Introduction

Some of us walked in today with a quiet ache. You smiled at the door, shook a hand or two, found your seat, but there’s a knot that won’t untie. A prayer that feels unanswered. A hurt that won’t heal on a schedule. A memory that still stings. If that’s you, you are not alone. God sees you. He is nearer than the breath you just took.

Psalm 22 meets us right there. It starts with a cry that sounds like it belongs in a hospital room, or at a graveside, or on a sleepless night: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" If you’ve ever asked that question, this psalm takes your hand. It doesn’t scold you. It doesn’t shame you. It turns your pain into prayer and your tears into testimony. And it shows us that the Savior Himself knows this cry. He took it on His lips so you could take His hope into your heart.

There’s a holy hush in this psalm. We hear mockers. We see pierced hands. We watch garments gambled away. We feel the heat of shame and the cold of loneliness. And right in the middle of it all, there is a steady thread of trust: "But You are holy." When everything feels unsteady, God is steady. When everything seems uncertain, His promises are sure.

Tim Keller once wrote, "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope." — Tim Keller. That is Psalm 22 in a sentence. We see the depth of our need and the greater depth of His love. We hear the worst of human cruelty and the best of divine compassion. We watch sorrow give way to song. We witness pain answered with praise and a scattered people gathered into a family.

And that’s the miracle—through the cross, God isn’t just rescuing individuals; He is building a people. A praising people. A worldwide people. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD." That includes you. That includes the neighbor you’ve been praying for. That includes the child who has wandered, the spouse who feels weary, the friend who thinks hope is for everyone but them. The cross opens a wide door, and grace ushers us in.

Do you need a fresh word today? Psalm 22 shows us that God keeps His word. Centuries before nails touched skin, before soldiers cast lots, before a spear found a side, the Holy Spirit framed the scene. Not to win an argument, but to win our hearts. Not to give us trivia, but to give us trust. If He kept these promises in such detail, you can lean your full weight on every promise He has made to you in Christ.

So let your heart breathe as you hear this psalm. Bring God your honest questions. Bring Him the sighs too deep for words. Bring Him the burden you cannot carry one more block. And listen for the music of mercy that rises from lament to loud, bright praise. God hears. God helps. God holds you.

Scripture — Psalm 22 (KJV) 1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 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. 15 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. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. 29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Opening Prayer Father, thank You for hearing the cries we are afraid to speak and the ones we cannot stop speaking. Thank You for Jesus, who carried our sin, bore our shame, and turned a cross into a chorus of praise. As we sit under Your word, steady our minds, soften our hearts, and strengthen our faith. Let the honesty of this psalm give us permission to be honest with You, and let the hope of this psalm lift our eyes to Your faithfulness. Form us into a people who trust You, praise You, and follow You. Save the lost, steady the wavering, comfort the wounded, and fill us with the joy of Your salvation. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and King. Amen.

The Crucifixion Foreseen in Psalm 22

Psalm 22 gives more than feelings and images. It gives a scene. It gives language that matches events that came long after David. It shows that the cross was within God’s plan, seen in advance, sung in prayer, and then lived by the Son. This is why the psalm can carry both deep sorrow and steady hope. It is sorrow that names the pain. It is hope that rests in God’s character and promise.

The first line of the psalm shows up at the place of the skull. Jesus takes the opening words and turns His agony into prayer. He does not turn away. He speaks to the Father with honest words that come straight from this song. That matters. It tells us the pain of the cross includes more than nails and wood. It carries the weight of being treated as sin for us. It also tells us that lament belongs in faith. The Messiah prays with Scripture when breath is short. He reaches for a psalm that holds grief and trust in the same voice. David’s cry becomes the Savior’s cry, and through Him it becomes our way to pray when we cannot see the end. The psalm does not end at the first line. It leads the sufferer back to confidence and praise. Jesus steps into that path and walks it in our place.

The psalm also paints the body’s breaking. It reads like someone watching a slow death with clear eyes.

Look at the words about bones pulled apart, strength gone, mouth dry, tongue stuck, and life pressed down into dust. That is how crucifixion works. The victim hangs with shoulders strained until joints slip. The chest can hardly rise. Each breath takes work. Muscles cramp. The heart races and then slows. Blood loss drains warmth. Thirst grows fierce. Psalm 22 speaks of this long before Roman crosses lined the roads of an empire. The picture is not vague. It is specific. It matches the way the gospels describe the scene. It also matches what we know about the medical side of the cross. The psalm helps us see that the suffering was total. Body. Mind. Spirit. Every part of the Man of Sorrows is poured out.

The psalm also sets the sound of the crowd. The sufferer hears insults. He hears people point and shake their heads. They use his trust in God as a club against him. "He trusts God," they say, "so let God save him." The leaders at the cross speak with the same tone. Passersby do the same. Even criminals near Him add to the noise. David’s poetry gives us the soundtrack. The animal images in the psalm fit the scene. Strong bulls. A roaring lion. A pack of dogs circling. Faces close in and sneer. Mouths open wide. Teeth show. The goal is to shame. The psalm lets us know that the Messiah heard every word and felt the heat of every stare. He chose to stay. He chose to keep praying. He chose to entrust Himself to the Father who judges justly.

There is also the detail about clothing. Soldiers at an execution took the garments of the condemned. It was part of their pay. They cut what they could share. They gambled for the piece they could not divide. John’s Gospel pauses on this moment and points back to Psalm 22. The words match. The pattern fits. A poet sang about a garment and a game of chance a thousand years before a squad of troops cast knucklebones at the foot of a cross. This is careful mercy. It tells the church that none of this was random. It tells us that God gave signs in advance so that when we saw them we would know His hand was steady. It comforts us because details matter when pain feels loud. God does not miss details.

The psalm then turns from plea to praise. The sufferer vows to speak God’s name to His brothers. He says he will stand in the assembly and give thanks. He calls all who revere the Lord to lift Him high. He says the poor will eat and be full. He says people in far lands will remember and come to worship. He says future sons and daughters will tell the next age what God has done. This is the arc of the song. This is the arc of the cross. Out of deep sorrow comes public thanksgiving. Out of a lonely hill comes a wide circle of praise. Out of a pierced King comes a living community with a shared song.

All of this fits the theme we carry in our hearts today. God knew. God spoke. God acted. The psalm was not a puzzle to solve. It was a promise to trust. Jesus read it and walked into it for us. He took our guilt. He entered our pain. He gave us words for our own prayers. He opened the way for every tribe and home to hear and believe. And now this ancient song keeps teaching the church how to see the cross with clear eyes and warm hearts.

Through the Cross God Forms a People

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