Never Abandoned

"1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent." (Psalm 22:1-2 NIV).

Familiar words. The first question in this passage was uttered by our Lord as He hung on the cross. In this Psalm of Lament, David expresses his trust in God in spite of his apparent rejection by both God (our text) and men (verses 11; 19-21). He was in a lonely place.
Have you ever felt abandoned by God? It’s a horrible feeling. I went through a period of 3 1/2 years with that feeling back in the 80's. I was absolutely miserable. I am convinced that every believer has that experience. Not because I have had it but because our Lord Himself experienced it!

Understand this, though it is a part of the human experience to feel abandoned by God, the reality is God will never abandon us! "God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’" (Hebrews 13:5b NIV). By the way this verse (Hebrews 13:5) in the Greek language is written in the most emphatic way possible. Five times God says, "I will never leave or forsake you." That you can count on!