Fact Sheet for “A Resurrection Sunday Psalm” Psalm 22 Pastor Bob Singer 04/03/2021 Resurrection Sunday
In this series of seven Messianic Psalms we have covered Psalms 2, 8, 16, 69, 110, and 118. Now we have before us Psalm 22. And, as with other Psalms, this one was meant to be sung.
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
No Christian can possibly read this Psalm without vividly thinking about Christ’s crucifixion. But the Psalm doesn’t end with His death. It reaches forward to the end times when Christ will reign as King.
Six of the seven Psalms in this series were composed by David. Psalm 118, one of the Psalms of the Hallel, is the only exception. And no recorded incident in David’s life can even come close to forming the backdrop for his words here. This Psalm does describes not just dire straits… it describes an execution! Remember too that Peter referred to David as a prophet on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:29-31). So, as with Psalm 110, this prophetic Psalm appears to be entirely Messianic.
There is a clear structure to these 31 verses. There are three ‘I/Me’ sections, each followed by a ‘Thou’ section. From each ‘I/Me’ section there is a fulfillment in Christ’s crucifixion. Then at verse 22 there is an abrupt shift to praise, with the author of the book of Hebrews clearly seeing verse 22 as having Messianic fulfillment. Also, in those last ten verses, we will find salvation having come to the Gentiles, the resurrected Christ reigning as King, and eternal life.
And besides all this I want you to think about something this Resurrection Sunday morning. Suppose… just suppose for a second, that Jesus was just a man… not God the Son. Why would He willingly have gone to the cross? Why would He have gone through all that suffering? Why would He have claimed, albeit falsely, that He was the Messiah? Again, we know with absolute certainty that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. But just suppose for a second that He was just a person like us, but with a Messiah complex. As we look at the prophetic Messianic fulfillment in the 1st ‘I/Me’ section of this Psalm He could have just chosen to say the right words. But… there would have been no way possible that He could have arranged the Messianic fulfillment of the 2nd and 3rd ‘I/Me’ section of this Psalm! When you add this thought to all the other proofs that Jesus was surely the Messiah, the Christ, God the Son… you would be absolutely foolish to ignore the gospel!
1st ‘I/Me’ Section (1-2) Read Psalm 22:1 then Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34. This was not a lapse of faith, nor a statement of a broken relationship with the Father. Instead it was a cry of disorientation as the Father’s familiar, protective presence was withdrawn. It was something akin to what happened to Job. If Jesus was just a person like us, could He have chosen to say these words to connect with Psalm 22? Yes, but there are two more ‘I/Me’ sections coming. Verse 2 continues with the emotion of verse 1. Read Psalm 22:2.
1st ‘Thou’ Section (3-5)
I have underlined for you the words that are emphatic in this section.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
2nd ‘I/Me’ Section (6-8) Read Psalm 22:6-7. Here is the NIV translation that may help.
NIV Psalm 22:7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
Read Psalm 22:8. Look at the gospels now (Matt. 27:39, 43; Lk. 23:35). If Jesus had only been a person like us He could have chosen to voice the first verse of this Psalm. But He could in no way have arranged this! The people who derided Him that day were fulfilling the prophecy of verses 7 and 8, over 1,000 years after they were written by David.
2nd ‘Thou’ Section (9-11) Read Psalm 22:9-11
3rd ‘I/Me’ Section (12-18) Read Psalm 22:12-14. Even though verse 14 is not referenced in the New Testament it is very descriptive of crucifixion, as are the following two verses. Read Psalm 22:15-16. What a true picture of crucifixion! Read Psalm 22:17-18 then Matt. 27:35; Mk. 15:24; Lk. 23:34; John 19:23-24. Again, there would have been absolutely no way Jesus, if He were just a person like us, could have arranged this!
3rd ‘Thou’ Section (19-21) Read Psalm 22:19-21. The NET Bible catches the force of the Hebrew in verse 21, with the last sentence being the translation of a single Hebrew word.
NET Psalm 22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered me!
Was this last part of verse 22 a reference to the resurrection?
Praise (22-31) Read Psalm 22:22. The author of the book of Hebrews clearly understood this verse as referring to the Messiah (Heb. 2:10-12).
Read Psalm 22:23-26. Think about verse 26 and eternal life! Read Psalm 22:27. Salvation will be extended to the Gentiles! Read Psalm 22:28 and think about end times! Read Psalm 22:29. This life is temporary but eternal life is not! Read Psalm 22:30-31. The word “righteousness” in verse 31`has a secondary meaning… “deliverance”. So, here again is the NET Bible translation…
NET Psalm 22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.
What a great Psalm! There are messianic fulfillments of this Psalm that Jesus couldn’t possibly have arranged Himself if he were just a person like us! This Psalm shouts that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. It describes His death and points to His resurrection.
But this Psalm doesn’t stop there. It speaks of the eternal life we will enjoy with Jesus our Savior and King… provided we are His people.
If you do the Easter thing at church but have never asked Christ to be YOUR Savior personal from sin… and you are satisfied with that… then you being willfully neglectful of what this Psalm says about Jesus Christ. To ignore these things would be foolish indeed.
On this Resurrection Sunday remember these words of Jesus the night before His crucifixion…
ESV John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.