Friday, March 22, 2013

Lent 38

Obviously, I am not well-read on matters theological. I am trying to be better read on the straight up Bible side of things, but knowing what other smart people know and think about what's in the Bible isn't really on my list. Truthfully, I find myself the most interesting most days. Unless other people take time to write a book about what the Bible says about me, I'm just not going to go to all that trouble to read what they think it says about everybody else, you know? Maybe one day I'll get over that...

I say this, because sometimes I trip across bits of the Bible the floor me, and it occurs to me that probably I'm not the first person to have noticed said bit. Today is one of those days.  Have you read Psalm 22? David goes on and on (as David is wont to do) about how terrible his suffering is and describes Jesus' suffering on the cross!!  Did you know this?? I think I knew that something was said about it in Isaiah, but I don't think any part of me knew that David wrote a whole Psalm about it! Did the disciples know this Psalm?? Did they freak right out when they saw the crucifixion, or did it just slowly occur to them later as they sat around in their dark room being terrified, and presumably rehashing all that had happened??

"Guys, does anyone remember that Psalm of David's, somewhere near the beginning? Maybe 20 or 22 or something? Where he talks about being pierced in the side? That one...?? It's weird, right? Cause isn't that exactly what happened yesterday?"

No deep thoughts about this really.  Just this.

Psalm 22[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.[b]
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.[c]
In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
15 My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce[e] my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you[f] I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!
27 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,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.
29 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.
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!

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