son in Whom He found such delight . . . In relation to His death on the cross, God was never more pleased with His Son than when He was most angry with Him. (Knowing Christ, Page 82)
Mark Jones: These are the words of someone who has experienced divine desertion. This type of abandonment includes the withdrawal of the feeling or presence of God's favour, grace, and love. The removal of these things is the removal of God. Yet although God withdrew his favour from his Son, Christ remained obedient. God was never more happy with his Son than when he was most angry with him . . . the withdrawing of his presence was, for Christ, a new experience . . . When Christ cried out these words - a direct quote from Psalm 22:1 - they were like the shrieks of those who are cast away forever . . . now he "descended into hell" . . . In this dark abandonment, Christ still, in faith entrusted himself to the Father and rested upon his promises . . . Christ experienced both physical pain and the spiritual loss of his Father's face." (Knowing Christ, Pages 146-147)
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