Psalm 22

We enter the Holy of Holies

Psalm 22 is the pinnacle of the Messianic psalms. These are psalms which foretell the
journey of Jesus Christ and were quoted in the New Testament. Psalm 22 gives a vivid
prophetic image of the cross one thousand years before it happened. It dramatically
describes the Holy of Holies: it depicts the scene of Calvary where Christ suffered and
died for us.

We are astonished to see the beloved son but forsaken by God; the One who quenched
our thirst but is Himself with a dry throat (Psalm 69); the strong Almighty One but is
Himself without strength, as He says in this Psalm “My strength is dried up like a
potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.” Behold the Psalm of the Cross and
Behold Jesus Christ as the sin offering!

When we meditate on and contemplate this psalm, let us take our sandals off our feet “for
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exodus 3). Let us sit quietly and lift up
our eyes to meditate on the Crucified One Who bore our sins on the cross.

A lamentation and a praise

There are two powerful Messianic verses in this psalm:

The first is a lamentation and the second is a praise.

The lamentation: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The praise: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee.”

The first is a lamentation which Christ Himself quoted while hanging on the cross:
“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?” (Matthew
27).

The second is a praise which the writer to the Hebrews quoted in the second chapter
when he said that Christ is not ashamed by us, and He is not ashamed to call us brethren,
saying to God, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee.”

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The suffering of Christ and the glories that would follow

This psalm is divided into two parts:

(a) In the first part we see the sufferings of Christ

(b) In the second part we see the glory that should follow (1 Peter 1).

The lamentation opens the first part--the suffering of Christ--and the praise opens the
second part--the glories that would follow.

This is a great psalm that begins with a lamentation, that of the strongest man in the
history of mankind, the lamentation of the Christ forsaken by God. Yet the psalm ends
not with lamentations but with glories--the glories of Christ. As it is written, “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 psalm is written by the Chief Musician, set to the melody of Ayyeleth HashShachar
(Deer of the Dawn), a Psalm of David. David did not write this psalm about himself; he
wrote it about Jesus Christ. The evidence for this is found in the first verse, which says,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” We know that God did not abandon
David--on the contrary, David said: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). Thus, God did
not forsake David. Moreover, we also read, “They pierced my hands and my feet.” Yet
David was not crucified; in fact crucifixion was not practised in his time. So David's
hands and feet were not pierced, but here he wrote “They pierced my hands and my feet.”
So David must have composed this psalm about Christ, and He wrote it by inspiration
with the Holy Spirit, as is the case for the rest of the Holy Bible, as it is written, “holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1).

We read that this psalm is for the chief musician; but who is the real chief musician? He
is the one who singing praises, saying, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the
midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” The real Chief Musician is the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and in the midst of his brethren leading and
directing praises to God.

Psalm 22 is composed for the chief musician and is set to the [melody of the] deer of the
dawn. This wonderful image points to the dawn of the Resurrection after the darkness of
Calvary. It is as though the sun died at night and darkness filled all the land, but the sun
rose again in the morning and shone anew. Likewise, Christ, after he suffered on the
cross, died and was buried in a tomb, but was raised up on the third day, “having loosed
the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” (Acts 2).
Indeed, Christ “abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel” (2 Timothy 1). Recall His words in John 8: “ I am the light of the world: he

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that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” When Christ
came down from heaven and dwelt among us, “The people which sat in darkness saw
great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up”
(Matthew 4).

The three sources of suffering

According to the first section of Psalm 22, the suffering of the Messiah comes from three
sources: 1) God, 2) man, and 3) satan or the devil.

He endured suffering from

>the hand of God due to His holiness,
>the hand of man due to his wickedness, and
>the hand of the devil due to his enmity.

In the first verses of Psalm 22 we see the propitiating suffering of Christ by the hand of
God: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In these first verses of the psalm
we see the suffering of the Messiah for the remission of our sins, the suffering that saved
us and granted us eternal life. But why did God abandon Christ? Because God is holy and
his eyes “art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk
1) and Christ “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2). A
paradox is found in the first verse of this wonderful psalm, namely, the question raised by
Christ Himself: ““My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Christ Himself
answered this question when He said to God: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel.” Thus God forsook Christ because the Messiah was bearing our sins
on the cross—and more than that--the Holy Bible states that Christ the Just became sin
for us, as it is written: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5). Also, we read in
Galatians 3 that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

The Blessed One became a curse for us, and the Just One became sin for us. Had the
Holy Spirit not inspired these words on the pages of the Holy Book, it would be
impossible for our tongues to utter them--especially words such as “Christ has become a
curse and sin for us.”

Starting from verse 7, we see the physical pain and suffering that Christ endured by the
hand of man. The psalm prophesies that Christ will say “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 were
accomplished word for word at the cross. In the Gospels, for example Matthew 27, it is
written, “And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou
that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of
God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the

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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.”

The people were literally fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22 without even realising it.
The physical pain that Christ endured at the hand of man showed how much the heart of
man hated Christ, the One Who says “they pierced my hands and my feet.” The people
pierced the hands of Christ which did not stop doing good, and the feet of Christ which
carried Him, enabling Him to reach needy and desperate men.

Starting at verse 19 we see the suffering that Christ endured from the Devil: “But be not
thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 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. ”
” The three sources of suffering that Christ endured on the cross are summarised in this
part of the psalm: “Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the
dog. Save me from the lion's mouth.”

1. Deliver my soul from the sword. This is the divine sword of God’s judgment by
which Christ was stricken. It is first mentioned in Genesis where God placed
“a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Genesis
3). The sword is referred to again in Zechariah 13: “Awake, O sword, against my
shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the
shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” Christ, the good shepherd was stricken for
the sheep. As Isaiah says: “for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isaiah
53).

2. My darling from the power of the dog. This image depicts the suffering of
Christ at the hand of man because the dog represents the viciousness of human
nature.

3. Save me from the lion’s mouth. Here this picture illustrates the suffering of
Christ at the hand of the devil since our “adversary the devil walks about like a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5).

The three results of the work of Christ

In the first part of the psalm we saw the three sources of Christ's suffering. In the second
part—the glories that would follow—we see the three results of the finished work of
Christ on the cross:
>the glorification of God,
>the happiness of man, and
>the defeat of Satan.

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Firstly, the finished work of Christ on the cross is for the glory of God. As we read
starting in verse 22: “I will declare your name to my brethren; in the midst of the
assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of
Jacob, glorify Him. And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!”

Secondly, the accomplished work of Christ is for the happiness of man. The perfect work
of Christ gave joy, happiness and peace to man, as we see starting in verse 26: “The poor
shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him will praise the Lord.”

Thirdly, the finished work of Christ is for the defeat of Satan, as we read in verse 29: “All
those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself
alive.” Christ's reign will include the fall and defeat of Satan.

How beautiful are the final words of the psalm: “It will be recounted of the Lord to the
next generation, They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be
born, that He has done this” (verses 30 and 31).

The phrase “He has done this” was translated in the New Testament as “It is finished”
(John 19). Whilst he hung on the cross, and after He received the sour wine, Christ said:
“It is finished”, then he bowed His head and gave up His spirit. The work of Christ is
perfect. He has done it perfectly and accomplished God’s plan perfectly. “He is the Rock,
and his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice.” (Deuteronomy 32). We read in
Hebrews 10: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being
sanctified”.

In the millennial kingdom [of the Messiah], “It will be recounted of the Lord to the next
generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
that He has done this” (verse 30, 31).

Hours of light and hours of darkness

Christ hung on the cross for six hours. We can divide these six hours into two parts: the
hours of light and the hours of darkness. The first three hours were the hours of light and
the second three hours were the hours of darkness.

In the hours of light, Christ endured physical suffering by the hand of man. In the hours
of darkness, Christ endured propitiating suffering by the hand of God.

In the hours of light, He suffered as a martyr for righteousness’ sake, for he is the Just
and Holy One Who “has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23), yet He was crucified. Although
He “has done all things well.” He made ”both the deaf hear and the mute speak” (Mark
7), they nailed him to a tree.

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In the hours of darkness, however, He suffered not for justice but rather for sin--not His
own, for He “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2) but for our
sins and which Christ Himself bore “in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2).

In the hours of light, He suffered oppression, as it is written: “He was oppressed and He
was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53).

In the hours of darkness, though, He suffered not oppression but for the sake of justice--
the divine justice that Christ, due to his marvellous love, agreed to take in our place as
sinners, replacing us on the cross and paying the penalty for our own sins.

In the hours of light, we see the devil bruising the heel of Christ Who, suffering on the
cross, said, “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22).

Nevertheless, in the hours of darkness, we see Christ bruising the devil’s head. Thus, we
see here the fulfilment of the early prophecy of the Holy Bible, in which the Lord God
said to that serpent of old: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis
3).

The seven statements of the cross

The Lord Jesus made seven statements while dying on the cross. As we know, the
number seven represents perfection.
The opening statement of this psalm is “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
Christ, the wounded lion, made this pronunciation from the depths of His suffering on the
cross of Calvary.

Just as this first statement is a prayer addressed to the Father, so is the last one. Both the
first and last statements start with the word Father. The last statement reads, “Father, into
Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23).

In the first statement, Christ said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
do” (Luke 23). Up until His final moments, Christ was concerned about others. Although
He was nailed to the cross and bleeding upon it, in this first statement He prayed neither
for Himself nor for His beloved, but rather He prayed for His enemies--including those
who crucified Him. Even under the most stressful and difficult circumstances, Christ
embodied and lived out His own teachings: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you” (Matthew 5).

He was also concerned about His mother whilst “a sword was piercing through” her own
soul as she witnessed her son dying by crucifixion (Luke 2). On the cross, when He saw

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his mother “and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, Women,
behold your son! Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother!” (John 19).

Thirdly, he was also concerned about the penitent criminal [on the cross next to Him]
who said to Jesus: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus
said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23).

In Matthew 27, we read, “Now from the six hour until the ninth hour there was darkness
over all land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

In the hours of darkness, Christ did not speak. Instead, there was silence and darkness
because Christ was diligently doing the greatest work that has ever been, or ever will be
done in the universe: Christ was fighting the greatest battle of all time. As it is written,
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2). The silence and darkness also signify that we
can neither see nor understand the depth of the propitiating suffering He received at the
hand of God. And finally, “about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” The
Holy Spirit desired that all ages immortalize this expression, the fourth statement of
Psalm 22, exactly as it proceeded in Aramaic from the mouth of the Lord Jesus.

The fifth statement is, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst!” (John 19).

In the sixth statement, when “Jesus received the sour wine, He said: It is finished!” (John
19).

Finally, in the seventh statement, the Lord Jesus said, “Father into your hands I commit
my spirit” (Luke 23).

The double descent

In this Psalm we read, “But I am a worm and no man”. This verse alludes to the fact that
Christ descended twice: from heaven to earth, and from earth to the grave. Moreover, this
double descent was followed by a double ascent: from the grave to earth by resurrection,
and from earth to the right hand of the majesty by exaltation—Christ, as a man, seated at
the right hand of God.

The first descent was from heaven to our accursed earth.

The second descent was from this accursed earth to the reproach of the cross and the
lower parts of earth.

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The first descent was by incarnation and the second descent was crucifixion.

In His first descent, Christ was made a “a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2). In
His second descent, He was made a little lower than man as we read, “But I am a worm
and no man.” In the prophecies of Isaiah 52 and 53, we read, “His visage was marred
more than any man and His form more than the sons of men…He has no form or
comeliness and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” It is
hard to believe that the face of the Crucified was that of a son of man. Not only did He
clothe Himself with our humanity, but He also clothed Himself with our sins. Not only
was He enclosed in a manger but He was also enclosed in a tomb. Not only did they wrap
Him in swaddling cloths, as it is written, “And this will be the sign to you, you will find a
babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger (Luke 2), but they also wrapped
Him in “strips of linen…as the custom of the Jews is to bury” (John 19).

The inevitability of the cross

Was it truly necessary for Christ to suffer and die? Did He have to die by crucifixion?
Yes, the cross was inevitable so the prophecies about the cross might be fulfilled. For
example, in this Psalm, it is written, “They pierced my hands and my feet”. This occurs
by crucifixion. It is also written in the law, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”
Thus “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law; having become a curse for us,
for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3).

The cross was inevitable because the prophetic symbols had to be fulfilled. We read in
Numbers 21 about the bronze serpent; in John 3 the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, “And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The cross was inevitable since the words of Christ himself had to be fulfilled. Indeed, He
prophesied many times that He would suffer on the cross. He said in John 12, “And I, if I
am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. This He said, signifying by
what death He would die.”

The cross was inevitable since Christ had to be lifted up on the cross between heaven and
earth to reconcile heaven with earth. He was crucified between two criminals, and in so
doing He divided men into two classes: the believers and the unbelievers, the saved and
the perishing.

He had to die on the cross so He could lay down His life by his own will, as He said in
John 10, “Therefore My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it
again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down
and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received from My Father.”

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If Christ died in a different way, by stoning for example, He could not have said, “I lay
down My life that I may take it again,” because if someone dies by stoning, his life is
taken away from him. On the cross, though, Christ laid Himself down willingly, as we
read in John 19: “Bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” Notice how it does not say
“He gave up His spirit, so his head was bowed.” It is also written that “Jesus cried out
again with a loud voice and yielded up the spirit” (Matthew 27). He did not die from lack
of strength; He was strong but decided to lay down His life by His own will.

The seventh shepherd

The Old Testament tells us about six shepherds: Abel, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David and
Amos. But the seventh shepherd, the Lord Jesus, is the greatest of all. He is the shepherd
of the New Testament.
There is a contrast between the shepherds of Genesis and the Shepherd of the New
Testament.

Abel symbolizes the death of Christ, Jacob symbolizes the tireless work of Christ and
Joseph symbolizes the highness of Christ.

Abel cannot be the great shepherd because he offered the firstborn of his flock as
sacrifices to God. The sheep died for him, but Christ Himself died for the sheep, as it is
written, “The blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews
12).

Jacob symbolizes the tireless work of Christ but He cannot be the great shepherd because
some of his flock were lost and stolen. On the contrary, the Lord Jesus said about His
sheep, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch
them out of My hand” (John 10).

Joseph symbolizes the highness of Christ. However, he cannot be the great shepherd
because he took care of the sheep for a while then he was driven to Egypt, leaving the
flock without a shepherd. Christ, on the other hand, never forsook the sheep and will
remain forever the great shepherd of the sheep and that in all things He may have the
preeminence.

The psalm of the cross, Psalm 22 is linked to Psalms 23 and 24. In Psalm 22, we see
Christ as the Good Shepherd (see John 10). In Psalm 23, we see Him as the Great
Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13). In Psalm 24, we see Christ as the Chief Shepherd (1
Peter 5).

In Psalm 22 we see the past; in Psalm 23 we the present; and in Psalm 24 we see the
future. In Psalm 22, the Lord Jesus was the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the
sheep. After dying on the cross, He did not stay long in the tomb but was raised from the
dead and now is at the right hand of God taking care of the sheep. Therefore, in Psalm 23,

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He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep, and every one of His flock can say with a loud
voice, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures; He leads me beside the still water. He restores my soul” (Psalm 23).

In Psalm 24, we see Christ as the future Chief Shepherd, as it is written, “When the Chief
Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter
5). In Psalm 24, we see the coming of the Lord Jesus in glory as we read, “Lift up your
heads O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall
come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in
battle.”

In Psalm 22, we see the wood of redemption, which is the cross. In Psalm 23, we see the
rod of the shepherd. In Psalm 24, we see the King’s golden sceptre.

In Psalm 22, we see the salvation of our souls by the death of Christ on the cross, a death
that guaranteed us eternal life.

In Psalm 23, we see the salvation of our souls not by the death of Christ but rather by His
life at the right hand of God, as we read in Romans 5: “Having being reconciled, we shall
be saved by his life.” Moreover, in Hebrews 7, we read, “He is also able to save to the
uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them.” Thus, on a daily basis, He makes intercession for us at the right
hand of God, delivering us from the tribulations and distress we experience through our
journey in this world.

In Psalm 24, we see the salvation of our bodies by His appearing and His manifestation.
For “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body” (Philippians 3). To Him be glory forever and ever, Amen.

By Br Fadi Dagher / August 29, 2015

Revised by Br Kenneth Ungar / September 5, 2015

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