When Jesus recites, “ ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?’ that is ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ ” (Matthew 27:46), Christ refers to the whole of Psalm 22, since in Hebrew tradition Psalms are titled by their first line. This is a cry of victory!

Consider these verses from Psalm 22:

4 Our ancestors trusted you. They trusted, and you rescued them.

5 They cried to you and were saved. They trusted you and were never disappointed.

24 The LORD has not despised or been disgusted with the plight of the oppressed one. He has not hidden his face from that person. The LORD heard when that oppressed person cried out to him for help.

Jesus was totally in the Father’s will! Jesus was an oppressed one, not a sinner. God could not banish a part of the divine self. God cannot be divided.

That sin drives God away is a theological construct, not a Biblical one. King David committed many sins, but repented and never rebelled against God, and he was “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22, quoting 1 Samuel 13:14). God abandons rebels, not sinners.

God abandons rebels (like King Saul), like the priests who were evil, like the people of Israel when they went after other gods, but God says to the faithful, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).

Our second daughter, as a newborn, would let no one carry her or comfort her except my wife. This went on for a little while and then I refused to let it go on any longer because my wife was wearing out. Besides, I was her Father.

So I picked her up. She screamed. After awhile it turned to crying. A little later it transformed into a whimper. Finally she went to sleep. After that I could care for her.

During this ordeal of behaviour modification my wife had to leave the house. A nursing Mother not only has an emotional reaction to her crying baby, but also a physical one.

I was just sitting here remembering that incident because a life event triggered a different memory, and this flashed into my mind afterwards.

It is for me a picture of how humans treat God. We complain when God reaches out to care for us, because we want it the way we want it and there is no compromise. So God performs a transformation to open our hearts to the mothering of our Creator, and it is sometimes an ordeal. (Imagine, we fight being cared for by the Creator of the universe Whose love transcends all limits!)

What my wife endured reminds me of how we look on at God working and we judge it and condemn it and blaspheme our dear Saviour because we do not understand what is going on, yet in our humanity we assume we are all-knowing and can stand in judgment against the eternal, just and infinitely fair Judge.

There have been times that God has asked me to do “crazy” things. Read more…

Jesus “can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.“ Read more…

This past weekend the mosquitoes were active in large numbers. Since it has been very dry, with less than half our usual rainfall, I was watering our gardens. Read more…

In a cloud of forgetfulness Christians today, at times, do not grasp (or believe) why Jesus opposed religious people. Read more…

“Am I the kind of person other people know they can trust? And do they trust me – not because I’m clever at winning their confidence, but because I actually behave in trustworthy ways? ‘Save me, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues [Psalm 120:2].’ “

John Ortberg in “When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box”, 2007, page 112.

I added a new page to my blog today. I invite you read it at your convenience. The title is “Test Me”.

This comes from an insight I gained from JS Park “How Can I Trust You?”.

Going over the times of persecution during this journey has been helpful. It clarifies the roots of what I am today. Read more…

There were times I almost did not survive the persecution. It was then that God sent agents to rescue me. Rarely did they know it.

Read more…