1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for He delights in him!” 9 Yet you are He who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 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; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet - 17 I can count all my bones - they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 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. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear Him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before Him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve Him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.
Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 tell us that Jesus cried out these words on the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
In speaking those words, Jesus was quoting the first verse of Psalm 22.
It is without doubt the most well-known verse of this psalm, but what about the rest of Psalm 22?
Quite naturally, our focus today is on the Cross of Calvary, but we also need to see that there is hope for those who are battling with life today. Jesus died for the sins of the world, and included in that are our daily sorrows and pain.
Sometimes we feel like crying out those same words – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In fact, most of us do, in one form or another.
It was God’s love for us that took Jesus to the Cross, and that love has never changed.
God is still deeply concerned about each one of us, and even though we might think that God is far too busy to worry about our little problems, but that is simply not true.
This morning we are going to look at this Psalm in some detail, as we consider the promises we find in it for us today.
As far as we know, Jesus did not quote again from that Psalm while on the Cross, but there are certainly some lessons we can learn from the words that David wrote.
The Psalms often speak about the questions David asked when things didn’t go the way he expected, and Psalm 22 is a lament that expresses his fear that God has left him alone. It speaks about the difficulty of waiting with patience for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
We need to remember that years before, David had been anointed as the future king of Israel, but until now the closest he’d come to the throne had been playing the harp for King Saul - a king who seemed to be doing everything in his power to prevent David from ever becoming king.
And out of his despair or perhaps as a way of dealing with that despair David wrote Psalm 22 - words of both despair and faith, of desperation and of hope, words that are then spoken by Jesus as He hangs on the Cross, close to death and experiencing the agony of separation from God while He experienced the wrath of God at human sin.
Jesus’ suffering though, didn’t start on the cross, but in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it’s made even worse by the failure of His own disciples.
They couldn’t even stay awake to pray with Him, and He has to face this moment alone. And that was only the start.
Later that night, after Jesus was arrested, Peter, the leading light of the disciples, the one who was first to acknowledge Him as Messiah, God’s anointed one, denies even knowing Him, not once, not twice, but three times, just as Jesus had predicted.
The first two verses of Psalm 22 read, “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.”
It’s impossible to imagine the depths of pain and desolation Jesus must have been feeling at that moment. His entire life He’d enjoyed perfect communion with His Father in heaven.
He would go out to a quiet place to spend time with God at the beginning or the end of each day, to be strengthened and refreshed by spending time with His Father. But now, at the end, as He faced this terrible death by crucifixion, God had forsaken Him as He bore our sin.
He was separated from God by the sins of the whole world. He was at that moment experiencing the true horror of hell - total separation from God. This cry of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Is a cry of utter despair and torment, as here the horror of our sin and the cost of our salvation are laid bare.
Psalm 22 though, is not all about utter despair and separation from God. There is a lot of hope expressed in the rest of the Psalm, and Jesus’ choice of Psalm 22 is certainly not random.
He knows that even though there’s a gulf between Him and God, a gulf caused by the sins of the world, God is a God who can be trusted.
His death is part of the plan set in motion by God from the beginning.
God is still sovereign, even if He seems distant, even if it seems that God has abandoned Him. There are many times when we feel He is distant, and we feel abandoned. But remember that He is sovereign, and He is still on the throne, even and especially when everything going on in our lives seems to deny that truth.
Verses 3 to 5 read, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.”
Jesus’ suffering was not just from the disciples deserting Him. It wasn’t just from the pain of crucifixion. Not even just the abandonment of God.
It was also the fact that His own people were mocking Him.
Remember, these were the same people who were singing His praises on Palm Sunday, but now, just five days later, they were laughing at Him, insulting Him, and making a joke of His claim to be God’s anointed king.
Verses 6 to 8 – “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!’”
Probably the hardest thing for us as Christians is when others – our family in particular - question our faith in God.
They ask you to explain your faith to them, but not out of genuine interest, because you can hear and see their scepticism and sarcasm. They’re not interested in knowing more about Jesus – all they’re trying to do is snipe at your faith in Him.
The effect that sort of thing has on us is to make us question our own belief in God. It can wear us down. Have we got it wrong? Is God’s apparent inaction a sign that we were wrong about Him? Are we foolish to trust God to look after us? So how do we react to that? What can we do to keep our faith strong? Again Palm 22 helps us.
David knows where to look when the doubts begin.
Not to our inner fears. Not to the voices of the mockers. Not to the world around us that calls us to deny God. David looks back to what God has done for him in the past.
He looks back and remembers what God has done for him, and that gives him hope for today and tomorrow. It’s a rhetorical question I know, but are there times that you feel God has somehow forgotten about you? When those times come – look back. Look back and remember His faithfulness to you. Remember a time when He showed up in your life and there was absolutely no doubt in your mind. And then remember this promise: God never changes. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Verses 9 and 10: “You are He who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Hanging on the cross, Jesus is an object of scorn and a lost cause. He is a dead man with the vultures circling overhead waiting for His last breath.
And as far as the soldiers are concerned the only good thing about Jesus is the fact that He has some decent clothes to gamble over. At least that will keep them entertained and help pass the time.
But is Jesus a lost cause?
Verse 11 to 18 “Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 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. 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.”
How often have you felt so alone, so down, that you have really felt that God has left you for dead?
It’s an awful place to be, down in the depths of despair, and David certainly understood it.
If you’ve been there, or if you are there now, there is a part of you which knows though, that God hasn’t completely abandoned you – hold onto that.
This is what David says as he continues with words of confidence in the salvation of God, as he holds onto God’s promises.
Verse 19 to 21: “But you, O Lord, 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! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!”
What David is talking about here is really putting his trust in God.
He’s struggling, but he still has confidence in the salvation of God, a confidence that leads him to proclaim that salvation even before God delivers.
It’s one thing to have faith in God when He does something amazing and unmistakable in your life, but it’s a completely different thing to have faith when you’re still waiting for Him.
Where are you on your faith journey today?
Do you expect God to prove Himself to you before you will believe, or do you believe, trusting that He will deliver?
Do you have a casual or a committed faith in Jesus? Casual faith will always let you down.
James 1:5-8 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
I know that most Good Friday sermons look back to the Cross, and with good reason, but Jesus Christ is not just an historical figure.
He is real and He is alive – we will be celebrating that fact on Sunday – and He remains deeply interested in each of us as individuals.
Listen to how David recognises that, and gives the honour to God in the closing verses of Psalm 22: (Reading from verse 19)
“But you, O Lord, 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! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him, and stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel! 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. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear Him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before Him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve Him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.”
It is so easy for us to just go through the motions during Holy Week. We know Jesus died for our sins. In His great mercy, and because of what God has done for us in Christ, our eternal destiny has been changed. For those who put their trust in the power of the blood of Jesus, there is grace and forgiveness. What an amazing promise we have!
But how easily do we forget that He died for our daily struggles too? Our lack of faith, the doubts, the taunting of those who still hate Him, all of these things and more. Jesus died for every single thing which threatens your walk with Him. He cried those words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” so that you don’t have to.
There are no guarantees that this life will be easy. We all know that, and Psalm 22, especially in the light of the Cross reminds us of that fact. But in the despair, there is hope.
King David had hope in his despair, and so do we, because we know that Good Friday is not the end of the story. There is hope for us, even beyond the grave. It is Friday, but Sunday is coming…