Psalm Friday

He makes Everything Beautiful

Psalm Friday

Psalm 22, continued

We will continue on in our journey today through Psalm 22, the Psalm of the Cross. We have heard the mobs of angry people screaming insults at our Lord. Our hearts have ached with unspeakable pain knowing that we were the ones for whom He died to save. Today, my friend won’t be any different. Today our eyes will once again behold a picture we will not care to see and our ears will hear words we’ll wish were never uttered. As hard as it might be, I believe this is a journey you and I must continue on with; because it is on this journey that we see the beautiful love our God has for us.

“But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All
who see Me mock Me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the
LORD; let the LORD rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.’”
Psalm 22:6-8, NIV

My mind cannot even begin to grasp the emotions Christ would have felt as He hung upon Calvary’s cross. Oh, how His heart must have ached as He looked into the eyes of men and women as they hurled insults at Him. To them He was nothing; not even a man, but only a worm. He was despised by those He loved so dearly. He was ridiculed and mocked.

“And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You
who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the
Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking
with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If
He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for
He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the robbers who were crucified with Him
reviled Him with the same thing.”
Matthew 27:39-44, NKJV

“If You are the Son of God, then why don’t You save Yourself? Come on Jesus, show us what You’re made of. Call down ten thousand angels to rescue You. Where’s Your God now?” Over and over and over these insults rang in His ears. One by one by one they passed Him by shaking their heads in disgust. As each hate-filled word was uttered and as each one passed Him by, the heart of Christ was filled with more anguish and pain. I dare say it wasn’t the physical pain that caused Him the most grief, but rather it was the pain of rejection He felt as each one turned their backs on Him and chose to walk the other way.

Very few looked beyond the bloody, beaten body of the Savior that day; very few understood why He didn’t come down off the cross. Praise His name, Christ looked past the anger and the hatred. He heard more than raging insults and saw beyond the heads shaking in disgust. Christ saw deep into the hearts of all those that surrounded Him that day and saw hurt; He beheld a people who need a Savior, a people who needed love, a people who needed to made beautiful. And that’s exactly what He did; He made us beautiful through His beaten, battered body.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the
hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV