Psalm 22

November, 2008

Tod Kennedy

1.     Introduction

1.1.          Psalm 22 is about David. It has hyperbolic statements about the greater David, Messiah.

1.2.          David was delivered from death and he goes on living. The greater David, Jesus Messiah, was delivered out of death by his resurrection.

1.3.          David is suffering at the hands of his enemies—suffering to the point of almost dying. He does not see God helping him, and he continues to pray.

1.4.          God answered his prayer. Because of God’s deliverance, David praised God and encouraged others to praise God and trust God.

1.5.          The ups and downs or highs and lows of this Psalm can be charted. Verses 1-2, David and God—down; Verses 3-5, Israel and God—up; Verses 6-8, David and enemies—down; Verses 9-10, David and God—up; Verses 11, David and God—transition; Verses 12-18 David and enemies—down; Verses 19-21, David and God and enemies—transition; Verses 22-26, David and God and Israel—up; Verses 27-31, all people and God—up.

1.6.          The Psalm has two main parts.

1.6.1.   David prays while under attack and near death (22:1-21).

1.6.2.   David praises God for deliverance and encourages others to praise God and trust God (22:22-31).

2.     Psalm 22:1-21, David prays while under attack and near death.

2.1.          Verses 1-2. David cries out and wonders if God has forsaken him. He finds no answer from God. He is alone and hounded by his enemies. Jesus uttered these same words while on the cross (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34). While on the cross Jesus was quoting these words and likely as the Hebrew custom, was applying the whole Psalm to himself.

2.2.          Verse 3. David appeals to God’s attributes. Holiness brings to mind all the attributes of God.

2.3.          Verses 4-5. David goes back in history and recalls that the Hebrew fathers trusted God and God delivered them. He did not disappoint them.

2.4.          Verses 6-7. David senses his aloneness and helplessness because of the verbal attacks on him. The critics call him a worthless pest as they taunt him with cutting remarks and treat him as worthless (Verse 6). They mock him (Verse 7). The ridicule him by telling him to commit himself (Hebrew galal, to roll, in the qal impv). They mockingly taunt “let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

2.5.          Verses 8-10. David says that he was raised from birth on the principle of trusting God. History shows that God does not abandon those who trust him, and God did not abandon him.

2.6.          Verses 11-21. David breaks out in prayer. He describes by metaphor and simile those who want him dead. Bulls of Bashan are well fed strong cattle. Bulls and the roaring lion bring to mind powerful brute strength possessed by the enemies (Verses 12-13).

2.7.          Verses 14-15. These describe how weak he is. In verse 14 he is drained of energy. He has lost his will to fight. This continues into verse 15. He writes that God is working in his life when he writes “You lay me in the dust of death.”

2.8.          Verse 16. He calls his attackers scavenging dogs who have him surrounded. Then says clearly that those attackers are a “band of evildoers. “Piercing” is a difficult textual problem. The external and internal evidence point to the reading of a verb, “pierced.” If interested you can see Alan Ross’s article on Psalm 22. This, of course, has a strong relationship to crucifixion. Zechariah 12:10, written much later, says “they will look on Me whom they have pierced,” referring to Messiah.

2.9.          Verses 17-18. David looks at himself and sees how emaciated he is. The crowd of onlookers stares at him in his emaciated condition. The last thing enemies take from their victim is the clothes. David notes that they are already planning on dividing up his clothes after his death.

2.10.      Verses 19-21. David returns to his plea for help. After his initial cry in verses 1-2 and his short plea in verse 11, David get down to serious petition. The LORD is his only hope for deliverance. He asks the LORD to hurry. His end is near. His prayer summarizes his enemies, all metaphors for the deadly power, the visciousness, the pain, and the cause of his imminent death—sword, dog, lion’s mouth, and horns of the oxen. The last line of verse 21 indicates that David now knows that God has answered his prayer. The LORD may have revealed to him that He has answered David’s request. “You answered me” has the Hebrew verb `anah “answer” in the Qal perfect 2ms indicating a change from request to recognition that God has done something—God has answered David’s prayer. From this point on David does not request, he praises the LORD.

3.     Psalm 22:21-38. David praises God for deliverance and encourages others to praise God and trust God (Psalm 22:22-31). Note that David praises in verse 22, Israel praises in verse 23, all the nations praise in verse 27, and future generations praise in verse 30. Praise in the congregation will encourage people to pray.

3.1.          Verse 22. David says that he will praise the LORD. Answered pray ought to call forth praise of the one who answered the prayer. The praise is not just a mention of the answer that God has given. Praise for answered prayer is also a proclamation of “your name” which really means your character and attributes. We clearly proclaim who God is and what he is like. When we praise God we are stating how God’s answer revealed more about God to us.

3.2.          Verse 23. Those who fear the LORD are those who willingly revere, trust, obey, and serve the LORD because they know about him and know him. These are the core of the congregation. Israel (Jacob and Israel) is called upon to glorify the LORD and to stand in awe of him. Israel as a whole are to join David in praising God for answer to prayer.

3.3.          Verse 24. The LORD was merciful and took action to deliver David. Not despised, not abhorred, neither hidden are all understatements emphasizing the God’s attentiveness, mercy, and grace in response to David’s prayer.

3.4.          Verse 25. David had vowed to praise God for his deliverance, and to do so publically. The reason for his praise is because God delivered him. Now David will testify to God’s great deliverance. The assembly is the gathered believers, probably near the tabernacle. The probably had reference to David offering a peace offering and then the congregation and priest would eat the roasted animal together (Leviticus 7).

3.5.          Verse 26. Here we see that those afflicted—persecuted and suffering—will share in the eating together and in praising the LORD for his deliverance. The last line in verse 26, “let your heart live forever,” contrasts with verse 14 where the heard is like wax and melting. There it is loss of will and here it is confidence of life praising and serving God and experiencing God’s blessings.

3.6.          Verse 27. Verses 27 to 31 seem to be hyperbolic for the kingdom of the greater David. But the main point in David’s mind is that praise of the LORD will be a testimony of what God has done. Telling what God has done will bring people all over the world (ends of the earth, all the families of the nations) to faith in the LORD. David wrote the verbs will remember, turn to, and worship. Prayer, answered prayer, and the praise to God is God’s way of bringing people to recognize and honor God.

3.7.          Verse 28. The kingdom in context is Israel, the LORD’S kingdom. His rule extends over all nations. Here we see the sovereignty of God is the foundation for prayer and praise. He always has the last word. He is ruler over all people and all nations.

3.8.          Verse 29. This verse speaks of the prosperous and the dying. The figure is a merism, a figure that states two opposites and includes all in between also. The text identifies the prosperous, those who go down to the dust, and he who cannot keep his soul alive. Everyone will worship the LORD.

3.9.          Verses 30-31. Not only does David praise the LORD (verse 22) and Israel praise the LORD (verse 23) and all the nations praise the LORD (verse 27), even future generations—those not even born at the time—will praise the LORD (verse 30-31). God’s gracious answer to prayer will be told to future generations and they will serve him. The future generations will tell of God’s righteousness and his righteous acts of answering prayer.

4.     Some lessons from Psalm 23.

4.1.         This Psalm takes prayer seriously. Prayer is not just “please God, give me this, or do this for me. Prayer is each of us laying before God his entire life, and especially his life with God as the center. ”

4.2.         No matter how severe the attacks, the strength or size of the enemy, how hopeless we may feel, we must never turn away from or against God the LORD.

4.3.         Remember God’s deeds of the past—review divine history—and we will see that he never disappoints those who fear him, trust him, and obey him.

4.4.         Any looking at ourselves or the enemy should always turn us to reflecting on God, his attributes, and his past acts. This should bring us to prayer and to praise.

4.5.         We should be lavish in our praise of God and this praise should not be just because he did something for us, but also because who he is. Who God is, his character and attributes make possible answers to our prayer.

4.6.         Answered prayer and praise for answered prayer can become a testimony to ourselves, to our nation, to the world, and to future generations that God is sovereign, holy, just, love, and omnipotent. This can result in worship, service, and witness.

5.     The prophetic statements of Psalm 22, or as I have said the hyperbolic statements that refer to the greater David and his future kingdom. Below are some NT citations or allusions to Psalm 22.

5.1.           Psalm 22:1, My God, my God. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34

5.2.           Psalm 22:7, I am a worm, reproach, despised, sneer separate with the lip wag the head, look and stare. Matthew 26:66-68; 27:29,39-40; Mark 15:20,29, 30-32; Luke 23:11,35-39

5.3.           Psalm 22:8, Commit yourself to the LORD. Matthew 27:43.

5.4.           Psalm 22:15, Tongue cleaves, I am thirsty John 19:28.

5.5.           Bones out of joint, pierced my hands and feet (crucifixion). Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33

5.6.           Psalm 22:18, They divine my garments and cast lots for my clothes. Matthews 27:35; John 19:23