*This Advent season of 2023, my family will go through the Psalms. It is our hope that this Advent series will center around the themes of Longing, Deliverance and Hope. We will see the beauty of Christ and God’s sovereign plan in the birth and salvation of Christ. I invite you to join us this Christmas.
December 5, 2023
Psalm 22 is our Psalm to meditate on today for advent. The Psalm is a prophetic Psalm as if David was transported to the future and writing a play-by-play of the events of the Cross.
Why would this Psalm be part of an advent devotional? I believe it shows us the longing that we all have, waiting for the arrival of our Lord, whether for the first time or the last time. But also that baby grew up and said these very words as he died for us on that cross. I think Christmas is the perfect time to reflect on all the promises that a baby’s birth meant to all of us.
Charles Spurgeon said of Psalm 22: “Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet, as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in Scripture it is in this psalm.”
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!– Psalm 22
Martin Luther said of Psalm 22: “This is 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. I know not whether any Psalm throughout the whole book contains matter more weighty, or from which the hearts of the godly can so truly perceive those sighs and groans, inexpressible by man, which their Lord and Head, Jesus Christ, uttered when conflicting for us in the midst of death, and in the midst of the pains and terrors of hell. Wherefore this Psalm ought to be most highly prized by all who have any acquaintance with temptations of faith and spiritual conflicts.”
This Psalm is repeated and seen throughout the whole of the Gospel. Its prophetic properties are a marvel as David would have never witnessed a crucifixion because they did not come about until 100 years later. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is often presented at the same time as this Psalm because the language is so similar.
Richard Davidson writes of Psalm 22: “I have become convinced that Christ conquered at Calvary, at least in part, because he had seen the battle plan in advance of the OT scriptures, and in particular Psalm 22 as it links with the prediction of his death in Daniel 9. He recognized what David described under inspiration in Psalm 22, was to happen to the New David, the Messiah, in his death.”
Can you imagine? Christ grew from the baby in the manger, knowing that he one day would die for all of mankind. I encourage you to read the Psalm out loud and scream the last line! It sounds just as if David wrote what Christ spoke from the cross, “It is finished!”
Christmas is wrapped in the cross. Without the baby, without all the prophecies, we would not have salvation. While we suffer for a little while, victory will come! This Psalm prophesied of that victory and we take comfort in it as we wait for the second coming.
Prayer
Father God-how magnificent is the cross! I lift the name of Jesus in praise. May I constantly be reminded how much of a worm I am! May I continually remember your sacrifice! May I always marvel at the manger and the cross where you came to die for all my sins that plague me daily! Oh that I wish I would have not put you on that cross! I long for the day to see your face and thank you and officially conquer my sin. I pray that you Come Emmanuel so that we suffer no more! Amen
Additional Resources
Extra study: Below is a chart from the ESV study bible that shows the correlation of the Psalm with Matthew
