Two thousand years ago, a pivotal moment of human history has taken place. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world. This event is described in psalm 22 with a breathtaking accuracy. We find in this psalm an incredible prophecy written by King David a thousand years before the crucifixion of Jesus actually happened. This may be the most important and significant of all psalms in the Bible.
All the details of Christ’s suffering on the cross are overwhelming. It is therefore not easy to preach this part of the Bible. But was preaching the cross ever meant to be easy? Personally, I read this psalm dozens if not hundreds of times. Yet, most of the times, our merciful God showed me something new and fresh in it.
I will preach it line by line, attempting to make an exposition of its richness. I hope to show you that this psalm describes all the elements required for our salvation. You will see in it: Christ’s suffering, his death and resurrection, our sins and need for repentance, God’s love and our salvation. So rich is this text we are to study. May Almighty God help me preach through it faithfully.
I therefore encourage you to keep your Bibles open and follow the Scriptures as we study them. I pray that when we finish, you are not only astonished by the accuracy of the prophecy, but most of all more fully comprehend what it is that the Saviour had done for us. I have a deep desire that through this study you will grow in your relationship with Him, who is risen and liveth forever.
Introduction
Let us start with the first line. We often tend to forget about the introductory verses in psalms or skip through them. We have to remember though that they are also part of the inspired, God-breathed Word.
“To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.”
What does it mean? Three things can be concluded here:
- To the chief Musician. We learn the psalm is written as a song. It is a musical poem.
- Upon Aijeleth Shahar. Aijeleth Shahar simply means “hind of the morning”. It declares the time of the day when the psalm is most suitable to be sung. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” is meant to be sung in the middle of the day.
- A Psalm of David. This part tells us about the human author God used to write this chapter. It is a poem written by the King of Israel, the great ancestor of Lord Jesus in human linage.
What is the significance of all this, you may ask. Why does it matter? The introduction is essential to fully understand this psalm and has some quite incredible connotations.
Picture Christ on the cross. You see the Son of David, the Christ, who is crucified in the middle of the day. Think of the very moment when He cries out with a loud voice saying “Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani”. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”.
The numbering of chapters and verses as we know them in our Bibles were introduced only in the Geneva Bible in 1560. In the times of Jesus, the Jews used to refer to any particular part of the Bible by quoting the first verses.
All the people surrounding the cross know exactly what Jesus means by His words. It is Judea after all; the land of the Jews. They know the Scriptures, they know that Lord Jesus refers to psalm 22. This is His psalm. The words of this psalm are His very words. It is the song, words and prayers of our suffering Saviour.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” v. 1-2
The Saviour is in His deepest need. His suffering is not only physical. It is also spiritual. In fact, He does not even mention physical suffering until later in the psalm. It is His spiritual suffering that is overwhelming. He is abandoned. He is alone. He is despised. He is crushed. He is forsaken.
Have you ever thought about what it is to be forsaken by God? What is it like to be left without His grace and love? The Apostolic creed tells us about Lord Jesus: “he descended into hell;” Do you see it in the Scriptures? When God appears not present in the midst of the terrible suffering of our Lord, this is precisely where Jesus is. A spiritual hell, before He descends further to the heart of the earth through His death.
Verses 4-5 tell us: “Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.”
How come? Why is it that our fathers trusted, cried and were delivered? Why is it that the Son of God, Jesus Christ is hanging on that cross, bleeding to death, and God is not answering? Why is that? He has not done anything wrong. He was not born in sin like we are. He was perfectly obedient to Father’s will. Why then is he left to die alone? Why does he have to descend into the pit of hell, into the realm of the dead?
It becomes easier to grasp when we note a very clear pivot between verses 1-2 and 4–5, which you find in verse 3: “For thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel”. Holy God has to punish sin. The Son of God was bearing our iniquities. This is why he cannot be heard. He is suffering and dying for my and for your sins. It is us who should be descending to this pit of hell. We deserve it fully. It is our prayers that should remain unanswered if we were to be judged by the Holy and righteous God. But they are not unanswered, for Jesus suffered the silence of God for us.
There is hope for the worst offenders and criminals. Have you ever noticed how every one of us knows in their deep conscience there is Almighty God, the perfectly righteous judge of all creation? The most devout atheist, when he is pressed by unexpected tribulation or suffering in this world, when he has nowhere to run, will easily cry: “My God, help me”. We all know deep in our hearts where to seek help when being strongly oppressed. All men know somewhere in their consciousness there is God, the Creator of all things.
A person who rejected God for all their life will have their prayer heard and answered. A criminal who did the worst imaginable thing, who calls for God’s help, will be heard and answered. God is ready to hear and answer anyone who calls upon His name today. Yet, the cry of the Son of God on the cross, remains unanswered. He does not find comfort in God’s presence.
But I am a worm
“But I am a worm, and no man: a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”
Jesus Christ, who is so full of love and compassion towards other people, says he is a worm. WHY? Why is he a worm? For he is giving up His life for me and for you. He became a worm by taking all our sins. Jesus calls Himself a worm, as a reminder of all the warnings he issued when He was preaching Kingdom of God during His earthly ministry:
“… to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mk. 9:43-44
Prophet Isaiah also warns us of this dreadful place:
“And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” Is. 66:24
Jesus Christ was in that place called hell. He was there to save us from our sins. Can you see that today? Can you see He was the abhorring unto all flesh? Can you see what He had done for you? Can you see the price He paid? Do you feel the weight of the sins that He took upon himself that He became like a worm?
All they that see me laugh me to scorn
“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.” v.7-8
Here is a dying man. Bruised. Bleeding. Suffering terribly. In the last hours of his life. Yet He is being laughed and mocked by everyone. Is this not showing us how deprived is the human race?
We see exactly how these words are fulfilled in the gospels. The chief priests , elders and scribes were laughing at him. The criminal who is crucified next to him was mocking him. The Roman soldiers were ridiculing him. There was no compassion. No prayer from anyone around. There is no relief. No hope. Just terrible pain, sore agony, suffering and emptiness.
“And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” Mt. 27:39-44
Who is this man dying on the cross?
The next two verses are like an answer to them. Though it is Lord Jesus’ prayer to the Father, He gives them who laugh and mock an indication for who He really is:
“But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” v. 9-10
We can see it almost like a flash of life that people have when their life is about to end abruptly. Who is this man dying on the cross? “I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” It is the Holy Ghost who miraculously conceived Jesus in virgin’s womb. It is the Father who cared for His wellbeing when He was a baby. It is God who told Joseph to accept Mary. It is God who warned them to escape to Egypt. It is God who warned the Kings not to go back to Herod. The Father provided for everything and Jesus Christ relied on Him through all His life.
Lord Jesus is answering them. He seems to say to them: “Look at my life from my conception, from the early childhood. How dare you all to question my trust in my Father?”
Father, forgive them!
“Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.” v.11-13
There is none to help. Our Lord is surrounded by mockers and scoffers. He is crucified and bleeding. Trouble is near, for there is none to help. He compares them whom He sees around to strong bulls. There is nothing kind that He can expect of them. No compassion and no mercy. Just laughter to all the terrible suffering.
Yet in all this when they nail Him to the cross, He prays: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” He asks for forgiveness for all of us, even the bulls of Bashan, who hate Him. To this prayer we can cling to when we come to the cross in repentance.
I am poured out like water
Now comes the horrific description of all the pain. We face all the details of physical terror that the Lord Jesus is going through. Please bear on mind, the psalm is written by David. He never saw or experienced crucifixion himself, for this method of torture was not invented until 1st century BC by the Romans. Yet David writes 1,000 years before Christ, about all the details leaving us in no doubt what he speaks about:
“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.” v. 14-17
It is so descriptive… This is the most cruel and painful suffering one can imagine. It should shake us to the bones to think what the Lord is going through. For we have to remember – He is there not because He has to, but because He is willing. He is giving His life for us and this is the only way to save us.
The psalm tells us: “my tongue cleaveth to my jaws;”. John writes in the Gospel:
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” J. 19:28
Lord Jesus says: “I thirst”. He has genuine thirst for water, that is beyond any imagination. His body lost lots of blood and His mouth is dry as a desert. Yet, I have no doubt that with these words, the Lord expresses more than just a physical need. He thirsts spiritually. He is again referring to that emptiness which He experiences by feeling the lack of Father’s presence. He is completely alone.
This spiritual and physical thirst can remind us of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. When the rich man died, he is in hell and in torments. He cries seeing Lazarus: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But there is no relief.
Brethren, hell is a terrible place. There is no relief to suffering, no water, no mercy, no answer to prayers, no hope even.
This is where Christ is descending for your sake.
Awaiting the death
“they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” v. 16-18
Oh, all that pain that our blessed Jesus is going through in these hours. The unbearable pain of disjointed bones, the skin that is cut through by flogging, the nails that pierced his precious hands and feet. They now have to hold all the weight of His broken body. And the suffering just will not stop. There is no help and no relief.
From this place of no hope, just waiting for death to come, the Lord looks down at another mockery going on. A gamble for His garments. Roman soldiers casting lots, right below a dying Son of God. They have more interest in acquiring something vain and temporary then to look up above them towards Him, who can save them. Brethren, this is us, before our conversion. We have no interest in the precious Saviour. All the matters of this world are so much more valuable to us! May God bless us all, that we may repent and look upon this cross where our salvation is taking place.
We have a blessed Saviour in the Lord Jesus. Look upon His cross, for in Him who dies on it, there lies your salvation. Never stop wondering this precious cross, where He is bleeding and dying for your sins. It is so rich and so powerful.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” J. 3:14-15
This cross fills us with sadness, for we see the price that had to be paid. But it also gives us hope. For we know this is the only cure for the sin disease we all have.
You will never stop being astonished exploring that wooden cross and what God has done for you. The mighty Son of God is lifted up on this cross. The incarnate Word of God. The promised Saviour, Jesus Christ. God’s holiness is put on display on that cross. His righteousness, His wrath and His anger. But most of all, what we find on that cross is God’s divine, eternal love and grace. Let us live for that love.
“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
AMEN.
God Bless You All.
