from Brittany Yeager
In Psalm 22, we hear David's honest question of "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?" While the psalm goes on to exult in the triumph of God, that exultation is ushered in by lamentation and anguish. Psalm 22 is traditionally read at our Good Friday service.
I heard once that the Psalms show us the full range of human emotion and call it worship. Psalm 22 is a such a clear picture of this: raw, unfiltered words spoken to God with an expectation that he will listen. And as he listens to us, he transforms us, reorienting us to his steadfast love shown to his children. A couple years ago, our reader read the first half of the Psalm with such frenzy and distress, then transitioned to a much slower, calmer reading of the second half. I had never heard it read like this before and it moved me so deeply. He expressed this transformation so beautifully and it has stuck with me ever since.
As we read this Psalm and meditate on the words, emotions, transformation it provides, may we ourselves be transformed by the steadfast love of God, a love that enters into our darkest, most confusing moments and transforms them into moments of worship.