Psalm 22:Prophetic Poetry

Introduction: No Psalm is quoted more often in the New Testament than this one; Jesus thought it was an important Psalm, so we should too!

I. Verse 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?”

  1. Forsaken is defined as “to quit or leave entirely; abandon; desert.” Before the year 900, it

meant “deny or reject.” These are ugly words, and our savior endured them for our sakes.

Take a moment to truly contemplate His willingness to have His Father forsake Him, even

though he had never done anything wrong.

  1. Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 report that these words of David were the words Jesus chose to speak from the cross. While David spoke these words as he was facing a great trial, Christspoke them from the cross when he took all of our sins upon himself; now we will never beforsaken because He was forsaken in our place.
  2. If you’re going through a storm right now, and you’re feeling like God has forsaken you, be reminded that He promises to never forsake you; Dr. Warren Wiersbe comments on forsaken: “We cannot be forsaken because the Savior was forsaken in our place. We can't be forsaken because of His promise to never leave or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). We cannot be forsaken because of His abiding and eternal presence with us (Matt. 28:20). We cannot be forsaken because of His purpose to work all things together for good to those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). And what is His purpose? That we might be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). David became a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he had to suffer to do it. In spite of your circumstances and feelings, remember: God will not forsake you.”
  3. He goes on to warn, “When you go through trials, your circumstances and feelings can deceive you into thinking God has forsaken you. But the Bible promises us that He will never forsake you. Next time you feel forsaken, remember that God is always true to His Word and will accomplish His purpose of conforming you to the image of His Son.”
  4. Every time we read or hear “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” we are faced with our own names as answers; why did God forsake his son? For you, and for me.

II. Verses 2-5:“O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”When David feels desperate because he isn’t hearing from God, he reminds himself of what God has done in the past. This is an important part of Christian growth, to constantly remember and praise God for what he has already done; it’ll give you hope for the future!

III. Verses 6-11:“But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in youeven at my mother’s breast.From birth I was cast upon you;from my mother’s womb you have been my God.Do not be far from mefor trouble is nearand there is no one to help.”

  1. After reminding himself of the miracles of the past, David has feelingsof desperation in the present; people can really make us feel like worms sometimes, and David was well acquainted with that treatment.
  2. As King David faced this treatment and penned these words, he may not have realized that they were prophetic; the King of Kings would endure the same treatment (and almost the same insults!) that David describes from his own beloved people: “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 in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matt. 27:39-43).Our savior knows what it means to be mocked and insulted, so when you fall at his feet, humiliated, emotionally beat up, rejected, and desperate, there is an empathetic ear listening.
  3. My favorite part of Psalm 22: 6-11 is the conjunctionyet. It means “even though, however, but.” Even though the people despised David, he realizes that God had chosen and loved him from the time he was created. So, even though others hurl insults, reject, and mock you, God has chosen you and he loves you with an everlasting love! (Jer. 31:3)

IV. Verses 12-18: “Many bulls surround me;strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.Roaring lions tearing their preyopen their mouths wide against me.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.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.Dogs have surrounded me;

a band of evil men has encircled me,they have pierced my hands and my feet.I can count all my bones;

people stare and gloat over me.They divide my garments among themand cast lots for my clothing.”I’m so curious to know if David was aware that he was prophesying when he wrote these words about his own distress. So much of it is exactlywhat happened to Christ!

  1. Bulls, lions, and dogs are metaphors for the enemy, and I’m sure at the cross, as the people mocked and spat at him, they looked like a bunch of animals doing it.
  2. We know that while he was on the cross, his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth because he cried out “I am thirsty!” But, it also says that he said that, “so that Scripture would be fulfilled” (John 19:28). David’s psalms were the Scripture referenced in John that was being fulfilled! David prophesied about Jesus’ thirst in both from Psalm 22 and 69:21 (where he writes “they gave me vinegar for my thirst.”)
  3. We know that both Jesus’ hands and feet were literally pierced on the cross.
  4. “You lay me in the dust of death” is a fairly straightforward prophecy; Jesus was literally facing death and the grave.
  5. Verse 18 is directly quoted in the description of the crucifixion of Christ: “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’ This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, ‘They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.’ So this is what the soldiers did” (John 19: 23-24).
  6. HOWEVER, with the resurrection…the enemies didn’t triumph; Christ became living water for us to drink when we spiritually cry out “I am thirsty”; his pierced body healed us; his death brought us life, and when they left him naked without his robe, it made a way for us to wear robes of white someday. While David’s prophecieswere focused on anguish, they prophesied our redemption!

V. Verses 19-21: “But you, O LORD, be not far off;O my Strength, come quickly to help me.Deliver my life 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.” David knew “my help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2), so he starts verse 19 with but. Things appear to be hopeless, BUT real help can only come from the LORD, and we all need to memorize that one, since we tend to look at many other things for our help.

VI. Verses 22-31 are David’s vows to praise God when God delivers him, so the song of woe turns to a song of praise, as so often happens in David’s songs: “I will declare your name to my brothers;in the congregation 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!For he has not despised or disdainedthe suffering of the afflicted one;he has not hidden his face from himbut has listened to his cry for help.From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him—may your hearts live forever!All the ends of the earthwill remember and turn to the LORD,and all the families of the nationswill bow down before him,for dominion belongs to the LORDand he rules over the nations.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 righteousnessto a people yet unborn—for he has done it.”

  1. The writer of Hebrews explains how we are God’s children and “brothers” of Christ and quotes this section of Psalm 22 in his explanation: “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12He says, ‘I will declare your name to my brothers;in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises’” (Hebrews 2:10-12).
  2. Folks, God promised to deliver us, and He has fulfilled that promise. Not only that, but in doing so, he made us the “brothers” that Jesus says he’ll declare the Father’s name to; we’re heirs with Jesus! We should be praising Him as David did here!
  3. This Psalm ends with “he has done it.” These words mean, “It is finished,” the very words Christ spoke from the cross and the High Priest would say after killing the Passover lamb.

VII. Conclusion: I hope Psalm 22 has given you confirmation of the validity of Scripture as you can now see so much of Christ in David’s prophetic word. I’m dumbfounded by the number of people who believe that the Old Testament is of no value. I can confidently say that it’s impossible to properly understand the New Testament without a firm grasp of the Old Testament, so study both with diligence.