Psalm 22
Vs. 1-21 describe the cross of Jesus Christ with details that must have been inspired by God, for this was written several hundred years before Jesus lived on earth;
Vs. 22-31 describe the church of Christ, which was purchased by Jesus’ blood.
The very words Jesus uttered on His cross as He spoke for sinners quote Psalm 22:1 (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). God does not forsake those who seek Him (Psalm 9:10), so God didn’t actually forsake Jesus on the cross, but Jesus was vocalizing the agony of a sinful soul as He took the sinners’ place. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation… For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:19, 21).
Psalm 22:2-5 probably refer to Jesus, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:7-8). God let His only begotten Son go to the cross, in contrast to the “fathers” who were heard, and delivered when they cried out to God in Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10).
Psalm 22:6-7 show the lowly assessment those who crucified Jesus Christ had of Him. Isaiah predicted Jesus would be “despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), and Matthew mentions passers-by blasphemed Jesus (Matthew 27:39), Luke adds Jewish rulers’ sneers (Luke 23:35). Psalm 22:8 are almost verbatim the words disbelievers hurled toward Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:43). Psalm 22:9-10 certainly show that Jesus Christ learned to trust God while on his mother’s breast, which should be an example for all godly mothers. Faith is home-built and cannot be “hired out” to grandparents, nannies, day-care, or baby-sitters!
Psalm 22:16 did not apply to David, but came to pass at Jesus’ cross. The Apostle Thomas specifically mentioned, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25), which the other Apostles had already done (John 20:20).
Psalm 22:18 did not apply to David, but is quoted as fulfilled in Jesus’ cross. “Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (Matthew 27:35; see also John 19:23-24). This is not the first time garments were divided, but the first time they became the stakes in gambling, also!
Psalm 22:22 is one of 2 verses in Psalms that describe the music of the church of Christ. This is quoted in Hebrews 2:12, and Psalm 18:49 is quoted in Romans 15:9. All references to “instruments of music like David” are left in the law of Moses which was nailed to Jesus’ cross (Colossians 2:14-16).
Psalm 22:23-31 do not describe the limited reign of David, but instead describe the world-wide extent of the church of Christ we read about in the New Testament. The church of Christ was purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28), so since He gave Himself for the church (Ephesians 5:25-27), all who are saved by obeying the Gospel “were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). Disciples were to be the baptized “of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19-20).
