Mensa Otabil - Fear the Lord
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Psalm 22, verses 23 and 24: «You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has He hidden His face from him; when he cried to Him, He heard.» As you know, we start Psalm 22 on a note of despair: «My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?»
That is how the psalm begins, but as the psalm progresses, we see a change. This change is from despair and concern to faith and a declaration of God’s goodness in the life of the psalmist. Because it is also a Messianic Psalm, it portrays the feelings of the Lord Jesus Christ as He wept His way through the cross and into our redemption. We start with concern, but now we are looking at God’s praise and God’s glory. The psalmist tells us that those who fear the Lord must praise Him.
This means that those who fear the Lord, who started by saying, «Lord, why am I in this situation? I don’t know why I’m going through this; it seems like You have forsaken me,» if you trust the Lord, if you reverence the Lord, if you really look up to the Lord, then praise will come out of your mouth. Those who reverence the Lord will praise Him. God speaks to each one of us who trust in Him: though for a season you may feel forsaken, the end of your matter will come in praise to the Lord.
The reason we praise God is that God does not despise the afflicted. In a general sense, God does not despise the afflicted, but in a specific sense, God does not despise the afflicted righteous. So when we love the Lord, serve Him, and trust Him while going through affliction and buffeting, God will not despise us. In other words, God will not turn His face against those who are afflicted. Affliction comes to each one of us in one way or another; something is going to hit you. But when something hits you and comes against you, God will not turn His face against you.
So if you’re going through affliction, remember God will not despise you. Our relationship with God goes through tests, trials, and all kinds of difficulties, but through everything we go through, God does not despise us; He does not turn His face against us. Then the psalmist ends by saying that because God does not despise us, when we cry to Him, He hears us. And that’s the assurance of every child of God, every Christian. Because you’re going to cry sometimes; you’re going to call on the Lord. You’re going to raise your voice in prayer; you’re going to be intense in prayer. There are going to be times when you pray constantly about something, and we all experience that.
There are moments when things just work out for us, and then there are times when we go through life and we pray intensely: you pray in the morning, you pray in the afternoon, you pray in the evening, you cannot sleep, and your voice is always before the Lord. The passage tells us, and the Bible shows us throughout the revealed scripture, that God hears the cry of His people.
So if you are at a stage in your life when you are crying to the Lord and calling on Him, God hears you. I believe that testimony is about to manifest in your life. The Lord who hears doesn’t only hear but also answers those whom He hears. So although we may start by saying, «My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?» the end product is that praise will come out of our mouth. God will hear us, and God will not despise us.
Let us pray. With me: Heavenly Father, You are the one who hears and answers. Turn Your face toward me and help me in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. God will help you, and He will speedily come to your aid. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.