Psalm 22

Summer Playlist

TLK 1

Bottom Line: The cross is not a sign of abandonment, it is the sign of the greatest accomplishment

Intro

Summer is here… there is one thing about summer that I think we can all agree on… Summer is not summer without a playlist… a set of songs that set the tone for the season… For some of us that meant recording the song on the radio to a blank cessette tape… for my generation it meant downloading songs (legally) and burning them on a blank CD… today, w get on spotify and create the playlist digitally.. Songs are powerful

Songs have a way of define or declaring moments in our lives…. A way to express whatever season of life we are going through

God understands this so well that He gave us an entire book of prayers in song form for all the different season of life called the Psalms

For the summer we are going into the Psalms to allow God to help us navigate the different seasons of life we experience by using the truth of God’s Word… After this week we are actually going to start each message praying part of the psalm we are going to be learning from…

We are starting with the very Psalm Jesus used to teach his last lesson as He was hanging on the Cross

Truth

Maybe you are thinking, “ I don't remember a lesson Jesus taught as He was on the cross”... that is because we are 21st century Americans not 1st century Jews

Teaching technique later referred to as a remez that rabbis used to allude to massive chunks of Scripture… instead of reading it all they would quote the very first line to get their people to reflect on a greater text since memorization was the common practice of the day… Similar to something that happens to us today

Country Roads… I pledge allegiance… amazing grace

We see Jesus use this same technique on the cross→ Matthew 27:45-46→ might be one of the most misunderstood passages in Scripture… Jesus is not saying that the trinity has been fractured or that the Father has cut off ties with Jesus in this moment… Instead Jesus was crying out a prayer that Jewish people would cry out during seasons of suffering… A psalm that taught people how to suffer but also, as Jesus is teaching, points to the one ultimate sufferer

Jesus quotes Psalm 22… To teach how to suffer but ultimately peel back the curtain on the reality he found himself in as he is on the cross…

1-5→ cry of feeling abandoned→ honest prayer moment

Yet David looks to the character of God→ Holy, Faithful, Deliverer

Faith always allows God’s character to interpret seasons of suffering not the other way around

Jesus is experiencing the feeling of abandonment because He is taking on the wrath of God for the sin of the world but he is pointing to God’s character and resume as He is suffering

6-11→ the shame of the sufferer→ stong language here…

Worm→ specifically a worm that is used to make scarlet color

Mocked→ just like Jesus on the cross… yet God is remembered again→ relationship has not changed→ suffering is not a sign of abandonment

12-18→ Suffering intensifies→ emotional center of the Psalm… surrounded by enemies… language because very physical… the life of the sufferer being drawn from him… death is upon him

Direct connections to Jesus and the crucifixion→ Jesus is the main character of this Psalm→ He has fully embraced the depth of human suffering caused by sin

19-21→ Turning Point→ Asks for miraculous to happen→ Answered me!--> resurrection language so intense there is not other conclusion to draw but the resurrection of Jesus is in view here→ Jesus is looking at his people going this is not the end… I will come back… Remember Psalm 22… Here we find the main point of Psalm 22 and the point of the lesson Jesus is teaching from the cross

The cross is not a sign of abandonment, it is the sign of the greatest accomplishment… in human history… Notice suffering was not removed but rather used… to accomplish what we could not… the debt we owe for our sin→ gospel

This good news demands a response by those who are rescued

22-26→ Pain replaced by Praise→ those who are rescued worship God… suffering does not have the final say as a Christian

27-31→ Salvation completed and shared→ salvation is available to everyone and should be shared with everyone→ one more moment

The work is accomplished… he has done it!

Jesus was showing his people as they saw Him suffering on the cross that this moment was not the end… God was accomplishing something great… Jesus also had a sublesson to his lesson… He taught how we should suffer as Christians

Application

Three truths to apply when suffering

Trust Him even if you can’t trace Him→ Psalm 22:4-5

Suffering is not a sign of abandonment… He is still there→ look for the purpose of the suffering… What are you producing in/through me?

Trust is built with honesty… He can handle it!

Instead of interpreting God through seasons… flip it!

Rest in Him for the rescue→ Psalm 22:19-21

Stop trying to save yourself… Jesus has accomplished what we could never… we don't earn our victory, we live in it… Know God is coming to the rescue because the rescue has already been accomplished→ he has done it!

Tell people about Him→ Psalm 22:31

This is the call of every believer… to know Him and make Him known… both verbally and physically… how we suffer proclaims what we believe!

There is one more who need to know the hope that reigns over suffering and sin

Which one is God asking of you this week?

Transition to communion