Psalms 22:1

Psalms 22:1

Psalms 22:1-3, “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 day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”

Psalms 22 is a Messianic Psalm which deals with the crucifixion of Christ and the return of the LORD. It is important for every Christian to spend some time thinking about Jesus’ death on the cross, His resurrection, and His imminent return. How else can we love Him that first loved us? How else can we serve Him and have confidence in His grace when we fail? The Son of God came to this earth, suffered, sacrificed, and died so that men might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. It is amazing how much these events are talked about and revealed in the Old Testament before they happened. Undoubtedly, those who were close to God in the days before the New Testament was written understood some of the details of the coming of the Messiah, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection.

Think back to the time of Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Since the beginning, from the time man first sinned and turned away from God, God has been here giving His promise of redemption through Jesus Christ.

Concerning the event of Jesus’ crucifixion, Matthew 27:45-49 says, “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, Lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.”

One way of knowing that Jesus is the Savior, the Christ, the only one who has the power to forgive sins and quicken those who are dead in trespasses and sins, is because when we look at the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth we see that He has fulfilled all the scripture in the Old Testament which is prophecy concerning the Messiah.

When Jesus died on the cross, He quoted from Psalms 22 speaking the same words which some thousands of years ago He had given to David to write. The reason that Jesus became sin for us is so that we could have eternal life and not have to be separated from God the Father. As impossible as it sounds, when Christ hung on the cross, He who knew no sin, He who is the Alpha and the Omega and part of the Holy Trinity, actually was forsaken by God. This is, after all, part of the consequences for sin that a man becomes separated from God. That which is Holy cannot be part of that which is unholy. It is no wonder Jesus has given the promise, “..I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5) Jesus suffered that consequence so that those who repent of their sins and turn to Him for forgiveness never have to suffer that. The truth is all men are born into sin, and therefore we are all separated from God until we kneel in our hearts to Jesus.

How much more has been revealed about the Gospel of Jesus Christ since the time of Adam and Eve! How much more will be revealed about it in Heaven that we do not now understand. First Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”

If you love someone, you will wait on them. In these last days in which the mystery of iniquity is at work in the world there may be nothing more important for believers than to take up their cross daily and endure as they wait patiently for Christ. One thing is for sure, if you have repented of your sins and turned to Jesus you will never have to face the separation from God that those face who die and go to hell. You will certainly never face the kind of forsaking that Jesus himself suffered when he was nailed to the cross. Don’t give up on your faith and become shipwrecked. Wait on Jesus. He always keeps His promises. If you have failed and have not been waiting on Him, then start waiting on Him today. If ever you feel far from God, then simply remember these promises. Jesus promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

In the last part of Psalms 22 verse 3 it says, “But Thou art Holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Perhaps the first thing man should think of when he thinks about God is that God is Holy. To be Holy means to be perfect. First John 1:5 says “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” The end of sin is death. Death means separation. There is physical death. And there is spiritual death. As we look at this verse regarding the Holiness of God, notice that it then mentions praises: Holiness and praises. The Bible says in all things give thanks. Righteousness results in thankfulness. If you want to become a person who is more thankful and more capable of enjoying the things that Christ in His grace has given you, then strive to do what is right. Holiness and praise will always go hand in hand. And both start with repentance from sin.

Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” The word “sanctify” comes from the same word as the word Holy. It is no wonder Jesus said, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 5:5)

The Bible says in First Thessalonians 4:3-4, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” We live in the last days, and one of the characteristics of the last days is the gross immorality that is rampant in this world. Don’t underestimate the importance of sexual purity, for by lack thereof have many rejected Christ as Savior and have many who had faith become shipwrecked. The way to handle sexual temptation is the way Joseph handled it in the book of Genesis, to flee it. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Sexual immorality is especially destructive because it destroys both the body and the soul. Proverbs 6:32, “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyed his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.” What a horrible testimony it is when God’s children fall into sexual immorality. The damage that it does to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is unimaginable. Thankfully, where sin does abound grace does much more abound.

The truth sanctifies people. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If you do fail, you know that Christ will forgive you if you only ask. First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Holiness and praise; these two things are wedded together. You cannot have one without the other. Those who do not know Jesus their Savior need to see God’s involvement in this world and in their lives. How else will they see it except through the faith of the believer and their praise to Godward for His Holiness through His Son Jesus? Malachi 3:16 says, “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another. And the LORD hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His Name.”

Psalms 22:4-8 says, “Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 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.”

These verses written in the time of King David give even more detail about the crucifixion of Christ. It is amazing just how much detail is given in Psalms 22 regarding Jesus death on the cross and the circumstances surrounding it. When we compare Psalm 22 to the Gospels it should be apparent that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy one of Israel, that His death on the cross is the fulfillment of scripture, that there is no other name under heaven and earth by which men can be saved from their sins.

Matthew 27:41-43 says, “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.”Thousands of years before Christ was crucified David was told the very words that those who would mock Jesus would say as he hung on the cross. Of course, those who mocked Jesus were the religious leaders and the political leaders of His society. More oft than not those who have power are antichrists. It should be that those with religious and political power use their influence to help spread the truth and influence other men to do what is right. Anyone who opposes the truth is an antichrist because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

In verses 4-8 of Psalms 22 we see again what was already mentioned: God does not abandon those who trust in Him. Jesus suffered that separation so that we do not have to suffer it. This is why it is important to read the Bible: so that you can read about God’s dealings with Israel and the believers in the New Testament, just as it says in Psalm 22:4, “Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.” There are thousands of years of history kept in the Bible of things that God has done for his people. Read about these things and think on them if you ever feel far from Jesus. Because what He has done for others He can do for you because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

What a horrible human being one would have to be, how prideful and unrepentant one would have to be, to stand before the cross mocking Jesus while He hung there dying for the sins of the world. However, the truth is that anytime we refuse to repent of our sins to Christ, we are doing the same. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. God wants us to be followers of him like dear children, but he does not leave us in the dark. He has given us His Word. Even thousands of years before the death of Christ on the cross how much detail had been given regarding those events so that men might look forward to that event in faith believing the promises. And now in our day we look backward to the cross.

The light of God’s truth has covered this world as abundantly as the sun rising in the morning sky. We are all without excuse. God is merciful and not willing that any should perish. Ephesians 5:17, “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” A wise person will repent of their sins sooner than later.

Ephesians 2:4-9 “But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

The exceeding riches of God’s grace in His kindness toward us through Jesus has hardly been imagined in the mind of man. We know what Jesus has done for us in dying for our sins and defeating death. We know how the only begotten son of God was forsaken by the father so that we would not have to be forsaken. If you have not turned from your sins and turned to Jesus, do so now and experience the eternal mercy and the love of God.

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