Ever have one of these days or times of life? What an emotional torrent David pours out! Powerful emotions stretch from “Life is great! God makes me the victor!” to “Life stinks, what do I do now? I have nothing left but a glimmering, distant hope in my God.” David finally, quietly expresses, and comes to rest in the great Truth: it is not about me and God — look at us go! Rather, in that Psalm we hope not only to memorize but live, “The Lord is my Shepherd, and I am merely a sheep living in the grace of His care.”
On the cross Jesus cries out the first line of Psalm 22. Detractors say Jesus loses His faith and sins as any man. The flow of Jesus’ life and the flow of these Psalms say otherwise. The great, horrible distress of the present only leads to the glory of God and fulfillment of what is to come: Real Life.
Paul’s discourse is broadened to the nation of Israel as a whole. Although I like to underscore the Romans reading as evidence pointing to the Personal and Supreme Lawgiver, which the passage certainly does, today see here an echo of David’s reliance on God. True relationship with God is not about this great and, yes, holy collection of books handed down by Moses and a covenant of which some boast. Even non-covenant pagans understand the basics of justice, good, and guilt of which the Torah speaks. These are universal principles of His creation. Rather, true relationship with God rests in the doing of His will, which all fail. Paul will discuss a great covenant of grace later, but the stress in this discourse deflates human ego and pride so that the grace of God can really mean something to the reader and to us as we read with them.
Prayer: You are my Shepherd, Holy, Righteous, and True One. Lead me beside still waters, restoring my soul today. Praise to You in Jesus name.