Psalm 22:1-18

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1.         This is one of the Psalms described as a lament, here David speaks of the treatment he received during his reign as king, with enemies coming at him from many sides.

2.         He begins by shouting out to God, wanting to know why he has been forsaken, even leaving him to the mercy of his enemies.

3.         At the same time David knows that his God is holy and has delivered His people before.

4.         Then David reverts to the distress he is under going. Even his own people attack him with words of mockery and contempt.

5.         Still, God is his God, and who has cared for him even from his birth. He pleads that God not leave him alone at the time of his trouble.

6.         Back again to those who would destroy him and he is under siege, suffering so incredibly that it seems as though his heart is being melted within him.

7.         The onslaught is so terrible it seems like he is dying, and only his fierce enemies are with him in his death throes.

8.         He is as good as dead as those who hate him are dividing up his clothes.

9.         The rest of the Psalm David speaks of vindication and victory, here the focus is on the suffering Messiah of Israel.

10.       The Gospel writers, in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19, all recognize that the sufferings of Jesus on the cross have been revealed a thousand years previously in this very Psalm. They are aware that so much of the Psalm applies not to King David but to Jesus and His crucifixion.