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
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!
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