Psalm 22:1-11
SS Lesson for 10/13/2024
Devotional Scripture: Ps 91:9-16
By one estimate, there are six types of psalms in the Old Testament book of Psalms: lament, thanksgiving, wisdom, praise, psalms of Zion, and imprecatory. Most students categorize Psalm 22 as a lament psalm. Such psalms are characterized by the psalmist’s attitude of personal anguish and the psalmist’s petitions to God in response to some felt suffering. Lament psalms typically contain a threefold structure, demonstrated by Psalm 13. First, lament psalms begin with a complaint or question, such as “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). Second, the psalmist petitions or cries for help from the Lord, such as “Look on me and answer, Lord my God” (13:3). Finally, the psalmist concludes with praise and worship to God: “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me” (13:6). Psalm 22 contains these same elements. It begins with the psalmist’s question (Psalm 22:1), transitions into a set of his petitions and cries for help (22:2, 11, 19-21), and concludes with his worship of God (22:22-23). Some students see aspects of both lament psalms and praise psalms in Psalm 22. As a result, these students divide the psalm into two parts: a lament psalm (22:1-21) and a praise psalm (22:22-31). Regardless of how we categorize and divide this psalm, it depicts the sadness and worship of someone suffering. The psalm’s superscription provides some information regarding context. First, it directs “the director of music” to sing this psalm to a tune apparently known to the psalm’s original audience. Second, the superscription also tells us that Psalm 22 was “A psalm of David.” Like most psalms, this psalm does not indicate the situation that led David to compose the psalm (contrast Psalms 18; 51). One possibility is that David wrote this psalm while hiding from Saul (see 1 Samuel 23:7-29). Whatever the situation, we know from the verses after today’s lesson text that David felt abandoned, isolated, and in danger. His body was failing and on the verge of death (Psalm 22:14-15, 17). His enemies had surrounded him like wild animals (22:12, 16), eager to attack (22:13, 21) and strip him of his clothing (22:18). The writers of the New Testament connected the suffering of the psalmist and his prayer for help with the suffering of Jesus and his prayers during the crucifixion. Of New Testament quotations of and allusions to Psalm 22, most occur in the passion narratives of the Gospels:
· Psalm 22:1, quoted in Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
· Psalm 22:7-8, alluded to in Matthew 27:39; Mark 15:29; Luke 23:35-36
· Psalm 22:8, alluded to in Matthew 27:43
· Psalm 22:18, quoted in John 19:24
· Psalm 22:22, quoted in Hebrews 2:12
Some students have called this psalm “The Psalm of the Cross” because of its connections to Jesus’ suffering and the lament he expressed to his heavenly Father while on the cross. We may be drawn to interpret Psalm 22 only in light of Christ’s suffering—and understandably so! But if we do, we will miss how it, in its original context, can inform our spiritual growth.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon — from Mount Mizar.
14 But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." 15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
10 This is what the Lord says about this people: "They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins." 11 Then the Lord said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague."
23 Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, 24 "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' 26 "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
11 "Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 "He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"
9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. 11 Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, "Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O Lord, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you." 12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
17 All men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life.
8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
29 "If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him— 30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.
21 When the Lord heard them, he was very angry; his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel, 22 for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
14 The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
Verses 1-2
Again David felt frustrated by God’s lack of response to his cries (cf. Psalms 13:1-4). God would not answer David regardless of when he prayed. The Lord Jesus quoted David’s words as He hung on the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).
"There are two ways in which we may understand Jesus’ use of these words, either as fuller sense (sensus plenior) or typology. . . . Franz Delitzsch well illustrates what we mean by fuller sense in his comment on Psalms 22 : ’. . . David descends, with his complaint, into a depth that lies beyond the depth of his affliction, and rises, with his hopes, to a height that lies far beyond the height of the reward of his affliction’ [Note: Delitzsch, 1:307.] The fuller meaning can be understood in the comprehensive sense as well. That is, the suffering on this occasion was insufficient to qualify for these gigantic terms of the text, so we understand David as summing up the suffering of his entire life. . . . In comparison to the fuller sense, the typological interpretation sees Jesus as the type of sufferer in Psalms 22, and the psalmist becomes the model. James Mays’s interpretation of this psalm belongs in this category, although he prefers to see Jesus as setting himself in its paradigm: ’He joins the multitudinous company of the afflicted and becomes one with them in their suffering.’ [Note: James L. Mays, "Prayer and Christology: Psalms 22 as Perspective on the Passion," Theology Today 42 (1985):323.] When the fuller sense method is applied, it recognizes that a future fulfillment is built into the language and meaning of the text, whereas typology looks back to a person or event as representative of a future event or person. It may or may not be a prophetic element built into the text." [Note: Bullock, p. 44.]
David felt forsaken by God and ridiculed by his enemies, yet his confidence was in the Lord’s continuing care. The mood of this psalm contrasts dramatically with that of Psalms 21. In this one, David felt forsaken by God, and the threats of his enemies lay heavily on his heart. He evidently felt death might be close. He described his condition as facing execution. Nevertheless the Lord answered his prayer for help. "No Christian can read this without being vividly confronted with the crucifixion. It is not only a matter of prophecy minutely fulfilled, but of the sufferer’s humility-there is no plea for vengeance-and his vision of a world-wide ingathering of the Gentiles." [Note: Kidner, p. 105.]
The righteous sufferer motif that is so prominent in this individual lament psalm finds its fulfillment in the Messiah (cf. Psalms 69; et al.). [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," pp. 289-90.]
Verse 3
In spite of God’s silence, David’s confidence in Him was strong because he knew God is holy, set apart from all the idols as the only true and living God. Furthermore, God was still Israel’s real King enthroned in heaven and praised by His people for who He is.
Verses 4-5
Furthermore, David found encouragement as he remembered God’s answers to the prayers of the Israelites’ forefathers when they prayed in distress and experienced deliverance. Since God rewarded their trust, David believed He would honor his, too.
Verses 6-8
By comparing himself to a worm, David was expressing his feelings of worthlessness, vulnerability, and contempt in the eyes of his enemies. The figure pictures feeling less than human (cf. Job 25:6; Isaiah 41:14). These foes were insulting him, despising him, and mocking his faith in God because the Lord was not rescuing him (cf. Matthew 27:39; Matthew 27:44). Shaking the head can signify rejection (cf. Psalms 109:25) or astonishment (cf. Psalms 64:8: Lamentations 2:15). The Lord Jesus’ enemies spoke these very words as He hung on the cross (Matthew 27:42-43).
The pattern of David’s thoughts in this section is very similar to that expressed in Psalms 22:1-5. It is a second cycle of the same lament and confidence expressed there.
Verses 9-10
Nevertheless, David drew strength by remembering that God had sustained him all his life, even from his birth. When David was only a small boy he had learned to trust in the Lord, who had sustained him to the present day.
Verses 11-18
This section of the psalm emphasizes the psalmist’s miserable condition.
David cried out to God to be near him with saving help since he was in great danger and there was no one to assist him. He felt very much alone and vulnerable.
Verses 12-13
The psalmist felt he was at the mercy of his enemies, as a person is in the presence of a dangerous bull or lion. Cattle grew large and strong in Bashan (or Gilead), the territory east of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee; cf. Numbers 32:1-5; Amos 4:1).
Verses 14-15
With many other graphic word pictures David described how distressed he felt because of the attacks of his enemies. As water poured out on the ground, he could not gather himself to resist them. He felt pained and incapable of defending himself, as when bones become dislocated. His spirit, rather than remaining firm, had melted away like hot wax. He felt as devoid of energy as a broken shard of pottery. He was in need of refreshment, as a thirsty person craves water when his mouth is dry. He concluded that he was almost in the grave, almost dead, because the Lord had not helped him.
Verse 16
David compared his enemies to wild dogs that had him surrounded and were waiting to finish him off. Already he felt as though they had begun to tear him apart by biting his extremities, his hands and feet. Years later, the enemies of the Lord Jesus actually did pierce His hands and His feet when they nailed Him to the cross (cf. Luke 24:39-40). [Note: See Conrad R. Gren, "Piercing the Ambiguities of Psalms 22:16 and the Messiah’s Mission," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:2 (June 2005):283-99.]
Verses 17-18
Again, David followed a metaphor of his enemies with a description of his own agony (cf. Psalms 22:12-15). He was evidently weak and emaciated; his bones were showing prominently under his skin due to loss of weight produced by his distress. Apparently his enemies were so sure that David would perish they were already invading his wardrobe and dividing his clothes among themselves. This also happened when Jesus Christ’s enemies crucified Him (Matthew 27:35).
(Adapted from URL:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/psalms-22.html)
Psalm 22 consists of David’s lament and petition balanced with his praise and adoration. His questioning “Why?” (Psalm 22:1) resulted in his praise to God. David’s cries of suffering turned to worship because of the belief that God would ultimately be faithful and bring deliverance. And David hoped that he would praise God and that all nations and people would someday praise God (22:27–31). The lament songs of the Psalter give us an example of how we might express our fears, frustrations, sadness, and petitions to the Lord. These psalms model how believers can enter the presence of God and proclaim their concerns and frustrations. Even though God already knows our wants, needs, and fears, he invites us to express those things to him through our prayers and songs. Jesus modeled lament for us when, on the cross, he quoted this psalm. The Son of God asked his heavenly Father, “Why?” (Matthew 27:46). We, too, can ask “Why?” to our heavenly Father when we experience suffering and hardship. Therefore, our personal and corporate times of worship can include prayer, lament, and petitions to the Lord. But there are two cautions here. First, we should not let our why lead to questioning God’s justice. Second, we cannot flourish by remaining in an endless loop of why, why, why. An answer to that may never come. Eventually, we have to move from why to what’s next? Further, our congregations should be communities that encourage expressions of lament. Perhaps we can sing hymns of lament and hope, like “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” Another way to do so is through listening and supporting those suffering and grieving. These actions are among some of the ways that we can allow space for lament and sadness. The psalms invite us to consider the role of lament in our worship. When we open our hearts to God and acknowledge our sadness and suffering, we depend entirely on him. The psalms also model how we might praise God for his power and deliverance, even if our situations seem hopeless. How will the psalms be your hymnbook the next time you are in a season of suffering?