Psalms of Suffering

King David went through some really tough times, times of great sorrow and distress.

Times when he felt attacked from every side and that things were never going to improve.

In fact at times he despaired for his life.

Now you may have felt like the whole world has been closing in on you at times, most of us have.

Or perhaps you are one of those people who see people really struggle with difficult times and wonder what is wrong with them.

Things just don’t seem to bother you like they do others.

I have known a couple of people like that.

They have never known what it is to feel real dispair about things.

Or what it is to sit with the pain of depression and fear.

In one recent conversation I had with a man he admitted that he just didn’t have this sort of personality.

The closest he ever came to really feeling despair or depression was a fleeting moment when he was faced with a real and profound loss.

He told me that the thought briefly occured to him that this must be what it is like for other people.

And then he was fine!

I told him that he should be very thankful that he had this sort of perpetually optimistic personality.

Most people don’t.

Now by his own admission this man is a little different.

I tend to agree with him.

King David certainly knew what it was to face this struggle that is common to nearly all of us.

But King David also had something that we will find helpful when dealing with the hard times.

A committment to trusting and praising God in the midst of the despair and depression.

Psalms of Suffering, also known as Passion Psalms address the deep distress experienced by God’s servant.

Some of these are Psalms 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 40 and Psalm 69

Now while David may not have realised it when he wrote these Psalms they all speak prophetically of Jesus and his experience on earth.

So let’s learn from King David’s approach and briefly look at two of these four Psalms and pick up on how he trusts God and praises him in the midst of his distress and how each of these Psalms tells us something about what Jesus experienced on earth.

Psalm 16 is a Psalm where King David declares his trust for God upfront, even though it names some of the dangers that David faced.

Obviously as you read through Psalm 16 it becomes apparent that David has recently escaped some great danger, even the danger of death itself.

Possibly even the danger of being drawn into false worship of idols, which would in David’s understanding result in death.

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary Commentary

The psalm has four movements: (1) a petition to God for deliverance (vv. 1–3); (2) a condemnation of the wicked and their practices (v. 4); (3) an exaltation of the psalmist’s relationship with God (vv. 5–8); (4) a confident assertion that God will spare the psalmist’s life and bless it (vv. 9–11).

It is very simply a declaration of David’s trust in God.

The Lord is where David seeks refuge from danger.

The Lord is the one who provides good.

It is the Lord’s people in whom David takes delight.

Those who chase after false gods are the ones who bring trouble, David will have nothing to do with them for they dishonbour the Lord.

It is the Lord who has provided the land David enjoys.

It is the Lord who guides, even as David sleeps.

It is the Lord who is with him at all times and this gives David reassurance.

And in verse nine David declares that because of all of these things he is glad his heart rejoices.

For even in the face of death David can trust that God will preserve him.

But David hasn’t yet experienced death, so how can he know this?

Does he have a hope in a future resurrection?

Even back in David’s time the people of Israel appear to have had a sense of there being an eternity with God to look forward to.

But in its original context David is rejoicing that he has not suffered death, nor will his soul be left to rot as will those of the condemned.

While he rejoices at being saved from death by God and has a hope of an eternity in God’s presence we shouldn’t read into David’s understanding the modern Christian understanding of resurrection.

The New Testament Apostles, Peter speaking in Acts 2:25-31, John writing in his Gospel in John 20:9, Paul speaking in Acts 13:35 and writing in 1 Corinthians 15:4 all saw in this Psalm a prophecy concerning Christ and included it as proof that God had fortold what they had witnessed.

The Apostle Peter, speaking to the crowd in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost said this.

Acts 2:25–31 NLT

25 King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’ 29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.

There is no doubt that the Lord used King David’s struggles as a prophetic declaration of the life of Christ.

Not just of his resurrection as we see in Psalm 16 but also of his crucifiction as we see in Psalm 22:1 when Jesus cried out.

Psalm 22:1 NLT

1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?

Everyone who has ever read the accounts of the crucifiction or even just watched a movie on it knows this cry.

It is part of the final cry of Jesus on the cross, His next words were “Father into your hands I commit my spirit” and then he died. (Luke 23:46)

Also in Psalm 22:18 we see another prophetic fulfillment occur at the crucifixtion.

John 19:24 along with all the Gospels tells us that when the soldiers guarding the cross saw that Jesus’ undergarment was one piece of woven cloth they said to one another,

John 19:24 NLT

24 So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

Know we don’t know for sure what event in David’s life Psalm 22 relates to.

It might allude to an occassion in 1 Samual 30:6 where David’s men were completely disillusioned with his leadership and started to talk of stoning him to death, but that is speculation.

Some suggest that the Psalm speaks of a riualistic suffering the King of Israel endured as was practiced in some other Ancient cultures.

But there is no evidence of this in Israel’s history.

Others have proposed that David wrote this Psalm for use by those who were severly ill and threatened with death.

They could relate to the part that applied to their circumstances and then if some word of favour was given by the Priest they would use the praise section of the Psalm to declare God’s faithfulness to them.

But that too is speculation, we have no evidence for how this Psalm was actually used in Israel’s history.

Whatever the event that this Psalm relates to this isn’t the main thing I want you to see in this Psalm.

There are two other things that are important for our situation here and now.

The first is simply this.

There are many quotes and allusions to the content of this Psalm throughout the New Testament, literally from the beginning to the end, this Psalm is referenced or allued to in the Gospels, in the Epistles and even in Revelation.

Its thoughts richly inform the thinking of the New Testament writers as they spoke about Christ.

The second is that I want you to focus on the attitude of King David in this Psalm.

Not the challenges he faced.

Not the danger he felt he was in, and the danger is obviously significant.

But most importantly on his attitude towards God in the midst of his situation.

Psalm 22 verses 3, 9, 19, 22 - 31 all carry this incredible sense of proclaiming God greatness and David’s trust in him in spite of the circumstances he faces.

There is an attitude of praise, of trust and of defiance towards his struggles simply because God is God.

Psalm 22:22–23 NLT

22 I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people. 23 Praise the Lord, all you who fear him! Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob! Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!

These are not the words of a man who knows he is defeated.

These are the words of a man who trusts in God even in the face of defeat.

Why?

Because he is confident that God will ultimately be victorious.

Have you ever been in a movie theatre and seen a movie where the hero faces insurmountable odds.

There is no hope of winning and they know it.

But they face the danger anyway, knowing they will die.

It is a very strong theme in some war movies.

The great heroic stand buys time for someone else to escape.

It delays the enemy long enough for another force to arrive and stop the enemy taking some strategic hill or bridge, or getting their hands on some deadly weapon.

When the hero dies the entire audience in the movie theatre is meant to be emotionally moved at the honour and bravery of the hero.

They died knowing their cause was right and just and that in the end their death was not in vain.

Psalm 22 has that sort of feel to it.

King David declares that he is surrounded by enemies, like a pack of dogs.

His strength is gone.

He feels done for.

Yet even in these circumstances David will praise God.

God will prevail.

I see this as the key to our approach to difficult times.

God will prevail.

My own future may be uncertain.

I may even face death.

But God will prevail.

And that means that my future isn’t uncertain.

Because if God prevails, then my eternity is secure.

I mentioned before that Psalm 22 is quoted in Revelation.

This is where God prevails and our future is certain.

Our current difficulties are not in vain.

Psalm 22:23-28 speaks of all God’s servants praising him and it is quoted virtually word for word as our certain future in Revelation 19:5-9

Revelation 19:5–9 NLT

5 And from the throne came a voice that said, “Praise our God, all his servants, all who fear him, from the least to the greatest.” 6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

We who believe are the Bride of Christ, we are invited to that feast.

The right attitude to take in the face of suffering isn’t some perpetually positive outlook.

No it is an outlook that says, i will trust God no matter the outcome.

I will praise him even in the face of suffering.

For I know that he will be victorious and my eternity is secure in him

I will not look in any depth today at Psalm 40 which is quoted in Revelation 5:9 and 14:3 when it refers to the choir of heaven singing a new song, or in Hebrews 10:5-8 when it speaks of God not desiring animal sacrifices but a clean heart amongst other quotes.

Nor will we look at Psalm 69 which is quoted in John 2:17 and parallel accounts in the Gospels which says “Passion for God’s house will consume me.” when Jesus disciples remembered the prophecy from Scriptures as he drove the money changers and merchants out of the temple.