Psalm 22-1, commonly referred to as the psalm of the cross, Spurgeon said this of this psalm. He said, this psalm may have actually been repeated word by word as our Lord hung on the cross. It begins with, my God, my God, thou hast forsaken me, and it ends, according to the psalm in the original, It is finished. David and his afflictions may be here in this very modified sense, but as the star is concealed by the light of the sun, he who sees the Lord Jesus Christ in this passage will probably neither care to see David. Before us in this psalm, we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross. the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow." As we enter into this passage this evening, I think of the Lord speaking to Moses at the burning bush. These are the words here of our Lord. Remember what God told Moses. He said, put your shoes from off your feet from the ground you stand on. It's holy ground. I feel that way about this passage this evening. Listen to these words one more time. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Three questions, three questions found in this passage of scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ asked this. He says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He asked, why art thou so far from helping me? And third, so far, why art thou so far from the words of my roaring? Let's look at this passage together this evening. The first again, the first question, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God, forsaken God. We can't even begin to wrap our heads around that, our minds around that. It was God that prepared a body for his son. Our Lord said, a body hast thou prepared me. He gave him a human nature. He anointed his son with the oil of gladness. He was with him all the days of his life as he walked here on this earth. He said this, the Lord said, I and my father are one. And ultimately, God exalted him and seated him at his own right hand. The Lord Jesus Christ, as he walked this earth, he prayed to the father. He loved his father. He was obedient to his father. He obeyed the law perfectly. Scripture says he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And here, as he hangs on the cross, he cries, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Here on the cross, as he lays down his life for the sheep, God's wrath and God's justice poured out on his son, not for his own sins, not for any sin he had done, but for the sins of His people, to make satisfaction for the sins of His people. Our sins were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made to be sin. And here on the cross, He bears the punishment for that sin. That which we deserve, He bore. All of our sins, not in part, but the whole. We read in Scripture the wages of sin is death. Scripture declares that God is of purer eyes than to behold evil. He can't even look on iniquity. We drink it like rainwater, but Almighty God can't even look on sin. Almighty God who must punish sin. When He sees sin, it must be punished. even when it is found on His Son. Christ, as the surety for His people, is forsaken of God's presence and at the same time bears the punishment for our sin. All of that necessary, all of this had to happen in order for Him to make satisfaction for our sins. Again, the question, why hast thou forsaken me? Maybe you've asked that question. Maybe you've asked that same question. Maybe you've thought that same question. At times, at times, and I'll speak for myself, there are times we feel that God has forsaken us, that he's left us to ourselves, that he's left us alone in this world. Now in our case, it may be a sincere cry, but it's a cry of unbelief. When our Lord spoke, though, it was a statement of fact, for God had truly turned from him from a moment. Times when we walk in the sunshine of his face, and then what feels like nothing but darkness. David wrote, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. How's that possible, David? For thou art with me. When we're stricken with terror and begin to think that God has forsaken us, Know this, child of God, know this, beyond a shadow of a doubt, He hasn't. Listen to these words from Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. It says, Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He's promised us that in his word, God who cannot lie. What about the agony we suffer in those times that we think we've been forsaken, when we feel that we've been left alone? I ask you, consider this. What agony did our Lord endure who was forsaken of God? Turn with me to the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 1. Lamentations 1 verse 12. Is it nothing? Lamentations 112, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. No doubt it's natural for every one of us to think our affliction is the greatest when we fall into times of trouble and difficulty. That no one has more reason for grief than we do. That no one has the same sorrow as we have. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said this, No trial has come upon you but such that is common to man. In 2 Corinthians 4.17, our affliction are described as light, light affliction. And I certainly don't say these things to make light of our trials. The trials we'll endure on this earth that in 1 Peter 4.12 it says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. as though some strange thing happened to you. It's no accident when trial falls upon God's people. And listen, they're called fiery trials for good reason as well. But none of us, none of us have suffered like our Lord suffered. And our Lord promised in his word that he'll not tempt us above that which we can endure. But again, consider the Lord's suffering. None of us, none of us could endure the suffering in which He suffered. Think of the words of the thief on the cross. That one thief, he told that other thief, he said, we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man, Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, this man hath done nothing amiss. Well, what is the one great cause of such a thing as for God to forsake His Son? Well, there was no cause in Him. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless. Why then? Why then was he forsaken of God? The Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute. Scripture says that he was numbered with the transgressors. He bore our sins in his own body. He endured our death, that which was due us, our death, our judgment, our hell, being separated from God as he hanged on the cross. It was there on the cross, there at Golgotha's Hill, that God made the Lord Jesus Christ to be sin for us. Why? Well, if you read on in that passage in 2 Corinthians 5.21, it says this, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Let me read another passage of scripture to you from Isaiah 53, beginning with verse 10. Isaiah 53, verse 10. Here we read, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, the suffering of his son, and he shall be satisfied." God is satisfied with the sacrifice of his son. He goes on to say, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. The second question from our text. The Lord asked, why art thou so far from helping me? Again, Psalm 22, verse one. Why art thou so far from helping me? There can be but one offering for sin, not many offerings, one offering, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture declares His soul was made an offering for sin. One Savior, one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Scripture declares He tread the winepress of God's wrath alone. No man assisted him. He did it alone and he must do that alone. There is but one Savior. Again in Isaiah 63 we read, I looked and there was none to help. Men rattle off all the things they do for the Lord Jesus Christ. They've done nothing. He said, I looked and there was none to help. And I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore, he says, with my own arm, I brought salvation unto me. The work of salvation, it is of the Son. It's of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Listen again to these words from Isaiah 53. It says, He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness, and when we shall see Him, there's no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he, not many, just this one, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes. Whose stripes? His stripes. What's the result of that? We are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to our own way, and the Lord hath laid on him, the Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shears is done, So he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of who? The transgression of my people, God said. For that reason was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." All glory, all honor, all praise, all salvation is of the Lord. There were men at the cross that asked, they mocked our Lord. And they asked this question, they said, he trusted God. Let Him deliver him now. I ask you to consider this question. What if the father had taken his son down from the cross? What would the result of that have been? Redemption would never have been accomplished. The redemption price would never have been paid. The work of salvation It would have been left undone. But what does Scripture say? Salvation is of the Lord. He must die. He must die. If not, Christ would have returned with his life work unfinished. That cry, imagine if that cry on the cross of it is finished would have never been uttered. We would have been doomed to hell, to an eternal hell. There would have been no deliverance, rather there would have been defeat. He must die. He must pay the ransom price for his elect. He must make atonement for the sins of his people. Turn with me to another passage of Scripture. Turn to John 17. John chapter 17. John 17, look at verse 1. These words spake Jesus. These words spake the Lord Jesus Christ and He lifted up His eyes to heaven and He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Christ Jesus is God, and He was with God and was God from all eternity. His desire is to return to that glory. That's His prayer here, to return to the glory of His Father's presence. Christ returns to the presence of the Father as the man, Christ Jesus. He's the mediator. He's the forerunner of all those of whom He has redeemed. And He prays to be returned to that office and to the glory as it was even before. And listen, He's received. He's seated. He's exalted. at the right hand of the majesty on high and we are received with him and the believer is received in him." And it's our Father's will for him to die. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ must die. It was the Father's will. Our Lord prayed there in the garden. He said, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will. It was the father's will that he die, and it was the son's will that he abide by the father's will. Well, the last question, question three. Why art thou so far from my roaring? Maybe this question could give us just a little light into the pain our Lord suffered as He was made sin, as He bore our sin, as He bore the sins of His elect, the sins of His people, and as He prayed. You know, I know there are times, I know there are times that the believer, maybe this has happened to you, falls asleep, falls asleep in prayer. And I don't say that as a compliment. Remember the disciples? Our Lord came out with them and they'd fallen asleep and he said, couldn't you just stay awake with me for an hour? Our Lord didn't pray until he fell asleep. Our Lord prayed until he could no longer utter words. He could no longer speak. In his pain and in his suffering, he asked. Why art thou so far from my roaring?" This word, roaring, translated, it means, if you look in the original Hebrew, it means a deep, solemn groan which is caused by serious sickness. You've heard people in a terrible condition, in deep, deep sickness, and all they can do is just groan. They can't even utter words. which suffering men utter." That's what our Lord did. Is it any wonder our Lord was called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? He prayed unto the Father until his speech failed him. He could only utter moanings and groanings, as men do in the most severe sickness, or even more so like the roaring of a wounded animal. Years ago, in the middle of the night, at our home, we could hear what we hoped was the sound of a dying animal. Turned out it was a deer that had been attacked by a pack of coyotes. I never heard anything that sounded like it was in more misery. in more suffering." The sound of suffering. More than that, the sound of death. To what grief and suffering was our Lord driven? Such strong crying and tears were those that made Him too hoarse for speech. What must have been his anguish to find his own beloved and trusting father standing afar off and neither granting help nor hearing his prayer? No doubt a good reason to make him roar. It would be awful to think that there was no purpose in that suffering. Aren't we thankful that there was? a purpose for that suffering, a reason for all of this, the reason for which the believer rests in. That which was due us, He took it upon Himself. He bore it as our substitute. Listen to the last few verses of Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53.10 if you have it. If not, let me just read it to you. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see, God saw all of this, he shall see the travail of his soul. All that suffering which the Lord endured, and listen to this, he shall be satisfied. For by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, For he shall bear their iniquities." That heavy load of iniquity, that heavy load of sin that we try to carry, why? Why? The Lord bore it. The Lord suffered for it. The Lord died to put away our sin. He said, therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong. because he hath poured out his soul unto death." He was numbered with the transgressors. He bare the sin of many, and he made intercession for the transgressors. Three questions from the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far? from helping me. Why art thou so far from the words of my roaring?" I would ask one more question. I would ask you to consider this question from Lamentations 112. We read it earlier. In light of what we've read and in light of what God's Word says about this sacrifice of His Son, is it nothing to you? Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? And see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. He's either nothing to you or he is all. Oh, I pray that he would make him to be all to me. There's no middle ground. He's either nothing or Christ is all. I ask you another question. What think ye? What think ye of the Christ? Listen to just a few words from this hymn entitled Why. Why did they nail him to Calvary's tree? Why, tell me why, was he there? Jesus the helper, the healer, the friend. Why, tell me why, was he there? It's answered in the course, isn't it? All, all of my iniquities on him were laid. He nailed them all to the tree. Jesus, the debt of my sin, fully paid. He paid the ransom for me. Is he your hope? Is he your hope? his suffering, his anguish, his death. Who was it for? I'll read one more passage and I'll close. Romans 5.8 says this, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He came into this world to save sinners. It's why He came. It's why He lived. It's why He died. It's why He's seated in glory. He ever lives to make intercession for His people. I pray the Lord would give us faith, grant us faith to simply rest in Him. All right, I pray God will be pleased to bless His Word.