1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,700 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We are a church that invites 2 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:11,880 everyone to enjoy Christ for the glory of God. If we can serve you in any way 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:19,320 then visit our website at citychurchmanchester.org to find out more. 4 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:28,520 So why don't Katie and I read that to you now. So Psalm 22 starting from verse 1. 5 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:34,440 For the director of music to the tune of the Doe of the Morning, a Psalm of David. 6 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:43,160 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me? So far 7 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:51,360 from my cries of anguish. My God, I cry out by day but you do not answer. By night 8 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:58,920 but I find no rest. Yet you were enthroned as the Holy One. You are the one 9 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:04,940 Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust. They trusted and you 10 00:01:04,940 --> 00:01:11,040 delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved. In you they trusted and were 11 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:17,280 not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man scorned by everyone, despised by 12 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,880 the people. All who see me mock me. They hurl insults shaking their heads. He 13 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:28,520 trusts in the Lord they say. Let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he 14 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:34,360 delights in him. Yet you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust in you 15 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:39,080 even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast on you. From my mother's womb 16 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:47,240 you have been my God. Do not be far from me for trouble is near and there is no 17 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:52,680 one to help. Many bulls surround me. Strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 18 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:58,280 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured 19 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:06,360 out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. It 20 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:13,520 has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a pot's herd and my tongue sticks 21 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,800 to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me. A 22 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:27,400 pack of villains encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on 23 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,680 display. People stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and 24 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:39,680 cast lots for my garments. But you Lord do not be far from me. You are my 25 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:46,600 strength. Come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword. My precious life from 26 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:52,400 the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions. Save me from the 27 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:58,760 horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people. In the assembly I 28 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:04,560 will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob 29 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:11,120 honor him. Revere him all you descendants of Israel. For he has not despised or 30 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,680 scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him 31 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:21,160 but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in 32 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:27,280 the great assembly. Before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will 33 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:32,840 eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise him. May your hearts live 34 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,800 forever. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord and all 35 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,080 the families of the nations will bow down before him. For dominion belongs to 36 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:47,240 the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and 37 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:52,520 worship. All who go down to the dust will kneel before him. Those who cannot keep 38 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:57,840 themselves alive. Posterity will serve him. Future generations will be told 39 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,720 about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people 40 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:08,160 yet unborn he has done it. Hi everyone my name is Ralph I'm one of the pastors here 41 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,640 at City Church and it's great to be bringing you this new series. Starting to 42 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,760 look at the cross as we anticipate Easter Sunday in just two weeks time. Now let us 43 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:24,160 pray before we turn to look at the passages. Father God thank you so much for 44 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:31,280 the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that he is our salvation. I pray you'd 45 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:36,080 be with us now as we dwell on this passage of Psalm 22. Lord would you open 46 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:45,560 our hearts to receive your word for us today. Amen. Well this is a new very very 47 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,320 short just a two-week series that we have in the run-up to Easter and it's 48 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:57,400 titled perspectives on the cross. And what the series is seeking to do is it's 49 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:04,000 seeking to look at the cross through the lens of a number of Old Testament 50 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:12,760 passages. In total 13 Old Testament passages are quoted or alluded to in the 51 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:21,360 gospel accounts of the cross and resurrection. Now of those 13, 8 come 52 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:29,960 from the book of Psalms and 5, that's 5 out of 13 come from this Psalm that we're 53 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:39,280 looking at today Psalm 22. So turn back to Psalm 22 with me. Psalm 22 given that 54 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:44,160 it's quoted five times in the accounts of the cross we know that it is an 55 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,880 important lens through which we are to behold the full horror but also the full 56 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:58,920 glory of the cross. And the opening verse of Psalm 22 it really sets out the the 57 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:08,320 heart of the Psalm. Look at that with me verse 1 of Psalm 22. My God, my God, why 58 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:16,760 have you forsaken me? You see this whole Psalm it is about forsakenness, about 59 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:26,320 abandonment, about being cast into the darkest depths of loneliness. It's fair 60 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:32,960 to say I think that we are experiencing a pandemic of loneliness right now. Some 61 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:38,840 research was carried out on university campuses back in 2018 and it found that 62 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:43,440 21% of university students, remember university is the time we're supposed to 63 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:50,880 be living it up socially, but 21% of university students in 2018 reported 64 00:06:50,880 --> 00:07:02,960 being lonely most or all of the time. That figure rose to 26% in 2019 and of 65 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:08,760 course remember all of this was pre-COVID. According to a Mental Health 66 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:17,040 Foundation survey, loneliness amongst 19 to 24 year olds reached a dizzying 43.9% 67 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:29,720 in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. But what is loneliness? Well here's a 68 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:34,980 definition that the government uses. Loneliness is a subjective unwelcome 69 00:07:34,980 --> 00:07:42,280 feeling of lack or loss of companionship. It happens when we have a mismatch 70 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:47,520 between the quantity and quality of social relationships that we have and 71 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:54,840 those that we want. Notice here that loneliness is not the same thing as 72 00:07:54,840 --> 00:08:04,480 being alone. Some people are alone but they are not lonely. That's me at 6.30 in 73 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,960 the morning when I have my quiet time. We're real quiet. I'm alone but I'm not 74 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:15,160 lonely. But there are other people who are surrounded by people all day long so 75 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:22,360 they're not alone but they find themselves to be lonely. It's about a 76 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:29,280 lack or a loss of companionship. It's about how we feel about the the quantity 77 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:35,560 and the quality of our relationships. And it is a pandemic, the pandemic of 78 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:40,520 loneliness, that is impacting the whole world but is particularly impacting 79 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:47,840 large urban cities like Manchester. My guess is that all of us here this 80 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,600 afternoon, all of us have experienced loneliness in some way in the past month. 81 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:59,840 No, I certainly have. And what I want to see is that that loneliness, it has 82 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:06,200 profoundly biblical origins. What do I mean? Well let's go back right to the 83 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:11,000 very beginning of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1 teaches us 84 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:17,280 that we were made for relationship. So God created human beings in his image 85 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:23,480 for relationship with him. That's the reason we were made. Not because God 86 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:33,560 needed us but because God wanted us. He desired us. We were made to be 87 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:37,320 relational beings, made to be in relationship with God and in 88 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:43,200 relationship with one another. But just go forwards two chapters to Genesis 89 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:50,680 chapter 3 and we find out there how it all got messed up. We human beings, we 90 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:58,980 decided to live our lives our way. The Bible calls that sin and it led to the 91 00:09:58,980 --> 00:10:07,440 ultimate relationship breakdown. We were separated, we were cut off from God. More 92 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:11,360 than that, ever since Genesis chapter 3, we human beings, we've been raging 93 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:17,240 against God and it has led to a fragmentation of all of our other 94 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:26,040 relationships. It's why marriages break down. It's why families disintegrate. It's 95 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:34,400 why nations war against nations. It is why loneliness exists. We were designed 96 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:40,360 for relationship, we were designed for companionship but like a gigantic pane 97 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:45,480 of glass dropped off the top of the Beatham Tower, those relationships have 98 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:51,920 been shattered into a million pieces because of sin in the world. Which brings 99 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:57,600 us to our psalm, Psalm 22. Just flip back to Psalm 22 with me and I've got three 100 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:02,520 points for us today. Firstly, the loneliness of David. Secondly, the 101 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:08,200 loneliness of Christ and then thirdly, the great assembly of joy. So first up 102 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,200 the loneliness of David. The heading tells us that this is a psalm of King 103 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:17,600 David and the title, The Doe of the Morning, it gives us a hint as to the 104 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:25,360 content of the psalm. I mean the break of dawn, that is prime hunting time isn't 105 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:32,280 it? That is the time when predators go out to try and find their prey and King 106 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:38,120 David as he writes his psalm, he feels like a piece of prey out at the break 107 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:47,480 of dawn, fearful about what predators lie around. This psalm, it is a far cry from 108 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:52,920 the confident hope of the previous psalm, Psalm 21. In Psalm 21 verse 7, David 109 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,320 cries out, he who trusts in the Lord will not be shaken. That's the cry of Psalm 21, 110 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:04,400 yes if I trust in the Lord I will not be shaken. But we get to Psalm 22 and 111 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:13,920 everything changes. David certainly seems to be shaken, shaken to his core. 112 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:22,440 The psalm is split into two halves. The first half from verses 1 to 21, it has 113 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:27,520 three movements. The first movement is there in verses 1 to 5 and it 114 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:33,600 describes David's perceived sense of abandonment. Abandonment by God, it's the 115 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:39,640 famous, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see David cries out, he 116 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:49,320 pleads with God but there is no answer, just deafening silence. Many of us know 117 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:56,120 what that feels like don't we? We know what it is to cry out to God but receive 118 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:04,320 no response. In our grief, our anguish, our sadness, in the dark night of our souls 119 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:12,600 it sometimes feels like God is entirely absent. Of course he isn't, but it often 120 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:18,280 feels that way doesn't it? A few summers back we went on holidays of family to 121 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:23,800 Grindelwald in Switzerland. It's a beautiful place located in a huge valley 122 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,920 and on the opposite side of the valley to the chalet we were staying in was the 123 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:34,560 huge Eiger mountain. It's colossal, it just towers above the valley but when we 124 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:39,120 arrived, we arrived at night time, it was dark and we looked out of the windows of 125 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:47,960 the chalet at the Eiger and all we saw was inky darkness. The mountain was still 126 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,940 there, the Eiger was still there, we saw it in the morning but in the darkness we 127 00:13:51,940 --> 00:13:56,400 couldn't see it at all and it might not as well not have been there from our 128 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:04,280 perspective. And sometimes it can feel that way with God too. In the darkness of 129 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,800 our circumstances, in our depression, our loneliness, our sense of personal failure, 130 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:18,680 it can feel like God is just not there, that we're abandoned. In the second 131 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:22,800 movement verses 6 to 11 David moves on to describe his experience of being 132 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:30,480 mercilessly mocked. Mercilessly mocked. It leaves him verse 6 feeling like a 133 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:37,240 worm, not a man. He feels like an invertebrate, he's hated, insults are hurled 134 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:42,200 at him, verse 7. It sounds visceral going to his very innermost being and the worst 135 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,600 thing about it is that the people are mocking him, they are going for the place 136 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:53,960 where it hurts most. They're going for his relationship with God. Where's your 137 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,440 God now David? If God was really there, if he was really for you, do you really 138 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:07,240 think he would let this happen to you? Whoever said sticks and stones may break 139 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,680 my bones but words would never help hurt me. They've never experienced being 140 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:19,720 bullied have they? Words really do hurt and words often leave us feeling 141 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:27,680 completely alone, especially when it feels like God doesn't come to our 142 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:33,720 defense. Perhaps you know what that feels like. 143 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:40,600 Well thirdly David describes physical threat. The only image that David thinks 144 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:47,000 can do it justice is the image of animals. So he talks about gigantic balls 145 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:53,160 of Bashan, verse 12, weighing 12 times the weight of a human being. They surround 146 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,120 him, they snort and they flick up dust from under them. He then describes his 147 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:04,960 opponents as being like hungry lions waiting to devour him as their prey. 148 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:15,800 David melts away in fear. He's humiliated, devastated, ashamed and utterly alone. 149 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:22,160 We know something of that don't we? Some of us here today we have faced literal 150 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:29,120 bullies who have threatened to do us physical harm. We know how utterly lonely 151 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:38,120 we feel when faced by bullies. We know how even our friends and family can 152 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,760 start to feel distant because that bullying puts a barrier between us and 153 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:49,440 them. Others of us here today we've experienced physical threat not from 154 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:56,520 other people but from our circumstances. From our bank account balances that are 155 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,840 hurtling into the wreck. From the eviction notice that came through our 156 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:08,240 letterbox. Through the persecution and mockery and marginalization we face at 157 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:17,520 work. And when we experience that we feel all alone. Well what are we to learn from 158 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:22,600 David's experiences here in Psalm 22? I think what this Psalm does is it shows 159 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:29,960 us how we should respond when affliction strikes. You see some of us when trouble 160 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:36,800 hits our way of dealing with it is just to blurt it all out. To tell anyone who 161 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,280 will listen what is happening to us. To fall into grumbling and feeling really 162 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:47,640 down and self-pitying lamenting what we're going through. Then there are 163 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:54,200 others of us who want to process it all internally and and we just bottle it all 164 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:59,080 up. Getting more and more stressed more and more anxious and afraid like a 165 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:04,520 pressure cooker just building up pressure and pressure and pressure. Well I 166 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:10,040 think what David teaches us that we need to do in Psalm 22 is not just blurt it 167 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:16,040 out to anyone. Not just keep it on the inside but we need to share it with God. 168 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:23,120 We need to process it with him. Did you notice that? And in each of the cycles 169 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:31,000 David goes to God with what he's going through. When he feels abandoned by God 170 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:37,560 he remembers verses 3 to 5 how God had delivered his ancestors in the past. When 171 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,800 David is mercilessly mocked he remembers his present experience of God's 172 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,760 continual care for him. That's verses 9 to 11. And then when David feels 173 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:53,480 physically threatened from the outside he remembers that God will protect and 174 00:18:53,480 --> 00:19:05,320 save him in the future. That's verses 19 to 21. Do you see? This is what we must do. 175 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:12,040 Even when we feel utterly alone just as David did we must go to God with our 176 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:19,960 loneliness. We must anchor ourselves in his promises what he has said he will do. 177 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:25,400 We will trust in God. We must trust in God that he's looked after us this far 178 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,160 and we must trust his promise that he will look after us in the days to come. 179 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,640 Even though we cannot see him even though he's like a mountain in the pitch 180 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:44,440 darkness of our experiences we must trust in him. But there is a problem here 181 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:52,760 isn't there? As we work through the Psalm did you spot the problem? Just look 182 00:19:52,760 --> 00:20:04,000 through verses 1 to 21 again see if you notice it. You see these are King David's 183 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:15,640 words aren't they? But they can't be King David's words. Why? Well David got himself 184 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:21,080 into a number of scrapes. Many of us know the story of David fighting the giant 185 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:28,400 Goliath and David was in King Saul's court and King Saul tried to skewer him 186 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,560 with a spear. David knew what it was like to get himself in trouble. David knew 187 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,240 what it was like for King Saul to call the entire Israelite army to track him 188 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:43,200 down to kill him. David knew what it was like to be spat at and mocked by Shimei. 189 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:54,800 But the events of verses 16 to 18 never happened to David because they describe 190 00:20:54,800 --> 00:21:04,200 a judicial execution. They describe David being encircled, his hands and his feet 191 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:12,800 being pierced, his clothing being divided up through the casting of lots. That only 192 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:20,040 happens at one event, at an execution. Because it is only at the point of 193 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:26,960 execution that a person no longer has any need for clothes anymore when they 194 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:36,840 bear the ultimate humiliation of the cross. And that never happened to David. 195 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:45,840 In fact it could never have happened to David. You see back in those days Kings 196 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:51,840 weren't judged and then executed after they committed war crimes. There was no 197 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:58,760 international criminal court in the Hague back in 1000 BC. Now when Kings 198 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,320 were defeated back then they were just simply killed in battle. No trial, no 199 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:09,920 judge, no jury, just death. Which means that Psalm 22 cannot be describing 200 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:18,040 David's experiences. It must be describing someone else. Which brings us 201 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:24,600 to our second point today, the loneliness of Christ. Peter in his sermon in 202 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:33,000 Pentecost recorded in Acts chapter 2, he says that David was a prophet who spoke 203 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,440 about what his great descendant would one day do. Now Peter was saying that 204 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,360 about Psalm 16 but he could have been saying exactly the same thing about Psalm 205 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:51,340 22. You see as one preacher has put it, Psalm 22 is a pre-prepared execution 206 00:22:51,340 --> 00:22:57,520 statement written a thousand years before the execution. That's what it is. 207 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:04,000 That's what we saw in our reading from Matthew chapter 27 that Isaac did. 208 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:12,320 Jesus on the cross picks up Psalm 22 and he reads it as his own execution 209 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:23,600 statement. Verse 1, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And the events that 210 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:32,160 Psalm 22 described, they map precisely onto Jesus own experiences on the cross. 211 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:39,680 So as the governor's soldiers dress him in Matthew 27, as they make him look like 212 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:45,240 a king and then as they thrust the thorny crown onto his head, shredding his 213 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:54,920 scalp, they mock and insult him as verse 7, Psalm 22 says. As they strike him, as 214 00:23:54,920 --> 00:24:00,240 they stand around him, striking him again and again on the head, they surround him 215 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:08,800 like a herd of raging bulls. Verse 12. And then in verse 43 of Matthew chapter 27, 216 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:15,820 the baying crowd, they repeat almost word for word the very taunt recorded in 217 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:22,280 Psalm 22 verse 8. They say he trusts in God, let God rescue him now if he wants 218 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:29,400 him. And then as the nails are driven through his hands and feet, it happens 219 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:36,040 just as Psalm 22 verse 16 said. He is left exposed naked with all his bones on 220 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:43,520 display. Verse 17 of Psalm 22. And then Matthew chapter 27 verse 35 tells us 221 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:50,760 that the soldiers cast lots for his clothing. Just as Psalm 22 verse 18 said 222 00:24:50,760 --> 00:25:03,240 they would. So what do we learn from this? Two things I think. Firstly, God in the 223 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:10,480 person of his son Jesus Christ knows exactly what it's like to be human, 224 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:18,000 living in this broken sin-fractured world. He knows what it is to be abandoned, to 225 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:27,640 be mocked, to be beaten, to be utterly alone. Writing just after the end of the 226 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:33,640 first World War with all of his unspeakable horror, Edward Shilito penned 227 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:38,080 a famous poem. He called it Jesus of the Scarves. And the final verse goes like 228 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:44,600 this. The other gods were strong but thou was weak. They rode but thou 229 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:54,280 distumbled to a throne. But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak. And not a 230 00:25:54,280 --> 00:26:07,960 God has wounds but thou alone. Not a God has wounds but thou alone. Do you see? The 231 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:14,080 God of the Bible, Jesus, he is the only God who knows what it's like to be human. 232 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:23,320 Who knows what it's like to be you. Allah doesn't know that. Nor does Vishnu. Nor do 233 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:28,360 the forces of Mother Nature. Nor do the invisible powers of natural selection. 234 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:37,280 Only God in Jesus Christ knows what it's like to be you. To our wounds only God's 235 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:49,840 wounds speak. But in Jesus, God has not only experienced our pain and loneliness. 236 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:57,840 Secondly, he has also dealt with our pain and loneliness. You see, as Jesus uttered 237 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,520 those famous words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was not just 238 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:12,440 associating with humanity. He was substituting for humanity. What do I mean? 239 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:17,320 Well it takes us back again to Genesis chapters 1 to 3. Remember what we saw 240 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:24,360 there? We were created for relationship with God but our sin, our rebellion 241 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:33,320 against God, it shattered that relationship. It meant that we were forsaken by God. 242 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:38,960 But here's what happened in Matthew chapter 27. Here is what was prophesied 243 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:46,960 in Psalm 22. God the Son, who has forever been in perfect harmonious joyful 244 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:54,200 relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, he was cut off. He was 245 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:02,640 forsaken. I can't imagine what the physical pain of the cross was like. It 246 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:09,400 must have been incredible. But Jesus didn't cry out because of the physical 247 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:14,200 pain. I can't imagine what the emotional pain of the cross would have been like 248 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,840 for him to have been deserted by all of his friends, by all of those who loved 249 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:23,440 him most, so he thought. I can't imagine how painful that would have been for him. 250 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:34,680 But that didn't make Jesus scream. No, it was this moment that made him cry out. 251 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:43,760 Three o'clock in the afternoon, one Friday in the first century, when God 252 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:53,600 literally turned his back on Jesus as he punished him. Jesus was more alone on the 253 00:28:53,600 --> 00:29:02,400 cross than anyone has ever been alone. And he did it for us, as our substitute in 254 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:10,800 our place. I wonder whether you've managed to see the the Netflix documentary, 255 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:18,720 The Trapped 13. Give me a nod if you've seen that yet. No one. Maybe one person 256 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:23,040 has seen it. It's brilliant. I recommend you watch it. It tells the story of the 257 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:29,160 13 schoolboys aged 11 to 16 who got trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018. 258 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,880 And the rescue plan that they came up with was astonishing. It involved 18 259 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:39,800 divers. It was a perilous dive. It was two and a half miles long and half a 260 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:44,520 mile down into the depths of the mountain. What made it worse was that as 261 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,120 they went through the caves, there were incredibly strong currents pulling them 262 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:54,200 in all different directions. It was also an extremely narrow passage. At one point 263 00:29:54,200 --> 00:30:03,080 the passage was just 38 centimeters by 72 centimeters. The divers were taking 264 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:07,400 incredible risks as they went in to rescue the boys. And just a few days 265 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:13,120 before the final rescue attempt, one of the divers lost his life. When it came to 266 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:19,360 the actual rescue, it was decided that the dive was too perilous and that the 267 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,520 boys, if they were made to do the dive, they would panic. And that panic would 268 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:28,880 put both their own lives and the life of their rescuer at risk. And so the 269 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:37,360 decision was taken to anesphatize the 18 boys. So they were put to sleep by 270 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,760 a doctor who was one of the divers. And then once they were asleep, once they 271 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:48,360 were knocked out, the divers lined up throughout the tunnel and passed the 272 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:53,080 boys one to another. And they put themselves in the place where all the 273 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:59,880 sharp rocks were so the boys would just go through seamlessly. The boys felt 274 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:10,280 nothing and the divers did it all. Well that's what happened on the cross. Jesus 275 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:17,240 on the cross, he took the punishment. He took the forsakenness, the abandonment in 276 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:27,320 our place and we felt nothing at all. That's what Psalm 22 is ultimately about. 277 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:37,520 He experienced our estrangement from God. Two things this teaches us. Firstly, it 278 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:45,920 teaches us that our sin is far, far, far worse than we dared imagine. It required 279 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:55,400 this of him. If it required something so extreme, then sin isn't merely a matter 280 00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:04,040 of a few slip-ups, a few mistakes, getting a few things wrong. No sin. Sin is 281 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:08,480 nothing less than high treason against the God who made us. That is why Jesus 282 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:16,440 had to go through this. But here's the second thing it teaches us. The fact that 283 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:24,760 Jesus stayed on the cross, that he endured this for you, for me, it must mean that 284 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:35,760 he loves us. He loves us far more than we possibly dare imagine. So have you 285 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:44,800 received that love, that forgiveness, that grace that embraces you? Have you turned 286 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:53,600 from your relational rebellion against God and put your trust in him? He 287 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:58,640 experienced the relational rupture of hell, what all of our loneliness and 288 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:06,680 discomfort merely points to, and he did that so that we don't have to. More than 289 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:12,960 that, so that we can experience joy unimaginable in the Great Assembly. Which 290 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:20,920 brings us to our final point today. Look at verses 22 to 31 of Psalm 22. Verse 22 291 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,360 is a major turning point and there's an incredible movement here from the 292 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:30,560 language of verse one to the incredible joy of verse 22. From thirst in verse 15 293 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:37,360 to complete satisfaction in verse 26. From one person all alone in verse one 294 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:43,640 to a great assembly in verse 22, stretching backwards and forwards 295 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:53,440 throughout verse 30 all generations and verse 27 all nations. It's incredible. It's 296 00:33:53,440 --> 00:34:01,400 joy unimaginable. Satisfaction beyond our wildest dreams for all peoples in all 297 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:10,520 places at all times. But it's only possible because Jesus first cried out 298 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:18,200 in pain and abandonment. Do you know what Jesus's last words were before he died? 299 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:27,600 It is finished. But Jesus could only breathe out those last words because 300 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:37,800 first he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Our song of praise, the song of 301 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:43,040 praise that you're gonna be invited to sing if you're trusting in Jesus, is only 302 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:49,960 possible because Jesus first sung out a song of abandonment. Psalm 22 on the 303 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:56,800 cross. Listen to this. It's from the book of Hebrews and it's describing the 304 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,980 completion of Jesus's work through his death and resurrection. Hebrews chapter 305 00:34:59,980 --> 00:35:05,520 2 verse 11 and 12 says this, so Jesus is not ashamed to call them, that is 306 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:10,880 Christians, brothers and sisters. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers 307 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:18,880 and sisters in the assembly. I will sing your praises. He's quoting from verse 22 308 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:28,400 of Psalm 22. Do you see the point? All the greatest stories that have ever been 309 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:37,680 told are about a hero who suffers in orders that others can rejoice. From 310 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:44,120 gladiator to Harry Potter, from the Avengers Endgame to Lord of the Rings, 311 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:51,880 they all have the same story because they are all derived from this ultimate 312 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:59,000 true story. Jesus went through the agony, the punishment, the wounds and 313 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:05,440 forsakenness of verses 1 to 21 so that he could invite us into the glorious 314 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:12,880 praise of verses 22 to 31. So that he could invite us to join him in the 315 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:19,840 uninhibited joy and flourishing beauty and satisfaction, wholeness and oneness 316 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:27,200 of his resurrection glory. Before we close, just two implications I want to 317 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:39,320 draw out for us. Firstly, this means that Jesus gets you. I know that some of us 318 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:46,280 are going through a really hard time right now. It's really painful. We're 319 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:51,480 struggling in ways we never imagined that we would struggle in. Experiencing 320 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:57,160 dark nights of the soul, feeling utterly lonely, like no one can understand us, 321 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:04,280 like there is no way out. But know this, there is nothing we can experience, 322 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:09,160 nothing we can suffer, no ordeal we can go through, which is beyond the 323 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:18,280 comprehension of Jesus. The God we cry out to is not distant. Sometimes it can 324 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,840 feel like that in our experience, can't it? It can feel that way with our 325 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:25,840 politicians. How does someone who earns a million pounds a year understand what 326 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:30,840 it's like to struggle with the cost of living crisis? But Jesus is not like that. 327 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:42,120 Jesus gets us. You feel completely alone, let down by those closest to you. You 328 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:48,680 feel hurt, humiliated, abandoned, ashamed. Jesus gets you at the most profound 329 00:37:48,680 --> 00:38:01,680 level. He understands, always. And secondly, Psalm 22 tells you that Jesus will keep 330 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:10,160 you. He will keep you. This life is hard, it is. Verses 1 to 21 feel so 331 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:15,360 terribly close to our experience sometimes, don't they? But Jesus is one we 332 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:22,880 can put our trust in. Verse 4. He is one who will carry us from cradle to grave. 333 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:32,240 Verse 9. And he is our strength. Verse 19. You see, Jesus both showed us the way, 334 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:41,560 suffering now, glory later. But he also made the way for us through his ultimate 335 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:50,800 moment of weakness on the cross. That one event when he cried out, my God, my God, 336 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:57,160 it is guaranteed that this feeling of loneliness that we experience today, we 337 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:03,440 all experience it to some extent, that cry on the cross has guaranteed that one 338 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:12,520 day soon it will feel like a distant memory, like a penny thrown into an 339 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:19,360 infinite ocean of never-ending, all-embracing relational joy and 340 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:28,680 satisfaction. That is the hope of Psalm 22 and that is the cast-iron guarantee 341 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:37,040 that has been signed with the cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Let me 342 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:43,040 pray for us. Lord Jesus, thank you that you cried out your cry of abandonment in 343 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:51,900 Psalm 22, so that we need never truly feel that. Thank you that you promise 344 00:39:51,900 --> 00:39:58,400 that you are with us, that you will never leave nor forsake us. Thank you that in 345 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:06,680 you we have full relational satisfaction. Help us to taste that even now. Help us 346 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:11,160 to come to you, to lay our burdens before you, trusting that you are good, 347 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:16,480 trusting that you understand, trusting that you have made a way for us. And 348 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:24,120 knowing that this life is just fleeting and the joy and relational fulfillment 349 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:32,480 to come will far support anything we experience in this time. Amen.