Poetry In Motion - Pt. 2

As I write this I am punching my keys due to the fact that just as I was finishing this blog, everything I had written disappeared never to be found again.  You can imagine there was a bit of frustration.  Nevertheless, as I look at this unfortunate turn of events I have to wonder, maybe this was the Lord saying, "I don't like what you wrote, it was absolute jibberish, therefore, I am going to erase it from your computer."  Now you can take this in one of two ways.  You can take it as a Pessimist (glass half-full) or you can take it as an Optimist (glass half-full). 

Have you ever had to work beside someone that was a pessimist?  I'm sure you have.  For the optimist they can be a bit aggravating.  I have found, however, the need for the pessimist in our world today.  You see, I believe the pessimist is the person who keeps us sharp, constantly thinking about the items that need special forethought and are not emotionally charged.

Psalm 22 is an amazing Psalm of David because it has both elements - pessimism and optimism.  It is written in two segments, despair and then thanksgiving.  David is writing during a particularly difficult time of his life and shares a statement that is later quoted in the New Testament by Christ while on the cross - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (Ps. 22:1).  Some believe that Jesus actually may have recited this entire Psalm while he hung on the cross.  I find it amazing how David's words later became Christ's, both crying out to God in the midst of terrible loneliness.  Jesus, especially, was experiencing this terrible emotion, not with surprise and wonder, but with the reality of his Father turning his back on the lamb that carried the sin of the world.  Alone, an emotion not familiar to Christ. 

But thankfully there is the second segment of Psalm 22 - thanksgiving.  The glass is half-full, not half empty.  I find the honesty of David in his despair and Christ on the cross refreshing when I think of mine and others circumstances, sometimes of loneliness and despair, but never dwelling in the valley of death.  Psalm 22 reminds us, as well, of the promise that often lies beyond our sight.

24 For he has not ignored the suffering of the needy. He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries for help.

  Psalms 22:24 (NLT)