Psalm 22 – Christ Foretold

Psalm 22 – Christ Foretold

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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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?

Where did you hear these words before? Weren't they uttered on the cross at Calvary? Yes, it was on the cross where Jesus uttered these words, while paying the debt for man that we might be set free from our sins.

We want to look into this prophetic Psalm about Calvary and the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and compare what we find there with the record of His sufferings in the New Testament:

Mark 15:34
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

Would God ever forsake you? He forsook Jesus on the cross. He had to forsake Jesus there; He couldn't come to His rescue. He couldn't come and take Him down. Jesus had to die there. He had to go through the sufferings which the Spirit of God tells us about in Psalm 22.

When Jesus spoke from the cross, these were the words that actually came out of His mouth: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?

Now, Psalm 22 is a psalm of David. David got inspired of God to write these words. He is looking at the past experiences of Israel, and how many times they were in trouble, and how many times God came to their rescue — as well as prophetically speaking of the sufferings of Christ to come.

The Son of God would have to go to Calvary, and He'd have to bear that alone. He'd have to take all the weight of the world, the sins of the world, and become sin for us that we could be saved.

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not . . .

Psalm 22:4-6
Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Jesus would descend to the lowest hell in paying the price for us. He tasted death for every man: went down there as a punishment for sin.

The Mocking Crowd

Matthew 27:42
He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.

Psalm 22:7,8
All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.

So, once again, we go to Calvary, and to the crowd, and to the chief priest, and to those gathered there, and to the words of their mouths. The things they would say! They're speaking now of Him. Surely, the words that would come out of their mouths would be mockery, laughing at Him and scorning Him: He saved others, but He can't save Himself.

They called Him names and said a lot of cruel things. And He had to take it. He had to take the scorn and the scoffing.

Matthew 27:43-44
He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth.

What an awful lot of mental anguish. What would your mind go through in such a trial, in such a time? Not to mention all the physical pain and suffering that was there!

Christ's Birth

Psalm 22:9,10
But Thou art He that took Me out of the womb: Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother's breasts. I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art My God from My mother's belly.

Isn't it a good thing to cast our children upon the Lord — and, that right early? Can you start too early to teach your children about Jesus? Babies start to learn before they're even able to talk. It isn't long until they copy what mother says. It must have been a delight the day when His mother finally got the baby to say His name: Jesus.

Think about Jesus, and His taking on the form of flesh, and coming into this world as a babe. Remember, now, He was what you'd think of as a helpless infant.

He came into the world in some very strange ways — such as the day when there was no room in the inn — born in the barn. Born out there where the cows had a place to get in from the cold. Very strange that He, the King of kings, should be born there. Why didn't God move one of those people out of the inn to make room for Him?

Do we feel bad because we never had anything, because we were poor? Do we feel bad because of the circumstances of life that we grew up with? All of those things should not trouble us. The Master, Himself, learned obedience through the things which He suffered — Hebrews 5:8.

What if there was no voice out there to listen? We could call and call, and there'd be no answer. There's only an answer because there is Someone there to listen. On our part that sounds good: we have Him, and we can call upon Him — and He will hear us. He will answer us!

Christ's Agony

But, what about when Jesus was at Gethsemane? Trouble was near. The hour of the great trouble of sufferings was near to Him.

Luke 22:44
And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

How would you face this? You understand that He took upon Him the form of man. He was like us. What would hurt us, would hurt Him. Driving nails in your hands would hurt terribly. Know that it would hurt Him too.

Psalm 22:12
Many bulls have compassed Me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset Me round. They gaped upon Me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

The bulls of Bashan. They're often mentioned, almost like a figure of speech. Hey, they were big, and they were strong, and they were bulls.

Mark 15:29-32
And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save Thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; Himself He cannot save.

All the devil could hurl at Him: but Jesus was willing to pay the price.

Listen to these words! You haven't been here yet.

Psalm 22:14
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.

The hard sufferings of Calvary: I am poured out like water. My bones — all My bones — are out of joint. How could a man stand to be nailed through his hands and through his feet, and hang physically on those nails?

It says, All my joints are out of place. How long would it take before the sockets in your shoulders are pulled out? You're hanging merely on the weight of your arms. Your feet are down there, and they're nailed. You try to lift up your weight to ease your feet . . . then you have try to get your feet up in such a way to ease your hands. Whatever way you move only makes it worse.

I am poured out like water. You know one of the things that Jesus cried out on the cross was . . . I thirst!

How thirsty you would become! Thirsty because you'd be so dehydrated. The water resources in your body are gone. You're poured out like water and all your joints are out of place.

My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of My bowels. How do we explain something like that? What great pain! If we've ever suffered great pain, then we understand what pain is like. But now, just try to multiply that over and over.

You can't imagine the combined sufferings of His body. He was suffering from one end to the other. His whole body was in pain. His whole body was suffering. His whole body was feeling all this stress and strain upon it. It was strained to the limits, and beyond. That pain was unbearable.

Do you realize, we put Him there? We put Him there! Yes, man put Him there! The Son of God willing to die so that man could find life. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son — John 3:16.

How could one person go through all this for us? Aren't you glad that this one Person did all of this for us? He didn't suffer for Himself. He had no sin; He hadn't done anything wrong; He had done no evil. It was our sins that were upon Him, our guilt.

Psalm 22:15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.

So, picture now in your mind His suffering: His bones are out of joint, and His heart is just melted in Him like wax in the midst of His bowels. It can't get any worse. It's like He's brought right down into the dust of death.

What did the Lord make us out of? Dust of the earth, this old body. From dust we were taken, and to dust we'll return. I thank God that our soul will not be turned to dust. Our soul lives, and that's the life that is in us now. We won't lose that life. God gave us that life.

So, what do we think then?

There He is. He's now dried up, lost all His fluids. He's so thirsty now that He can't move His tongue anymore in His mouth. It won't move. It's just stuck to His jaw, so dry.

How far can He go down this road? . . . a long ways. From nine o'clock until three o'clock — six long hours of this grueling death. It's a long time, isn't it? No way can He ease himself. No way could He do anything.

Psalm 22:16
For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.

How much clearer could you make it? They spiked Him to the cross, didn't they? They pierced His hands and his feet.

John 20:25
The other disciples therefore said unto (Thomas), We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.

Those Old Testament saints that read the Scriptures should have been wondering: Who is He? Who is this? Who is this going to be? Who is this going to happen to? Who is He, and why does He speak this way? Why does He cry out in such a manner? Who is He?

He is Jesus — God's only Begotten Son!

He said, . . . dogs have compassed Me. You know, if you're hanging out there bleeding and the wild dogs come around, you don't suppose they'd want to lick up the blood, do you? Jesus was talking about the wild dogs.

Sometimes you may ask the question, Is He talking about the people, or is He talking about the animals? Who are these dogs? . . . They're mean men. Look what they've done!

So, the spikes in His hands and His feet fulfils the statement that says, We are engraven in His palms — Isaiah 49:16. The nail marks in His hands and feet represent our salvation.

Look at that and what He did for us: your blessing, your life. Because He would die, and take your place in death, you can live. You've got to bear in mind that this is wonderful, what He did.

Christ's Shame

Psalm 22:17
I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me.

He could feel every bone in His body, the pull and the strain. When the soldiers were crucifying someone, they stripped them of their clothes.

There's more than one reason to strip them of their clothes. One reason was to embarrass them, make them look bad. Here they are, hanging out there, and they're nude. What a thing to do to Jesus!

There was another reason. Those soldiers now — who were carrying out the crucifixions — they took the clothes for themselves.

Psalm 22:18
They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.

John 19:23-24
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

Prophecies of Christ Fulfilled

You see way back here in Psalm 22, the Scripture was talking about such a thing. Isn't it neat to look and see that the thing the Bible said would happen did happen?

Suppose that you would know right now that there was a point, down the road, where you were going to be hung on a cross to suffer and die like Jesus. Imagine the anguish of facing such suffering.

Jesus knew this was ahead for Him. He knew this, coming into the world. He knew this, coming down from heaven. He knew this.

All of this is going on there. We don't know just what all of these words are turned toward to mean. One thing we do know: He threatened not. He was just in the realm where the Scripture said, He was like the sheep going to the shearer, like a lamb going to the slaughter — Isaiah 53:7. A lamb going to the slaughter doesn't make any noise: It doesn't resist; it's quiet.

Psalm 22:19-22
But be not thou far from Me, O Lord: O My strength, haste thee to help Me. Deliver My soul from the sword; My darling from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth: for Thou hast heard Me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare Thy name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.

All this is coming out prophetically out of David.

The Lord knows us, and it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. He inherited us; but remember, it behooved Him to be made like us. See the Man at Calvary and how much He was like us. He took on our form. He took on the whole form and fashion of a man — though He was God, though He was Emmanuel (God with us). He suffered for us.

That's our relationship. When we really cry unto the Lord, He does really come, doesn't He? Can we thank God today for Jesus? Look what He did for you and me — we who have experienced salvation. It is because we called upon the name of the Lord. We invited the Lord Jesus into our heart and life. We called upon Him. We called upon His name.

The Great King

He suffered for us that we could be saved, but He still has a great kingdom to bring to pass. We've been born into His kingdom. We have a place in it now. We're born again, aren't we? When we're born again, we're born into His kingdom. We're born of the Spirit; we received life in that.

In that He's really there, each one of us should be glad that He's there, and that He's there for us.

Psalm 22:25
My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation: I will pay My vows before them that fear Him.

David always talked about the great congregation, always talked about this. He always talked about the coming of the Lord back to earth again to establish His kingdom.

Psalm 22:26-28
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's: and He is the governor among the nations.

It's in Mount Zion where He would reign. That day is coming. If all these other things were true, those things would be true too. Can you imagine what it will be like when there is only one real ruler of the world? . . . Not a hundred kings, and twenty five or fifty presidents.

One king. What's that king's name? King Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God. He will rule and reign as a king. And all the whole earth is going to be under His rule. What a day that will be! But there was a price to bring this all about — and that price was paid on the Cross of Calvary: for you and for me.

The following was the closing prayer after this message on Psalm 22. May it stir your heart to express your appreciation and thanksgiving for the dear price that Christ paid to purchase your salvation, and to make a fresh consecration of your life unto Him:

Oh, God, Thank You for Jesus. Precious Father, we thank You. We just reviewed this Psalm tonight, Lord, of Your great sufferings. Lord, no way could we fully comprehend, nor understand, how much You suffered for this world. Lord, You went through things that we know not of. Your sufferings, Lord, were so great. But, Lord, You were so willing. And, Lord, down there, down there in prayer at Gethsemane, Lord, You surely, surely, laid it out and expressed Your great willingness to take all that upon You for us. You went there for us — to do Father's will. Help us to be willing to serve You, Lord, with all of our heart; and everyday, Lord, to yield our best to You, to give our service to You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Amen.