• Home
  • About Us
  • Bible Study
  • Media
  • Giving
  • Knowing God
  • Are You Ready?

Psalms

Psalm 22

By Pastor Doug
The suffering servant.
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
       Why are you so far from saving me,
       so far from the words of my groaning?


 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
       by night, and am not silent.


See Matthew 27:46 for the identical phrase used by Jesus on the cross.  Jesus uttered this while bearing the sin of the world on the cross.  Could there have ever been a situation where David was feeling a similar rejection for some reason?  It doesn't seem likely.  David was crying out but not getting an answer.  The 'forsaken' is a word meaning utter abandonment.  David was feeling it and Christ felt it on the Cross.


 


There are some that believe Jesus recited this entire Psalm on the cross …….not just the first line.


 


Other similar laments include Job 3, Psalm 69 and Jeremiah 20:14-18.


 


 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
       you are the praise of Israel.


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


 5 They cried to you and were saved;
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.


Yet, even though I feel utterly abandoned and lost I know you are still the Holy One.  David knew that God was still on the throne and that He was the God of Israel in spite of the circumstances that David was in.  The fathers of the faith and the heritage of Israel had put their trust in God and He had delivered them. 


 


David puts himself right there with them.  He's saying I know your track record Lord by those who were faithful before me.  I have come to know the Lord through his dealings with others.  Now, here he stood in utter abandonment.  And while he cried out, he knew God was there, still holy, still awesome and still capable of saving him.


 


 6 But I am a worm and not a man,
       scorned by men and despised by the people.


 7 All who see me mock me;
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:


 8 "He trusts in the LORD;
       let the LORD rescue him.
       Let him deliver him,
       since he delights in him."


Within this feeling of complete abandonment, David also felt the reproach of men.  He was despised, mocked and scorned.  As this applies to Jesus we can see in Matthew 27:39-44 and Luke 23:35 what this scorning looked like.  We can feel pretty low when scorned & despised by those around us.


Verse 8 is quoted in Matthew 27:43.


 


David said, I am a worm……… why did he say that.  This worm he refers to is the scarlet or crimson worm.


"When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might 'bring many sons unto glory' (Hbr 2:10)! He died for us, that we might live through him! Psa 22:6 describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. Isa 1:18)" (Henry Morris. Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Baker Book House, 1985, p. 73)


  


9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother's breast.


 10 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother's womb you have been my God.


David had never known this separation……… neither had Jesus.  From the womb both had been set apart for the work of God.   


 


11 Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.


 12 Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.


 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.


 14 I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.


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


 16 Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.


 17 I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.


 18 They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing.


Verses 9-18 describe the physical threats that David felt and again these parallel the messiah.  Trouble was near and David was seeing no help coming from the Lord.  He felt these bulls were around him.  The bulls of Bashan may be an idiom for demons.  The roaring lions had their mouths open and were ready tear him up.  And we know from 1 Peter 5:8 that 'our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.'  In verse 14 we see the complete loss of strength and vigor.  All his bones are out of joint and poured out like water.  All of his courage is gone as his heart is turned to wax and melts away.  The dogs surround him.  These are the gentile men who pierce his hands and feet.  We know this happened to Jesus.  Did David have his hands and feet pierced?  And we know in verse 18 that they cast lots for the garments of Christ. 


 


19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.


 20 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.


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


 22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
       in the congregation I will praise you.


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


 24 For he has not despised or disdained
       the suffering of the afflicted one;
       he has not hidden his face from him
       but has listened to his cry for help.


This is David's prayer in his time of abandonment.  He starts by stating the assurance that the Lord is near and asks him to come to his aid.  David says that when God saves him he will declare the name to everyone.  And everyone who fears the Lord will praise Him.  David knows that God hasn't despised him.  God hasn't hidden his face his own who are crying for help.


 


25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
       before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.


From Him comes the theme of my praise………What is that theme?  What is the theme of our praise?  Is it salvation?  In our sin we deserve that utter abandonment; that is separation from God. When he saves us from that abandonment, our salvation is the theme of our praise.  And it comes from Him alone, not from us.  


 


 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
       they who seek the LORD will praise him-
       may your hearts live forever!


 27 All the ends of the earth
       will remember and turn to the LORD,
       and all the families of the nations
       will bow down before him,


Every knee will bow and every tongue will eventually confess He is Lord.  All the nations and all peoples will come to that knowledge.  Unfortunately many will realize it too late.  Those who seek the Lord will praise Him… and may their hearts live forever.  That sounds like eternal life.


 


 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
       and he rules over the nations.


 29 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.


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


 31 They will proclaim his righteousness
       to a people yet unborn-
       for he has done it.


The Lord will rule the nations.  All dominion belongs to Him.   No one can keep themselves alive.  Eveyone will stand before the Lord.  Some to hear 'well done my good and faithful servant' and others will hear 'I never knew you.' 


 


The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed for over 2000 years.  He has done it.  Posterity has served Him.  It is our duty to maintain the heritage of faith for the next generations.