I wonder how many times you and I have been let down by someone we know.
People understand well the term and implications behind the word: betrayal.
There are many people who promise us that they will stand by us, no matter what comes our way.
They say, ‘we have your back so do not worry, we will be right behind you’.
However, when trouble strikes, armed with that promise of support, many of them end up so far behind us that we cannot see them, even with a telescope!
We are constantly being left behind and hurt by those we believe we should be able to trust with quite literally everything which we hold dearest to our souls.
But when we are shocked, hurt and feeling betrayed by those we are closest to, sometimes even from within our own families – parents, children, and siblings, and spouses, the shock value, the hurt soar to completely indescribable levels.
When it reaches such an intimate and deeply personal level, there is that inner most feeling of.
“My trust is completely shattered.”
“I absolutely believe that in this exact moment I have no one to turn to!”
“What do I do now?”
“This is way too intimate, way too personal to tell anyone!”
“Who would ever understand what is going on within me?”
Is there any greater sense of loneliness that anyone can feel than this?
18-year-old stranger drives three hours to a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. In a state of greatest rage against a class of people with different colored skin, they park their car, get out and start shooting, then they enter the store —
18-year-old teenager gets mad at his mother over Wi-Fi, leaves the house, then drives away, crashes their car into an Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — A classroom filled with fourth graders, their teachers, is suddenly shot to pieces.
Yes humanity!
As only God knows and all of humanity surely and certainly dreads,
There is always a worse kind of inconceivable pain and anguish, of a souls’ indescribable betrayal, of utterly shattered trust and undefinable loneliness.
Who dares now to enter into this indescribable, inconceivable whirlwind?
Who has answers to all of the questions, both ponderable and imponderable?
Where to turn in the search for truth and trust?
Who to wise enough for us to ultimately turn to for truth and trust?
Psalm 22:1-2 Amplified Bible
A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] Aijeleth Hashshahar (The Doe of the Dawn). A Psalm of David.
22 [a]My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
2
O my God, I call out by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I find no rest nor quiet.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
King David was incredibly sad when he wrote this psalm, wasn’t he?
He was telling God that he felt completely alone. He felt like he couldn’t find God anywhere. He cried out in desperation, but God didn’t seem to answer.
Have you and I or literally everybody else we know ever felt like that?
Sometimes we are sad beyond our own capability to sufficiently express, maybe we do not trust those around us with our very deepest, most intimate thoughts.
When we are in that place where we are sure no one else can understand exactly what is going on in our hearts and in our souls, but also know we cannot keep it to ourselves because it is too powerful, overwhelming to sufficiently contain.
When we even in that place, question whether or not to dare to tell God about it.
Psalm 22 gives us words to unleash on our own when we feel God is not nearby.
We uncontrollably unleash upon any unsuspecting soul, Psalm 22:1-2 with a measure of trust and certainty that “we do not care who hears it, but we know from deep within the deepest places of our souls, there is someone who cares deeply enough to actually respond because our words have not scared them off.
When a person expresses their saddest feelings to God, that’s called a “lament.”
Psalm 22 is a lament.
Psalm 22 teaches us something else, though, about talking to God.
Read a few more verses—Psalm 22:3-5:
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame
In these verses David switches from telling God about his great sadness to remembering that God is great. God helped his ancestors.
David reminds God how others were saved when they trusted in God.
Perhaps David is remembering when Israel trusted God to save them from their enemies. Perhaps he is thinking of stories that you and I know too—stories about Ruth and Boaz, stories about Gideon and Joshua or Abraham and Isaac. Maybe David is remembering how God helped him defeat the giant Goliath.
Whatever he is thinking of, David quickly moves from sadness to praise. As we will see when we read more of this psalm, David isn’t done being sad, but he comes to God with two things on his mind: how sad he is and how good God is.
We can tell our sorrows to God too, but, like David, we should also remember how great God is. We can talk to God about our sorrows because we know that he listens to us. Isn’t it beyond great that we can talk to God about anything?
We can affirm our faith in the faithfulness of our God.
We can affirm our faith in the steadfast presence of His Son Jesus.
We can affirm our faith in the constancy of Holy Spirits intercession,
My own personal affirmation of faith in such times is from John 1:1-5
John 1:1-5Amplified Bible
The Deity of Jesus Christ
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the [c]darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
In spite of all questions, answerable and imponderable, YES! I Believe…!
I believe in the living God, the Creator and complete truth of the universe,
who is the pulse and purpose of all things seen and unseen,
who from the dust of earth calls up living beings to be children of eternity,
who through countless ages has provided for us many liberators
and tirelessly seeks to bring victory out of defeat and life out of decay.
I believe in Jesus the Christ, the Resurrected, God’s ONLY true Son,
who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,
who took upon himself the healing of the human race,
who bearing the burden of our sins went to Golgotha carrying his cross,
who was betrayed, crucified, dead and buried in a borrowed tomb,
who on the third day was found to be gloriously alive,
meeting with those who trust him and serve him to the end of the world.
I believe in the Holy Spirit of God,
within and among all who cherish Christ and his way,
who brings hope out of despair, love out of apathy, and joy out of sorrow,
who unceasingly regenerates and reforms the church
that it may always be the contemporary body of the risen Christ,
loving the world through prayer, word and deed.
I believe that even I am caught up in the resurgent life of Christ Jesus,
and that nothing in life or death can separate me from his love and joy.
In spite of unanswered, imponderable questions, YES! I believe.
YES! I BELIEVE!
I believe in truth as a living Reality,
not captured in theory or a creed,
but revealed to those who love;
the truth of Jesus,
the Spirit of truth,
the truth of God.
YES! Because I believe I trust,
not blindly but open eyed and bold
as a child climbing into a mother’s lap;
the truth of Jesus,
the Spirit of truth,
the truth of God.
YES! Because I believe I serve,
not as a slave that serves a tyrant
but like farmers reaping a harvest;
the truth of Jesus,
the Spirit of truth,
the truth of God.
YES! I BELIEVE
God is big enough to hear about our biggest hurts and our deepest sorrows.
He wants us to tell him everything
YES! I BELIEVE God is faithful!
God is trustworthy!
God is true!
YES! I BELIEVE
We can trust his promises to be kept and his purposes to be good.
How do we know?
Because from the very beginning of all things, God spoke and God Created;
The sunrise each morning is a reminder that the Father of heaven and earth is at forever and ever at work diligently keeping His universe in working order.
If it is true in nature, (Psalm 19:1-2) it is true in the spiritual realm as well.
Greet each new beginning, each sunrise as a reminder of God’s faithfulness.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, Builder and Creator of all things, I know that when I acknowledge your authority and your power that you will make my paths straight in front of me.
Please empower me to live a greater life in Christ. May your Holy Spirit who lives in me draw me closer to you. Give me a mind of understanding. Let me see as you see, and not as the world sees. I trust your judgment fully and know that my own judgment is limited. I believe you have everything in control, and you will guide me exactly where you want me to go. Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 