The God Who Hears the Afflicted

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

“For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard when he cried to Him.” These are the words of Psalm 22:24.

It is believed by many that Christ may have been reciting this entire psalm while on the cross. We only hear the opening line recorded—“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”—but the whole psalm speaks of the suffering and the hope found in the crucified Christ.

In the cross of Jesus Christ, we see God not despising the afflicted, not ignoring their suffering, but entering into it. This is what the cross is for: to take on the sins of the whole world that afflict sinners. To take your sins and my sins upon Himself and drive a nail through them—to put them to death.

This is why Christ came. This is why Jesus walked and taught—God in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. There is no sin too great to separate you from the love of God.

Is your conscience troubled? Do you wonder, “Can God love me? I’ve done that thing. I’ve struggled with addiction or alcoholism. I’m divorced. I’ve suffered abuse. I’ve done something so shameful I dare not speak it aloud.” Your sins afflict your conscience.

The answer is the cross.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God is love, and we know this because He died on the cross to save us from our affliction, to save us from the death we deserve. He has not hidden His face from us. Even though in shame we hide our faces from Him, He poured out His tears for you and His blood for you—the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Your sin taken away. The sins others committed against you—taken away—so that you may walk in the peace of the Lord.

And when you arrive in heaven, He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. And He promises something even greater: you will not float on clouds forever, but will walk again on this earth in eternity with God.

Our sins put Him there—our hatred for our neighbor, our hatred for God, our theft, our lies, our murder, our blasphemies. And yet, for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. He despised its shame. He considered it nothing compared to winning you back from death, silencing Satan’s accusations, and calling you His child—His friend.

Truth be told, we all feel guilty today. We swear we’ll never do it again. And tomorrow—Saturday—you’ll do it again. Sunday morning, trying to get everyone out the door for Easter, words will be said, thoughts will be thought. My wife becomes a single mom on Sunday mornings because I’m here early. Getting kids ready for church is its own sanctification process.

We don’t deserve the love of God. But that is what makes it grace. That is what makes it mercy. That is what makes God love.

We try to conform our lives to His will. That’s part of preaching and teaching—to help you live a better life under the love of God. Some days you will. Other days you won’t. But the forgiveness of God is constant. It is overflowing. You cannot outrun it. You cannot outdo it. Even if you were the worst sinner in the world, Christ died for you.

You are the lost lamb He went to find. You are the coin He turned the house upside down to recover. You are the son who wandered away and was thought dead but is alive again. You are His precious treasure for whom He gave everything.

Praise be to God this night. Praise be to God now and forever.

In Christ’s name. Amen.