He Has Done It

OPENING PRAYER:

God in heaven, today I join my heart with all creation to praise your loving and wise lordship over all.

READ: PSALM 22

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.[b]

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.[c] 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[e] my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you[f] I will fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Footnotes

[a] Psalm 22:1 In Hebrew texts 22:1-31 is numbered 22:2-32.

[b] Psalm 22:2 Or night, and am not silent

[c] Psalm 22:3 Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel

[d] Psalm 22:15 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text strength

[e] Psalm 22:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text me, / like a lion

[f] Psalm 22:25 Hebrew him

PSALM 22

REFLECT:

Without looking in your Bible, how many details can you recall of Christ’s crucifixion?

This psalm is all about Jesus Christ. But, weirdly, it is also about the man who wrote it, many centuries previously. Without doubt it describes the experience of others who have suffered for their faith through the ages. It deals with the dreadful (but blessed!) experience of one isolated individual at a point in time. It also covers the great sweep of God’s purpose through eternity. Today we are reading one of the most extraordinary works of true prophecy ever given.

We must begin with spiritual horror. A godly man has been abandoned by God. He cries out – and God does not seem to hear. Further disgusting details follow, including many of a more physical nature (vs 6,7,12-17). However, one remarkable feature of this psalm is the way in which the glorious, triumphant sections are interspersed between the horrible parts. Reading verses 3 to 5, 9, 10, 22 or 23 in isolation, no one would imagine the descriptions that come between them. We are not reading a simple human narrative here; we are being given a glimpse of the divine overview. That explains why, from verse 25, the psalm proceeds to celebrate and to declare the triumph of the Lord.

APPLY:

This is about the future too! As you now pray, why not make yourself the fulfillment of the prophecy in verses 30 and 31?

CLOSING PRAYER:

Father God, I thank you for this psalm, for the disclosure of what Jesus went through for my salvation. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

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