Praying the Psalms: Psalm 22

Psalm 22

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Deer of the Dawn.” a Psalm of David.

1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8"He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"

9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother's womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.

12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.

19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion's mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.

22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!

27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord\scaps0's,
And He rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

MY PRAYER

Father, when I read this psalm I think about Your Christ--the Messiah.
He quoted the beginning of this psalm while hanging on the cross at Calvary.
It seems that He did so to help those listening understand that this psalm was being fulfilled in Him on that occasion and that they should reflect upon it.

Jesus may have felt as if You did forsake Him, O Father;
He cried out but You did not respond.
I know and He knew that You could not have intervened and still had Your ultimate will fulfilled.
Jesus chose to pay the price to atone for the sins of the world, and You allowed Him to carry out His mission to its painful and bloody end.
I am grateful for His submission to Your will, \line And for Your willingness to stay the course.
This is no trivial matter at all--dying like this for enemies!

People mocked the Christ on the cross and did not comprehend that it was His love that kept Him from coming down from it.
Saving His life would have been a simple task,
But that wasn't the objective.
Jesus suffered through an excruciatingly painful experience:
He was completely drained,
His bones all felt out of place,
His heart was broken,
His mouth was dry,
His back was torn to shreds,
His flesh was stained red with blood,
His hands and feet were pierced with spikes,
He felt weak and vulnerable like never before,
And the great Creator of all allowed Himself to be humbled beyond comprehension.

It makes me cry when I think about it in such detail, Father;
The whole scene overwhelms me.
I know that You heard His cries and brought Him back to life on the third day.
I know that His suffering was for a greater purpose.
Help me Father to do Your will as He did, even at the ultimate cost.
Strengthen me to trust You as He did, no matter what.
May I always convey this attitude to those around me, both in and out of the assembly.
The LORD and His Christ are greatly to be praised!
May all the world do so!
Amen.