Cast on God from birth

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 22:1-15


TO CHEW ON: "But You are He who took Me out of the womb;

         You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

  I was cast upon You from birth.

         From My mother’s womb

         You have been My God." Psalm 22:9,10

David's mother is never named in the Bible. But she must have been a godly woman, for she instilled in David a trust in God from his earliest memories.

Perhaps she sang to him as she stroked her pregnant belly. Once she held him in her arms we get the sense of a someone who was not only a safe, nurturing, trustworthy woman herself but someone who lullabied him to sleep with the songs of Zion and entertained him with the stories of his great-greats—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Judah... She made it clear that God was the One David could trust the most.

And so now, in this fearful time of rejection and danger when all the props have been taken away ("My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"), he's back at the foundation, reviewing what he's known from earliest memory because his mother (and I'm sure his father too) instilled it into him.

This passage is a great encouragement to mothers and fathers of young children. It tells us that how we bring up our babies matters. We may be unaware of the foundation we're building into our their lives but it's real and can impact generations. Let's embrace the challenge to:

• Model God's trustworthiness, love, and all His character to our kids by our own actions.

• Take advantage of the soft wax of the infant and toddler years to inscribe on our babies' very souls and spirits the things of God.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for parents who brought me up to trust You. Help me to support my children as they teach the next generation about You. Amen.


MORE: Psalm 22 as prophecy

This Psalm begins with the familiar words of Jesus from the cross: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" There are many other ways in which it is prophetic of Jesus (taken from The Life of Christ - "Prophecy" page):

• The forsaken Christ  Psalm 22:1; fulfilled: Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34.
• Verbally abused by men  Psalm 22:6-7; fulfilled: Matthew 26:67-68, 27:27-31.
• Trust in God ridiculed  Psalm 22:8; fulfilled: Matthew 27:39-44, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35, 39.
• Surrounded by enemies  Psalm 22:12; fulfilled: Matthew 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20.
• Physically weakened  Psalm 22:14-15; fulfilled: Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26.
• Thirsty  Psalm 22:15; fulfilled: John 19:28.
• Surrounded by enemies  Psalm 22:16; fulfilled:  Matthew 27:39-44.
• Hands and feet pierced  Psalm 22:16; fulfilled:  John 20:20, 25.
• Bones not broken  Psalm 22:17; fulfilled:  John 19:31-36.
• Stared at by the people  Psalm 22:17; fulfilled:  Matthew 27:55-56, Luke 23:35, 48-49, John 19:20.
• Lots cast for His clothing  Psalm 22:18; fulfilled:  Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-24.
• God heard His prayers  Psalm 22:21, 24; fulfilled;  Hebrews 5:7-8.