May 10th, 20

MAY 10,  A NEW SONG

Our readings today are II Samuel 18, Psalm 56, and Matthew 27.  We are reading through the New Living Translation.

“O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom!” (II Sam 18:33NLT)  

It’s a cry of a Father for his boy.  It’s a tragic cry of brokenness for all that’s wrong.  Jesus cries out too.  

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mt 27:46 NLT) 

The words seem so tragic. This, too, is a cry of loss, brokenness and all that is wrong.  But things are not always as they seem.  Jesus is actually quoting from Psalm 22.  It begins with the words, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I call out for help?  When Jesus started saying these words, the pious religious leaders who were there would have known what he was doing.  He was quoting from Psalms, repeating the words they knew so well. And those words don’t end in tragedy.  A Psalm that begins with the misery and pain of humiliation and death, ends with sweeping victory.  

My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. (Ps 22:16-18 NLT)

At the end of that Psalm we hear these words:

I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you. The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy. The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the  nations will bow down before him. For royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations. (Ps 22:25 - 28 NLT)

In that moment on the cross, the portion of Psalm 22 Jesus did not finish with his lips, he finished with his life.  It is finished.  Those were the words he spoke last of all.  Jesus has finished the song,  and it is not a song of tragedy, but of triumph.

I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.(Ps 22:25 NLT)

My God, my god, why have you forsaken me?  reflects all the despair, brokenness and anguish in the world.  We hear it in the cry of David for his son, and it’s in the cry of every broken heart, that has known loss, betrayal and tragedy.  Jesus bears all of this for us on the Cross.  He sings out the phrase, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?  Jesus experiences all of this so that He might get us to the end of the song – a song that ends in triumph, not tragedy.  He has done all of this so that our stories can be re-written.  He gives us a new song – no longer tragic cries, but instead, a new song of deliverance.  He experienced all of Psalm 22 for us, in order that we might live through Him.  

Live in the blessing of a New Song, won for you on Calvary.  God can re-write the song of your life.  And that is a tune worth singing.

You are loved!