“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1)

This is such a familiar verse because we hear it quoted from the lips of Jesus as He endures the agony of God’s withdrawal when Jesus takes on the sins of mankind. It is the darkest moment of earth’s existence. It is the cup that Jesus prayed He might be spared. It is the thing that Jesus dreaded in the Garden and desired that another way be found.

The psalmist feels the agony in his personal life when he discovers that God’s presence has fled him. It is how the sin of the psalmist made him feel. He compared himself to a worm and God as holy. It is how sin should make us all feel. How can we walk in sin and expect God to keep us company?

On the other hand, God never leaves us, but we leave Him. It’s our sins that separate us from God, not God leaving us. Sin cannot dwell in God’s holy tent. God and sin cannot occupy the same house. When I sin, it is my sin and my inequities that bring about the forsaking. When Jesus took the sins of the world to be payment for them the natural consequences was God’s withdrawal. Separation from God is what eternal death is all about. Those who still carry their sins are bound to that eternal separation.

Task for Today: Read this psalm over and instead of thinking about Jesus think about your own life. There are two choices available to you. Give your sins to Jesus and let Him ask the question or keep the sins yourself and you then ask the question in the day of judgment. Jesus cried this psalm so that you didn’t have to. Come to Jesus, He will save you, He will wash you white as snow. He will bear your sins and pay your debt for them. Jesus cried, “My God, my God,” so that you could hear, “Welcome, good and faithful servant.”