Daily Psalm February 6

Read Psalm 22:1–8.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

A WORD-SATURATED LIFE.

Jesus answered every one of Satan’s assaults with passages from Deuteronomy. As he was carrying the cross he cited the prophet Hosea, and as he was dying in agony he quoted both Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 31:5. Jesus was so saturated in the Word of God that it spontaneously came to his mind, enabling him to interpret and face every challenge. There are modern imitations of what Jesus had—relaxation techniques, stress management, positive thinking, mystical forms of contemplation. But nothing can duplicate it. God’s Word was what sustained God’s incarnate Word when he lived and when he died. Accept no substitutes.

Prayer:

Lord, let your word be not merely something I believe but something that dwells richly inside me, so it reshapes all my thinking and feelings and even the very foundations of my heart. Let your promises, summonses, and declarations be my strength. Amen.