See Psalm 109:21–25
Here in the 109th Psalm, we hear echoes of Isaiah: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3).
We also might think of the suffering experienced in another psalm that describes the punishment of crucifixion: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me” (Psalm 22:14).
Then we might fix our gaze on Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives where a lone figure is praying while His friends sleep nearby. We hear His voice as He prepares for the agony to come: “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done. . . . ’ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:42–44).
Then we think of the implications of this scene. Jesus is preparing to go to the cross as a perfect sacrifice for all mankind so that we might not have to pay the terrible penalty ourselves. This may be difficult to fathom for those who have been blinded to their own sin and rebellion.
If we believe that we are good enough as we are, then the message of the cross will have no traction for us. But if we know in our hearts the truth about our condition, then the cross will represent the work of a merciful and loving God who loved us so much that He gave His one and only Son that we might live.” For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
—Eric Kampmann, Signposts