April 11 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

All of Psalm 22 is a song of Jesus. The first part is his lament on the cross. The second part is his song on Easter morning.

When the first light of that Sunday morning shone on the open tomb, the people of God were still weeping. "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel," said one of them (Luke 24:21). We had hoped.... That's what we always say when our hopes have been dashed and our expectations appear to have been ill-founded. As far as this dis­ciple knew, God had forsaken Jesus. The enemies had triumphed. And death—again—had the last word.

But Jesus was alive! God had raised him up. When all seemed lost, all was gained. When sin and death seemed to conquer, they were con­quered. God changed our tears to laughter. God never lets his children down. Now we know it, once and for all.

On the evening of that first day, Jesus appeared "in the assembly" of believers. He began to teach us a new song. The new song is not funda­mentally different from the old one. The new is the old fulfilled. "Every­thing must be fulfilled that is written about me in ... the Psalms" (Luke 24:44). He teaches us to sing Psalm 22. Yet that psalm sounds even richer when we sing it after Easter.

On Easter Sunday Jesus began to gather the congregation of God. By his Word and Spirit he has been doing that to this very day. "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the lord and he rules over the nations" (Ps. 22:27-28).

Jesus has endured the suffering of his brothers and sisters—all the way to death. By so doing, he fulfilled the first part of Psalm 22. But now he is gathering the assembly founded on the event of his resurrection. By so doing, he fulfills the last part of Psalm 22 as well.

REFLECTIONS

Reread verses 22-31 aloud in a way that expresses your own prayer of joy for what Jesus has done and is doing.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.