Did the father really turn His face away?

Sitting in church today we sang a song which lamented that "The Father turned his face away" from Jesus while He was hanging on the cross.  As a matter of fact, we have sang more than one song extolling these sentiments and I have heard similar things preached from the pulpit.

How can this be, considering God promises to "never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut 31:6)?

I believe the notion came about because of Jesus' words on the cross when he lifted his head and said in Hebrew"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani" which is translated "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me" (Matt. 27:46).

From these words, it sure sounds his father had turned his face away.  According to Matthew, some in the crowd thought that he was calling out to the prophet Elijah.  Those who thought that, though, were likely non-Hebrew speaking.  The first Hebrew word Jesus spoke here is "Eloi" and is pronounced ay-lee'.  The name transliterated into the English as Elijah is pronounced "hay-lee'-as", very similar.

Jesus, however, is quoting his ancestor David from Psalm 22 which begins "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani".  If fact, looking at the first two verses of the scripture Jesus was quoting one might still come to the conclusion that Jesus' father had turned his face away from Him as he hung on the cross.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish? 

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

But this interpretation ignores the rest of the passage.

In verses 3 - 5, the psalmist recalls that in times of trouble his ancestors turn to God.

Yet you are enthroned as the holy one;
you are the one Israel praises.

In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

The psalmist then, in verses 6 - 18, laments the situation in which he finds himself and we know from Matthew's gospel (Matthew 26:39) that Jesus was also in great anguish leading up to His crucifixion and cried out to God:

My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  yet not as I will, but as you will.

In verses 6 - 18, the psalmist (as he is carried along by the Holy Spirit) also makes it clear that this is a Messianic prophecy.

Verse 7 says

All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
'He trusts in the Lord,' they say,
'let the Lord rescue him. 
Let him deliver him
since he delights in him.

Similarly, we find in Matthew 27:39-43:

Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"  In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.  "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself!  He's the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him.  He trusts in God.  Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the son of God.'"

Psalm 22:14-18 says:

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.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.

All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.

In just a few parallel verses we see the following (entire books have been written on the parallels, these few are here just as an example):

Psalm 22	Crucifixion
I am poured out like water... (verse 14)	one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:33-34)
...they pierce my hands and feet. (verse 16)	Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. (John 20:25)
They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. (verse 18)	the guards "parted his garments, casting lots" (Matt 27:35)

In verses 19 - 21, the psalmist renews his petitions to God:

But you, LORD, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

Deliver me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dogs.

Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

And in verses 22-23, he praises God for his response:

I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.

You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

And the most important and transitional verse of the passage is in verse 24:

For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

The rest of the passage (verses 25 - 31) is praise to God for listening to and answering the psalmist's prayers and the results of God's faithfulness:

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

Note that final phrase "He has done it!".

Matthew 27:50 says that Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.  The apostle John (John 19:30) tells us what those final words were: "It is finished".

This phrase in the Greek is "tel-eh'-oh" meaning "it is accomplished" (Strong's G5055) .The word of the psalmist in Psalm 22 is "aw-saw", which is translated in the King James as "He has done it!" but literally means "it is accomplished" (Strong's H6213).

Clearly, Jesus' statements are not meant to convey that God has turned his face away.  To the contrary, He is extolling the faithfulness of God and praising Him for answering his prayers during the period of His greatest personal anguish. Rather than giving a dissertation on the importance of this moment, Jesus uses the words of his ancestor David; words that were placed into David's heart by the Holy Spirit and written down so that Jesus could quote them from the cross demonstrating that He is indeed the Messiah.