Key Takeaway
When we face our darkest days, we can trust in Jesus, who can sympathize with us. Though it feels like Heaven is silent, God is never far. He welcomes us to come in with honesty and see His sovereignty over our pain.
Music shapes our perspective and priorities. It helps us understand the people and culture. The beautiful thing about the Psalms is that the early Church quoted them. By looking into what was quoted the most, we better understand what they faced in their culture.
Psalm 22 is a song about someone who is attacked and betrayed by his friends. It contains one of the most famous lines in human history: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is what Jesus cried out from the Cross before He gave us His life. What made Him say it?
This psalm was likely written by King David in 1000 BC. Once we understand the original context, we can understand why Jesus gravitated towards it.
It opens with a heartbreaking lament. His pain is horrible, but what is devastating to him is the distance he feels from God. What’s bothering him is that there seems to be a contradiction between his theology and his experience. He calls God “My God” and “LORD,” showing a personal and covenantal relationship. God is an ever-present help in times of trouble, so why is God rejecting him?
The psalmist doesn’t quit. He digs deeper into what is going on. In Psalm 22:3, he starts to evaluate God. He recognizes that God is holy and enthroned on the praise of His people. His fathers cried out to God, and He answered them. God is holy, He hears, and He has worked for others. Why is it not working for him? If there’s not something wrong with God, maybe something is wrong with him.
His primary problem is the silence of God, but his secondary problem is the mockery of others.
In Psalm 22:6, he admits that not only is he a joke, but his enemies are talking nonstop. They are scorning him for having faith in an unseen God who is not coming to rescue him. The psalmist may be a nobody, but in verse 9, he sees that he’s God’s nobody. God chose him, and He had set his love on him. So, based on nothing in him, but totally on the love of God, he asks God to be near to him. This is the marking of a deep and intimate relationship. This psalm helps us see that we can talk to God this way. You can come in hot. You don’t have to sanitize your prayers. Hot can bend, but cold shatters. God wants you to engage Him with full honesty.
So, why did Jesus say this from the Cross? It’s an intimate and honest cry for help from God. He chose a quote from the Old Testament because he’s following a pattern that God has given. Jesus is modeling for us to do the same thing.
Speak your suffering to God. Don’t hide it. Do it because you believe He’s there and might listen. Ask for action. Implicit in your “why” is a request for action. When Jesus asks why God is so far, He’s asking Him to be near.
Jesus is a good teacher, and He is explaining what He is going through. He discusses two cycles of pain. In Psalm 22:12, he uses the imagery of animals because animals are might without context. They have a disregard for life. While they are at their strongest, he is at his weakest. Verse 15 shifts from focusing on his enemies to recognizing that God is still present. The psalmist repeats the pain cycle of being stretched out, pierced hands, surrounded, mocked, and having his clothes gambled over as if he were already dead. That sounds like what happened to Jesus, yet it was written 1000 years before Him. Matthew 27 records that all these things happened to Jesus. Jesus picked this psalm because He calls us to remember that all this was foretold 1000 years before. His death was not outside the hand of God.
See God’s sovereignty over your pain. There is purpose in it. Just as Jesus had purpose in His pain for the good of all, your pain has a purpose. In Psalm 22:21, he suddenly moves from “Save me!” to “You have rescued me.” He went from being surrounded by bulls to being surrounded by brothers. It went from really bad to really good.
Psalm 25-31 shows us that something will happen that will cause all people to praise God. Whatever happens in this pain, it will resolve and will be a blessing throughout the world for all time. Hebrews 2:12 quotes Jesus quoting Psalm 22. Jesus knew He was purchasing a family. He had to redeem us. He suffered so that He could save. He understands everything because He has lived it. He showed us His character on the Cross, so we can trust Him in our valley.
Discussion Questions
Without knowing the backstory, would it have been surprising that Jesus quoted Psalm 22?
Who originally wrote Psalm 22? When? What is it about?
Have you ever felt like there was a contradiction between your theology, what you believe to be true about God, and your experience? How did you resolve it?
What does the psalmist's addressing God as "My God" and "LORD" suggest about the relationship?
Read Psalm 22:3-5. Name the three things that he knows are true. Why isn't God doing the same for him, then?
Why are his enemies mocking him? How does this affect how he sees himself in Psalm 22:6?
When was the last time that you were brutally honest with God? How does it help to know that when there is fighting in a relationship, there is actually hope for connection versus when there are icy attitudes toward each other?
Because Jesus is a good teacher, what was His reason for saying this from the Cross? Think about how it informs how we pray and relate to God today. Consider what it did in the mind of His disciples when they heard it and what it would have made them recall.
Do you believe that God is sovereign over your pain and has a purpose in it that He will use to be a blessing?
What hope is found in Hebrews 2:17-18? What did Jesus do for us that makes it possible for us to walk through suffering?