TRILOGY PSALMS (22.23.24) PSALM 22 – THE DEPTHS BEHIND CALVARY – THE SUFFERING SERVANT – WHAT CALVARY MEANT TO JESUS CHRIST
A Bible Study in Three Psalms – the Trilogy Psalms 22, 23, 24. Today we do only one of those – Psalm 22
INTRODUCTION - THE PSALM TRILOGY
Psalms 22, 23, and 24 are beautifully connected. They must be considered together but I am separating them to deal with each one separately to share what I get from them of comfort to me. These three Psalms outline the great treasures for Israel, spiritual treasures they do not cur-rently realise. They set forth the Good Shepherd but only because He redeemed the nation through His suffering at Calvary. Then we have the Shepherd of Israel in His full ministry. Lastly we have the King of Glory who will return at the Second Coming to reign forever. Thus we have Redeemer, Shepherd and Glorious King. With that introduction we now look at the first Psalm of the trilogy, Psalm 22.
PSALM 22 THE SUFFERING MESSIAH
This Psalm written 1000 BC is called a Messianic Psalm, which means that it is prophetic about the Lord Jesus Christ, or contains something directly about the Lord. There are 18 or more of these in the book of Psalms and all three of the Trilogy, here fall into that category. God does great wonders we often don’t ever realise, but when His word sheds light on something it can be a great joy. We would not have realised that Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm unless we knew the New Testament because it reveals this Psalm and lays it open.
On face value the Psalm outlines the experiences of David who underwent a terrible trial, possi-bly when under great threat of death from his enemies. However the language of the Psalm ex-tends beyond David as we can see the application to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Psalm is a prayer (possibly thoughts also) of the Lord while hanging on the cross. Different experiences are set be-fore us and much of them we can identify with our dear Lord Jesus, and some of this fits into the 3 hours of darkness when our sins were laid on the Lamb of God. It does not mean that every-thing in the psalm directly applied to the Lord but it is the strongest suffering psalm in the whole book.
There is a biblical principle of double fulfillment. I will give one brief example. In the Old Testa-ment there is a verse that says, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” That verse is speaking about the time when God called Israel out of Egypt’s bondage. However when the infant Lord was tak-en to Egypt by Joseph and Mary, then they returned, the same verse was applied to them. That is the double application. There are a lot of examples of that. What may have been partially true for David in Psalm 22 was fulfilled in Christ.
It is interesting that the Gospels in the New Testament provide the facts of pre and post Calvary but not one of them delves into the heart of Jesus throughout that time, especially the emotion-al trauma and deep spiritual suffering. The Old Testament does that in three key passages which are Psalm 22, Psalm 69 and Isaiah 52/53.
We shall now examine the Psalm. When studying a passage of Scripture it is important to con-sider how that passage fits into the context. We must look for the connection with what sur-rounds the passage. That is especially important in most books of the Bible but in the Psalms, each psalm is separate and the context rule is more relaxed. However when we examine this Psalm 22 passage, we are looking for how the Psalm fits into events of the time; what are the key happenings; who is being spoken of; what key promises can we claim; and what applications can be made to us? It is very important too, to notice the divisions. I am going to suggest to you a division for Psalm 22 and we will look at the verses as we go.
[[Verses 1 – 5. Among the points we have – personal emotions; spiritual truths; appeal to histo-ry. Most important you notice the language and the intensity.]]
VERSES 1-5
Verse 1 immediately sets this Psalm as a Messianic Psalm because it is applied to the Lord in the New Testament. It was His cry from the cross. At that point in the sufferings of the Saviour there had been a break in the fellowship between Father and Son, the one and only time that was to be. There are some who say the Father turned His face away but I don’t know if we can ever speculate that. What we know is that the Lord was abandoned to the cross, and while on the cross He groaned and knew deliverance was not going to be the case. He asked for deliver-ance at Gethsemane but committed Himself to the Father’s will.
Verse 2 reveals the Lord was not answered and had no rest. His crying was in the day and night. The night I think were those three dark hours when the “Why have You have forsaken Me” was spoken. Those hours were when the Lord became the sin bearer for our sin and entered a place of no standing. In the light of the sun and in the darkness of the sun He cried under the burden of our sin and was all alone. I think many Christians do not think into the sufferings of the Lord and the intensity of that time. They are too matter of fact about it all. That is a shame. “Come and see if there is any sorrow like My sorrow.” It was for us and we must understand and ap-preciate that.
Verse 3 – {{Psalm 22:3 “Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”}} The one word that shouts out from this verse is “holy”. It was the holiness of God that sin of-fended. It was the holiness of God that shut the door to man’s communion with a holy God, and God had to take steps so that there could be a relationship between God and man. It was the holiness of God that cast our sins on the Lamb of God, the sin-bearer who suffered at Calvary. It was the holiness of God that was satisfied so that we could have an unflawed closeness of rela-tionship with the Godhead.
“Enthroned upon the praises of Israel” speaks of the strong importance of praise. The word “praise” is one of the key words of the Psalms, the book of songs and praises, and the last psalm has a crescendo of praise.
Verse 4 – {{Psalm 22:4 “In You our fathers trusted. They trusted, and You delivered them.”}} The verse looks to the past to gain support for the present, but it did not avail. Deliverance was granted to the sorrowing and those in deep trials. The Old Testament is full of deliverance for God’s people, so what about the Lamb of God? Can He expect the same?
Verse 5 – {{Psalm 22:5 “To You they cried out, and were delivered. In You they trusted, and were not disappointed.”}} Verse 5 is reinforcing verse 4. It is an approach from another angle as we tend to do in prayer when we state our desires and pleas, then repeat them in a different way. The cross was beyond what any human being would possibly imagine which is why the bi-ble is silent about it, except for these few chapters that reveal just a snippet of it as a goad for our love. Trust in God never leads to disappointment. The Father did not ignore the Son – it was all determined in eternity but the humanity cried out.
Looking at that double application – no doubt David entered deep and dire straits and his ear-nest prayer is recorded. God delivered David from out of his terrible turmoil, but the Lord Jesus had to continue through it until the victory was won.
[[Verses 6 - 8. Personal humiliation; outside reaction; the setting.]]
VERSES 6-8
Verse 6 – {{Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people.”}} Here we have the humiliation of the Lord Jesus on the cross, but not only at that time, for He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief while on earth, rejected by His own na-tion. Paul tells very clearly of His humiliation in this well known passage – {{Philippians 2:7 “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, Phil 2:8 and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”}} A worm is one of the lowest creatures, down on, and in the ground, where men tread over them. Jesus was trodden underfoot by the Pharisees and Sadducees and by the officials and by all those who loved their sin.
In fact, sinners want to stomp on people like on a worm because they hate their sins being shown in the light. Rather than that they will smash the light. That was their attitude to Jesus and it was true that He could say of Himself that He is a worm and not a man. The Lord was a human being with emotions and feelings like us. Have you taken time to consider all the abuse and hurt that came His way and how it must have pierced Him greatly? I believe it hurt His soul far more than us for we are sinful but He was holy and sinless. Can you just picture throwing sin and abuse at holiness?
People reproached Him and despised Him. Of course there was a reason for that and above, I looked at this. Cockroaches love the darkness and hate the light. Isaiah expanded on this – {{Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”}}
Here is the sad account of the reproach borne by the Saviour of men from another Messianic Psalm – {{Psalm 69:7-9 “because for Your sake I have borne reproach. Dishonour has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons. Zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”}}
Verses 7 and 8 – {{Psalm 22:7 All who see me sneer at me. They separate with the lip, they wag the head saying, Psalm 22:8 “Commit yourself to the LORD. Let Him deliver him. Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”}} Mocking! Yes, they mocked and sneered. Pilate was among them but he won’t be sneering in hell today. I think he will be cursing and blaspheming.
The mob sneered and mocked at the cross and called out – {{“Let Him deliver him. Let Him res-cue him, because He delights in him.”}}
The Lord prayed for deliverance as we saw earlier in this Psalm but He knew what the will of the Father was. He went to the cross and continued with delight because He said in past eternity – {{Psalm 40:7-8 Then I said, “Behold, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I DE-LIGHT to do Your will, O my God. Your Law is within my heart.”}}
Even those who passed by were cynical and cutting. They despised the Son of God and some did not even know why. The evil chief priests and scribes did; they knew very well, which makes their judgement even greater. How dreadful for them all when they stand before the very One, not on a cross, but on a fearful throne and are judged and condemned by Him whom they mocked. This is what is recorded - {{Matthew 27:39-42 and those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, “and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others - He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel - let Him now come down from the cross and we shall believe in Him.”}}
Verses 9 - 11. Very personal feelings and emotions; relationship (9-10); place of no standing; the pressure and strength of the enemy; very prophetic. Try to think into the experience through the use of metaphor and simile. The Psalm is a prayer on the cross. When did it happen – in what timeframe?
VERSES 9-11
Verses 9 to 11 – {{Psalm 22:9 “Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb. You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Psalm 22:10 Upon You I was cast from birth. You have been my God from my mother’s womb. Psalm 22:11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.}} What the Lord is doing here is reinforcing fact, and because of the fact of birth and care, then He might receive help from the Father in His trouble. That is a natural reaction even though the Lord knew what lay ahead and that He would endure the cross alone and lonely – {{Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”}}
As I said earlier, initially the Psalm was written by David based on his experiences but the Holy Spirit constructed it in such a way that it became a Messianic Psalm to be applied to the Messi-ah. David went through much trouble and knew the comfort and support of God. What the Lord endured on the cross he endured alone.
Verses 12 – 16. Experience; prayer. In this Psalm there has been a wide use of animals. Why do you think this is?
VERSES 12-16
Verses 12 and 13 - {{Psalm 22:12 “Many bulls have surrounded me, strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. Psalm 22:13 They open wide their mouth at me, as a ravening and a roaring li-on.”}} Have you ever been in a place of no escape, surrounded on all sides? That was the expe-rience of Jesus when the weight of mankind’s sins was laid on Him. It was then He entered a place of no standing. The bulls of Bashan were very strong and known for that. It is as if the gathered around to charge at Him with goring horns. Their open mouths appeared as lions ready to tear the victim to pieces. Can you appreciate what it might have been like for Jesus Christ to have the sins of the world laid on Him, and then to be crushed under the load of the Fa-ther’s judgement for those sins? You never will. It is too immense and too overcoming for us.
Here is a of glimpse of that unspeakable time – {{Isaiah 52:14 “Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. Isaiah 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore and our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, Isa 53:5 but He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”}}
Verses 14 to 16 – {{Psalm 22:14 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. Psa 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws, and You lay me in the dust of death. Psa 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet.”}}
In the above verses the first person pronoun is used 12 times. That makes the suffering very personal. And what a suffering it is! The expressions are just so formidable. Poured out like wa-ter, bones out of joint, heart like wax, strength withered and failed, tongue cleaving to the mouth, lying in the dust, surrounded by dogs and hands and feet pierced.
Take note here – if the blessed Lamb of God did not do that then you would still be in your sin with a lost eternity ahead of you, no hope in this world or the next and you’d know nothing of joy, peace, forgiveness or praise. How much do you owe the One who redeemed you? Every-thing! Never take your salvation lightly or forget it. Never forget the cost of your salvation.
Additionally, can you imagine what it was like for David too in his trial when he felt that way and wrote these words?
VERSES 17-18
Verses 17 and 18 – {{Psalm 22:17 I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me. Psa 22:18 They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”}} In verse 16, His hands and feet were pierced. In 17, the bones are somehow prominent (maybe “out of joint”). In 18, His garments were divided and lots cast for His clothing. That’s how ghoulish it got. This is yet another picture of the depth of Calvary. I think the only possessions the Lord had were His clothes. The greed of the soldiers took even those. He was left with absolutely noth-ing, not a thing.
Today in heaven, all that the Lord has from this earth, are scars – in His hands, feet, side and head. He also has a glorified human body. In that way it will be parallel to what we will have. We leave this earth with nothing, not a thing. We too will have a glorified human body, like unto His. We could never enter heaven with scars, because the only scars allowed belong to the Sav-iour. They are the scars of redemption.
Verses 19 – 21. Prayer. In this Psalm there has been a wide use of animals. Why do you think this is?
VERSES 19-21
Verses 19-21 - Psalm 22:19 “But You, O LORD, be not far off. O You my help, hasten to my assis-tance. Psa 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog. Psa 22:21 Save me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.”}}
We have the same animals again, the oxen/bull, the lion and the dog. These verses are a prayer for deliverance and help because the opposition is so strong, just too strong like these animals that would gore, crunch, and tear apart. Such was the fearsomeness of Calvary for Jesus.
The sword was to slay him. That sword was the sword of sin and it had my name on it. Praise to God that the Lord Jesus Christ fought all the devil’s opposition, defeated him who had the power of death, and overcame. Praise be to His mighty Name.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
Verses 22 – 24. Resurrection; the forward look; great promises.
Verses 25 – 31. Universal scope; a widening inclusion of people and time; great promises; the aftermath of suffering, redemption and salvation.
