Ps 119:15-16
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
NIV

Psalm 22 was written a thousand years before the crucifixion of Christ, hundreds of years before the practice was even invented by the Persians. Yet in this messianic psalm, we see an amazingly detailed, accurate description of the sufferings that Christ endured on the cross, as well as a prophetic anticipation of words He spoke while dying.

Verse 1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”
Verse 31: “He has done it” – similar to His triumphant cry, “It is finished” (John 19:30). From start to finish, this psalm of David foretells the supreme moment in the life of the Son of David: the redemption of sinful man through the sacrifice of the sinless, the unblemished Lamb of God.

It appears, then, that Jesus was actually mediating on this psalm while hanging on the cross. He may, in fact, have recited the entire passage from beginning to end in His mind. After all, answering life with Scripture seemed to be His pattern. We know He quoted Scripture when He was tempted in the wilderness, when He was responding to questions from His opponents, when He was teaching His disciples. Why not when He was suffering for the sins of His lost and dying people?

What a vivid reminder to us of the importance of Scripture memory and meditation, particularly for times of extreme crisis and suffering. As we fill our hearts with His Word, preserving its truths in our minds, when we find ourselves in the midst of painful realities, His Word will be there to minister the comfort and perspective of His far greater, eternal realities.

When faced with difficult or painful situations, do your thoughts go quickly to His Word? How can you be intentional today about meditating on His Word?

Today I am in the book of 1 Corinthians on my 5th journey through the New Testament this year. Please join me if you have not previously, and read, listen, and meditate on the Word of God. The blessings will make you marvel as the Spirit guides you into all truth through this daily discipline. May you be especially blessed this day.

Pastor Dale