Feeling Abandoned by God

Psalm 22 is usually considered Christological. It is normally thought of in its relation to Christ at the crucifixion. It is right to think that but it is easy to ignore the fact that the writer was going through a most stressful and painful time. When he wrote this it was not with the thought in mind of some future prediction about someone else. He wrote this about himself during a specific time of great hardship and pressure. He really did feel abandoned by God. I suppose many believers in Christ can identify with this. They have either done something very foolish or are experiencing difficulties and pain such as never before. Even though the writer is describing how he feels in relation to God and the world around him, there are two key phrases that make the difference: "Yet You" and "But You, O LORD." Not only does the writer, David, feel abandoned by God, he also tells how he just is not functioning very well in daily life (vs. 14), he describes himself as broken and useless (vs. 15), and also in that verse says he has no hope and thinks of dying. This describes quite well a dark period in my life that lasted for at least 15 years. That is a long time to feel abandoned by God, to consider oneself useless and unable to understand why he was still alive. To top it off there were peers that indicated in past conversations that if I ever failed as I did, God would put me on a shelf for the rest of my life. I missed or was not paying attention to those phrases: "Yet You" and "But You, O LORD" even though I had read them several times. When David uses the word "LORD" he is using the covenant name for God. This evokes the memory of God's promises to be near to support His people and to protect them. I will never understand in this life why I missed this during that period. So I hang onto vss. 9-10. Because God has shown His love to David from birth, God has a purpose for him. God did not set His love on him just to later abandon him. In Psalm 138:8 he is able to confidently say that God "will acomplish His purpose for me." God never abandons those He has set His love on. One other way to look at it would be as Jacob did in Genesis 48:15 when he said that God had been his shepherd every day all his life clear up to this point when he was dying. And he knew God would take him all the way. So when I feel abandoned by God, whether it is because of something I have done or not, this is the hope and promise God never stops working His purpose out for me and will shepherd me all the way until I am with Him face to face.