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REFLECTION
The theme for our reflection is “oh!, that was a prophecy!” Prophecy is an inspired utterance or revelation from a prophet or a person inspired by the Spirit of God. Usually the utterance is of existential or futuristic value to God’s people. In other words, prophecy is a divine message delivered by the prophet or a person inspired by the Spirit of God for the edification of God’s people. A prophecy is usually about a present or future event. Psalm 22 was written by David to express his pain and frustration in challenging moments and to praise God for His deliverance. We shall examine Psalm 22:1-18 as a prophecy of Jesus’ sacrifice or Jesus’ suffering and agony on the cross. Our main point is to see prophecy as the demonstration of God’s presence and the fulfilment of His plans in the affairs of humanity.

Beloved in the Lord, Biblical prophecy is the demonstration of God’s presence in the affairs of humanity. David the great-grandfather of Jesus went through challenges and agony in the hands of his enemies and wrote Psalm 22 to mark His experience and God’s intervention, but little did he know that he was being inspired to write down the nature of the Messiah’s agony and suffering. David himself may not have known that his words would become a prophecy of the nature of the Messiah’s suffering. In Psalm 22:1, David said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?“, we find the fulfilment of David’s word when Jesus was crucified on the cross, Matthew tells us that “about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Again, in Psalm 22:8 David said that “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him (Psalms 22:8). We find the fulfilment of Psalm 22:8 in Luke 23:39 when “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”. David’s prophetic expression of extreme thirst when he wrote in Pslam 22:15 that “My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth…”, manifested on the cross, Jesus also experienced extreme thirst, John tells us that “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst. (John 19:28). Again, David spoke in a metaphorical sense when he said “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet… They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. (Psalms 22:16,18) We see the actual fulfilment of prophecy on the cross when Mark wrote, “And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.” (Mark 15:24). When Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus, “He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” (John 20:27). This is to prove that His hands, feet and side were truly pieced. Dear friend if you are still doubting that Jesus suffered for our sins then I invite you to see how God uses prophecy to demonstrate His presence in our lives and affairs. Davide predates Jesus by many years yet David’s prophetic words found fulfilment in the ultimate love and sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The prophecy and its fulfilment are not written for our reading pleasure but for our transformation and faith in Jesus Christ, our Messiah. John draws our attention to an important fact and also admonishes us that “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31). Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:9). Again in Revelation 2:29 Jesus admonishes us, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ and this includes all the fulfilment of the prophecy through our Lord Jesus Christ. The big question is, Do you believe Jesus and have you accepted Him as your Lord and Saviour? David has proven to us that what God has spoken through him, He has fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Jesus also spoke many prophecies concerning our suffering as believers which will happen in our time and it is already being fulfilled. Let us pray for His grace to endure agony and tribulation on His account, for He has promised us that “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…,” (Matthew 5:11-12)

In summary, we have deliberated on the theme “oh! that was a prophecy!” In our reflection on the theme and our selected Scripture reading from Psalm 22:1-18, we have discovered that God has used prophecy as the demonstration of His presence and fulfilment of His plans in the affairs of humanity. Shalom.

PRAYER
1. Let us pray and thank God for the gift of prophecy and the fulfilment of His will and plans in our lives through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Let us pray for the Spiritual enablement to discern prophecy and its fulfilment in our lives.
3. Let us pray for our own salvation and that of the world through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
4. Let us pray for the will of God to be done in our lives even in challenging times of our lives.
5. Let us pray for success for all BECE candidates writing their final exams in Ghana.

Thank You, God, for saving us and fulfilling Your promise of salvation through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. May we have the courage to share the Gospel and through the power of the Holy Spirit rescue many who are suffering from unbelief. Amen.