Psalm 22 (Part I)

Intro (v. 1-2)

Have you ever had a song you heard a hundred times hit different after you lived it? A song you have listened to many times, but when you have lived the lyrics it moves you in a special way?

Many Psalms were meant to be sang, such as Psalm 22, and it was what Jesus said from the cross, and I cannot to help but think on that dreary day those lyrics hit different for the disciples

Jesus quoted the first line of Psalm 22 as his last words from the cross, this would have the disciples who heard this reflecting on the words of Psalm 22, how would this Psalm carried them through, how does it carry us through.

THe cross was not a place of defeat for God, Psalm 22 is not a Psalm of defeat

Victory happened on the cross

The prescript holds an important detail for us, this Psalm was sung to the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn”

It is a tune to a song that reflects on the morning

When “My God” is said the name El is used for God

El means strength

“My strength, my Strength, why have you forsaken me?”

The disciples had a dark night ahead of them

The disciples probably did not get the first bit of sleep

That night they would feel as if their strength had left them

They would have spent that Saturday feeling lonesome

As the morning tune continued in their head they couldn't help but to think when a spiritual sun rise would come, when morning would bring strength

Being a believer does not make us immune to bad experiences, just as Jesus and the disciples were not immune to facing some dark times

Praise the Lord though the Gospels did not end on a cross. Praise the Lord Psalm 22 does not end with verse 1

No matter how dark things get morning will come again and the Sun will raise victorious over the dark

Yet (v. 3-5)

Jeremiah reminds us that the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9)

When life gets dark our minds can be flooded with anxiety and fear, and during these times we have to be very intentional of taking every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5)

As we hear those bumps in the night right here in Psalm 22 we are reminded of two promises we can cling to, despite how we feel

God is Holy

The disciples in this moment would need to remember despite everything they had seen and despite what their heart was telling them it did not negate the fact God is Holy

If you just watched the crucifixion, your heart is going to be breaking

You just watched your best friend be abused and murdered

You just watched the Christian community take a huge blow

You are surrounded by thousands of people who have forsaken God

As they would have been singing Psalm 22, I could see them getting to this line and just pausing as the line hit a little different this time

Song they probably had sung many times but this time it hit a little different as they lived the words of yet you are holy as they were in a state where their strength had felt as if it had forsaken them.

I am gonna tell you a song that really ministered to me in a season of life where I felt as if I was surrounded by many who had forsaken God and it was becoming an exhausting time and that song is “Confidence” by Sanctus Real

I'm not a warrior, I'm too afraid to lose I feel unqualified for what you're callin' me to But Lord with your strength, I've got no excuse 'Cause broken people are exactly who you use

So give me faith like Daniel in the lion's den Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense So I can face my giants with confidence

God is faithful

In being holy God is still faithful, despite the attitude of the world, and despite my attitude

Our attitudes do not dictate the attitude of God

The disciples standing at the cross would have been struggling to see how God was faithful in that moment

In those moments though we must remember how God has been faithful time after time and many times in moments previously where we and our ancestors would have had trouble seeing how, but yet time and time again God proved to be faithful, and time and time again was glorified

Confidence brings us several reminders of God’s faithfulness

Daniel was thrown in a lions den and could have been physically devoured, but God was not done with him yet and shut the mouths of the lions

God can shut the mouths of our enemies, God can shut the mouths of the world

You are still walking, I do not know what you have been through / what you are going through, but as Daniel was not devoured the same God is faithful in your life and as his child he will not let you be devoured and destroyed, but you must walk in His strength, not your own

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, on that journey many obstacles were faced and much wondering occured

That same God exist today, he still moves the impossible out of our paths so we can follow his plans

Now if an obstacle is not removing we need to ask why?

Is it not time yet? Is it growth I still need? Or am I not meant to go this way?

The same God that led them in the Israelites is still the God who lights our path today through the good and bad places of life

As Moses saw the promise land we will see the promise land one day

Could you imagine though it would be to hold to the promise of God’s faithfulness standing at the cross, this was going to take something much bigger than a sea parting

David, the author of this Psalm, did not find strength to lead Israel or to defeat Goliath on his own

The same God who gave David a spirit to face great obstacles, is still God today

Read the Psalms and you can see David had the confidence but also our hearts still feel and walking in that confidence is not always easy but despite our emotional roller coasters God is glorified in the end time and time again

No Surprise (v. 6-8)

As they would have made it to this stanza, if they paused what just occurred was no surprise, roughly a thousand years earlier in this Psalm the events they just watched had been foreshadowed here in verses 6-8

Jesus was letting them know hey I am not surprised by the scorn I have faced today, I knew it was coming

The mockery did not surprise him

Verrs 8 is what we hear the people says in Matthew 27:43

Matthew 27:43 ESV

He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

If it was no surprise to him, he could have prevented it, he could have chosen not to gone to Jerusalem, but yet he still went,and he did not go in quietly, for Him to have done that, he had to have done that with intionality

Which Jesus had been telling them that moment was coming for Him and eventually for them and eventually us

John 15:18–21 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

So should we truly be surprised when persecution comes, should we be surprised when the world forsakes God, no

But like the disciples we have heard the warning but how often have we failed to truly grasp that truth, when trouble comes we should not be surprised

If you are doing the will of God, people are going to attack your character, people are going to try to discredit you

If you are walking as you should, persecution comes and your integrity is going to be questioned

So in a sense take some comfort in the fact people come after you

Emmanuel (v. 9-11)

As I read verses 9-11, one word, one name really hit home...Emmanuel

Emmanuel...”God is with us”

How much the tune starts to change, the psalmist started with feeling forsaken, but at vese 9 he begins to reflect god has been with him from the beginning

Verse 11 seems to be Davids Mark 9:24.

You may be in a season where you feel God forsaken, yet you are not, yet God’s character and promises still hold true

The storms you are facing, the persecution you are facing did not take God by surprise

This morning as go into invitation I want to end with these words:

O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O Israel.