Psalm 22

How low can a godly man go? He cries out to the Lord, owning Him as “my God,” and yet he asks Him, “Why have you forsaken me?” He shouts to the Lord in turmoil, but there is no answer.

He is clinging by faith to the God He knows, despite the fact that the comfort of communion with the Almighty is suddenly so far away from him. He meditates upon the God who lives in the praises of those who worship Him, the God who is holy. He considers the heritage of the Lord's mercy toward His people. He knows that when the faithful have turned to Him throughout the generations, time and again God has rescued them in their need.

He thinks then of His current condition. He has become the object of mockery and hatred for people who do not believe that God will help him. There is no word of comfort near him, only scorn and ridicule. The unmistakable taunt of a murderous mob is this: “God does not love you, and He will not rescue you.”

Yet this vicious crowd can never take away his past. This godly servant knows that the Lord has been with him as his God from the earliest moments of his life. He renews his plea: “Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.”

This trouble is from angry people who are filled with hate. They are wild beasts ready to kill. Have they lost all sense that they are actually men created in God's image, men who should have sympathy for those who suffer and basic respect for all who share in the dignity of being human beings?

They look upon this godly men who is publicly exposed before their eyes in the most desperate condition. With only moments left to live, his bones are dislocated, his heart is near collapse, and his lungs are struggling for breath. As he dies with the most extreme thirst and deprivation before the eyes of those who despise him, he is aware of this truth: It is God who has laid him in the dust of death.

This man is not dying from natural causes. He has been crucified. “They have pierced my hands and feet,” he says. The mob stares at him. They have divided his clothes, and now they gloat over his naked frame.

His plea to God is renewed once again. “Do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion!”

Suddenly there is a complete and dramatic change: “You have rescued me.” God has heard and has answered the plea of His suffering servant. His vows have come before the throne of God, and the Lord has given him sudden and vigorous life. He will pay to the Lord the offering that He promised on the day when he called out in distress to the Almighty.

What is the payment of his vow? This one man has a connection to many others that he calls his worshiping “brothers” who are part of the Lord's congregation. This crucified man who now lives will gather all the true offspring of Jacob with the message of the Lord's covenant faithfulness to him. Together a great congregation will worship God because of this one dying man who now lives.

How great will this congregation be? They will be an eternal church, together with the one who died and lives again. Their hearts will live forever! They will reach far beyond the Jews. “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before” the God of Israel as their eternal King. Their number will include those who have already died and millions who have not yet been born. These future generations will hear a message that will draw them into this eternal community of worship. What will the message be? “He has done it!”

Jesus is the righteous suffering Servant who has become the King of the resurrection kingdom. Not only are the facts of this psalm unmistakably about the events surrounding His humiliation and exaltation, we know that this psalm is about Him from a better source than our own interpretation of words written 1000 years before His death. He has put His mark on this psalm with His own dying plea: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus gave this testimony before Jews and Gentiles on the day when He died for our sins.

In His anguished cry of the opening words of this moving and perplexing composition, Jesus is giving a most important message to all who will hear. He speaks out of the anguish of His righteous soul. What is He actually saying by quoting the words of this wrenching prophesy?

Is it too much to put these words of explanation in His mouth? “Those who want to know what is happening to me, and what will come of my suffering, need to read the psalm that begins with these words. Then you will see what I went through as the Father turned His face away from His Righteous One. I gave My life for the congregation who would call upon My Name. Hear My meditation upon the goodness of the Almighty, and consider the mystery of evil that was all around Me. Take to heart the power of My death, and rejoice in the glory of My resurrection. Be a part of the congregation that is found in Me. I have conquered sin and death for you. I have done it!” Amen.