Sabbath Psalms - Unanswered Prayers

Psalm 22:2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. (NIV)

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives – crying out to God for help, but receiving no response. Usually, the prayer is about our health or the well-being of a loved one. Instead of getting the answer we want, nothing changes, leaving us feeling bewildered, abandoned, even forsaken by God. It makes us question God’s existence, as well as asking what’s the point of having faith if God won’t do what we want?

The Bible doesn’t shy away from those hard questions. Psalm 22 is a prime example of someone who is feeling forlorn and forgotten by God. The writer is feeling vulnerable and lost, finite and frail, so he is looking to God for strength and deliverance, renewal and restoration. It’s a painful psalm to read because it’s written by a tormented soul and even though it ends with some sort of resolution, the sorrows expressed appear to be unanswered and relentless.

Jesus quoted the beginning of this psalm when He was brutally nailed to the Cross. In His final moments of life, He truly identified with the pain, loss, and suffering which all human beings experience. He could have chosen to run away before He was arrested to save His life. He could have called down legions of angels from Heaven to rescue Him from death and destroy His enemies. Instead, He chose to accept a painful end to His life, so that He truly became one of us, as well as the prophesied “Man of Sorrows” described in Isaiah 53.

Perhaps you are going through a hard time and praying for someone you love. Maybe you feel as though your prayers are unanswered and that God doesn’t care about your plight. It’s an awful feeling and heavy burden to bear. I’ve been there, too, but what got me through it was an understanding that Jesus knew exactly what I was facing and had felt the same kind of pain. In other words, He walked beside me to help me endure. I hope and pray He will do the same for you.

Point to ponder: What painful prayers and burdens am I currently experiencing?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, today we appeal to Your humanity and not Your divinity. Today, we pray for You to walk alongside us as we journey through a path of pain and loss. Help us to endure and enable us to overcome. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a Scottish presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.