Psalm 22 was composed originally in Heaven before David was born.
Psalm 22 is written for a bad day, a heavy day.
We'll just start it.
Psalm 22 begins, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Now that phrase right there was spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in His moment of intense suffering carrying the weight of the world.
In the New Testament it is spoken eloquently in the Greek language as Eloi Eloi lama sabachthanai.
So Jesus was quoting the beginning of a song.
He was starting the lyrics to express His emotion on the toughest day.
Are you having a bad day?
The Psalms are like riding an emotional roller coaster; experiencing other people's bad days and how they went through them.
We're going to make it through verse 1.
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Why art Thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not, and in the night season, and am not silent.
Satan has stolen this beautiful prayer …
where people cry out to God, “Oh my God”, but the devil mimics and mocks and steals that and makes it an expression of surprise.
But originally it was a prayer.
Verse three, But Thou art holy.
O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
That's beautiful.
The pain, the person under extreme pain recognizes an attribute of God. He says, at least I can recognize that God is holy. And I believe You inhabit the praises of Israel. That means God shows up and He is feeling at home. He is in His habitation. When His people are praising Him, God feels right at home
O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Give God a cozy house.
Verse 4 Our fathers trusted in Thee. We're gonna pause. I might not trust in You in this moment, but my dad did, and my grandpa did. They thought You were worthy.
Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
God might not be doing good things for me today, but He has in previous generations.
They cried unto Thee, and they were delivered.
They trusted in Thee, and they were not confounded.
That's a better word than confused, but they're synonyms.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
He's expressing his emotion.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him.
Let Him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Him.
But Thou art He that took me out of the womb.
Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon Thee from the womb.
Thou art my God from my mother's belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
That's a great verse.
Be not far from me.
It's going to feel like God is far away from you at times.
There are several reasons why we're supposed to read the Bible and think about the Bible and share the Bible.
One of them is for personal needs, but that's not the main thing.
We should read the Bible because it makes God happy.
That's weird, right?
It makes God pleased for us to try to think His thoughts.
And we should read the Bible for the blessing of others.
Those are good motivations in other areas of life; like i'm supposed to do what pleases the LORD. Why should I read my Bible? because God wants me to. Because it makes God happy, number one.
Number two, because it helps others. Many of us are stuck in third grade, and all we think about is what's in it for me? We just say, “What about me?”
What about Thee?
What about We?
Think of others, right?
So don't read for yourself.
Read to help someone else.
That's next level.
And in the process of helping others, you will get a second blessing.
Verse 11, Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Now, this is a picture of spiritual oppression.
These bulls, spiritual, demonic, oppressive forces have made a camp , a circle around him.
They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. Here's how we know that they're not real bulls; because a bull is not a lion. So this is poetic language. Psalms is poetry. It's music. He's expressing how he feels. He feels like these bulls are strong; they're all around; I can't get out and they're …
gaping on me with their mouths as a ravening, roaring lion.
It's a bad day.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.
This is Jesus on the cross as well.
His bones were out of joint but did not break.
My heart is like wax;
It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
I have no heart left.
It's melted.
Bible says when they pierced His side, out poured blood and water, indicating a broken heart.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to My jaws, and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me.
This is a reference to the bulls and the lions.
Now he says it feels like these demonic forces are dogs.
They have compassed.
To compass means to set about in a circle.
The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me.
Now these are wicked beings.
They pierced my hands and my feet.
Who does that apply to?
Is this David talking?
Or is this the feelings of Christ on the cross?
If you thought you were having a bad day, … they pierced My hands and My feet.
That's a prophecy.
I may tell all My bones.
They look and stare upon Me.
There's a whole bunch of people in the audience staring at Christ and He's ripped and shredded and He can see all His bones.
They part My garments among them.
He sees the Roman soldiers gambling at the foot of the cross for His sharp, clean, single, woven throughout garment.
They part My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture.
But be not Thou far from Me, O Lord.
The word O requires emotion.
It's an emotional container.
O Lord, followed by O My strength, haste thee to help Me.
Now this is a song.
All of these words are tied to a tune, a rhythm.
It's probably in the minor negative tones, we're guessing.
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Another reference to demonic forces.
Deliver my soul from the sword.
There's no better way to say it, by the way.
You can't polish and make these words more beautiful by rearranging them.
What is your soul?
It's the thing you love most.
It's your darling.
Deliver my soul from the sword;
My darling from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth.
For Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
I will declare Thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.
I'm going to praise You for what You're going to do when You deliver me from this mess.
Ye that fear the LORD, praise Him;
all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him, all ye the seed of Israel.
For 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.
I like to put words to fill when he [David] cried unto Him [God the Father] He [God] heard.
Also true, He [the Son on the cross] cried unto Him [His Father], and His Father heard.
My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation.
I will pay my vows before them that fear Him.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied:
They shall praise the Lord that seek Him:
your heart shall live for ever.
Now the tune is picked up.
Now this is the joyful result.
This is the sunshine after the midnight hour.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD.
As a result of what?
As a result of the cross.
And this is the song from the cross.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee.
For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and He is the Governor among the nations.
That's coming soon!
All 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.
That's beautiful; those that are fat (back in the day) means they lived a rich, opulent,
effervescent, overflowing life. Those who were rich with fatness and goods upon the earth, they will eat and worship. All they go down to the dust … who's that? Those who are dead; they likewise shall bow before Him. God will resurrect all the dead and they will bow. Every knee will bow.
And none can keep alive his own soul. I don't determine to live; if I wake up it's only because God keeps my soul alive
A Seed shall serve Him;
A Seed, singular.
This is a reference to the Messiah.
A Seed shall serve Him;
It shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.
This means we are to declare the righteous actions of the Lord unto the next generation.
That God did this.
What did God do?
God provided Calvary.
God provided payment.
How did He do it?
Verse one, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
What's the answer?
Why did God forsake Christ?
Because that was necessary to finalize the payment that I deserve.
I deserve separation.
My sin must be separated from a holy, pure God.
Remember earlier in the passage, David acknowledged that God is holy.
And that means I'm unholy. God the Son had to be separated from God the Father to express love and full payment for what I deserve.
How should I feel?
I should feel valuable to God.
I should feel thankful that Somebody's willing to die for me.
I should feel empathy for this Person suffering on the cross in my place.
I should feel compassion, and I should feel motivated to declare this story of righteousness unto a people that shall be born.
How am I going to get the message to the next generation?
Every way possible.
We live in a land of technology.
We can just record for our grandkids and great grandkids.
What has God done for you?
Well, God … according to David, he felt forsaken, abandoned, destitute, beat up by demons, surrounded by bulls and lions and dogs and shredded and beat up.
He was in the mouth of the lion.
His soul was about to be crushed and he cried out to God.
He had confidence in God.
And then he promised that he would declare, They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this.
Psalm 22 : the worst day ever