Lord’s Day, Vol. 10 No. 12

Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

Does God abandon His children? In life, there are times when God allows us to go through such heavy affliction we feel as if God has abandoned us in those moments of pain and suffering. When the burden becomes so heavy, so real and literal we feel ourselves alone in our affliction. A sense of abandonment can come upon us that causes us to struggle to keep the faith and continue to trust God. 

To cry out in our pain, “Lord, how long?”, “How long wilt thou forget me?” Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? This was the cry of the psalmist David in Psalm 13 until he stilled his heart to boldly come to the throne of God in prayer seeking the mercy of God and received it when God assured his heart that he is not alone in His struggle, God’s mercy will be with him.

Psalm 13:5-6 (KJV) ⁵ But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. ⁶ I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

His problem is not solved yet but he understood by faith that God will help him. He was willing to trust God’s mercy and God’s joy came and overwhelmed him and he was able to praise God. God has not abandoned him. In the heaviness of the trial, he felt forsaken. He had to assure his heart through prayer and God’s promises that God is still with him. 

And the reason why God will not abandon His children is that His Son Jesus Christ has won the battle over sin to secure our salvation for all eternity when we put our faith and trust in Him. 

God has no orphans but derelict children. The times when we have a sense of disappointment and God’s abandonment are when we are not drawing close to God and resting in His promises. 

God does not abandon His children. When He saves us, we are saved and “safe” and “secured” for all eternity. Why do I have such confidence to make such a statement? This is because the Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ secured our salvation when He took upon Himself the full weight of all our sins on the cross. 

When Jesus Christ went to the cross, He was our sin-bearer. Him who knew no sin, God hath made to be sin for us. And my sin, your sin, their sin, our sin was placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  God is holy. God cannot look upon sin. God the Father turns His eyes, His face from sin as His Son bore them all. 

1 John 1:5 (KJV) ⁵ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 

There is a deep mystery in our Lord’s words here “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). It was not just the bodily anguish but the real pressure of His soul bearing the enormous burden for sins. He was our Substitute for sin.

Jesus Christ was suffering the penalty for sin. And if a person is not saved, he is God-forsaken forever in hellfire. But for all who accept Jesus Christ’s work on the cross for sins find reconciliation with God. All who trust in Jesus Christ will never be abandoned because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 

These are the words of our Lord upon the cross that broke the silence of His suffering and humiliation since the time He was crucified in the morning at 9 am. For three hours, He endured the pain from nails that were thrust into His hands and feet that secured Him on the cross. The pain was excruciating. He had to support His own body weight by those driven nails into His hands and feet that slowly tore His body. His wounds are swollen and inflamed, He struggles to breathe with severe headache and exhaustion gripping the ailing body. 

Suddenly at 12noon, our text tells us at the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. These three hours of darkness on the cross mark the second phase and climax of Christ’s suffering. As our Lord struggles, one of the thieves who were crucified with Him was gloriously saved. 

Luke 23:43-44 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. 44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

He committed His dear mother to the care of the Apostle John in John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

The darkness, a supernatural phenomenon, must have caused shock and awe to the people to see this amazing darkness. Fear and silence must have come upon the people and the blasphemers have shut their mouths in horror. It was the time when Christ entered the final stage of His sacrifice, the peak of His suffering and separation from the Father, it is as if as one commentator observed, “God turned the light off the nation of Israel.”

Darkness in the Bible has always been associated with judgment. When God judged Egypt before the Exodus, He literally darkened the land of Egypt to punish its leaders and people for refusing to obey God’s voice by letting the children of Israel go to serve Him. It was a terrible sign of God’s wrath upon Israel. More so, it can represent God’s displeasure and judgment against sin. And Christ, our Redeemer, was paying the ultimate price for the sins of His people. He was giving His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Darkness is often used to describe hell – Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The wicked are tormented in the flames of hell. Scripture was fulfilled that Jesus bore our sins on the cross. And our Saviour, even in His deepest agony and humiliation, does not waiver but persevered to carry our sins looking to God. The Saviour’s cry is not against God but to God. He made a double effort to draw near to God – Philippians 2:8 (KJV) ⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. All praise and glory to His Name. Amen.

Yours lovingly,

 Pastor Lek Aik Wee