FOR ME LATELY

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

-Psalm 22:1a

In 1986, Janet Jackson’s hit song, “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” skyrocketed toward the top of music charts across the globe. The lyrics are about Jackson’s divorce from James DeBarge in ‘85. They paint a vivid picture of contrasts. Jackson sings:

Used to be a time when you would pamper me,

used to brag about me all the time…

Used to go to dinner almost every night…

Now it seems your dancin feet are always on my couch

I never ask for more than I deserve

‘Ought to be thankful for the little things,

But little things are all you seem to give…

What have you done for me lately?

Psalm 22 starts in a similar vein. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David opens with a salvo regarding God’s absence in the midst of his current dilemma. Like Jackson’s hit, David seems to ask God, “What have you done for me lately?”

Unlike us, in our frail, fickle, and fairweather attitude regarding relationships, God is eternally faithful. Jackson notes the contrast between the fun and excitement at the beginning and the mundane, humdrum, lifeless monotony at the end. She asserts, “I never ask for more than I deserve,” as if constant excitement, pampering, entertainment, and attention are essential criteria for a healthy, God-honoring, relationship. Then, when it wanes - even for a moment - we are entitled to abandon and divorce, demanding and justifying, “What have you done for me lately?”

The criteria we establish for God is not dissimilar. When the externals of life are flowing in lavish abundance,  we readily direct nods and golf-claps toward God Almighty for His satisfactory awareness of our deservedness. But if we suffer so much as a hangnail in life, we, like David, readily inquire, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

We launch ourselves into situations and circumstance of self benefit and preservation without any sincere thought or consideration of His will, His mission, His kingdom, His people, or Him. When the grapes of wrath turn sour we divorce ourselves under the pretense, “What have you done for me lately?”

Psalm 22 is divine revelation. It is holy Scripture. It discloses the eternal character and unwavering nature of the Author behind the author. David asked, “Why?” Then, via supernatural inspiration, he answered his own question. The suffering and brokenness of the world is not God’s doing. Every wrong, every hurt, and every sin is exclusively of human decision and will. Therefore, in this fallen non-Eden we’ve created, death’s suffering is our promise to ourselves.

Enduring fidelity is His.

Despite our scorn, rejection, scoffing, mocking, and repeatedly depraved unfaithfulness, He is ever faithful. In our pathetic short-term memories, we demand of God, “What have you done for me lately?” In our juvenile sense of inalienable entitlements the wonderment and privilege of things like: creation, life, fellowship, dominion, Christ’s incarnation, the Cross, Scripture, and evangelism are ignored, dismissed as novelty, and relinquished to inconsequence.

Psalm 22 is declaration of remembrance. It is a declaration regarding not only what God has done but of encouragement amid the weariness and struggles of life. It is a call for us to suffer well.

How often have we lifted our voices to God in fateful circumstances uttering unkept promises with fingers crossed behind our backs? “Oh LORD! If only You would help me, then I will ________!” Then, upon deliverance, we renege, abandon, and silently murmur, “Sucker! Yeah, like I’m really going to keep that promise.”

Contrastingly, David kept his.

v.22 “I will proclaim Your name to my brothers…” Check.

“I will praise You in the congregation…” Check.

v.25 “I will give praise in the great congregation because of You…” Check.

“I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You…” Check.

It wasn’t King David’s promises or vows which delivered Him from dire circumstances. It was God’s unyielding fidelity. At the end of Psalm 22 David wrote:

...the next generation will be told about the LORD.

They will come and tell a people yet to be born,

“He has done it!”

We know David kept his vows because Scripture tells us.

We know God kept His for the same reason. Jesus came, and at the Cross of Calvary He said, “It is finished.”

Maybe you’re in the midst of struggles today. Maybe, like David, you’ve cried out repeatedly, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” His silence isn’t abandonment or apathy. Instead, as Psalm 22 teaches, it’s an opportunity to suffer well. It’s an occasion to reflect and remember God’s eternal fidelity. It’s a platform for praise, evangelism, and discipleship.

How will you respond? Will you suffer well? Or, in the absence of constant entertainment, perpetual pampering, unending excitement, and lavish abundance, will you deny, dismiss, and divorce Him demanding again, “What have you done for me lately?”

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com