Psalm 22

    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  3trusted 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’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.
-Psalm 22

The start of this Psalm ought to seem familiar to you. We hear these words cried out from Jesus upon the cross. There is a very interesting bible study to take place surrounding this Psalm. It is widely regarded as one of the most clear prophecies concerning the Messiah. I will share a couple of notes concerning this psalm and then offer a takeaway as well.

Among interesting notes, this psalm has baffled many scholars as it is seemingly exclusive to the life of the Messiah. Nothing like what the events describe in the psalm occur anywhere in the life of David. Some may argue that this is because it was simply not written down, however considering the implications of what this psalm infers, it would be highly unlikely that it would fail to mentioned anywhere in the very transparent account of the life of David we have throughout Scripture.

Another note to consider: Jesus was directly quoting this Psalm when He cried out the first line on the cross. As you read through the psalm, it is uncanny how similar the events described within the psalm were also occurring around Jesus at the time of His quoting of it. Most of us may be familiar with the fact that chapters and verses in our bibles were not introduced until much later in history, but many of us may not be familiar with how more ancient students of the Word would call attention to it. They would do so by quoting the first line of the passage. Considering how many of those around Jesus knew much of the Word of God, there is little to no doubt that many would have thought of this psalm as Jesus cried it out.

There are many more notes I could take with this but I will leave with a takeaway: Jesus is all over the place throughout the Old Testament. The writer of Hebrews points out that what we see in the Law and Prophets serve as types and shadows of things to be revealed in Christ. As you study through the Word, keep this close to you and have your eyes opened for the wonders that lie within the text of Scripture.