The Cry Before the Song

Psalm 22 begins with one of the most honest cries in all of Scripture: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words were first written by David, but they were later spoken by Jesus from the cross. That means this psalm does more than give us language for our pain. It leads us to the Savior who entered our pain.

There are seasons when life hurts so deeply that polite prayers feel impossible. We pray, but heaven feels silent. We believe God is good, but we cannot understand why He feels far away. Psalm 22 reminds us that honest lament is not the opposite of faith. Sometimes, lament is faith fighting to breathe.

David does not run from God in his suffering. He runs to God with his suffering. Even when he feels abandoned, he still says, “My God.” That little word “my” matters. It shows us that pain may shake our emotions, but it does not have to sever our relationship with the Lord.

This is why Psalm 22 is such a gift to the church. It teaches us to bring our grief, confusion, and questions into the presence of God. We do not have to pretend. We do not have to clean up our prayers before coming to Him. Our Father is not frightened by our tears.

But Psalm 22 also points us beyond David to Jesus. At the cross, Jesus cried the opening words of this psalm. He was mocked, pierced, surrounded by enemies, and publicly shamed. He was truly forsaken so that all who trust in Him would never be finally forsaken. He carried our sin, bore our judgment, and opened the way for us to be brought near to God.

The beauty of Psalm 22 is that it does not end in despair. It ends in worship. The cry of abandonment becomes a song of praise. The suffering servant becomes the source of hope for the nations.

That is our hope as well. Your pain is not the end of your story. In Christ, suffering does not get the final word. Jesus does.

At Calvary, we want to be a people who carry hope, build intentional relationships, pursue Jesus, and make disciples. Psalm 22 reminds us why. Because Jesus carried the cross, we can carry hope to a hurting world.