The Rest Of The Story: Psalm 22:22-31

The Rest of the Story: Psalm 22:22-31

The opening words of the 22nd Psalm are remembered in that Jesus spoke this verse from the cross. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Much has been said by theologians about this verse about this being the time the sin if the world was placed on Jesus so that the Father turned His back on the Son. Although I have some questions about the accuracy of this statement, Jesus certainly felt forsaken. (For Sermon Central readers, see the sermon entitled “Did God Really Turn His Back on Jesus in this archive.) The verses which follow describe the horrors of crucifixion. David who wrote this Psalm, would not have not known about crucifixion, but there were equally horrible forms of execution available in His day. But David was a prophet as St. Peter reminds us on the Day of Pentecost. These words were written one thousand years before the event. We really don’t know what David was thinking about, but it seems that they can only be properly understood by the death of Jesus. Parts of the Psalm are quoted by the gospel writers in conjunction with the crucifixion to show that Jesus’ death is the fulfillment of prophecy.

Jesus Himself told the disciples on several occasions that the Scripture and prophecy of what we call the “Old Testament” was the first witness to Jesus, This is stresses to the Emmaus disciples when he upbraids them in Luke 24:25-6, calling them foolish that they did not believe the Scriptures which prophesied of Jesus’ suffering. But this is not all. He also says that the Scripture prophesied Jesus would afterward enter His glory. What Jesus says is that both is death and resurrection are prophesied.

Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and other Scriptures testify of Jesus’ suffering? But where do we find resurrection? The answer is here in this very Psalm, Psalm 22. Psalm 22 graphically portrays Jesus’ suffering, but it does not end in his being rendered into the dust of death. Peter in that same Pentecost sermon quotes Psalm 16 to show that Jesus’ body would not suffer from the decay of death. This, too testifies of the necessity of Jesus’ resurrection.

After one final plea for deliverance, the Psalm makes an abrupt turn. It says that He would declare the name of Yahweh to the brethren, and that in the midst of the great congregation he would offer praise. Dead men do not praise. This is the work of the living. After the experience of death, it would be necessary for Jesus to rise again, which He did. We must remember that the story does not end in the sacrificial death, but in His glorious resurrection. And who is the congregation who will witness this praise. We are all brought to the dust of death, and even if we live to the coming of the Lord, we will have to have these bodies of dust transformed into a new glorious body. This Psalm also confirms that we will be raised from death, even as Jesus was raised.

Jesus who is the very Tabernacle, the presence of God in the midst of His people affirms that not only has He suffered, but the congregation has suffered as well. We must make the distinction, or course, that Jesus’ suffering was entirely for the sin of others and not His own personal sin. Our own sins have caused us innumerable and deserved suffering. But all those who call upon the name will suffer tribulation from those who oppose the gospel. Sometimes this gives us the feeling of alienation from God. Does God really care that we are suffering for no other reason than the fact we are Christians. When we add the fact that we too get discouraged by our own sin, we can feel very forsaken indeed.

Verse 24 should give us hope. God has not considered the suffering of His people as what we would call today a “nothing burger.” He is intensely aware of our suffering and takes notice of it, even as the Father noted the suffering of His son. What we read here are the comforting words that God did not turn His face from Jesus, and if He did not turn His face, neither could He turn His back on Jesus, even though Jesus was bearing the sin of the whole world on that cross. The problem with sin itself is that it makes us turn our back on God. That is why the Hebrew word for repentance “shuv” means to turn back. It is a call to stop running away from God and hiding, but rather to turn back to Him. God does not desert us even in our self-inflicted wounds from sin. Instead He beckons the sinner to turn back to Him and live.