Psalm 22

Read in NASB

Psalms 22 is a psalm that Jesus prayed on the cross. Written by David, it is the first of a trilogy of psalms that follow a journey that the Holy Spirit took Jesus on the cross.

Trouble on the Cross
The psalm starts out with, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It is thought that this means that God abandoned Jesus. However, this cannot be true because we see later in the psalm Jesus trusted God to raise Him from the dead. This feeling of abandonment continues through verse 18. The psalmist claims that God did not answer. He also calls himself a worm, a complete disgrace. People mock him, asking why God does not save him. The psalmist continues by describing himself as being in danger. His flesh is weak and dying.

The hardships in this psalm foreshadow the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus was disgraced. People mocked Jesus, asking why God doesn't save Him. His body was weak and dying.

God Helps
Verse 19 is a change in tone. The psalmist shows that he trusts God for help. The trust in help was a type and shadow of how Jesus trusted God to raise him from the dead. As Jesus quoted this psalm on the cross, this section would have showed Him that God will raise Him from the dead. This shows us that when it looks like God abandoned us, it is not true. He will raise all believers from the dead just as He raised Jesus from the dead. This makes the resurrection of Jesus proof that God is good and what guards our heart from the lie that God is withholding His life from us.

This also shows us that just because we have thoughts that God abandoned us, we are not in unbelief. Jesus still had faith in God's goodness even though he had thoughts that God abandoned Him. In The Romance Behind the Resurrection, James Tuttle talks about how this happened when a cat died on him. It was a stray cat that he found and took in. It died the day he took it in. Although he felt like God abandoned him, he knew that God did not forsake him.

The Whole World
Verse 22 continues with the psalmist saying that he will declare God's goodness to the world and all the world will praise God. On the cross, this helped Jesus see that His resurrection would show who God is. A detailed breakdown can be read at Psalm 22:22-31.



Through the Bible <-Psalms 22-24|Psalm 22|Psalm 22:22-31->