“My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me” (Psalms 22:14)  

Before He died, Christ experienced the terrible withdrawal of intimacy with His Father, which caused Him to cry, “‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’" (Matthew 27:46). This was a fulfillment of the very beginning of Psalm 22, the graphic prophesy of the crucifixion, so it’s possible, He was forsaken hours before He died. When all the sins of every sinner, past, present and future were poured on Christ, the Father could not stay in fellowship with His son. Christ had to suffer the absence of the Father, which is what you would have suffered in Hell for eternity if Christ had not taken your place. 

 “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken spirit?” (Proverbs 18:14). Deep depression of spirit is the most grievous of all trials; there’s nothing worse. Christ may have asked His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Do not forsake me when my strength fails ... O God, do not be far from me” (Psalms 71:9-12). Separation from the Father may have been the “cup” that Christ did not want to drink, but He finally submitted with, “nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). The time a saint needs God most is when his heart melts within him, how much more the Son of God, who spent an eternity of continuous union with the Father? 

 Believer, come near the cross this morning, and humbly adore the King of glory, who was brought lower, in mental distress and internal anguish, than any mortal man; and rejoice at His ability to be your High Priest, who can sympathize with your feelings of weakness (Hebrews 4:15). Saints who’ve suffered the withdrawal of a sense of the Father's love, can enter with confidence into intimate communion with Christ. Your few drops of sorrow will be forgotten in the ocean of His griefs, and your love will increase! The deep love of Christ, like the sea at high tide, will cover all your powers, drown all your sins, wash out all your cares, lift up your earth-bound soul, and float it right up to His feet.