Psalm 22 - Part 2

Psalm 22 – Part 2 

Psalm 22 

 

INTRO:

Good morning. The sermon this morning is a continuation of the series of lessons that we've been doing from the Book of Psalms.    Last week we looked at the first half of Psalm 22.   Let’s do a little bit of review on that before we continue.   Please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Psalms, chapter 22 and as a reminder if you have any questions about anything I say, I’ll be glad to talk to you about it.

 

We saw that the chapter starts with the words “My God my God why have you forsaken me” and we found that those are the exact words that Jesus spoke from the cross.   It was the ninth hour, that's around 3 pm, toward the close of the crucifixion.   After this statement He only said maybe three or four more things but at least two.

 

We know that He said “it is finished” and then “Father into your hands I commit my spirit”.   Hearing the words “My God my God why have you forsaken me” would have led the thoughts of those present back to Psalm 22.   In Psalm 22 we have a greater insight into what He is thinking, what He is hearing, what He's seeing and how He's feeling.

 

He says; “Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?”  “O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Who inhabit the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.”

 

In Psalm 22 we see what the Christ is experiencing, sensing and He is aware that the sins of the world are on Him. He is feeling forsaken by everyone including God.

 

God is allowing Him to go through this, but the Christ realizes the children of Israel in the past, when they cried unto God, when they prayed to God, God delivered them.

He says about himself in verse six; “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.”  

 

We also found a primary cross reference to Psalm 22 in the suffering servant passages of Isaiah Chapters 42-53.   God wanted this to be clear to people then and now so these prophecies contain explicit detail and not just from one prophet but from two.

 

Our faith, and why we believe the Bible is from God is strengthened as we see this prophecy in the Psalm, given a thousand years before the Christ and then Isaiah 53 given seven hundred and fifty years before the Christ. They tie in together and what we read in verse 6 ties into Isaiah 53:3 about the Christ being despised and rejected by men.

 

At Verse seven; “7. All those who see Me laugh Me to scorn; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8. "He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!''”    We read in Matthew 27:39 – “And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads” and in Matthew 27:43 – “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him”

The exact same quote being said to Jesus exactly the way it’s described in the Psalm where they’re shaking and wagging their head saying; let Him deliver Him.

 

Dropping down now to verse nine; “But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust when I was on My mother's breasts.   I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God.   Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.”  

 

We talked about the reason the Christ was born into this world, the reason He came was to die on the cross and to destroy the works of Satan.   This was going to be done by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

 

Going on now to verse eleven; “ Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.   Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.   They gape at Me with their mouths, As a raging and roaring lion.”

In this text we are seeing how Christ is surrounded by the enemy.   There are those around the cross reveling in His death. They're mocking Him; they're ridiculing Him; the priests, scribes, Pharisees, the Romans and even those being crucified with Him. He was surrounded by the enemy and alone.

 

At verse 14; “ I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.   My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.” Verses 14 and 15 for me are the most moving accounts of the crucifixion of the Christ because this is the crucifixion from His viewpoint. He's telling us what He is experiencing while He's being crucified.

 

Verse 16 says; “For dogs have surrounded Me; The assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;” God gives us enough so we can understand, not acres of gory details, but amazing detail so we can comprehend.   As we said last week, crucifixion as a means of capital punishment was not even in the world when this prophecy was given.

 

We looked at verses 17 and 18; “ I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.   They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”   We pointed out this is exactly what the soldiers did with the clothing of Jesus in order to see who was going to get it, they cast lots.

 

Verses 19-21; “But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.   Save Me from the lion's mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! ...” We pointed out the metaphors that He's using describing the crowd as the bulls, the lions and the dogs. He was requesting God to deliver Him from the ones that are surrounding Him.

 

1. In the beginning of Psalm 22 is “my God my God why have you forsaken me”. Is God hearing me? Is God going to deliver me? Then in the close of verse twenty-one the Psalm takes a turn. “… You have answered Me.” God did hear the Christ, God did hear His pleas.   God did not despise this man for being nailed to the cross and He heard Christ’s prayer and He answered.   What we're going to be doing now is looking at the rest of Psalm 22 and that is God's answer to the plea of the Christ on the cross.   As the Text says at the close of verse twenty-one, you have answered me.
   1. In Psalm 22:22 – “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the congregation I will praise You.” This text from Psalm 22:22 is found in the New Testament and I think it's extremely important to see where it is in the New Testament. It's in the book of Hebrews.
      1. Turn to Hebrews 2:10-12 – “10. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12. saying: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will sing praise to You.''”
      2. We find that Hebrews 2:12 is quoting from Psalm 22:22. When it says in the text I will declare to them… He is speaking now to the church as brethren.   He calls us brethren.
      3. As we read through the rest of the text in Hebrews 2 it talks about how Jesus had to come in the form of flesh and blood.   That was necessary in order for Him to call us His brethren because we are flesh and blood.
      4. Look with me now the rest of Hebrews 2 – and I will paraphrase “13 And again,“I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
      5. He had to die on the cross for our sins so He could be buried and then rise from the dead, conquering death and the one who had the power of death, that being Satan, and then free us from bondage to Satan, sin, and death.
      6. He says God has answered Him and then He talks about singing praises in the assembly, declaring God to the brethren.
      7. We are God’s answer. We are brethren with Christ because He came in the form of flesh and blood to die on the cross.  That was the will of God.
   2. As we continue please take note of the different groups of people that are mentioned throughout the closing part of this Psalm.   Going back to Psalm 22:23 – “You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!” First of all we see all the descendants of Jacob and all the offspring of Israel.
      1. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the cross reference to this is found over in Isaiah. Again right in the middle of the suffering servant prophecies, Isaiah 45:24-25 – “He shall say, `Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.'”
      2. When we study the Christ, especially in Isaiah, one of the main things we will see is that through the Christ - all of Israel is going to be able to be restored to God, those that are in Israel and those that are in Judah.   Those who were faithful are now able to be brought back to God through the Christ.
   3. Psalm 22:24 – “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted… ” Let’s stop right there.   We’re talking about God here; God has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. The afflicted one is the Christ who was nailed to the cross.
      1. The afflicted one is the one that the people despised.
      2. God did not despise Him. It was the people who despise Him.
      3. God did not despise Him because He was nailed to the cross.
      4. To the contrary it says here; “…Nor has He hidden His face from Him;…”
      5. It says next; “But when He cried to Him, He heard.”
   4. That's an important point we need to see in this verse.   Remember how the Psalm began, “My God my God why have you forsaken me”. God did not forsake Him. God heard what He was saying. God saw what He was doing. God was pleased with what was happening because it was the sacrifice for the sins of mankind.   He cried unto God and God heard Him, even though He was despised by the people, even though He was being crucified, God heard Him.
   5. In Luke 23:46 – “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, `into Your hands I commit My spirit.' '' And having said this, He breathed His last.” The difference between My God my God why have you forsaken me and Father, into your hands I commit my spirit should be clear to us.   The last statement of Jesus is a statement of absolute trust.  He knows He is about to die.  He spirit is about to enter the spirit realm and He has absolute trust that God will raise Him from the dead.
      1. We see in the answer of God, Christ’s ascension, and the beginning of the kingdom of Christ on the earth.
      2. All of this is God answering His prayer. God heard. God answered. We and all the rest of mankind that are in the kingdom are the answer.
   6. Going over to Isaiah 53:10 – “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”
      1. Here it is telling about the Christ being crucified and it pleased the Lord for this to happen when He put Him to grief.  
      2. Isaiah says; when you make his soul an offering for sin.   The reason the Christ went through everything He went through on the cross, was an offering for the sin of mankind.  It is through the power of the blood of the Christ that all our sins are to be forgiven.
   7. Then it says; He says he shall see his seed. Stop right there and think about that. After the Christ has made His soul an offering for sin, it says God the Father will be seeing His seed.   Now His seed are those that are coming from him.   Who is that?   We are the children of God through Christ.   We are the seed.
   8. Next it says; He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. After this individual was put to death, God is going to prolong His days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
      1. How is the pleasure the Lord going to prosper in the hands of a dead man? Because He's not going to stay dead.   He's going to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven and be the Christ at the right hand of God Almighty.
      2. Isaiah 53:11 – “He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. by His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” When He prayed to God on the cross - Father in your hands I commit my spirit - God heard His prayer and God answered His prayer.   God raised Him from the dead. God ascended Him into heaven.   God set Him in His right hand. God gave Him the kingdom. God indeed answered his prayer.
   9. Going back to Psalms 22:25-26 – “25. My praise shall be of You in the great congregation; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. 26. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!” Earlier I said that I want us to see the different groupings of people that are mentioned.
      1. We've already talked about all of Israel and all of Jacob. Now we're talking about how the poor are going to eat and be satisfied and those who are seeking Him will praise the Lord.
      2. Let’s look at Isaiah 61 verse 1 before we go the New Testament. Isaiah 61:1 is another prophecy about the Christ. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor;”
         1. The anointed one is the meaning of the word Christ.   Anointed for what purpose?   To preach good tidings to the poor.
         2. “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”
         3. Whenever John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to know if He is the Christ, Jesus sent the messengers back with the message telling John; “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them” Luke 7:22
         4. In the first century many of those that responded to the gospel were the poor.   A whole lot of the Kingdom is going to be those that are poor.
      3. It says in verse 27: “All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord,…”
         1. We've had all Israel, and then we've got the poor, and not just them but all the ends of the world.  
         2. Then there’s a very important phrase here in the close at verse twenty-seven.   “… And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.”
         3. When you see that phrase, all the families of the nations, if you are familiar with the Old Testament a red flag should start waving. I've read that phrase before about “all the families of the nations”.  Indeed, you have.
      4. It's the Abrahamic covenant.   It is the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3.
         1. If you will recall there were three promises God made Abraham, the land promise, the nation promise, but there was a third promise.
         2. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
         3. What we see in the gospel is the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ and the beginning of the kingdom.   It first starts with the Jews being part of the kingdom and then finally the Gentiles… all the world.
         4. Everybody can come and worship God through the Christ; everybody can be restored to God through the Christ. Not just the Jews but the Gentiles as well. All the families of the earth can come and worship before you.
         5. What we find here is the prophesy of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant in Christ crucified.
      5. Let’s look at another cross reference verse from Isaiah, Isaiah 49:6 – “Indeed He says, `It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.' ''”
         1. First he says It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; It talks about Israel, then it says the suffering servant is going to be a light to the Gentiles and God’s salvation to the ends of the earth, that is the rest of the world.
         2. The suffering servant of Isaiah is going to give himself as a living sacrifice for the sins of mankind, for the tribes of Jacob, for the ones of Israel, and also for the Gentiles, to the ends of the Earth.   God's salvation is for everybody in the world through the Christ.

• Next let’s look at Psalm 22:28 – “For the kingdom is the Lord's, And He rules over the nations.” When we see this phrase about the kingdom and ruling over the nations it should bring into our mind what we call the Davidic covenant.   This is the promise that God makes with King David in Second Samuel 7:16 – “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
  1. This is a promise of a kingdom that is going to stand forever and a king that is going to reign forever.   The answering of Christ’s prayers on the cross was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant that through Him all the families the Earth are going to be blessed, and also the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant because now through the Christ the kingdom is going to be established.
     1. The Kingdom is going to begin in Jerusalem beginning with the Jews and then the Gentiles to the ends of the earth.
     2. Look at what the angel told Mary in Luke 1:31-33 – “31. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.''”
     3. God will give Him the throne of His father David, that is the Davidic covenant, and of His kingdom there will be no end.   Back in Psalm 22 it talks about the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant and then the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, both fulfillments through the Christ who was crucified.
     4. Then we see it is talking about His kingdom and how He will reign, He is reigning over all the nations.
  2. Psalm 22:29 says; “All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.” It's not just going to be the poor that are going to be able to enjoy the benefits of the Christ and His kingdom but also the prosperous of the earth.  
     1. They too will be allowed to eat and worship.   All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him.
     2. Notice the next phrase. Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
     3. By now we realize the scope of those that are going to be able to be saved because of the Christ.
        1. We've got the poor.
        2. We've got all those of Israel… all those of Jacob.

• We've got all the families of the Earth to the ends of the world.

1. We've got all the prosperous of the earth.
2. We've got even all those who go down to the dust…even those that are dead.
3. Even those that cannot keep themselves alive, those that are going to die.

4. We have been given to understand now the full scope, the full extent of His kingdom.   It is going to be everywhere even in the spirit realm.

1. Look at another verse from Isaiah 49:7 – “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.''”
   1. Again, it talks about the one who is despised, the kings of the nations abhor and the servant of rulers. Here is the prophecy that secular Israel will despise and reject the Son of God. The rulers of that day will look upon Him with the same disdain with which they looked upon any servant. We recall from earlier that in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 He’s despised.
   2. Now Isaiah goes on; Kings shall see and arise, princes shall worship. Who's going to worship the Christ? The poor, the prosperous and even Kings and princes.
2. Isaiah 45:22-23 – “22. "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! Salvation is not just for the Jews it’s to all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. 23. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.”
   1. In Romans 14:11 we find; “For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.''” The writer here is quoting from the book of Isaiah.
   2. Let’s look at Philippians 2:9-11 – “9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
   3. This is what God has done for the Christ in His answer. God has highly exalted Him and given Him in a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow… those in heaven and on the earth.
   4. Notice the next phrase - and those under the earth.  Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
   5. We see that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
3. Remember we pointed out in the beginning of this sermon about Hebrews 2:14-15
   1. He had to be made like his brethren.   He had to be in the form of flesh and blood.
   2. He had to die on the cross so that He could go to the spirit realm and rise from the dead.
   3. When he rose from the dead, He conquered death and the one who had the power over death…Satan.
   4. He freed mankind, freed us from bondage to Satan, sin and death.
   5. Every knee shall bow in heaven, on earth and even those that are dead.  
   6. Every knee shall bow to the ends of the earth and in every realm of existence.
   7. He is the Christ, the only Christ, the only king of kings, the only Lord of Lords—Jesus our king.   Every knee shall bow.
4. Going back now to Psalms 22:30-31 – “30. A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, 31. They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.”
   1. Let’s think about the seed earlier from over in Isaiah 53:10 – “He shall see His seed”.  
      1. There is His seed, His posterity and again that's us.  That's the church. Those are the ones that have been adopted to be children of God through Jesus Christ.
      2. We are his posterity and we will serve him.   Not only that, we will recount of the Lord to the next generation.   Not only to those that are our children but even to those who will be born, we're going to tell them what the Christ did at Calvary.
      3. This is going to continue to be told to generation after generation of mankind until the Lord comes again.   Christ crucified and His gospel and His kingdom will continue all the way to the close of this age.   The kingdom is forever and so is the king.
   2. In reading Matthew 28:18-20 we see; “18. Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'' Amen.” What we are doing right now is proclaiming to this generation what the Lord did at Calvary.
      1. Proclaiming what God has done for mankind through Christ who gave himself as a living sacrifice for our sins.
      2. The one who went through the torturing death of the crucifixion did it so that our sins could be forgiven.
      3. When He cried out to the Lord, God heard.   God answered and the last part of Psalm 22 is the answer.
   3. Let’s summarize it quickly.
      1. The poor shall eat and be satisfied.
      2. All the descendants of Jacob, all the offspring of Israel, all the ends of the world, shall remember and turn to the Lord.
      3. All the families of the nations shall worship before you.
      4. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship.
      5. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him.
      6. Every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess Jesus is the Christ.

 

CONCLUSION:

For us as individuals the question is this.  When are you going to bow the knee? When are you going to confess?

 

Those that are His kingdom, those who will be with Him forever in heaven, the children of God, His seed, His offspring, those are the ones that bow the knee and confess on this side of eternity.  Before we die and our spirit descends to the spirit realm, we obey the gospel.

 

But every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess. I want to encourage everyone to get right with God while you can. Become a citizen of His kingdom while you can. Recognize Jesus as your King.

 

If you're already in Christ and the sin between you and your God please deal with it.

You can be reconciled and come back to God through Christ and only through Christ.

Be reconciled to him now. Come back to him now. Be restored to your God through the Christ now, while you have the opportunity.

 

The invitation is available, if you're subject of the Gospel call in any way let us know while we stand and sing the song that has been selected.

 

Invitation song: ???

Reference sermon by: Wayne Fancher