Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 22:1-31; Zechariah 5:1-11; Luke 23:26-31; Romans 11:22-28
In reading today’s Psalm, I was struck by the strong connection between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27. In Psalm 22, there is mention of the casting of lots for the psalmist’s clothes (Matthew 22:35); the psalmist’s cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 22:46); and the mention of being scorned and mocked by the crowd (Matthew 22:39-41). It was just one more reminder of the profound intimacy between the Hebrew (OT) and Greek Scriptures (NT). Having already written about the importance of that connection last week, however, I don’t want to take my time further developing this point. Instead, there was another aspect of the Psalm that grabbed my attention. This aspect was in Psalm 22:2 which read in the NIV: “O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer…” This claim from the psalmist got me to thinking about prayer once again. It’s so easy to practice intercessory prayer and equate one particular response (a yes - or getting what we want) with God listening/answering/caring. Many of us have little theological room for different answers (no, or not yet). Hence, the complaint, “You’re not listening.” I invite you to think about your own practice of intercessory prayer. Are you like the psalmist and equate God’s listening/answering/caring with getting what you want? Or do you have another perception of what it means for God to listen/answer/care? Til next time…
In reading today’s Psalm, I was struck by the strong connection between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27. In Psalm 22, there is mention of the casting of lots for the psalmist’s clothes (Matthew 22:35); the psalmist’s cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 22:46); and the mention of being scorned and mocked by the crowd (Matthew 22:39-41). It was just one more reminder of the profound intimacy between the Hebrew (OT) and Greek Scriptures (NT). Having already written about the importance of that connection last week, however, I don’t want to take my time further developing this point. Instead, there was another aspect of the Psalm that grabbed my attention. This aspect was in Psalm 22:2 which read in the NIV: “O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer…” This claim from the psalmist got me to thinking about prayer once again. It’s so easy to practice intercessory prayer and equate one particular response (a yes - or getting what we want) with God listening/answering/caring. Many of us have little theological room for different answers (no, or not yet). Hence, the complaint, “You’re not listening.” I invite you to think about your own practice of intercessory prayer. Are you like the psalmist and equate God’s listening/answering/caring with getting what you want? Or do you have another perception of what it means for God to listen/answer/care? Til next time…
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