home > Pastor’s Desk > 2024 > April 19th > Knowing God Through Psalm 22
KNOWING GOD THROUGH PSALMS
The Bible is an amazing book. As we look through the book of Psalms we can so unbelievably clearly see God at work. And also most poignantly, this Psalm – Psalm 22 – prophetically points to, and closely mirrors Jesus and the events of the cross mentioned in the New Testament. This Psalm is well over 1000 years prior to Jesus.There are some well known passages of Scripture that stand out as being prophetic promises of the Messiah. These prophetic words show us that God is Omniscient; He knows everything. The first Messianic prophecy shows that the seed of the woman would eventually defeat the devil.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
From Cain and Abel all the way to Christ, the devil sought to destroy the Seed of the woman that God promised would ultimately destroy him, for the very simple reason that the devil cannot see the future and doesn’t know everything. Another astounding passage is Isaiah chapter 53, “The Suffering Servant”, written 700 years before the events described in the Gospels and clearly outlining the Cross.
Psalm 22 was designed to be sung, is poetic in style and therefore more easily remembered; many prophetic passages in the Bible were originally either sung or accompanied by music. This psalm was written well before Jesus’ life, yet perfectly describe the events of the Cross. The first part of this Psalm is a lamentation describing in present tense the reality for Jesus on the Cross.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest”.
Psalm 22:1-2
The Psalm continues in verses 3 to 5 with an acknowledgement that God is trustworthy, and then speaks of Jesus’ present condition when on the cross, having emptied Himself of His Glory.
The text of the Psalm then closely mirrors the Gospel accounts of the Cross (Matt 27:39-44).
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
Psalm 22:6-8
Verses 9 and 10 show that Jesus was born sinless, because God was his Father and that He had a perfect relationship with God.
Continuing on to verses 11 to 13 we see that behind the scenes the forces of darkness once again sought to destroy the Seed (Jesus) and then we see the end result of what the forces of darkness wanted.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Psalm 22:14-15
Not only did Jesus have to contend with the forces of darkness, but also with evil people and in verses 16 to 18. We see the end result of what evil people wanted.
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet
I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
Psalm 22:16-18
Jesus then prays in the midst of turmoil, that God would deliver Him from all His enemies and continues by making a prophetic declaration of faith and a statement of faith which is the opposite of verse 1. This is a turning point in the Psalm, which then becomes a Psalm of praise.
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
Psalm 22:24
Jesus then continues His prophetic declaration of faith of what God is going to do in verses 25 to 30 and ends in verse 31 with this declaration:
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
Psalm 22:31
(or in the New Testament it repeats it as“It is finished”(John 19:30)
In the Gospel accounts this is where Jesus gives up His Spirit to God, the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God who paid the price for sin and defeated the devil.
Amen. We now live in the freedom of this victory!
Elder,
Norman.
Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.
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Very profound! Freedom is not free, it’s very costly. Nothing compares to the freedom from sin, shame, and guilt that we have in Jesus Christ. Thank you, Norman.