A Plea for Deliverance
Study Scripture: Psalm 22: 1 – 11
Background Scripture: Psalm 22: 1 – 11
Lesson 7 October 12, 2024
Key Verse
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my help are the words of my groaning”
Psalm 22:1
INTRODUCTION
We pray every day (or we are taught to do that) so that our life is free from threats and trouble. But for most of us that is the exception rather than the rule.
Some Psalms affirm life as well ordained and quite grand, with little hint of life being out of whack a lot of times.
There is for most therefore an imbalance and this Psalm addresses this disorientation which often overwhelms even believer.
In fact over one-third of the Psalms are laments which express sorrow over a loss inspired by a calamity such as illness, death, exile, death or defeat in battle. One writer tells us
“The purpose of the lament was to persuade God to provide relief from the calamitous circumstances.
Laments could be either individual or communal. A lament could be sung by a congregation”.
It is most important therefore to note that in this Song Book of Israel, the Psalms of laments are worship songs. Worship deals in a frank and uncensored and raw way with the realities of life, but unfortunately many people including professing believers like to whitewash the reality of the dreadful effects of sin in the world of humanity. That approach is contrary to the approach of the divine Scriptures.
We therefore are losing much when we shy away from engaging with these Psalms especially with Psalm 22.
This is the lament Psalm with the most intense, bold and expressive power for it explores the depths of human suffering. Its images are incredibly powerful as it tells of fear, anxiety and abandonmemt.
This Psalm is blatantly honest and it calls on the believers in worship not to place themselves in an atmosphere where they are tone-deaf to the experiences of real life. This is not worship with what one writer calls “worship with the “happy-clappy” variety.. uncomfortably wearing the mask of a manufactured smile, and feeling the need to do so, (which) is never healthy or healing, particularly in the church.
No such masks are purveyed or allowed by the lament Psalms”.
Note however that this and other lament Psalms are sung from the perspective of faith. When a person or the community is in the middle of deeply felt pain, and they cry out, they at the same time profess trust in God.
Remember the suppliant is worshipping and can therefore because of what they know about God can move to petition God to intervene, for they know God is never far away.
They know God brought them from the womb, and He cares for them, and as well He has shown in their family and national history that He has been with their fathers all through their lives.
So the petitions rise to God and in this expression of faith they anticipate that God will answer.
The expression of praise therefore follow logically in the lament Psalm. One writer expounds:
“In Psalm 22, the expression of praise comprises a full one-third of the text (verses twenty-two thru thirty-one). Not only does the suppliant pledge to tell of God’s name to brother and sisters, and to praise God in the midst of the congregation, but also exhorts others to praise, glorify, and stand in awe of God”.
This Psalm is so intensive in its spiritual, physical, and emotional descriptions, it was such that Jesus found it most appropriate to reflect His experience in suffering for humanity.
It was considered a Psalm of David who is considered to be a type of the Messiah. But note that the Superscription which was added on, and which some consider to be the Verse 1, is not treated that way as the Verse 1 in the Bible.
There are several reasons why some scholars do not believe that this Psalm was a Psalm written by David for it has references in it and portions that could not have applied to David.
But Jews however have always considered this Psalm 22 to be messianic.
It is a prayer of one who is alone and in very deep distress and the question is raised dramatically as to why God has left him alone though there is an incredible extent of danger if God is not near.
The forces of the enemy are massing and they are coming, and God’s presence is needed to save one not born as a worm, but born as a precious child of God.
Clearly, there exists here resolute faith in a holy God.
This Psalm is considered by many as a Psalm depicting the Suffering Saviour, given the extensive description of suffering in this Psalm. One writer lists why there is this belief:
‘Mark 15:29 (Matthew 27:39) implies the language of Psalm 22:7 in the description of passersby at the crucifixion.
“All those who see me mock at me’
they make mouths at me., they shake their heads”
Matthew 27:43 also frames the taunts of the religious leaders with an allusion to Psalm 22:8
“Commit your course to the Lord;
let him deliver-
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
In all four Gospels (Mark 15:24; Matthew 27:35; Luke 23:34; John 19:24) the description of the soldiers’ activity beneath the cross draws on Psalm 22:18;
“they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots”.
In addition to these examples John 19:28 probably has Psalm 22:15 in mind when reporting that Jesus says, “I am thirsty” in order “to fulfill scripture ”.
Though the original setting of Psalm 22 hd nothing to do with the passion of Jesus, a messianic reading is the natural result of the psalm’s extensive expression of suffering and its far-reaching declaration of hope. The psalm “explodes the limits” of poetic expression and thus expands the Old Testament understanding of god, human life, and death”.
Many believers in God have likely at some point in their life felt abandoned by God when the dreams they have for themselves have been killed or been seriously limited. So they are grieved and they lament, sometimes privately, or a few times publicly.
They want to believe that God will be there for them ‘forever’, and they cannot grasp or understand the idea that ‘forever’ is not the same as ‘today’.
There is lament when there is pain, but note that lament does not keep struggling around in pain but it reaches out to God through the pain.
This point is more important than we like to think.
If a believer does not know how to lament and if they think grief is to be avoided or denied, and there should be no waiting on God through the time of pain, the believer will be only going through the motion of spiritual life with a heart that is not passionately open to God.
If we are like that, how can we be authentic when offering ourselves to others in their distress, when we cannot offer ourselves to God?
Note that we are now dealing with real life and the drastic change to be made in the believers’ and the churches’ attitude and practice if they are serious about evangelism and saving souls by the presentation of the Gospel!
One writer refers us to the famous and disturbing musical Les Miserables, where the suffering Fantine sings of her dreams and of her hope that God will be forgiving.
But sadly life has however changed her outlook. So she sings:
“But the tigers come at nigh
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.
He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came.
And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather.
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed”
We had better realize that these feelings represent the real life disturbances which lead to the disorientations of the people around us. That song reflects what many feel.
Our task is to under the guidance of the Holy Spirit turn their lament into praise, given that we have gone through the times of lament and come out praising.
THE TEXT
Verse 1 & 2.
It is best to tie together a few verses for the analysis of verses 1 through 11.
With that said, the introduction to the Psalm starts off with a plea of urgency, one in which the speaker cries out to God, his Father, his sustainer, Why has he been forsaken?
This is someone who is in the fold of God, a child of God. He is in clear agony over a situation, but even more so the larger part of the agony stems from God not seemingly responding or acting on the distress of His child.
This is as mentioned before, is someone who knows, who is knowledgeable and who is in intimacy with God, and serves God.
This detail sets up and important comparison and contrast with the feelings of other individuals. A prophetic message is given in the following verses.
The writer cries out to God, My God, my God; this opening set of words is powerful on at least two levels. One cry shows that the forsaken one in this case truly did have a relationship with God, and a strong one at that.
Also, the individual was a victim of the cruelty of men, but the cry and complaint is to God, not against man, as man does not know mercy without God.
The second repetition of the pleas shows the intensity of the agony, as echoed in many writings and in the Bible itself.
Spiritual desertions are a saint’s worst possible affliction to be suffered. It is especially troubling when their true origins are not clear. However, the fact that there is no divine intervention, and hence showing some communion with God has somehow been suspended, this can and will bring terror to most, but definitely profound sorrow, loneliness, and abandonment.
Notice also the complaint is to God, and not to man. This shows that there is a good spiritual life and spiritual senses being exercised. The cry goes to God, the Sustainer. The complaint goes to God, the only One capable of remedying the situation, all situations to a favourable outcome.
Some of what is occurring here is generally felt as an allusion to what occurred with Christ on the Cross. David though he might have been the compose of this Psalm, had never gone through this kind of agony.
Christ in his sufferings cried earnestly to the Father for favour and God’s presence to be with Him. Even before the Cross, we see this in the Garden OF Gethsemane with the agony that Jesus was going through.
God turned His “back” on Jesus on the Cross for an important reason. That broken communion between Father and Son we saw was devastating to Jesus. What we do not know is the full effect it had on God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, considering the communion they shared before the creation of the world / universe.
We do know that they all agreed for the events to play out this way so that Christ could be made sin for us. It pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief, Isa 53:10.
The Book of Isaiah above addresses some issues as to why a Holy God must abandon Jesus. In the book of Habakkuk he and us were reminded that the Holy god could not look on evil.
But in this case with the writer, we are somewhat left in the dark as to all of God’s reasons, and more accurately, the writer is somewhat puzzled over his Holy and Righteous God’s response.
Other sinners might be treated in this manner, but someone who serves God, the writer believes should be given some mercy or consideration!
Verse 3 – 5.
Just as the writer states, God is holy, just, true and kind. This person knows God, and we as Christians should know and understand God to a similar degree, where despite our pain, agony, or distress, we should never think that the Almighty God is ever cruel or unjust; that is if we know Him.
As we have seen in the Bible many times, if there is any error or fault, it lies with man, not God. God acts in ways that sometimes we do not understand. He also acts in a time frame that might not em to be advantageous to us, but He still has His eyes over us.
We can see that the writer knows God’s history with Israel. The relationship between the two (writer and God) is not stressed, but the history of a people.
Even though God acts in His time, it also involves great wisdom as He waits until the iniquity of others has been fulfilled before He acts against them, or until He is satisfied that Israel has repented, grown spiritually to whatever level is necessary for them to be more in line with His will.
God’s desire is always to see His people and the world redeemed to Him. Sometimes this act goes beyond the understanding of His creation, but we should know all His actions are directed towards redemption of His creation, and through that the glorification of Him as God!
Christians today should take comfort, just as the writer of the Psalm does in the experiences of God’s people, knowing that God eventually delivers them, and He also knows the saints in former ages had the benefit of faith and prayer, as ways to appeal to God.
When dealing with the children of God in the past, God had proven that He has heard their cries and acted. He first benefits His will and secondly He benefits them. But God did respond to them and saved them. The covenant that God has with His chosen people and the world at large is designed for the support of the seed of the faithful.
We see that Jesus was in part comforted by this fact, and also demonstrated this idea to us when He was here with us. Noah, Joseph, David, Jonah and others were all types, experiencing the suffering that Jesus went through.
It was and is an important lesson for us to understand. This understanding is necessary for our growth as a believer in God.
The writer of the Psalm is attributed to David. The Superscription indicates that, the originator of the Psalm. What he experienced would only be a shadow of what Jesus experienced.
Prior to the Cross, Jesus lived every moment in conscious fellowship with God the Father, combined with a continual dependence upon the help of both the Father and the Spirit.
At the Cross, Jesus felt helpless, and it seemed that the Father was so far from helping Him.
Verse 6 – 8.
Whatever conflict David was going through was great. It made him feel insignificant. Even though David says he feels like a worm, something that God should not consider important and it could be understood that God would not deign to look after such a creature. But though using this figure of speech, he would have known God has His eyes on all His creation. But David cannot see this in his agony, but this is how great God is for nothing escapes His care and eyes.
In contrast to He who is known as the greater Son of David, Jesus on the Cross suffered the reproach of men, and was despised by the people.
Cruel men would have mocked David at this time in his life, and we know that cruel men mocked Jesus at the Cross especially (Matt. 27:39 – 44).
When those who mock your misery are not followers of God, it does magnify the distress you are no doubt under. Those people will call into question your relationship with God, and it is the devil who is definitely behind creating this doubt in believers, just as the friends of Job did with him in his sufferings.
But know that those who truly trust in the Lord know the LORD rescues those who trust in Him. Even though the heathen mock David for trusting in God, who it seem is not rescuing him at this moment, this situation should let believers in God know that God is indeed watching His Children as His covenant with them means they will never be forsaken. God will act in our favour.
This is why it is important to Study, to pray, and seek the Holy Spirit in your walk to grow and understand God’s will and purpose in our lives. There are direct parallel with David and his situation with that of Jesus at the Cross ( Ps. 22, Matt. 27:46, and Matt. 27:43).
Let us, the children of God, not let the ignorance and cruelty of those who oppose God and His people form any foundation or influence on our relationship with our God.
They claim to see no deliverance, but they are blinded anyway. But deliverance will and does come, that is sure, as God’s word does not return to Him void, and that is His promise to His children.
Verse 9 – 10.
These verses are verses of encouragement, as David says who he is, God’s property, God’s child. David and other good men and women in the Bible have often, for direction to us, encouraged themselves in like fashion, for an example to us. As an infant they did not know God, but God knew them, and took care of them in their helpless state. It is a clear example of God’s providential care for us.
The section of these verses let us know that birth is something under God’s control. Children are His gift to us, and every part of that act He is intimately a part of, and even after that. Even after birth and the feeding of a helpless child, God is the one who is there protecting and guiding the circumstance.
This is applicable to our Lord Jesus, over whose incarnation and birth the divine Providence watched with a peculiar care, when he was born in a stable, laid in a manger, and immediately exposed to the malice of Herod, and forced to flee into Egypt. When he was a child God loved him and called him thence (Hos. 11:1), and the remembrance of this comforted him in his sufferings. Men reproached him, and discouraged his confidence in God; but God had honoured him and encouraged his confidence in him. [Matthew Henry]
Verse 11.
Here is Christ suffering. David indeed was often in trouble with enemies constantly around him, but many of the particulars here specified are similar to Christ in the depth of his humiliation.
Christ was deserted by his friends. Insulted and surrounded by enemies. He was crucified, died, was stripped of His communion with God the Father.
Even though this verse was spoken by David, it was intended to point to Jesus so that we may have some insight into His suffering. But in that suffering, there is joy as Jesus recognized that His Father is near and watching.
David recognizes that in this entire life God is near and watching. The message is that God has done so much for us and is always near and watching us, but that should not stop us from crying out to God for help, as David did.
CONCLUSION
Note the significance of the beginning of the complaint addressing “My God” with then the specific “You” used to make it clear that it was his God that was his focus.
This focus was continued for “I” cried, and “You” did not hear.
But then the tone of the Psalm changed in verses 3-5, affirming trust. “You” God heard their cries for they trusted in “You”. They trusted in “You” and they were not ashamed.
Then came the swing back to the desperate situation because this believer fell into a view of himself that should not be true even to him. Verses 6-8.
But then came the swing back to affirming trust in God (verses 9-10).
So what followed was the first cry for help. He was facing trouble alone but he knew God was not far away from him.
It is therefore most important that we note that the “Why” questions at the beginning of the Psalm are never answered. Even for Jesus on the Cross and the question is asked in Matthew 27:46 the question remain questions.
“Ordinary believers” should not be surprised that at difficult times they will ask the “Why” question.
But the answer of faith is there for we are to be aware of the faithful character of God.
The answer remains in the Text:
“Yet thou art holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted,
and thou didst deliver them
To thee they cried, and were saved;
In thee they trusted, and were not disappointed”.
The strange mystery of why the Son of God was abandoned by His Father was not in Himself. Verses 9-11 reminds us of that. But He was forsaken and that for a very good reason, says Isaiah 53:5.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed”.
So why did you experience this feeling you are abandoned?
It is always for a very good reason!
For Psalm 22 verse 25 tells you what will happen when you share the life of Jesus with Him. For you, and because of that sharing here is the reason why you will first groan :
“From thee comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him”.
The greatness of our task is thus placed squarely before us. Why should we rejoice when we have to lament and then praise?
“The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live for ever.
Psalm 22:26.
Remember that
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”.
2 Peter 1:3.
What a Psalm!
It reminds us about our Saviour and that we go from groaning to praise for:
“He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”.
Hebrews 7:25.