Nevertheless

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. ~ Psalm 73:16-17

It was “in the sanctuary of God” that the Psalmist found the answer to his honest and pressing questions. It was in the presence of the King that the turmoil over the prosperous enemies of God was settled, not in retribution or judgment, but simply by being in the presence of the Most High.

Perhaps this was on the heart of Jesus when He exposed His soul in Gethsemane?

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. ~ Matthew 26:39

The honesty oozes out of every syllable of the prayer. If it is possible, another way, another strategy, another answer, a different payment. Jesus pleads at the deepest level with His Father. “Let this cup pass,” And in doing so, in praying this prayer, He inspires every honest expression of pain and disappointment that I so often confine and contain within my soul.

Like the Psalmist, Jesus strips the varnish off of the pain and exposes the raw grain of suffering. Then, with earth rocking, love infused faith, Jesus establishes a new level of trust and confidence. “Nevertheless.”

“Nevertheless” explodes from the sanctuary. Without a change in circumstance, and while the enemy and the betrayer marched to the threshold of categoric defiance, Jesus lavishes obedient love upon His Father. You, not me.

From the sanctuary, while in Gethsemane, hope erupts.

“My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

There was no problem with the faith of Jesus in this prayer. He didn’t go to the cross because He didn’t believe when He prayed, He went to the cross out of the deepest kind of faith…

Faith in God, His Father.

In the sanctuary, not my will, but yours be done. Not in reluctant acquiescence, but in faith, the ultimate faith.