To The Dust Of Death

I  am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, an My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. 

Psalm 22:14-15 

Crucifixion was an excruciating way to die. Because of the way in which the nails held the body pinioned to the cross, the hapless individual could only breath by pulling himself up to get air. When he could no longer do so, he suffocated horribly. As Christ was enduring this experience, He gave evidence that He was enduring all that crucifixion had to offer in agony. Our text is the expression of that. This is hard to read. We do not enjoy the description. Yet, if we are truthful with ourselves, we will confess that we are the cause of this suffering. Christ was offering Himself as the only atoning sacrifice for our sin. He was enduring the excruciating pain we deserved in order that we not have to endure it. Thus when we look upon Him, hanging on the cross, being poured out like water; His heart like wax; His strength dried up like a fragment of an old clay pot; His tongue stuck to His jaws, and Him being brought to the dust of death, we are beholding this innocent One taking our punishment. This is a sight that reduces us to humility and brings us to adoration. We behold the Man, the God, the Savior, enduring all this for us. How shall we respond. How much devotion can we render? 

Dear Dying Lamb, 
thy precious blood shall never lose its power. 
And all the ransomed church of God, 
be saved to sin no more. 

~There is a Fountain~ 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning