Your 7 Final Words - 4. My God, My God....

My God, My God why have you forsaken me? –
Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46

When Jesus uttered this cry He was actually quoting Scripture from Psalm 22.

v. 19 But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
v. 20 Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. (emphasis mine)
v. 21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!

Thousands of years before Jesus hung on the cross David had prophetically penned these words in a moment of his own personal anguish. In verse 20 David asked the Lord to “deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog.” There is more to this statement than meets the eye initially. The King James Version gives a clearer account, using the word “darling” instead of “life”. In other words, it says, “Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog.”

Darling comes from a root that means ‘united’, ‘beloved’ or ‘life’ and it is a feminine word. It is interesting to note that in the Hebrew language the spirit is denoted as masculine. I believe that the word darling is used here to show the marriage, if you will, of the soul and the spirit. It is also a type of the marriage between Christ and His bride, the church.

David also asks that his darling soul be delivered from the sword. Sword comes from a root meaning drought, desolation and destruction. When he asks that it be delivered from the power of the dog he is referring to the means or direction of an attack.

As Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He was doing so on your behalf and on mine. His Bride, His darling, His Body – the true church – was about to be thrust into unimaginable turmoil! He may not have uttered every word of Psalm 22, but He, being the Word, embodied everything that that Psalm meant. Jesus was not only speaking for you; He was speaking as you. Romans 6:8 and 2 Timothy 2:11 remind you that you died with Christ.

Can you relate to what both Jesus and David were saying? In this walk, you too will cry out at times for the Lord to deliver your psuche life – the darling of your being – from attack.

The psuche or soul life feels rejection, and the spirit of rejection is one of the strongest strongholds that you have to face. There is rejection from others, but there is also self-rejection.

Rejection from others can be real or simply perceived, but it doesn’t make the pangs of pain any less intense. So often we develop coping mechanisms to deal with it, but unless a coping mechanism is firmly rooted in Christ you will feel those pangs of rejection again and again when similar situations arise.

God will orchestrate seasons in your life when support from brothers and sisters in the faith is just not enough. These are times of intense loneliness when you may feel that not even God Himself is there with you. The truth is that those are the seasons when He is actually closer to you than you recognize. It is during these times that He is wooing you, wanting to take you to another level of intimacy in Him. You are His bride, His darling, His soul. Enter into His inner chamber and let Him do His greatest work in and through you.

This work in you is a work of the Spirit. Your soul – your mind, will, emotions and intellect – will feel the pangs of rejection, and will want to seek comfort, pity and satisfaction for itself. Reject the temptation to find solace in any other but the Lord Himself. Embrace the aloneness, remember what He promised and declare, “My God, My God, I know that You will never leave me nor forsake me!”