Alpha and Omega, Part 23
Seeing Jesus through the eyes of David
Psalm 22:1-31
Introduction
- Last week wrapped up part 1 of our Alpha and Omega series
-- CHALL: Do we live with the knowledge that God knows what He’s doing?
-- From creation to this moment, God has been preparing us for redemption
-- This is why the end of this series (next 6 mo.) is so pivotal
- FACT: What is to come? God’s wrath for humanity’s disobedience
-- Why? B/C His holiness demands it – yet His grace provides a way through it
- God’s grace, through His sacrifice of Jesus … is why we’ve unpacked all of this
-- It is the ultimate representation of love and forgiveness for our rebellion
-- From the first commitment (Gen 3:15) to Abraham, our redemption is promised
- Today, I want us to look at Psalm 22, and see Jesus through David’s eyes
-- I have taught on this before, but with a slightly different angle; lead up to Easter
- Handout: prophecies of Jesus to come – most of the major ones (for your review)
-- Crucial to see Jesus in scripture – He is the Revelation we need; the One to come
- See this … today is Father’s Day, and what an incredible Father we have!
- Psalm 22 is an amazing piece of scripture
-- It is written about 600 years before the birth of Christ
-- KEY: What I want us to see is that David is NOT talking about himself
- Rather, this is David revealing life of Jesus Christ … how can we be sure?
1. There are no records of David suffering like this Psalm depicts
2. The Psalm uses certain phrases that parallel Jesus’s suffering
3. The Psalm does not discuss David’s sin, or his desire to be forgiven
4. What this does do, is reveal to us one who is coming
- Let’s dive in … Read Psalm 22 / Pray
- In this Psalm, we see 5 critical points as David reveals to us the Christ
Point 1 – Jesus will be abandoned by God
- (v1) speaks of a rejection, a turning away of fellowship or companionship
-- David proclaims: “Why have you abandoned (or forsaken) me?”
-- Exact words that Christ said on the cross … written ~630 yrs. earlier
-- Matt 27:46, “ … Jesus called out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
- And the silence comes from God is the response to his plea (v2a)
-- Get this: Silence was so that God’s wrath could be poured out
-- RE: Isaiah 53:10 “It was the LORD’s will to crush him & cause Him to suffer”
- God’s silence was unusual for Jesus b/c He had constant fellowship
-- Crying out “by day” represents time Jesus suffered, the scourging / humiliation
-- As time turned to “night” his suffering intensified, was alone and rejected
-- Even crying out in prayer brought no relief (v2b): ref: Jesus in the garden
- Consider: If Jesus would be abandoned by God, how can we endure? Know …
Point 2 – Jesus’s strength comes from God
- There is a strengthening of faith (v3) because of God’s holiness
-- God’s silence did not mean he vacated His authority; or forgot His servant
-- Silence was so that He could be separated from sin; for Jesus to take the Wrath
- Why? (v4-5) To demonstrate God’s ultimate plan for us
-- Just as Israel (ancestors) put their trust in God … so will the Messiah
-- IMP: David knew that God’s trust is what his ancestors demonstrated / taught
-- He repeats this promise, the same one that Abraham received and spoke of
- Jesus also knew this, and so he persevered to endure the cross
-- APP: Jesus’s trust in God would not end His shame; rather, it empowers Him
- TR: But even with God’s strength, there will still be the pain of denial …
Point 3 – Jesus’s rejection is delivered by God’s people
- We know that Jesus is to be rejected by people (reread v6)
-- Jesus would lament as an outcast; one that mankind had no use for
-- Isaiah 53:5, “He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief, He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”
-- Knowing this, He would see himself as one who was unacceptable or discarded
- He would be ridiculed by the people He came to save (v7-8)
-- Mocked (v7a) … consider the crowd’s reaction to Him to Calvary
-- Insulted (v7b-8) … they spit on Him, beat Him, ridiculed Him
- APP: People even mocked his claim and trust in God (did it at the cross) as well
-- (Call out of v8) Remember the religious of the day (Pharisees): “He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:43)
-- The torment of being put away was emotionally and physically draining
- TR: Key item for us: Even though His Father’s creation will reject Him …
Point 4 – Jesus still yielded to God’s desire
- Why? Because His birth was ordained by God (reread v9)
-- The direction/mission of Jesus was always focused on knowing where this began
-- He was brought from the womb for this very purpose, to be dependent on God
- His suffering was in line with God’s plan (v10)
-- Why? To show His dependency on God, because of what God will do
-- APP: He knew that God’s purpose began even before His birth
- Consider the suffering endured for you and me (v12-18):
• His life was surrounded by enemies (v12) – ref: bulls; violent animals
• His safety was constantly threatened (v13) – by lions who seek to devour/destroy
• His life would be poured out (v14a) – he would be offered as a sacrifice
• His heart broken (v14b) – at the cross He felt hopeless and rejected
• His strength gone (v15) – He’d be weary, without ability to go on
• His body pierced (v16) – like violent dogs, they pierced his hands at cross
• His bones exposed (v17) – he knew that he was designed to suffer
• His clothes would be divided (v18) – soldiers cast lots for his clothes at the cross
- CHALLENGE: We must see why David makes this so personal …
-- David speaks in the first person / Why? To David, this relationship IS personal
-- He realized that he too would need to be rescued! (Don’t miss … knows his sin)
-- The direction David takes is one of personal suffering, He identifies with rescue
- TR: Why is this important to realize this today? We must see that …
Point 5 – Jesus’s redemption can only be delivered by His Father
- Using a first-person account: He asks for God to strengthen him (reread v19)
-- Jesus’s cry on the cross would also be one of rescue, of desperate deliverance
-- Consider the pain, the anguish, remember the events (ref handout):
• Sold for 30 pieces of silver (Matt 26:15)
• Forsaken by His disciples (Mark 14:50)
• Wounded and bruised (Matt 27:26)
• Crucified with thieves (Matt 27:38)
• Rejected by His own countrymen (John 7:5)
• Hated without a cause (John 15:25)
• His forsaken cry (Matt 27:46)
• Heartbroken (John 19:34)
- But what does He do? Complain? No! He asks for God to save him (v20-21)
-- Deliver me from the dogs - those evil ones who’ve done this to Him
-- Rescue me from lions, oxen - those who desire to see Him trampled (defeated)
- IMP: Note use of phrase “Save me”: He knows He will be heard by God
-- We don’t cry out to be rescued to an unknown – we cry out personally for help!
- TR: So, what does this all lead to? What will become of this servant?
- He is proclaimed to the Jews as their Messiah
-- (v22) - Jesus will declare all that God provides
-- Will be shown to believers (v23-24) that God has given us all that we need
- He is also proclaimed to the Gentiles
-- Jesus will be worshipped by the nations (v25-26)
-- Jesus will be believed upon by the nations (v27)
- But more importantly … He will be proclaimed to all peoples
-- He will be served by future generations (v30a)
-- Future generations will declare/teach all that He has done (v30b-31)
BIG IDEA
- The way David writes this you’d almost think he was standing at the cross!!
- How? He gives a complete story of all that Jesus will endure:
1. The son of God will be born
2. He will be forsaken by all … including God (for God’s purpose)
3. He will be put to death by evil men who want Him out of the way
4. Yet, His faithfulness is what we’ll remember for salvation today
- Why do we need to know this?
-- Because it is (and always been) God who delivers Him
-- This is how God gets to declare the victory – because He has done it
-- This is the ultimate representation of fatherhood; to redeem His creation
- From the moment we ruined the relationship (Gen 3 – our sin), God had a plan
-- This is what we’ve uncovered, and will show why His wrath is needed in Part 2
- Revelation means “revealing” or “unveiling” – and this Psalm does it too!
-- Ask yourself: Why is it important to know Who is coming or Who is revealed?
- When we see that David is laying out for us the Christ … it must challenge us
-- It challenges us to be intentional, to be focused, to know who goes before us
-- If you do not know Jesus, today can be your day to meet Him, personally
- But this passage also asks, “How am I showing others who Jesus is?”
-- Am I living in a way that represents His glory and suffering for others to see?
-- Or am I living in a way that others see Jesus in me; they see His redemption?
-- FACT: It is impossible to show Jesus while flaunting sin or being sour puss
- This is what we must be intentional on – and what next 6 months will show us
-- David understood that one would come to redeem, do you and I also do this?
- It is my prayer that we will be faithful to hear, and show, Jesus in our lives
- Pray
