Lent
February 24, 2021
Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:23-31
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!—Psalm 22:23-26
The word translated fear above means to be in awe of*. I knew that but wanted to get the Strong’s reference for anyone that wanted to look it up. What surprised me when I opened the link was that the root word from which it is derived means to sojourn or dwells with. In fact, the definition of being in awe does not appear in the concordance until the very last entry. That sent me to the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. I was first reminded that Psalm 22 was quoted by Jesus from the cross when he said, My God, My God why have you forsaken me? The next several verses describe, in vivid terms, the distress and mistreatment with which the Psalmist was being inflicted. No wonder this Psalm came to Jesus’ mind as he hung on the cross. He, like the Psalmist, was feeling a disconnect from God. Did he no longer feel that he was sojourning with God or God with him? From the cross, Jesus is quoted as only saying the first part of Psalm 22, but he, no doubt, was just as acquainted with the entire work. Jesus knew the words quoted above. The Psalmist affirms in this segment that God is with, does sojourn, with those afflicted.
We, like Jesus, can take comfort from Psalm 22. While we indeed may cry out in despair, God is there and is with us every step of the way. This is a very appropriate scripture for the season of Lent. It is just as crucial for the USA as it reaches the terrible milestone of 500,000 deaths to COVID during the past year. Hundreds of thousands of people are going without electricity and water in one of the worst winter storms we have had in over 100 years. And We were recently shocked as citizens attacked the US Capitol. God does not hide from us or our circumstances. God hears our cries and carries us through our troubled times.
Prayer: Lord, we asked for special blessings on all those who have lost loved ones during this pandemic. Grant us helping hands for those who are recovering from disaster. We also pray for those who feel disenfranchised and turn to violence in response. Amen.
*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1481.htm
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.