By Jeremy Bell
Psalm 22 and Hebrews 2: 9 – 17. All scripture is God breathed, written through His uniquely made people. People use it to learn to be people of God. Scripture is NOT people breathed to uniquely create God. Theocentric perspective is simply believing that God reveals, and people understand. It rejects that people understand and reveal to themselves, God.
Matthew R. Francis wrote an article for Symmetry Magazine in 2016 in which he describes the big bang theory. He states, “Big Bang” broadly refers to the theory of cosmic expansion and the hot early universe. However, sometimes even scientists will use the term to describe a moment in time—when everything was packed into a single point. The problem is that we don’t have either observations or theory that describes that moment, which is properly (if clumsily) called the “initial singularity.”
The Big Bang
This theory is still a popular theory put forth as truth. In fact, it is highlighted as the primary belief system in schools and systems that are willing to accept all data unless it is metaphysical or philosophical in nature. This is not quite big picture thinking. Nevertheless, once this is assumed and extraneous data is left out, it is easy to understand the logic of random events causing impressively orderly reality. It may be hard to believe, but it is easy to see the logic.
It is easy to understand the concepts of the strong surviving as we watch great men raise up kingdoms and conquer and thrive. We learn what we consider to be the big picture of history. It makes sense that we may relax as we understand that our importance only matters for a time, and then we die, and soon, no one will remember us, and our activities are completely meaningless in the grand scheme of time and space. Though we witness order and laws and mechanics in nature that we have yet to understand fully, we are taught, and we mature into a belief system that preaches chance and meaninglessness.
Discarded though Observable Data
Is this comforting? Is this limited big picture what we really believe when we use our orderly made mind to examine truth? Why would we feel bad, even when no one tells us to, or why do we think there is a right and wrong way of doing things? Why do we go on living during times of great pain and sorrow?
What if human scientists have discovered some mechanics of how things work, but not the why? What if they are describing experiences from content, or, results from what was planned? People are taught and then believe that our existence is content, and we strive to discover an experience that not only provides meaning, but justification as well. What if this is backwards? What if this is the reason for an abundance of answers that continually results in more and more destruction?
Consider a few highlights from Psalm 22, color coded in groups from my motif analysis in my book, Psalms in Motif Analysis.
The Bible
In the Bible, it says that in the beginning was the word. The Bible says that its contents were breathed out from God and all of reality was spoken to be by Him. The Bible says there is order because an orderly and lawful God created it that way. The Bibles says that the big picture can only be shared by the One who created it. I submit this is more logical than thinking order came from chance. Though there is much mystery, in this view, the mighty men that conquered were all under the control of God.
God raised kingdoms and set their boundaries, regardless of how much credit we give to chance and ‘what if’s’. The Bible says this life is a tiny beginning to a much longer one. We may taste the dust of death, but people live this life towards a judgement before the next one. Each person matters in an eternal way and what they do is a super big deal. People may not remember us, but God says He remembers His children, forever.
Here is Psalm 22 in its entirety as well as the portion of Hebrews that references it.
[ Psalm 22 ]
For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer;
in the night season, and am not silent.
But you are holy,
you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in you.
They trusted, and you delivered them.
They cried to you, and were delivered.
They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All those who see me mock me.
They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
“He trusts in Yahweh.
Let him deliver him.
Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
But you brought me out of the womb.
You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb.
You are my God since my mother bore me.
Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near.
For there is no one to help.
Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
They open their mouths wide against me,
lions tearing prey and roaring.
I am poured out like water.
All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It is melted within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded me.
A company of evildoers have enclosed me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
I can count all of my bones.
They look and stare at me.
They divide my garments among them.
They cast lots for my clothing.
But don’t be far off, Yahweh.
You are my help. Hurry to help me!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth!
Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my brothers.
Among the assembly, I will praise you.
You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,
Neither has he hidden his face from him;
but when he cried to him, he heard.
My praise of you comes in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
The humble shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him.
Let your hearts live forever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh.
All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
For the kingdom is Yahweh’s.
He is the ruler over the nations.
All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship.
All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him,
even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
Posterity shall serve him.
Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born,
for he has done it.
[ Hebrews 2: 9 – 17 ]
But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will declare your name to my brothers.
Among the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
Again,
“Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
Wishes and Hopes
We may wish pain and sorrow did not exist, but when the big picture is remembered, we are comforted because we know it is not the end or the controlling factor. In this Psalm, we remember that God owns all creation and that this ‘kingdom’ is His. He owns life and death. God owns all nations, kings, and queens. He owns wealth and poverty, and He is the judge and owner of all souls. Before time He was and after time He will be; He surpasses all generations of humans. He is growing His kingdom with people.
Was Jesus thinking of this when he was dying on the cross? He likely quoted the first line of Psalm 22. The Bible is content from God, and it provides the context for our experience. We will never have all answers, but we will have answers that point us to a compassionate and merciful God. We will be pointed to a Savior from God, Himself, Jesus, the Christ. When we experience Jesus, according to the context of God’s word, God gives us new life. We enter into a new, big picture of reality that is more accurate.
Faith
Jesus did not deny that He felt forsaken, and He did not deny that God was silent. However, He remembered the context of His situation according to what He wrote in scripture about Himself. Therefore, He knew He would praise the Father in the great assembly. The great assembly could only exist if He died and offered His own blood as atonement for sin. He had to be forsaken by the Father. But because He knew God’s content, He knew the grave would not conquer Him and that He would live again. He offers this experience to anyone who would believe in Him.
The content of the human driven world goes on searching for the experience that might explain their meaning, digging an ever deeper grave of despair. The big picture of life is painted in dismal colors of hopelessness. The experience of God centered humans in Jesus drives them to find His content that delivers mercy, compassion, and eternal life in God. Get a Bible and read it today, let it change your worldview and your daily actions. Living in the experience of God’s content is living in Jesus, it is living in the Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Practical Life Strategy Steps Created in Root Cause Abundance.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.