Day 12

“MY GOD, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You answer not; and by night I am not silent or find no rest.”

– Psalms 22:1-3 

This Psalm reveals a very important principle in our relationship with God. In reading through the psalms of David we find that he constantly practiced this key principle in his daily walk. We read about David and wonder,

“How did he become such a great man of God?”

“How was he so blessed and prosperous?”

“How was he able to survive through all those battles and become victorious?”

You could analyze David’s every move and try to imitate him, or you can look at the root of his actions—the very foundation of his spiritual life—which was complete trust in and honesty with God. Whatever was on David’s heart, whether it was positive or negative, he didn’t hold it back from the Lord. Look at the statements in the verse above:

“…why have You forsaken me?” and,

“I cry in the daytime, but You answer not…”

It may sound as if David was blaming God, but as you can see in the verses following, David is really putting a demand on God based on what he knows God has done before. Our “honesty” statements may sound a bit different, but the principle remains the same:

“God, why are these awful things happening?”

“Why does it seem like You’re not doing anything about it?”

Many fall away when they think these types of thoughts, because they don’t verbalize them before the Master. God can’t do anything with our dark secrets until we bare them out before Him in complete honesty. We might think, “I can’t say something like that to God! He doesn’t need to hear that from me,” but we must understand that God wants the secrets of our hearts.

Trust me when I say this: God can handle it. He doesn’t want us to hide from Him when we notice something within ourselves that He doesn’t approve of. That is, in fact, the opposite of what He wants, according to verse 24:

“He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has He hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him, He heard.”

God sent Jesus to die for us so that He could have ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL of us! Is that emphasized enough? That means whether our hearts are full of good things or bad things, and no matter what secrets are deep within our hearts, God is committed to His relationship with us. “…He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 1:6).

So use this Psalm as an example of how to be open and exposed before God. In verses one and two David expresses his heart, which helps him clear his head so he can begin to remember and confess all that God has done for him and for Israel in verses three through five. Then, because of the intensity of the situation, David declares even more of his anguish to God in verses six through eight. Back and forth he goes, baring it all out before the Lord, calling to Him for help in the dire circumstances, and remembering and declaring God’s faithfulness in the past. Believe that God will deal with the secrets of your heart in the best, perhaps a bit painful, but most loving and beneficial way possible.

Confession for today: “Holy Spirit, I need Your help to be completely open with You. There are things in my heart that are hard to be honest about, but I want to learn to be more open with You so that, in complete honesty, I can be completely free to be with You and serve You, unhindered by sin or turmoil, every single day of my life.”

Pursue your purpose in Him,

Anthony B.