Psalm 22:14
14 I am poured out [shaphak] like water, [mayim] and all
my bones [`etsem] are out of joint: [parad] my heart [leb] is like wax;
[downag] it is melted [macac] in the midst [tavek] of my
bowels. [me`ah] KJV-Interlinear
14 I am
poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me. NASB
Water is often used as an
expression of strength or life. And as
water is poured out of a vessel, so too, the strength or life of a person is
seeping away until it is finally gone.
Bones out of joint, is
the extreme stress and agonizing pain that occurs of one who is hanging on the
cross. The person cannot move easily,
except by pushing up with the feet, but otherwise as the strength wears away,
then gravity soon wins the battle and the weight and position on the cross take
their toll on the joints of the arms and legs as they slowly are pulled away
from each other.
The heart like wax,
continues the description of debility, weakness, incapacitation, loss of life
and strength.
And finally the phrase,
melted in the midst of my bowels, indicates the emotional stress, the anxiety,
the extreme pressure of the events that have brought the person to their all-time
low in life.
This is the description of
Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross.
God could have made life a bit easier on Him, could have made Him more
comfortable. Perhaps giving Him a pillow
or a chocolate to comfort Him. But that
was not to be.
Jesus came into this
world. This is the devils world, and
along with that comes sin and evil and all of the pressures that accompany
them. That includes death. And death on the cross is not a pretty sight
nor an easy experience.
Life is not perfect. None of us should ever presume that because we
are believers, because we have been reading the Bible for a couple of weeks
now, that we should expect some fairer treatment, as though we are somehow
exempt from the effects of this world.
Not so. If anything, as believers, and especially as
positive believers we can expect that we might be even more of a target from
evil. But do not presume that you made a
mistake in believing in Christ and that you are going to be a target. Most likely Satan does not and never will
know your name. He has bigger fish to
fry what with world leaders and history and such.
But in Christ, as a
believer, you also possess that wall of fire of protection which isolates you from
the world. And that does not mean exempts
you, but isolation makes a wall or barrier between you and the world. That wall we call Bible doctrine, and when
you learn it, it grows bigger and better and stronger such that you are able to
deal more and more with anything that the world will throw at you.
Jesus had to hang there
and endure the physical suffering, because that is how crucifixion works.
You have to live life
with all of its problems, because that is how this world works.
Now you can make things
worse for yourself by drinking and drugging and whoring and so forth, but do
not make bad decisions and expect good things to come from them. Stupid is as stupid does.
So make good decisions,
and you begin that process by pursuing a daily bible study, and then
opportunities will present themselves.
Bad decisions remove
opportunities. Good decisions create
opportunities.
