Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

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.

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.

11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

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.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

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.

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.

MEMORY VERSE: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever. —Psalm 22:26

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Christ’s sufferings, humiliation, reproach, and anguish of heart were accurately prophesied and foretold through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who also clearly prophesied of Christ’s triumph and the prosperity of His kingdom.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Psalm 22:1 “The words of my roaring”: the tone of his speech because of his sorrow and suffering; groaning and moaning.

Psalm 22:3 “lnhabitest the praises”: God loves and cherishes the loving worship and praise that comes from the hearts of those who are proving true and faithful to Him.

Psalm 22:7 “Shoot out the lip”: The slander, criticism, and ridicule that poured from the mouths of the Jewish leaders against our Lord as He hung in reproach and shame upon the cross.

Psalm 22:14 “l am poured out like water”: The wicked men who hated Christ and instigated His cruel death on the cross thought no more of it than of spilling water on the ground. “All my bones are out of joint”: our Lord’s mental and emotional struggles coupled with the physical abuse. It brought such anguish and grief to His whole system that the form and structure of His mortal body was wrecked and marred out of shape. “My heart is melted in the midst of my bowels”: his heart which was broken and melted in grief and terrible sorrow because of their hatred and rejection of Him; also, because he was bearing the wrath of God against their sins.

Psalm 22:16 “Dogs”: the band of evil doers who thirsted for the blood of Christ to be shed. They were men void of the love and Spirit of God. They were jealous of Jesus because of His great power and blessings from above, they were cut to the heart and condemned by His purity, and they were angry because He would not condone and honor them. Such malicious hatred caused them to crave His death. They were beasts, brute animals who were in the grossest darkness man could ever be in. They were able to look upon Him suffering, bleeding and dying on the cross, gloat over it, and rejoice.

Psalm 22:18 “Vesture”: evidently an outer garment, as described in John 19:23 as a coat without seam; one woven piece of work.

Psalm 22:20 “Darling”: my only one (Hebrew). This means His precious life, the only one of it, the only one like it in purity and holiness before God.

Psalm 22:30 “A seed…a generation”: the New Testament Church, the holy Bride of Christ. We are the seed, the outgrowth and planting of Christ and His gospel, as in I Peter 2:9: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.”

Psalm 22:31 “A people that shall be born”: the new birth into the kingdom of God; a spiritual birth that brings forth a spiritual people, “by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). “He hath done this”: The word “this” is a word added by the translators and is not in the original text. The Hebrew says, “He hath finished.” Thus we see that Christ quoted the beginning of this Psalm, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), and the ending, “It is finished” (John 19:30), while hanging on the cross.

LESSON BACKGROUND

The 22nd Psalm is, beyond all doubt, a clear and direct prophecy of Christ and His humiliation and suffering, followed by His triumphant victory. It is quoted several times in the New Testament. Christ uttered the first phrase while suffering on the cross (Matthew 27:46); the last phrase is quoted in John 19:30. The scornful Jewish leaders unwittingly quoted part of this Psalm almost word for word (verse 8) in Matthew 27:43, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” Verse 18 was literally fulfilled as Matthew 27:35 stated: “And they crucified him. and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.” Verse 22 was quoted in Hebrews 2:11- 12 like this: “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” Seeing then that the New Testament writers emphatically applied this Psalm to Jesus Christ and His sufferings, we can be assured that it was truly so. We can see the rest of the Psalm, as a whole, to be fitting to the humiliation and reproach that Christ bore for us. The authorship is attributed to David.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

DISCUSSION:

1. How can we be assured that Psalm 22 is a prophecy of Jesus?
2. What parts of this Psalm are quoted in the New Testament?
3. What kind of people wanted Christ to be crucified?
4. How did God answer the prayer of Christ for deliverance?
5. What verses show that Christ was victorious?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

Christ was divine—but He was also human. He suffered anguish of heart and tortuous sufferings in His flesh. It was terrible what He went through. He truly had a broken heart, crushed and beaten by the abuse and mistreatment of those who rejected and hated Him. His holy saints have had to suffer similar things down through the ages.

We can picture Him there on the cruel tree, and as we weigh the prophecy of this suffering, we are made to realize the awfulness of it all. Thank God for the victorious end of it all! His prayer for deliverance was answered. He exhorts us to praise the Lord, “for He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted.” God was not unmindful of what Christ was suffering; neither had He forsaken him as it may have seemed to the human sense. Rather, He was working out His eternal purpose. A people would be born and become a great nation for Christ—the people of His choice, His Bride of love, forever and ever! The meek, the holy, the pure, and the righteous would prevail and stand with Him in the favor of God forever. Many people of many nations would hear the gospel and be saved, and turn to the worship of the Lord.

Yes, there is victory here—victory for Christ and victory for all who will love and obey Him. Even if we suffer as Christ suffered, we will all be glorified together. Thus, He really finished and brought His great plan of redemption to a perfect fulfillment.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

The bitterest element in all suffering is the sense of desertion. It hurts deeply when the one you love does not respond to your pleadings any longer, nor gives you a look of love. Your heart is torn into shreds when your cry goes out and returns to you again unfulfilled. The unanswered “whys” re-echo, and the solitude of suffering becomes very oppressive. Our Lord did not have any “why” of impatience or despair, nor the sinful questioning of one whose heart rebels against his chastening, but rather the cry of a lost child who cannot understand why his father has left him, and longs to see his father’s face again.

Who can fathom the depths of the feelings of the solitary Sufferer of Golgotha? Those around Him laughed at His suffering, saying, “He trusted the Lord; now let Him deliver Him.” Oh, the love Jesus had for His Father, yet in His affliction God was powerless to answer! Oh, how inexpressibly keen must have been the sufferings of the Sinless One as He listened to the reviling of those who gloated over His crucifixion! As poured-out water dissolves on the ground, so His strength was dissolved. He was utterly spent. His bones, the support of the physical frame, were sundered and displaced, involving unutterable agony. The sap of life was dried up like the moisture out of a burnt-out vessel of clay that is taken from the furnace. His excessive thirst was miserable. His tongue was sealed to His jaws. As a last act of indignity, as though He were already dead, they raffled off His clothes. Yet at any moment our blessed Lord could have called for ten thousand angels to deliver Him from this horrible death. His great love for us caused Him to say, “Not my will, but thine be done.” He was willing to take our sins upon Himself, who was innocent, so you and I could have eternal life. Oh, how we love and adore His matchless Name!

Verse 22 marks a change in the tone and spirit of the Psalmist. Light breaks in upon the forlorn sufferer. Despair gives place to hope; and the prospect of speedy and certain deliverance animates the soul with gratitude and joy.

No person who can pray will ever stay in the depths of suffering for long. While you are drinking the dregs of sorrow God is preparing a blessing for you. Never forget that He is near and has His eye upon the scene. You can come out with victory just as our Savior did. He arose from the grave with victory and power. Today He is sitting on the right hand of God interceding for you and me. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

—Sis. Marie Miles, 1979