A Brief Outline of Psalm 22

Psalm 22  •  5 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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This prophetic psalm is a concise delineation of Christ in His sufferings as the propitiating sacrifice and in the resulting praise to God from all mankind. The psalm throughout is a direct address to God, and the Speaker is Christ Himself. It is divided into two principal sections. In the first, Messiah is speaking in the midst of His sufferings as One forsaken by God, the Holy One of Israel, and His prayers for relief are unheard. In the last section, Messiah is heard and delivered, whereupon He leads a song of triumphant praise to Jehovah in which all the nations of the world eventually join.
Thus, the spirit of Christ in this psalm by the prophet David testified beforehand of the sufferings of the Christ and of the subsequent glories (1 Peter 1:1111Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 1:11)). The solemn and impressive portraiture in its early part sets forth the Lord Jesus in the work of making expiation for sins, which was peculiarly and exclusively His own. He Who endured the cross describes its principal anguish, otherwise unknown to men and angels. Messiah also foretells the celebration of His victory in praises to God from all men everywhere.
(A) In the first section (Psa. 22:1-211<<To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.>> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14I 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. 15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. (Psalm 22:1‑21)), Messiah calls to His God concerning what He is suffering in utter loneliness. Man works his evil will upon Him unchecked by the Holy One of Israel. Throughout His sufferings, Christ communes with His God in the utmost assurance of trust (Psa. 22:1-5; 9-11; 15; 17211<<To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.>> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. (Psalm 22:1‑5)).
(1)Psa. 22:1-61<<To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.>> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. (Psalm 22:1‑6). The Holy Sufferer is conscious that God has deserted Him in His extremity and stands aloof from His groaning and incessant cries for help. Christ confesses that this estrangement is because God is holy, while He Who knew no sin has been "made sin." In the midst of this unexampled suffering on earth, Christ, having emptied and humbled Himself for this service, retains His lowliness of mind, and as "a worm and no man" claims nothing from God but meekly submits even to this abandonment as His righteous and holy will.
(4) Psa. 22:16-2116For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. (Psalm 22:16‑21). Christ is oppressed by the callous shamelessness of the wicked men who compass Him about like dogs. They pierce His hands and feet, strip Him naked, gamble for His vesture, and indulge to the full the lust of their staring eyes upon Him. But yet again He pleads to be delivered from the sword, from the power of the dog, and from the mouth of the lion.
(B) At this point in the psalm an abrupt change occurs in the style of the Speaker, which continues to the end. In the middle of Psa. 22:2121Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. (Psalm 22:21), His theme is no longer His affliction but His deliverance. The entreaty of prayer becomes the rendering of praise. The night of weeping is over and the morning of joy has dawned. The Afflicted One is conscious that His appeal has been heard and answered. The culmination of His suffering has been fully and efficaciously endured. The will of God He had come to do has been accomplished, and He has been delivered. In consequence of His triumph, the name of Jehovah Who inhabits the praises of Israel, will eventually be extolled in tributes of praise and adoration throughout the whole earth.
(2) Psa. 22:22-2422I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. (Psalm 22:22‑24). Having been delivered, the Afflicted One becomes the Offerer of praise to God and the ever-acceptable Precentor of His people. He declares the name of His deliverer to His brethren (John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)). In the midst of the assembly He awakens praises to God (Heb. 2:1212Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12)). Then Messiah calls upon all the people of Israel to glorify and revere Jehovah (ver. 23), for Jehovah had not, as they had done (Isa. 53:2, 32For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:2‑3)), despised and abhorred the affliction of the Afflicted One, Whose cries Jehovah now had heard.
(3) Psa. 22:25-3125My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations. 29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. (Psalm 22:25‑31). Messiah foretells the praises from the whole earth that will arise to Jehovah during the millennial kingdom. In the "great congregation" of Israel, the risen and glorified messiah will offer His praise with those that fear Him (Psa. 22:25, 2625My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. (Psalm 22:25‑26)). All the Gentile nations will turn to Jehovah and render Him due reverence and worship (Psa. 22:27-2927All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations. 29All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. (Psalm 22:27‑29)). Also, unborn peoples shall be instructed in the righteousness of God established by Christ Jesus through His work of expiation (Rom. 3:21-2621But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:21‑26)). The echoes of "It is finished" will still be reverberating everywhere, for all shall be taught that "He hath done it" (Psa. 22:30, 3130A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. (Psalm 22:30‑31)).
The New Testament fully establishes the prophetic and messianic character of this psalm. Our Lord on the cross adopted its opening words as His own (Matt. 16:46; Mark 15:3434And 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? (Mark 15:34)). The division of Christ's garments is expressly foretold (ver. 18). The historical piercing of His hands and feet agrees with the prophecy of ver. 1 6, also with that in Zechariah
12:10, "They shall look on me Whom they pierced, "as well as that in Rev. 1:77Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7), "Every eye shall see Him, and they which have pierced Him." Thus the Psalms and the Prophets unite beforehand in their witness to Christ and Him crucified.
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