Borrowing Words

Sometimes I have a hard time finding the words that express how I feel. I remember when my sister came back from France and she would often use a French word that expressed what she wanted to say better than an English word. To be able to verbalize my thoughts, feelings and beliefs is a very basic need. It is the need to be known and that's why it's so frustrating when I can't find the right words.

Sometimes I turn to the Psalms to find the words that express what I want to say. Then again sometimes I read the Psalms and am amazed at how honest the Psalmist is about his struggle. When I read the Psalms I see someone who comes before God without a veneer. In the Psalms I find honest emotion, pain and sometimes anger. I also find permission to borrow these words to express how I really feel.

One particular Psalm makes me wonder, "Who borrowed whose words?" This is the Psalm that begins, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest." (Psalm 22:1,2) Jesus borrowed these words from David when He was hanging on the cross. Psalm 22 goes on to describe pain and suffering Jesus experienced on the cross. David wrote the Psalm to express the depth of his suffering to God and Jesus used the words and showed how He had entered into that suffering.

The words of Psalm 22 always make me think of Isaiah 53. "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has bore our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." So what I see when I look at the borrowed words of Psalm 22 is that because Jesus was forsaken I never will be.

Lord Jesus, emotions can be a deceitful. Thank You for showing me how to come before You and be completely honest with how I feel. Thank You for giving me the Psalms to guide me in how I can be completely honest in prayer. Thank You also for using the Psalms to point me back to the truth of Your great love.