He Heard

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