God Forsaken of God. Who Can Understand That?

That's what Martin Luther thought anyway. I've puzzled a long while over the words of Christ in Matthew 27, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is why the necessity of Scripture in interpreting Scripture is so paramount. The Webster Dictionary definition of "forsaken" is "to renounce or turn away from" and the synonym listed is, "abandon." Somehow I never questioned the idea that God the Father "turned away from" the Son on the cross or that He abandoned the Son, unable to look upon the sin Christ took upon Himself.

Then I read Psalm 22. Christ's words on the cross are a direct quotation of the first line in Psalm 22; a psalm of lament and praise by David. But does that automatically mean that we have to apply the whole meaning of Psalm 22 to the cross? That depends. If you believe that Jesus was simply abusing the context of Psalm 22 out of His own despair then, no, we don't need to understand the rest of the Psalm. However, anyone who takes the time to look at the Psalm will see that Christ is actively fulfilling the whole meaning of the Psalm. Just look at how many verses correspond to Christ's experience on the cross aside from the first verse...

Psalm 22:7, "All who see me mock me; they hurl insults at me, shaking their heads: 'He trusts in the Lord, let the Lord rescue Him. Let Him deliver Him, since he delights in Him.'"

Matthew 27 "39, And those who passed by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads." 42,"He saved others, but He can't save Himself." 43, "He trusts God, let God deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

Psalm 22:18
“They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Matt. 27:35; John 19:23,24
“Then they crucified Him, and divided his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet...”

Then of course there's verse 16 of Psalm 22, "They have pierced my hands and my feet."
Both John and Matthew saw this passage as prophetic of Christ on the cross. But what about the rest? Is there really a precedent for attributing anything in this Psalm to Christ, beyond the portions that refer to His suffering? The author of Hebrews would certainly seem to point us in that direction.

Hebrews 2:12-17"I will declare your name to my brothers, in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.
'I will put my trust in him.'
And again he says,
'Here I am, and the children God has given me.'
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

So, a passage about how, through suffering, Christ became the perfect means of atonement for sin, applies Psalm 22 to Christ yet again. Only this time the connotation is victory and accomplishment through suffering. What does the rest of Psalm 22 talk about then? Beyond the suffering parts that is.

Psalm 22:22-31“I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the Lord praise Him. All you descendants of Jacob honor Him! Revere him all you descendants of Israel.
For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; He has not hidden His face from Him but has listened to His cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The Poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him – may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him – those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn – for He has done it.

Suddenly we have to wonder if Christ and David for that matter would agree that God had forsaken them in the Webster sense, that is, that he had abandoned them. An interesting aspect of all the times God "forsakes" is that it never has the connotation of strict abandonment. For God to forsake something is to poor his wrath upon it.

Psalm 89:46, "How long O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?"

Psalm 22 agrees with the rest of Scripture in painting the picture of the Messiah, victorious in suffering, faithful to His Heavenly Father, having accomplished a perfect atonement for sin. Christ cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - because He wanted us to see that victory, that accomplishment, that faithfulness so that we would look at all the other things we think might save us or make us secure and turn to Him in faith.