Psalm 22 (KJV) - Part I: My God, why hast thou forsaken me?

From Psalms

Psalm 22
(For the director of music.  To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning."  A psalm of David.)

¹My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
      why art thou so far from helping me,
      and from the words of my roaring?
²O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not;
      and in the night season, and am not silent.

³But thou art holy,
      O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
⁴Our fathers trusted in thee:
      they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
⁵They cried unto thee, and were delivered:
      they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man;
      a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
⁷All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
      they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
⁸He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him:
      let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

⁹But thou art he that took me out of the womb:
      thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
¹⁰I was cast upon thee from the womb:
      thou art my God from my mother's belly.
¹¹Be not far from me;
      for trouble is near;
      for there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls have compassed me:
      strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
¹³They gaped upon me with their mouths,
      as a ravening and a roaring lion.
¹⁴I am poured out like water,
      and all my bones are out of joint:
my heart is like wax;
      it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd;
      and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;
      and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

How many addicts have uttered, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?  Why do you stay far away?  I cry out but you don't hear my prayers."

How do we get into these situations that we feel God is far away?  I believe the answer has two parts.  The first is that God does not stay away from us - but rather we grow away and stray away from God.  As a result he puts us in situations, often fairly dire, so that we can understand that truth.  God intends that good things can come out of all situations.  Listen to the story of most recovering addicts and alcoholics.  In their addiction they had grown farther from God.  Fallen into a hole of the addiction and replaced their need of God with something else.

In recovery though they slowly returned to God.  Placed their faith in Him and slowly found strength to overcome their addiction, as well as the other problems in their lives.  In that journey their lives were transformed.  The 12 steps is not just about learning how to stop drinking, using drugs, or acting out in some other compulsive behavior.  The 12 steps is about finding a new life in your higher power.  Recovery is about transformation.

So, why in the world should we be ashamed of worshiping a powerful God that can transform the life of a "worm?"  (Verse 6-8)  This seems kind of silly but is still a real emotion that many addicts face.  That we still fear being mocked for our belief, often a strong belief, in a higher power.  Especially given what we've seen Him do in our lives.  To which I simply say, "If god is for us who can be against us." (Romans 8:31)  Why should we worry about what men say when we know that God is on our side?  How do we know he's on our side?  Because we've seen him pull us out of our hole of addiction and restore us to a healthy and meaningful life.

Thanks for letting me share.