Canon Rob's Reflections

According to all four Gospels, whilst dying on the cross, Jesus uttered the opening words of today’s psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me…?” [See, e.g., Matthew 27.46.] At that moment, his life and work, will have seemed a failure to those who had followed him. As well as being the 20th Sunday after Trinity, today is also the Feast of Edward the Confessor, the 11th century King, who was the Patron Saint of England before St George was adopted in the 14th century. The opening words of a sermon by Ronald Knox about King Edward were, “When we venerate St Edward, we venerate a failure. We do so advisedly….because we will not let ourselves be blinded by the lure of worldly success…”]St Edward may best be remembered for founding Westminster Abbey, where his remains lie buried, but, among other things, he was also known for his deep faith and his care for the poor.

Coming to terms with failure can be very painful. Mother Julian of Norwich though saw the positives in failure. In her “Revelations of Divine Love” she wrote, “The testing experience of falling will lead us to a deep and wonderful knowledge of the constancy of God’s love…” That constant love of God is revealed to us through Jesus whose life apparently ended in failure until proven otherwise on Easter Day. The opening words of Psalm 22 are a cry of despair and pain, uttered by someone who feels that God has abandoned them. We don’t know what the circumstances were when the psalm was originally written but Malcolm Guite in his book suggests a reason why Jesus uttered them.“…Christ himself is crying through this psalm/To suffer my own dereliction for me.” [“David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms.”] The crucial thing to note is that whilst the psalmist feels that God has forsaken him, he has not forsaken God: he still believes that He exists.

The suffering continues in verse 2. The author of the psalm admits to crying out for help in the daytime and by night. But God does not answer and he finds no rest. Yet he still proclaims that God is “the Holy One enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” [Verse 3] He recalls how those before him trusted in God and how He helped them, [Verses 5 and 6], but all he receives are torments from others who mock him. [Verses 6 – 8.] As you read these verses, don’t be surprised if you find yourself thinking again of Jesus dying on the cross. [See Matthew 27. 28-31 and 39-44.] Here is someone in the depths of despair. Yet even in this dark place, surrounded as he is by those who pour hate upon him, he is reminded that God cared for him from the moment he was born. “..it is you that took me out of the womb and laid me safe upon my mother’s breast. On you was I cast ever since I was born; you are my God even from my mother’s womb.” [Verses 9 and 10.] This is the author thinking about his own life up until the time he is writing, and in verses 14 and 15 he describes how he is suffering physically as well as mentally. We know how a physical illness can affect us mentally and the other way round. We are made up of body, mind and spirit. So it is not surprising that the author of today’s psalm is suffering in so many ways because he is depressed and overwhelmed. Even so, he continues to trust God and, if you read the whole of the psalm you will find it has a more cheerful ending. Yet Psalm 22 brings us face to face with reality. The writer is a believer in God but many have turned their backs on God when they have suffered. How can a Loving God exist if He allows his faithful to suffer? Yet we all know from experience that this is reality. Bad things happen to good people. However, the psalmist found that after he had hit rock bottom, God was with him and had been with him all the time, even though he didn’t always experience that to be so. Psalm 22 reminds us that even when we are really struggling, we can turn to God, just as Jesus did when he was dying on the cross for you.