Jesus references this psalm when he is on the Cross.
‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.’
It is possible to read this utterance of the psalm as an act of despair.
Certainly we might know of Jesus’ agony as he was crucified.
We can only wonder at Jesus’ agony on the Cross. There are so many possible layers of the meaning here. At once, this utterance might seem to us an action of despair, or perhaps better of nullity, and at the same time an action of triumph, as the psalm moves to reaffirm and reinforces faith in God.
The psalmist is abject. In a sense, he complains against God. He speaks of trust, and yet says that God does not answer.
The psalmist considers his state – as a worm, scorned by men, mocked by men – the cause of God seems broken and lost.
There is a deep and prolonged itemization of the physical poverty of the psalmist. Truly, this is a person at the most abject. Starving, dogs are set to prey on him.
This is truth: the affirmation thereby of God-fear and God-love.
This is Jesus.
Jesus speaks to teach us how to pray through the psalms.
This is a most important text – chosen by Jesus upon the Cross.
We cannot assume irony. We cannot say that Jesus on the Cross recited this psalm as if having given up on his mission. We can only say that Jesus’s recitation of this psalm was perfect and that it was intended to express perfection.
This is Christian prayer at the utmost. So much is fused. Jesus calls upon the Father – on the Cross. SO much of Jewish history is included and resolved. Jesus took so much upon himself. Jesus became the subject of these psalms. That is scary and that is triumph.
There is a sense in which this should be Christian prayer.
Jesus has told Peter that he is to be the chief among the Apostles, the primate of the Church. During the Passion, Peter denied Jesus three times. It is perhaps for this reason that Jesus now gives Peter three opportunities to declare his love for him, three times to atone for his triple denial. Each time, Jesus responds with the command to lead the Church: ‘Feed my lambs… Feed my sheep.’ Peter and his successors are to be shepherds of the whole Church, imitating Jesus as Jesus declared himself to be in the parable of the Good Shepherd [ … ]
Saint Luke states that Jesus was born in Nazareth and that his parents had to travel to Bethlehem for a census, which was conducted when Quirinius was Governor of Syria. The reference to Quirinius as Governor of Syria is significant because historical records indicate that he held this position twice, first from AD 6-9 and again from AD 11-12 This means that Jesus’ birth would fall around these dates, and at least a decade after the date suggested by Matthew. [ … ]
The Priestly Prayer of Jesus concludes the discourse of the Last Supper. Immediately afterwards, Jesus will be arrested, betrayed. Jesus prays to his Father in a very moving way. He offers to the Father the imminent sacrifice of himself, praying that his sacrifice may be acceptable to the Father, that his holy human nature may be glorified. Jesus’ prayer is spoken aloud, so that his disciples and we also may receive his last testament, as Jesus intercedes on our behalf with the Father [ … ]
