Psalm 22

The mood of this psalm contrasts dramatically with that of Psalm 21. In this one David felt forsaken by God, and the threats of his enemies laid heavy on his heart. He evidently felt death might be close. He described his condition as facing execution. Nevertheless the Lord answered his prayer for help.

"No Christian can read this without being vividly confronted with the crucifixion. It is not only a matter of prophecy minutely fulfilled, but of the sufferer's humility--there is no plea for vengeance--and his vision of a world-wide ingathering of the Gentiles."⁶⁰

The righteous sufferer motif that is so prominent in this psalm finds its fulfillment in the Messiah (cf. Ps. 69; et al.).⁶¹

 1. Frustration and faith 22:1-10

David felt forsaken by God and ridiculed by his enemies, yet his confidence was in the Lord's continuing care.

 2. Foes and fatigue 22:11-18

22:11 David cried out to God to be near him with saving help since he was in great danger and there was no one to assist him. He felt very much alone and vulnerable.

 3. Prayer for freedom from death 22:19-21

The psalmist pleaded with God to rescue his life from the fatal attacks of his foes to whom he referred again as wild animals. He cried to God to be near him and to act swiftly to save him.

A marked change in David's attitude took place in the middle of verse 21. Evidently he received assurance of the Lord's help because the last part of this verse expresses confidence in his deliverance. This confidence probably came to the prophet by direct revelation. The rest of the psalm continues this theme of confident assurance of salvation.

 4. Praise and encouragement 22:22-31

22:22 In view of the Lord's deliverance David vowed to praise God publicly. God saved His Son from death just as He delivered the psalmist from it. In the latter case He did so by prolonging his life and in the former by resurrection. The writer of Hebrews quoted this verse in Hebrews 2:12 as an expression of the Lord Jesus' praise to God for delivering Him from death in answer to His prayer (cf. Heb. 5:7).

22:23-26 David next called on the congregation of Israel to join him in praising God because He had come to his aid (cf. vv. 1-2). David had evidently made vows to God during the time of his distress that he now promised to pay. Vows in Israel were promises to give God something if God would do a certain thing for the person vowing or since He had already done a certain thing for him or her. People sometimes vowed material things, but often they promised to give praise.

Verse 26 describes a reversal of the bad conditions previously referred to as characteristic of David in his misery (cf. vv. 14-15, 17). These words would have encouraged God's people to keep praying and trusting in the Lord.

22:27-31 God's purpose for Israel was that she be a kingdom of priests by mediating the knowledge of God to all people and by bringing all people into relationship with God (Exod. 19:6). David had an unhindered view of this purpose as is clear from this expression of his concern that God's deliverance of him would result in the Gentiles turning to Yahweh in faith. After all, Yahweh is the sovereign King who rules over all nations, not just Israel (v. 28). All people will bow before Him whether they are rich or dying (v. 29). David believed his testimony of God's delivering him from death would influence later generations of people to trust in the Lord. Since God has preserved this record in Scripture it has encouraged all succeeding generations to do so. The record of God's delivering Jesus Christ when He cried for salvation from death (Heb. 5:7) and God's hearing and resurrecting Him has encouraged many more to put their confidence in David's God. The last phrase (v. 31), "He has performed it,"is similar to our Lord's cry, "It is finished"(John 19:30).

This is one of the Messianic psalms (cf. Acts 2:30-31; Heb. 2:12). It became clear later that it not only recorded actual events in the life of David but also predicted events in the life of David's greatest Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. David probably described many of his own sufferings figuratively, but his descriptions happened literally in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.⁶²Interestingly there is no confession of sin or imprecation on enemies in this psalm. Our Lord's cross sufferings were also free of these elements.

God's people of all ages can learn from this psalm. Even though it may appear that the Lord has forgotten and forsaken us in times of extreme persecution we can count on His delivering us from death in answer to our prayers. Our salvation may come through the prolongation of our lives as in David's case or through resurrection as in the case of our Lord. With this assurance of salvation we can praise God now and encourage others to trust in and worship Him as well.⁶³