Psalms 22
Big idea: The psalm Jesus quoted from the cross, and the details are hard to read as coincidence: mockers shaking their heads and saying let God rescue him since he delights in him; bones out of joint; a tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth; hands and feet pierced; clothing divided and lots cast. But the psalm's structure matters as much as its details. It runs for twenty-one verses in the dark, and then at verse 22 it turns without warning into the largest praise in Book I — reaching past the assembly, past Israel, to all the ends of the earth, to the dying, and to a people not yet born. It ends on three words: he has done it.
Psalm 22 ends with a people not yet born being told what God did. Psalm 23 is what one of them says.
22:1–11 — My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
The opening alternates twice, and the alternation is how the psalm holds on. Complaint, then 'but you are holy'; mockery, then 'but you brought me out of the womb'. Each time the counterweight is memory — first the nation's, then his own, going back further than he can remember. And the mockers' taunt in verse 8 is quoted almost word for word at the cross by people who did not know they were reading a script.
1 For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. 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 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But you are holy, you who inhabit 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 disappointed. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, 8 “He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.” 9 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts. 10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me. 11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
22:12–21 — They have pierced my hands and feet
The description itself, and it works by closing a circle: bulls, then lions, then dogs, each nearer than the last, until they are near enough to divide clothing. Between them the body is reported from inside — poured out, unjointed, a heart like wax, a tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth. The Gospels quote three details from these verses. And the movement ends mid-sentence on a tense that has changed: you HAVE rescued me.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring. 14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet. 17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. 18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing. 19 But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help. Hurry to help me! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22:22–31 — All the ends of the earth shall remember
Effectively a second psalm, and the movement outward is in four widening rings: brothers, then the assembly of Israel, then all the ends of the earth, then people not yet born. What is being announced to each is the same fact, stated in verse 24 — he did not hide his face — which is the direct denial of verse 1. Hebrews 2 quotes verse 22 as Christ calling his people brothers, and the last three words are a finished thing.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you. 23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard. 25 My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever. 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations. 29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. 31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).