Jesus' Prayer in Darkness

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The doctrinal implications of this scripture are, to say the least, heart rending. But so too is its practical application. This utterance from the Cross was from one of David’s Psalms. Was this twenty-second Psalm a present and personal experience with David, as well as being prophetic? Or was it only speaking prophetically of Christ’s day? Both Isaiah and Job faced times of deep darkness in their lives, as well as David. Saint John of the Cross refers to these times as, “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

Nevertheless, none has ever gone through the gloom of blackness our blessed Lord suffered. Three truths caught my attention while reading this text recently. First, God was still His God, even when He seemed to have no God. Second, He still prayed, although He did not have a prayer hearing or answering God at the time. Third, He wanted all around Him to know (He cried with a loud voice), that in spite of the circumstances, He continued to believe in His God, and He would go on praying to Him, though the heavens were brass.

Let me speak to all such who may be experiencing these long dark nights. Remember, “Joy cometh in the morning.”  Mark tells us, after Christ’s long ordeal, “very early in the morning...at the rising of the sun,” new life entered Jesus. And so it will be with you dear suffering saint of God. I beg you; see it through till the end! For I guarantee on the authority of God’s Word, you’ll walk again in “newness of life.”