Why Have You Forsaken me?

I want to invite you to turn with me to Psalm 22.

The whole purpose of a Good Friday service is to focus our hearts and minds on the cross of Jesus Christ.

To take the time to consider the great sacrifice he has made for us and the reason it matters in history, in our hearts, and our lives.

We have been in a sermon series called Jesus in the Psalms, and though we looked at this chapter last Good Friday as well, I felt it too fitting to not consider it again tonight.

So, I have prepared a new message and meditation from this text for us tonight.

This Psalm is popularly titled, “The Psalm of the Cross,” for while it was written roughly a thousand years before the birth of our Lord Jesus, it is obvious that this Psalm foreshadows the event of His cross.

I want you to think with me for a moment about how someone would find a certain passage of Scripture back in the times where all Scriptures were on scrolls.

What a person would do is that they would turn both rollers while looking line by line until they found the first line of the passage they were seeking.

There were no chapter or verse numbers at that time, so the first line would be how they identified the whole passage.

The reason that is important is because the gospels of Matthew and Mark both record that one of the things Jesus cried out from the cross was the first line of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

In the Jewish mind, as soon as someone heard Jesus cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” they would have not only thought of the first verse of Psalm 22, they would have also recognized that Jesus was contemplating the whole Psalm, not just the first line.

So, as we walk through this Psalm tonight, may we keep in mind that this writing was on the mind of our Lord Jesus as he hung on the cross suffering for your sins and my sins.

The Psalm is laid out with three laments followed by expressions of faith in verses 1-21 leading then to the praise of the work the cross accomplished in verses 22-31.

Psalm 22 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 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. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

1. Christ Was Forsaken So That Those Who Trust Will Be Delivered

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

These are terrible words.

They are heartbreaking words.

They are devastating words.

We can all relate to the experience of God feeling distant at times, feeling as if he is not answering our prayers and not giving us rest.

Yet, Jesus not only felt the experience, but he endured the reality of being forsaken by his Father God on the cross.

The Bible is clear that the reason each one of us exists is to glorify God by finding all of our needs met and all of our desires satisfied in Him alone.

And in His life, our Lord Jesus had known nothing but the great care, comfort, presence, and love of His great Father God with whom we was well pleased.

Although Jesus suffered in poverty, in long days of teaching and healing, in long journeys on foot, in much opposition from others, in much slander and hatred, He had always endured every hardship in the presence of the care, comfort, love, and pleasure of His Father God.

Yet, on the cross, every last shred of the presence, comfort, care, love, and pleasure of God was stripped away from our Lord Jesus as He became a curse for us.

Galatians 3:13 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It was necessary for our salvation that Christ bear the wrath of God due our sin on the cross.

While the physical beatings, and torment of hanging from nails on a splintered cross was unbearable, the experience for the first time in all eternity that Christ had of finding none of his needs met, and none of his desires satisfied in His God, was the deepest depth of suffering, pain, and loss.

His first lament of forsakenness by God leads to his first expression of faith.

Verse 3: Yet you are enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

In the midst of the greatest torment suffered, Christ had on his heart and mind His Father God and the people whom he would save.

His Father God who sits enthroned on the praises of his people throughout the ages.

His Father God who delivers all who trust in Him.

His Father God who rescues when man cries out to him and removes all of his shame.

Jesus knew this was being accomplished through His work on the cross.

The same ideas echo in:

1 Peter 2:21–25 ESV

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

As we behold our Savior entrust himself to His father’s will even amongst the agony of being forsaken by Him, may we trust in Him who has taken on our curse to deliver us.

Christ was forsaken so that those who trust will be delivered.

2. Christ Was Despised By Men Yet He Trusted In His Father

Verse 6: But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

The mockery that Jesus suffered on the night of his betrayal, throughout the trials, while he was beaten, led to carry his cross to Golgotha, and that even continued as he hung on the tree was dehumanizing in the most profound way.

Treated as a worm, not a man, scorned and despised.

The wagging of the head would be like someone shaking their head at your in shame.

It was as if they were repulsed at his very existance.

Desiring his death, desiring his shame, desiring his all that he loved and lived for to be degraded in every way.

The words written hear echo the taunts of

Matthew 27:42–43 ESV

42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

Mark 15:29–30 ESV

29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

Luke 23:35 ESV

35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

His second lament of the cruel and dehumanizing mockery leads to his second expression of faith.

Verse 9: Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

The gospels tell us that Jesus’ mother Mary was present at his cross and close enough to hear Jesus speak.

And as the crowd mock and dehumanize Jesus as a worm, he sees his mother remembers that He is not a worm but a man.

A man formed in the womb of his mother and taught to trust in His Heavenly Father at his earliest of days.

So, while God His Father is far from His son on the cross, and the trouble is near and there is none to help, Jesus finds himself like his disciples before when Jesus asked them if they wanted to leave him,

And they answered, “Where else could we go. It is you who have the words of eternal life.”

Though the mockery and insults are dehumanizing, to what or whom could Christ entrust himself but to His Father who fashioned him in his mother’s womb?

Christ was despised by men, yet he trusted in his father.

3. Christ Was Left In Utter Desperation Yet Rescued In His Resurrection

Verse 12: Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all of my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet - I can count all my bones - they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

This third lament speaks to the nature of Jesus’ physical torture and suffering.

The strong beasts surrounding with mouths wide speaks to the nature of Jesus’ impending doom with no way of escape.

Jesus’ body was decimated, dehydrated, bones out of joint, heart on fire and melting, we consider the words of Jesus from the cross out of his graveled dry mouth as he cries, “I thirst.”

The counting of all his bones speaks to the brutality of his beatings.

Isaiah prophesied that the suffering servant Jesus’ appearance was so marred, it was beyond human semblance.

That means his physical image on the cross looks more like hanging meat than a hanging man.

The depictions of Jesus on the cross that we have seen always graciously depicts the hanging son of God wearing a cloth around a portion of his body,

But we get no indication this decency was afforded him at the cross as we watch the evildoers cast lots for his clothing.

His third lament of his physical suffering leads to his third expression of faith.

Verse 19: But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

Would you notice with me that once again he mentions the Father being far off?

It is as if the forsakenness of His Father is the suffering of suffering that he goes back to again and again.

Here Jesus cries for deliverance from these evildoers who are acting like animals, so they are depicted as animals.

The ones who are treating Jesus as a worm not a man, are acting themselves like wild animals.

And as he cries out for deliverance, he completes his expression of faith by stating, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

As Jesus continues to entrust His soul to His Father who judges justly, he is confident in his deliverance although, as we saw back up in verse 15, he is also confident in his death.

The only way to be confident in both is to be confident in His Father who will raise him from the dead.

Christ was left in utter desperation yet rescued in his resurrection.

4. Christ Leads The Church In Praise And Mission

Verses 22-31 expresses the faith Jesus had in the outcome of his death and resurrection even while he was hanging on the cross.

Verse 22: I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

Jesus died for the sake of his people whom he would save through repentance and faith.

So, in faith, Jesus sees himself having many brothers and sisters amongst a congregation and leading them in worship and praise.

All who fear the Lord and praise him and stand in awe of him do so because of the great work of salvation done through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Verse 24: For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

When Jesus was sacrificed on the cross as an atonement for our sins, God the Father did not despise and abhor his affliction.

Instead, he received the sacrifice of His son as a pleasing aroma.

Ephesians 5:2 ESV

2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

And because God was fully pleased in Jesus taking on the full wrath for our sin, there is no wrath left for His children.

This is why we are always heard when we cry to him because we are able to come to him boldly clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

So, we who have been afflicted with sin can now perform our vows, meaning we can worship truly from the heart and we can eat and be satisfied by the power of presence of God.

Christ’s suffering and death is not only the center of our ability to worship, it is also the center of our mission in the world.

Verse 27: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

The promise to Abraham was that God would make him a people in which all the families of the earth would be blessed.

And from His line came the Lord Jesus who died and was raised, and as the church goes and shares this gospel among the nations, some from all nations will repent and believe and will worship the true and living God.

Verse 28: For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

Jesus came the first time to die and rise for our sins, but he is coming again to rule as King in his kingdom and he will rule over all nations.

Verse 29: All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.

Notice that the feast of the king will be attended by all who are prosperous, not rich in worldly good, but who have found the riches of Christ who became poor so that we might become rich.

Even those who have died in Christ, those who could not keep themselves alive, will be raised to eat with Christ in His kingdom.

Verse 30: Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn.

That’s us.

God’s people have taken the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus to every subsequent generation that the work of Christ continues to save down to this day.

The end of the passage reads, “that he has done it.”

The original language is the same as Jesus final words from the cross: “It is finished.”

Christ accomplished so much more on the cross that day than the people watching him die could ever imagine.

He died to save a people who could never save themselves.

He offered up himself a perfect sacrifice we could never give but desperately needed.

He took on the wrath of God due our sin that we might be raised to spiritual life and given the hope of eternal life.

He was forsaken from the Father that we might always be accepted as His beloved sons and daughters with whom he is well pleased.

I was inspired to write a small poem:

May we never forget the rugged cross upon which our Savior died.

May we look forward to the day to our King’s return where we will eat satisfied by his side.

May we offer ourselves as sacrifices until the day that He returns.

May we take up our cross and follow him for our hearts for Him do yearn.

Let’s pray.