God Has Done It!

Psalm 22

Introduction

            Waiting for Christmas is hard for some people, in fact, some hardly wait at all. The Christmas tree is put up in November because they want that Christmas feeling as soon and as long as possible. But then they still have to wait for the actual day and the gifts and the family celebrations.

            The four weeks before Christmas are identified as advent. The word "advent" means coming and coming implies waiting for something which is yet to come. We celebrate this season because we remember the time of waiting before Jesus came. For many years, Israel waited for Messiah. God gave promises of his coming and they longed for the time He would come and restore all things. I don't think we do the Advent season very well because with our decorations and music we tend to move quickly to Christmas. One thing that makes it hard for us to emphasize waiting is that we know that Messiah has already come. So we wonder, why focus on waiting at all?

            Yet waiting is a part of our life. Elvis had a song called, "Blue Christmas" which expresses that not everything is as we wish it would be. There are many things in life which we hope will get better and often we need to wait. A person who struggles with a chronic illness is aware that not everything is good. A person with a mental illness knows that not everything is as they would like it. All of us know that death comes to every one of us and although we anticipate eternal life, we are still waiting for the day when Jesus will return and we will not have to die any more. So waiting is something we are very familiar with. Waiting in all of these ways is difficult.

            Psalm 22, expresses the longing associated with the knowledge that not everything is good and the difficulty of waiting for God to act.

I.     God Hears the Afflicted

            Although Psalm 22 is identified as a Psalm of David, there is no clear indication about which event in David's life it might refer to. One possibility is I Samuel 23:24b-28. In that story, David was being chased by Saul and it says, "David was hurrying to get away from Saul." It was a time of affliction for him. Then suddenly Saul was called away because of an attack by the Philistines and David was spared. The intensity of the affliction and the sudden release from that affliction may be what is expressed in the two parts of the Psalm.

A.   Hope or No Hope?

            It was a very difficult time for David as expressed right in verse 1 when he says, "Why have you forsaken me?" Have you ever wondered or even asked, "God where are you?" at a time when you were experiencing difficulty? This was the experience David had. He sought God, but seemed to get no answer from God. Day and night he was looking for hope and help, but no help came and he was sure that God had forgotten him. What a terrible thing to feel as if God is absent. There is no place to get help if God seems to be ignoring you. It is a place of hopelessness.

            But the Psalmist does not give up on God, even though he feels as if God has abandoned him. He prays and declares his understanding that God is holy and worthy of praise. He not only remembers who God is, but also recalls the times in the past when God has helped. He remembers that at other times his ancestors prayed and trusted God and God delivered them.

            One of the things which we are often advised to do when we are discouraged and wondering where God is, is to recall the times in the past when He has helped. If we read the Bible and see what God has done in those stories and if we think about how we have experienced God's goodness in the past it is an encouragement which gives us hope for the present. That is what the Psalmist does in Psalm 22:3-5.

            Yet it doesn't seem to help him much. Somehow in verses 6 he expresses the feeling that if he is beyond help because he is not worthy of God's help. He sees himself as less than human, as a worm and therefore not worthy of anything.

            This feeling of worthlessness is compounded by the taunting of others who mock him and declare that he is unworthy of help. The logic of verses 7, 8 may go something like this. The Psalmist wants to trust in God, but the help of God is not coming. Those observing are like Job's friends who believe that there is something wrong with the Psalmist. They mock his empty faith in God because God was obviously not showing up. The difficulty was that the Psalmist's understanding of God did not fit together with his experience of the absence of God.

            In spite of feeling less than human and in spite of bearing the mockery of those who believe that God will not help, the Psalmist is not easily put off. He reminds himself that God has always been his help. In verses 9-11, he expresses the foundational faith that has been his from when he was just a newborn child. Even though he feels abandoned by God and sees no answer and no help for his situation, he is not willing to throw faith in God away. Trust in God has been his help since he was young and now in this difficult time, he is not willing to give up on God. In fact, he turns now to prayer and acknowledges that he is in a difficult place. Yet he also expresses that he cannot see anywhere else to turn. He may feel forsaken of God, but he sees no better options available to him, so he continues in prayer to God.

B.   Prayer In Times of Trouble

            The prayer extends from verses 12 to 21 and begins with a description of the trouble he is experiencing.

            In describing the trouble he begins by describing what seem to be violent enemies all around him. He uses the imagery of bulls, lions and dogs. Bashan is the area east of the Sea of Galilee. There is an escarpment there which causes the land beyond the escarpment to be a place of higher average rainfall and therefore a fruitful place. The cattle of Bashan were known to be larger than in other areas. If you have ever walked into an area with a large and threatening bull, you may have some idea of the danger expressed by the phrase, "bulls of Bashan surround me." A "ravening and roaring lion" also expresses the violence and fear produced by an enemy. In verse 16 a similar imagery speaks of dogs, which were not nice household pets, but scavengers who would gather wherever blood was shed. These pictures suggest that David's problem was violent enemies who were after him. It may well be that King Saul was that enemy.

            But the trouble which David was experiencing was not entirely from enemies without. The troubles he was experiencing were also emotional with physical side effects. Verses 14, 15, are a particularly good description of the trauma caused by trouble. He experiences physical weakness. His heart is not strong, and it feels like it is melting like wax within him. Have you ever heard the expression, "sucking spit." I understand it because when I am worried about something, that is something that happens until my mouth feels dry. The final line in this section suggests that the Psalmist feels that he is near to death.

            Verses 17, 18 suggest that those around him also look at him as one whose life is over and for whom there is no hope. In fact, they have already begun to divide up his estate and are gambling over his possessions to see who will get them when he dies.

            He expresses the depth of his troubles, but as we have already seen, his determination is to turn to God and so in verses 19-21, he returns to prayer. He reaches out and cries, "O my help, come quickly to my aid!" His prayer is urgent. In these verses, he once again mentions the dog, the lion and the ox, in reverse order, and expresses a desire to be redeemed from the violence of their danger.

            He prays and then he waits for God to answer. All we have read up until this point reflects the struggle and difficulty of waiting for God to act and the depth of the trials which are part of the human experience.

C.   Praise God Who Helps

            Suddenly the language changes. Instead of despair and anguish motivating desperate prayer, the language changes to praise. Suddenly the Psalmist declares, "I will praise you." Why the sudden change? Verse 24 tells us, "For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him."

            God has answered his prayer! God has not abandoned him! God has had compassion for the person who was suffering. The Psalmist suddenly experiences relief, an answer and God's presence in his life again!

            If the background is one like I suggested earlier from I Samuel where the enemy suddenly stopped pursuing him, we can understand such a sudden change because God has acted and there is thanksgiving which follows upon answered prayer.

            The rest of the Psalm is a declaration of praise to God. There are a lot of great thoughts here related to praise after God has answered prayer.

            We see a note of praise in the congregation. The Psalmist doesn't keep his praise to himself, but expresses it before others in the community of faith. What an important thing to do when we have experienced God's grace!

            He invites others to join him in praising God because God is worthy of praise. When he mentions, "…stand in awe of him…" he is reflecting on the greatness of God revealed to him through his own experience.

            He declares that many other people, people from "all the families of the nations" and also "a people yet unborn" will praise because God is the sovereign Lord over all and He has done this great thing because He does great things.

            The final phrase is "He has done it" and is not to be missed. God has accomplished salvation for the Psalmist. God accomplishes what God wants. God does the work He sets out to do. Therefore, God is very great and worthy of praise! Although at times we may have to wait, God always comes through. God did it!

II.  God Heard The Afflicted One

            What a great Psalm of encouragement, but as we read the words of this Psalm, do they not sound familiar from another context? Psalm 22 is one of the Psalms that is quoted a number of times in the New Testament and is sometimes called the Psalm of the cross. Psalm 22 may be prophetic, but even if not, it certainly reflects exactly on Jesus' experience. As He hung on the cross we know that He quoted Psalm 22:1 but I believe that He may have actually quoted the whole Psalm or at least had it on his mind. The Psalm accurately reflects the experience of Jesus on the cross, and also what happened after the cross and indeed what has happened since.

A.   Jesus Was Abandoned

            As Jesus hung on the cross, both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 record that He quoted the words of Psalm 22:1, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" As Jesus faced death, we know that He died for our sins and in our place. As He took upon Himself all the sins of the world, the face of God was turned away from Him. The abandonment he felt was expressed in this Psalm, and expressed with much more depth than in what happened to David. The experience of Jesus, as He was forsaken by God was much deeper. It was not just a feeling of being abandoned by God, in that moment, he was actually abandoned by God.

B.   Jesus Was Afflicted

            Yet there are other points of contact between this Psalm and the experience of Jesus. Some of the experiences of Jesus are quite accurately expressed in the Psalm and in some cases even quoted.

            In Psalm 22:7 we read, "All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads…" Matthew 27:39 describes the experience of Jesus in a similar way when it says, "Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads…"

            In Psalm 22:8 we read of the mockery of the people when it says, “Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” As Jesus hung on the cross the Jewish religious leaders said, in Matthew 27:43, "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’”

            Psalm 22:15 says, "my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death…" This is reflected in Jesus' declaration in John 19:28 where he says, "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 'I am thirsty.'” The Scripture that is being fulfilled is Psalm 22.

            The other part of the Psalm which is familiar is Psalm 22:18, "they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." This is what happened to Jesus, as we read in Matthew 27:35, "And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots…"

            Isn't it amazing how accurately Psalm 22 describes the affliction of Jesus? He was abandoned by God and experienced many of the afflictions mentioned in the Psalm.

            The Psalm is a description of a human experience. Since Jesus experienced the same kind of affliction while he was human, it is a blessing to know that Jesus understands our suffering. Yet, we also know that his experience of suffering was much greater than any human being because he did not deserve it, but chose it. If we sometimes feel as if God has abandoned us, the abandonment experienced by Jesus was even greater than ours. This also encourages us that He understands. As we reflect on this Psalm, we can also be encouraged to have faith because He, like David, also continued to put His trust in God.

C.   God Helped Jesus

            It is not difficult to see the correspondence between the suffering of Jesus and that expressed in Psalm 22, but is there also a correspondence between the experience of Jesus and the answer of God and the praise to God expressed in the community and among all the nations?

            We noted that in verses 22 - 24, there was a sudden change in tone because all at once God came into the picture. The same sudden answer for Jesus also came when God raised Him from the dead. Was this part of the Psalm and the coming resurrection in Jesus' mind as he was hanging on the cross? I believe it was. The first word of the Psalm was one of the last words of Jesus, quoted in Matthew 27:46 when He expressed, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me." The final word of the Psalm is another of the last words of Jesus, quoted in John 19:30. When the Psalm concludes with the phrase, "he has done it" it has the same intention as the words of Jesus when He said, “It is finished.” By those words He was saying, "God has accomplished what He set out to do. God has won!" God did not abandon Jesus, but raised Him from the dead and in His resurrection, declared Him to be Lord of all!

D.   God is Praised and Jesus is Proclaimed

            The result of that powerful victory are the praise of God and the proclamation of Jesus in all the world.

            Psalm 22 speaks of the proclamation of what God has done. We read in verse 27 that "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord." It declares in verses 30, 31, "future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn." This is exactly what has happened since then. Jesus' suffering resulted in salvation for the world and His name is being proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

            As a result, the name of God will be praised in all the earth. The words of praise in Psalm 22:23 are reflected in Revelation 19:5 where we read, "And from the throne came a voice saying, 'Praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him, small and great.'” The thoughts of Psalm 22:28 are recognized in Revelation 19:6 where we read, "Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns."

            Just as the Psalm ends with praise and proclamation because God has done it, so the life of Jesus results in praise and proclamation because of what God has done through Him.

Conclusion

            Waiting…

            David waited for God to deliver him. As he waited, he wondered if God was still there. He felt abandoned by God. He experienced deep affliction and no help. Yet God delivered him and he praised God for what He had done.

            Israel waited for God to bring His Messiah into the world. For years they suffered and many must have wondered if God had abandoned them. Where was God in the 400 silent years following His last prophetic word to Malachi? Yet Messiah came and the angels proclaimed the good news of Immanuel and God redeemed His people.

            Jesus waited for relief from His suffering as He was arrested, unjustly tried, beaten and crucified. He suffered more deeply than any before Him and actually experienced the abandonment of God. But even that abandonment was not permanent because God raised Him from the dead. As a result His name is being proclaimed in all the world today and God is being praised.

            We wait. Perhaps we wait for relief from our suffering. Perhaps we wait for an end to God's seeming silence. Perhaps we wait for Jesus to come again. As we wait, we can do so with hope. In the case of David, Israel and Jesus, God did it! He answered prayer! He brought about His plan and He will do the same for us.

            As we wait for Christmas in this Advent season, may we think about what it means to wait for God who sometimes allows us to experience affliction. May we think about how we can wait with hope because God does not abandon the afflicted. May we praise God because of all He has accomplished. May we proclaim Jesus for in Him is all our hope.