Jesse Sharpe PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

Herbert Discussing the Word 162
tent!’ (2) God then inhabited man and woman in his time on earth, and there is nothing
beyond his knowledge, but this does not keep Herbert feeling as if the Lord has abandoned
him at times.
Although Herbert generally approaches God without doubt of his being heard,
there are times when he feels he has been abandoned. There is a tradition in Christianity
of declaring the feeling of abandonment. As a religion that so strongly promotes the idea
of a personal relationship with God, there is the tradition that although the almighty can
approach humans, and he promises to never leave, believers are able to chide God for
seeming to have abandoned them. The Psalmist cried ‘My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken mee?’, 59 a cry that was legitimated when, at the point of death, Jesus cried the
same words. 60
At the point of dying as the sacrifice to save all humanity, a point that
cannot be more important to Christians as it is one of the most significant moments in
God’s working create unity with humanity, Jesus felt that he was alone, that God the
Father had left God the Son. And so, we see Herbert participating in this tradition when he
writes:
When my devotions could not pierce
Thy silent eares;
Then was my heart broken, as was my verse:
My breast was full of fears
And disorder:
My bent thoughts, like brittle bow,
Did flie asunder:
59 Psalm 22.1.
60 Matthew 27.46.