You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard. 

Psalm 22:23-24 

God hears Christ. The first half of the psalm from which our text derives details for us the depths of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. They serve to give us a clear picture of all He was willing to endure to purchase our redemption. The turning point of the psalm comes at verses 19 through 21, where He sets His prayer before God, His Father. From verse 22 onward the tone of the psalm changes to one of rising victory. Our text declares the success of Christ’s prayer. Whereas the beginning of the psalm articulated the estrangement between Christ and His Father, while Christ was made to be sin for us Who knew no sin, our text shows the beginnings of the joy that was set before Christ at the completion of His suffering. Christ prevailed in every way. He cried ‘It is finished’ when He gave up the ghost in death. He continued under the power of death for a time. God raised Him from the dead as proof He accepted His sacrifice for sins. He heard Him. Christ now lives to make intercession for His redeemed. He sits at the right hand of His Father holding up, by His presence, the great objective plea of His blood. He is the foundation of our acceptance with God. Because God accepts Christ, He accepts all who are in Christ. He receives the Head and receives the Body with Him. Jesus never fails.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You are the Holy Trinity. 
We praise You that You work together 
to complete our redemption. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.  

Psalm 22:19-22 

The cross of Christ was a success. To the eyes of those who did not see, it was a failure. The Pharisees and Sadducees thought they had succeeded, and Christ had failed. Rome was convinced they had succeeded in preserving the Pax Romana by executing a source of unrest. The disciples were convinced the cross was a failure. They were inconsolable at the outcome in spite of what Christ had told them about rising from the dead. It’s hard to say what Satan thought of it. Scripture does not give us a lot of insight there. To God, the cross was a success. Christ viewed it as a work that He finished. He looked forward to the joy that was set before Him. He would shortly rise from the dead, and ‘declare Your name to my brethren.’ Therefore, the cross was and remains the greatest success story of all time. It is the gospel, the good news, that we who were doomed to die, live not just for time, but for eternity. The gospel message is, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.’ Psalm 22 gives us insight into the sufferings of Christ, but it does not finish until it shows us the victory which Christ has won. He brings praise to the assembly. He shows us His hands, feet, and side. He is risen indeed. Jesus never fails.  

Our Glorious Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have done all things well. 
We praise You that You have both died 
and risen again. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still! And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? 

Mark 4:37-40 

Christ wants us to have faith in Him. Christ had successfully resolved the terrifying circumstances which had engulfed the disciples. He had arisen from sleep, said, ‘Peace be still’, and calmed the storm. Afterward, He asked the disciples two questions: ‘Why are you so fearful? and ‘How is it that you have no faith?’ Why are those important questions, not only for the disciples, but for us as well? Two things were true in the situation. First, Christ was with them. Second, Christ was in control. They were there by His direction. They were not alone. They could not control the situation, but they could trust Him. We are much the same. We follow Christ where He leads us. We go where He sends us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is in control, not just of winds and waves, but of all things. Therefore, we have no reason to fear and every cause to have faith in Him. He is in control of all we are not. He has never failed His people. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil because Christ is with us. We can trust and not be afraid. 

Our Gracious Lord and Master, 
we praise You that you are utterly worthy of our trust. 
We pray that everyday 
You will increase our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still! And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 

Mark 4:37-39 

Christ is in control no matter how chaotic the situation is. As Christ and the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, a severe storm arose.  Christ was asleep at the stern. The water from the waves began to fill the boat. The terrified disciples awakened Christ with cries of, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ Christ, awakened, arose and rebuked the storm by saying, ‘Peace, be still!’ Immediately, ‘the wind ceased and there was a great calm.’ What had upset the disciples was understandable. What had upset them had not upset Him. When they cried out to Him in terror, He demonstrated He was in control of all things. From this we learn something for our own life. We may often be in chaos. It may arise through no fault of our own. We may be exactly where the Lord has led us. We may even cry out to God, thinking He does not care about us as we, perish. What we realize is He is still in control. He may at times seem to be inattentive, yet even when His control is not apparent, it still is. He speaks and all the chaos is gone. All must obey His, ‘Peace, be still.’ 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You never lose control. 
We praise You that when You speak, 
all must hear. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning