July 29

Psalm 22

Charles Spurgeon described this Psalm as "a kind of gem among the Psalms, and is peculiarly excellent and remarkable. It contains those deep, sublime, and heavy sufferings of Christ, when agonizing in the midst of the terrors and pangs of divine wrath and death which surpass all human thought and comprehension."

This is a Psalm of David, and there were many instances in the life of David where he might write such an agonized poem. Added to that we realize it is even truer of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus deliberately chose the words of this Psalm to describe His agony on the cross. Beginning with "My God",  David shows the intense personal relationship he experienced with God. Jesus expressed that same intensity and agony on the cross. There are may parallels of David and Jesus throughout this Psalm, suggesting a prophetic cry of the Messiah, but one truth stood out to me throughout. David seemed to believe that he could endure anything if he enjoyed the conscious presence of God. His plea is not focused on the change of his situation, but on the presence of God in the crisis. Picturing his adversaries as vicious animals David pleaded for the help and deliverance the presence of God brings. These lines in this Psalm reflect not only the great danger and misery of both David and Jesus, but we see above everything else their trust in the Lord God as their deliverer. He and He alone is their hope. What a great message for us to take into the day with us. Our hope alone is God through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. After pouring out His soul in agony, Jesus had a glorious sense that the crisis became bearable in the knowledge that God was not removed from His suffering. Knowing that Jesus fulfilled this prophetic Psalm, and we are now redeemed through the cross and the precious blood of Christ,I pray no matter where we are or what we are going through, we put our hope, our trust, and our faith in Jesus.

Randi