June 30, 2024
A Song of the King
Psalms 22:1-21
Everyone has their own preference in music. For me I really like the singer/songwriters, but more specifically I really like the confessional singer/songwriter. These are the musicians who write from a willingness to be open and vulnerable with their own hurts and experiences, therefore when it comes to secular music these are the artists that I prefer. When it comes to Praise and Worship Music, these types of songwriters are not just the ones I prefer, but they are the ones who are almost a necessity for me. When my soul has been through the trials of life and I have a song building up inside of me, I have not been gifted with the ability to find the words to praise in that moment. That is when I turn to those confessional writers who pour out their lives in the song. I’m able to take their heartfelt praises to God and turn them into my own, because those writers have been in the places I find myself and they are honest in their words. I’m able to identify with their pain, struggles, and their sentiments and can worship God, not just sing about Him but really worship. I can make a connection with God through their words. I think this is one of the reasons the Psalms are so popular. King David writes in this same manner in them. Think about the 23rd Psalm, like we looked at last summer. David was writing from his experience as a shepherd as well as a follower of God as he penned those iconic words, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…”. We see his experience lived out in the words of the Psalms time and time again, but when you get to Psalm 22 things are a little different.
When reading the 22nd Psalm, we see a song of lament which isn’t out of the ordinary. Almost half the Psalms we have in the Bible would be classified as a lament psalm. A lament psalm is a psalm in which the writer pours out the pain and hurt they are experiencing in their hearts. Psalm 22 is a little different because when we read over it, we see a criminal who is experiencing a hurt that is almost indescribable and he is being killed. The problem with this Psalm is, from everything that we know from the life of King David, there is nothing he experienced or lived through that would line up with this Psalm. Since these are not things that he ever experienced, what are we supposed to make of this Psalm? Well, there is one thing about King David that we tend to forget and it’s something that is mentioned in the apostle Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2:29-30, Peter is recorded as saying, “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. But he was a prophet, and He knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne.” A prophet is not something we usually ascribe to David when we think or speak about him, but that’s what’s happening here in this psalm. More than 1200 years before the birth of the Messiah, God has given David and all of Israel a glimpse of what the Messiah would suffer through a prophetic song. So this morning I want to briefly look at the prophecies within this Psalm, what they told us about the coming Messiah, and why they should be important to us.
The Messiah would be Abandoned by God. - Psalms 22:1-5
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.”
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
The Psalmist starts out the psalm with the Messiah making a deep and painful cry ― a cry of abandonment. Matthew 27:46 records this as the same cry that Jesus made as He hung upon the cross. Of the seven things that were recorded that Jesus said while on the cross, “Eli Eli lama sabachthani” must be the most well-known as well as the most difficult to fully understand. Jesus cried out to the heavens ― My God, My God why have you forsaken me. Jesus did not cease to be God when He cried out, nor was He removed temporarily from the Trinity, but in that moment, there was a transaction that was occurring on the cross that has never taken place before, nor will it ever happen again. It was in that moment that the perfect sinless Jesus became sin (Romans 3:25, 2 Corinthians 5:21). It’s the absolute horror of that moment that is found in the sentiment of these first few verses here in the 22nd Psalm. In the text the Messiah here was looking to God for deliverance, but God had to turn His back upon Him because of the sin that had been placed upon His shoulders. He reflected upon Israel who cried out in their sin and were answered by God delivering them, but God had not answered the Messiah. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed the same kind of prayer in Luke 22:42 when He prayed “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” In Jesus’ humanity He knew the suffering and abandonment that He would endure over the next few hours and prayed for it to be removed, but submitted to the Fathers will. Why would He do this? Why would the God of all creation place Himself in such a situation to experience this untold of pain? He did it for you. Isaiah 53:4-5 puts it this way, “Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced by our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” Jesus took the role of the man of sorrow, the suffering servant, who bore the sins of the world because He loves us and wants us to be healed, He wants us to be whole and He knew the only way you could experience ultimate healing and ultimate fulfillment was by Him taking upon our sins, experiencing the wrath of God, and dying for those sins on the cross.
The Messiah would be Scorned by the People. - Psalms 22:6-11
But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all! Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, “Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him!” Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast. I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born. Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.
Verse 6 starts out with a rather odd “I am” statement about the Messiah, “I am a Worm”. The idea is that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be valued as much as a worm laying on a wet road. Scorned and despised by all, this is exactly what happened to Jesus. Again Isaiah 53:3 says He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Jesus was just that. The religious leaders who should have welcomed the Messiah with open arms but instead were seeking His death. Those who once shouted Hosanna soon were shouting “Crucify Him”. Jesus was the proverbial worm, despised by all His peers. Matthew records the fulfillment of the rest of this prophecy in Matthew 27:39-40 “Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” Jesus fulfilled these verses in an undeniable way, but again we must ask, Why? Why did Jesus have to suffer? It showed those who were present the condition of their hearts. To go from their cries to save us to the sneering present at the cross showed them that they did in fact need a Savior. It also showed us the heart of Jesus, to bear those same things while we were still His enemies. He did it for you, so that you would know you needed a Savior, that you would have a Savior, and you would know of His immense love for you!
The Messiah would be Crucified by His Enemies. - Psalms 22:12-21
My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey. My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. O Lord, do not stay far away! You are my strength; come quickly to my aid! Save me from the sword; spare my precious life from these dogs. Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.
David describes the death of the Messiah by crucifixion 1200 years before the coming of the Messiah and the 700 years before it was created as a method of execution. His enemies both physical and spiritual had gathered around and He knew that His time was near. The phrase “bones are out of joint” while it could be literal when it comes to crucifixion. It would also show that He was near motionless on the cross as the end neared. Remember Jesus was dead, and they would not have to break His legs like they did the others. While “Eli Eli lama sabachthani” might be the most well-known saying of Jesus on the cross, “I thirst" is probably the least known, but it is referred to here by the prophet David (still feels a little odd saying that). They had nailed His hands and feet and divided and gambled over His clothes just like it was recorded in Matthew 27:35. Again, why did the Messiah have to do this? Well, He didn’t have to, but rather He wanted to. He wanted to give you hope in heaven, because without His suffering we would not have it at all. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ”.
As we so briefly reflect over this Psalm, I think it’s humbling to see that Jesus did all of this for us, so that we can be made whole, be healed and be with Him forever. When we stop and reflect upon the truths of what Jesus has done for us, there is only one response that a follower of Jesus can have to the wonder that is contained here, and that is worship. We will worship. We will worship through the Lord’s Supper as we reflect upon what Jesus did for us, but also upon His return. This prophetic song was given to David as a glimpse of who was to come and it’s a reminder to us of not only what He has done for us, but of the fact that He will return and will return soon. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
