Psalm 22:1-31

To log onto UNITYINCHRIST.COM’S BLOG, Click Here

Share on Facebook

Psalm 22:1-31

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David

Verses 1-21, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.”

Introduction

“Psalm 22, how many of you have read ahead? Oh great, what were the rest of you doing, watching the NBA playoffs? Ah, read ahead. Psalm 22, 23 and 24 are a triad, they go together. They speak of Christ’s death on the cross, Christ’s present ministry in our lives, and his return in glory. They have through the centuries, from the scholars, been viewed and written about. And some call it the Cross, the Crook (not somebody who steals, but the crook on a shepherds staff), the Cross, the Crook, and the Crown, that they represent the One who was, and Is, and Is to Come. It is a remarkable triad of songs that were sung in ancient Israel. All of you know the 23^rd Psalm, obviously the next one, and Psalm 24. You should read through these and become familiar with them. The fascinating thing is, as we come to this 22^nd Psalm, there isn’t any particular thing in the life of David that kind of matches up with this, we don’t get any sense he’s writing out of any personal experience. But it is one of the places in the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53, where we come to holy ground. It describes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in greater detail than the Four Gospels. In fact, it gives us, and it’s the only place in the Bible that gives us Christ’s own emotion, and his own experience on the cross, what he’s feeling and what he’s going through. It doesn’t mention the fact that the Roman soldier pierced his side, because he was dead by then. It gives us what he experienced while he was still alive in the crucifixion on the cross, it’s remarkable. It is one of the songs of David “to the chief Musician,” which meant it was to be sung publicly, and it has a title “Aijeleth Shahar,” which is “the horns of the morning” or “the end of the morning,” and Hebrew scholars believe it describes the priests who would watch from the pinnacle of the Temple, and the sun would rise in the east, and when he would see those first few rays of sunlight, they looked like the horns of the ibex, of the hind, and it’s when the horns of the hind were apparent, that the lamb would be slaughtered in the morning [i.e. the morning sacrifice in the Temple]. That’s a very interesting tradition when we realize what this Psalm is speaking about. It was written a thousand years before Christ, it was written hundreds of years before crucifixion was used by the Persians, and then later the Romans. So the Jews knew nothing of crucifixion, they would stone those that they would put to death. But it [Psalm 22] describes crucifixion. There shouldn’t be any wonder that it’s a Messianic Psalm because the first verse is “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” the very central cry of the cross. Out of the seven things that Jesus said on the cross, that’s the only one that’s repeated twice, and it’s the central cry, it’s the fourth thing that he said out of the seven. And it’s the one, the depths of it, will be plumbed throughout eternity, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, that Jesus Christ at that point was cut off, was the Godhead fractured at that point in time? He said ‘I don’t do anything unless the Father does it, I don’t say anything unless the Father says it,’ and all of a sudden he’s cut off, and he cries ‘Why,’ because the sins of the world have come upon him. As he bore our sin, Peter tells us, on the tree, and it says ‘God can’t look upon sin,’ Habakkuk 1:13, he’s much too fair, he’s too holy to behold sin, that he turns away. And Christ on the cross, he cries, he begins with ‘Father forgive them,’ and he ends with ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,’ the only time in the Gospel he calls him God, and that’s on our behalf, is on the cross, where he says ‘My God, my God, why?’ he’s without information, he’s cut off. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” a thousand years before it happens. Interesting, the Book of Psalms, they call it the Book of Hillel, which is Praises, it is the ancient song book of Israel, but the word Hillel has not yet been used in the Book of Psalms. The first time you’re going to find the word Hillel in the Book of Psalms is here in verse 22, and it’s from the lips of Christ himself. It’s almost as though even this ancient song book of Israel reserved the right to use the word to the crucified, risen One. Very interesting, as we go into this song, this Psalm that puts these remarkable, remarkable things in front of us. The answer to the question “Why?” will be answered in the second half of the Psalm, why God had forsaken him. We will find out from his own lips, though in humanity on the cross he didn’t have the answer.

The Forsaken Messiah

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.” (verses 1-5) The first five verses of this Psalm come to us from the place of his forsakenness, he is forsaken. It says, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” (verse 1) Now he wasn’t roaring outwardly, like David in Psalm 32, it says, before he confessed his sins, he was drying up, he was roaring inside. It seems, the sin of the world has come upon him, Isaiah 53, verse 6, ‘He put the iniquity of us all upon him.’ He says ‘My God, my God,’ why has he been separated from the Father? There’s a roaring inside the noble breast of the perfect Son of God, of the line of the tribe of Judah. No doubt it’s hard for us to understand, and again, Habakkuk 1:13 tells us the Father has to turn his face away from sin and unrighteousness. He says here ‘You’re so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring,’ “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” (verse 2) Isaiah 59 says ‘Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that he cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that he can not hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.’ And here is the Lord bearing our sins, saying “I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season,” no doubt the three hours of darkness, “and in the night season, and am not silent.” It’s out of that darkness he cried “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani”, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But he sees the contrast, he’s the sin-bearer, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.” (verses 3-4) ‘That was the experience of Israel, I’m crying out now,’ “They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.” (verse 5) ‘This has been the experience of your people, Lord, even when they were unfaithful, even in the wilderness journeys, even in all of their failing, they cried, they looked to you, you heard them, you answered. Myself, I’m crying, there’s no response Father. They cried out, they trusted, they were not confounded.’ And look at verse 6, “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Isaiah 52 tells us how he was despised, he was looked down on. ‘I am a worm,’ think of that, he’s come from glory, the Lord of heaven, all powerful, all-knowing, descending, in human frame, taking on skin, which he’s taken back to eternity, which he’ll wear forever. [comment: That’s debatable, part of Calvary Chapel’s “flesh and bone” doctrine, whereas taking on spirit form and composition, as shown in Quantum physics (which shows we’re just a holographic projection, coming from somewhere outside space and time) would clearly indicate that whatever’s outside of Space-Time is more solid than physical matter, and that physical matter cannot exist outside Space-Time. God and Christ in spirit composition are far more solid than matter, it would seem, as we will be in the resurrection. Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough during the 1^st resurrection to immortality. No biggy, secondary doctrines, nothing to hang a religious hat on.] ‘I am a worm, no man, a reproach of men, despised of the people.’

The Messiah’s Spiritual Experience On The Cross

“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.” (verses 7-13) Verse 7 to 13 begins to tell us about his experience spiritually, on the cross. “All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.” Can you just image that? Matthew tells us, in chapter 27, let me find it here, and you’ll find similar things in of course the other Gospels, Matthew says this, “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27, verses 41-43) Listen, this is a thousand years before it happened, he says [in Psalm 22:7] ‘They laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip,’ this is a thousand years before it happens, he says ‘they laugh me to scorn, they shoot out their lip, they shake their head, they say, ‘He trusted in the LORD that he would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.’ Here’s the same words, a thousand years later, those that are mocking him fulfil this remarkable, remarkable statement [and prophecy]. You’ll find out more through here, as this goes on. Now look what he does in verse 9, you know, he’s there on the cross, we’re hearing of his experience. What is he thinking as he’s going through the horrors of crucifixion. Look in verse 9, it says, “But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” It’s a thousand years after this, this Psalm of David, this prophecy, ‘You’re the one, you took me out of the womb,’ “thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” What was his relationship? People always say, you know, he grew in grace, we know that, in favour of God and men. What did he know, did realize as he grew who he was? Listen to some of these things, he says, ‘You’re the one who took me out of the womb, you brought me forth,’ “thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” (verses 9b-10) What is he saying? When he was an embryo he was already in fellowship [with God the Father]? ‘Thou art my God from my mother’s belly,’ listen to some of the things that he’s rehearsing as he’s on the cross, and people are around him mocking him, and he’s crying out, ‘God, why aren’t you hearing me? My God, my God,’ he’s rehearsing, ‘I’ve had hold of you, you’re the one who brought me into human flesh, put me in skin that, though it comes in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy will, sacrifice and offering thou hast not desired, a body thou hast prepared for me [i.e to step into, the Incarnation],’ it says. And here he speaks about his experience with the Father in the Incarnation, God becoming human flesh. You see, Islam has a hard time understanding God the Son, ‘God can’t have a Son, how did he get pregnant? God can’t have a Son.’ Around the Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Temple Mount, I’ve been there many times, it says in Arabic “God is not begotten, neither does he beget.” It’s a huge struggle [for them]. You know, you have to see it in the light of the Incarnation, that God himself comes, he’s God, he can do anything he wants to. And he takes on human skin, and he walks among us. And here, the mystery of it, as it were, crying out, ‘You’ve been my God from my mother’s belly,’ and so forth. “Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”

Evil Principalities And Powers Surround Jesus On The Cross

Now he talks in verses 12 and 13 of principalities and powers. If you want to know what was going on when he was hanging on the cross, there’s nowhere else in the Word [the Bible] that tells us. He says “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.” (verse 12) ‘they’ve surrounded me,’ there’s a definite article, “the mighty bulls of the Bashan have beset me round.” It’s very specific, “the mighty bulls of the Bashan”. What we know about Bashan from the Book of Deuteronomy, is there were 60 cities of the giants. I have a book in my library, it was written in 1860, its called “The Great Cities of Bashan”, and the archeologists talk about going up there and finding these huge basalt places built with 16-foot ceilings with doors that are 14 to 16-foot tall on post hinges that you can still swing with a finger, just these huge habitations. It says there were 60 cities of the giants. The Old Testament talks about giants, there were the Emin, the Rephaim, the Anakim, the Zamzumin, I guess if you saw one of those and said Zam, zoomin, the Horims. You remember when Joshua and Caleb came into the land, and all the rest of them [the 12 spies sent out by Moses] came back and said ‘The Anakim were there, we looked like grasshoppers in their sight, we’re not going to go in there, they’ll eat us for breakfast,’ and Joshua and Caleb said ‘No, let us go in there, we’ll go in there, God is with us, they’ll be bread before us.’ In fact Caleb, when he’s 85 years old, 38 years later when they finally divide up the land, well, it was 30 plus 7 years of conquest, he says ‘Give me Hebron,’ that’s where the giants lived. He said ‘Give it to me,‘ he’s 85, he says ‘Let me at ‘em, I’ve been waiting for 45 years to go in and wipe these guys out.’ So, we have this infestation of giants, as Israel’s coming into the land. It tells us back in Genesis 6, it’s from ‘the sons of God,’ fallen angels, coming into the daughters of men, trying to pervert the race. It says ‘that they were in the earth in those days, and also after the flood.’ And here evidently these angels that sired these giants, these principalities and powers, these wicked forces of darkness. I saw one once, and I can live the rest of my life without ever seeing one again. And whatever it was, was seven or eight foot tall, it had horns, just like a cows head, like the things you see on the castles and cathedrals in Europe, and I was terrified when I saw it, and began to call out on the name of Jesus, and it passed then from my sight. But you see one of those in the middle of the night, I never want to see one of those again. It was defiant, and ugly, and mocking, and huge, and strong. He says here ‘great bulls, the mighty bulls of Bashan,’ that sired the giants, no doubt, ‘they have beset me, around me,’ as he’s on the cross. You read the Gospels, there were no great bulls hanging out there, there was something in the spiritual realm. He says, “They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.” (verse 13) that’s a strange bull, that gapes and roars like a lion. These huge creatures in the spiritual realm are around him as he’s on the cross, so he’s describing the horror of hanging there, in the spiritual realm, the warfare, the things that are going on around him, which we don’t get in the Gospels.

The Messiah’s Personal Physical Experience On The Cross

verses 14-15, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” Now in verse 14 he starts to give his own personal experience of hanging on the cross. We don’t get it in the Gospels. Listen, it’s so remarkable, he says “I am poured out like water, and my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” (verse 14) this is our Saviour, our sweet Jesus, hanging there in our place, in the weakness of human flesh, he says ‘I’m poured out like water, my life is being poured out,’ “all of my bones are out of joint:” pulling out of the sockets as he’s hanging on the cross, “my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels” speaking of his internal organs, his heart, he says, is melting. There’s both the dehydration, as his side is pierced it says there’s blood and water issuing out, it’s the pericardium around his heart from the stress is filling with water, he’s both dehydrated and he has a drowning heart, he says ‘my heart is melting in my bowels,’ he feels what’s going on inside of his physical frame. If you can image all of the pain that was inflicted on him outwardly, all of those things, now he’s got these spiritual forces mocking, gaping, like roaring lions surrounding him, now he’s talking about what’s happening inside of his physical being, his bones out of joint, his life running out of his body like water, he says his heart is melting in the midst of his bowels. He says, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou has brought me into the dust of death.” (verse 15) This is the Mighty One, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, he’s the Shepherd [of Israel] in the next Psalm, “the LORDe is my shepherd, I shall not want.” In the Psalm after that, he’s the Mighty One, ‘Who is this king of glory, who is this one mighty in battle, this is the LORD, mighty in battle,’ he’s the one to be praised, coming to set up his Kingdom. Here he says ‘My strength is dried up like a broken piece of pottery,’ he says, ‘my tongue is cleaving to my jaws,’ dehydration. And then he says to his Father, “and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” “Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” That’s why it says in the Gospels, when he said ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,’ they didn’t understand him, they said ‘He’s calling for Elijah.’ We know that, because here it says ‘his tongue was cleaving to his jaws,’ he couldn’t speak clearly, they couldn’t understand what he was saying. And then finally he said ‘I thirst,’ they gave him some water on a sponge, it loosened his tongue, and then he screamed ‘It is finished!’ he wanted that to be clear, he wanted everybody to hear. We’re still hearing tonight, aren’t we? ‘It is finished.’ This Mighty One paid the price for all of us, ‘It is finished.’ ‘My tongue is cleaving to my jaw,’ “Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”

“They Pierced My Hands And My Feet”---More Specific Prophecies Fulfilled On The Cross

“For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” (verse 16) Gentiles, the Romans, we’re not sure, Goyim, Gentiles, dog, the Hebrew word. ‘Dogs have surrounded me,’ “the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:” apostate priests, principalities and powers, demonic spirits, ‘the assembly of the wicked, they’ve surrounded me,’ listen, “they pierced my hands and my feet.” (verse 16b) this was written hundreds of years before any culture used crucifixion, ‘they have pierced my hands and my feet.’ It’s interesting, it’s the Hebrew word ‘ari’ we get ‘ariel’ the lion. Every other usage of this particular word in the Old Testament is translated “lion” or “lions”, because that’s the noun form. But all Hebrew words come from a verb. And this is a primitive verb, they’re not sure of the origin, but the verb means “to pierce, to tear, to puncture, to grab and take hold of.” And this is the only place it’s not translated “lion”, it goes back to the verb root, “they have pierced my hands and my feet.” You know, Zechariah says this about the days that we’re living in, not too far ahead of us, speaking of the LORD of hosts, and he says “And It shall come to pass in that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem,” that’s at his [Christ’s] return, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,” (verses 9-10) When did Israel ever pierce the LORD of hosts? Zechariah 12, verse 10, and of course the Book of Revelation, begins, it says in the first few verses “Behold, he cometh with clouds; every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen” (Revelation 1:7) here remarkably speaking of his experience on the cross, ‘dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me,’ “they have pierced my hands and my feet.” (verse 16b) He says, “I can tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.” (verse 17) in other words, they’re sticking out, he looks emaciated. And know this, he ultimately didn’t die from crucifixion, it says “he gave up the ghost.” He said ‘no man takes my life, I lay it down.’ Maybe a mortal man would not even have lived through the beatings and the scourging, many died of the scourging itself, there was so much blood-loss. He couldn’t give up the ghost until his work was accomplished. It says ‘I can tell all of my bones, they’re visible, they’re all sticking out, they look, they stair upon me.’ “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (verse 18) Isn’t that amazing? This is a 1,000 years before it happens, and the fact that they gamble for his garments and cast lots upon his vesture is mentioned in all four Gospels. Isn’t that amazing? It’s in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And it’s telling us, as he hung on the cross, he was aware that at the foot of his cross, they were gambling. He didn’t have anything, they couldn’t take his money, what they could do, he was stripped naked, he was hanging up there, and they were gambling over who would get his robe, because it was seamless, it was woven without seam. And he was hanging there in his agony, demonic principalities and powers around him, all of this, and he’s aware of those at the foot of the cross, gambling. He says it here, and it’s recorded in all four Gospels. He says “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (verse 18)

Jesus’ Final Prayer

verses 19-21, “But be not thou far from me, O LORD: my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.” And then verses 19 to 21 it’s kind of the climax, where he cries out to his Father, it’s a prayer, and it’s the end of his life. “But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.” (verse 19) Verse 20 in the King James says, “Deliver my soul” the word’s really “Deliver my life from the sword;” King James says “my darling from the power of the dog.” (verse 20) the Hebrew says “my only one” and it’s speaking about his life, ‘Deliver my life from the sword, my only one from the power,’ or ‘the hand of the dog,’ the Gentiles, the Romans, the authorities, he’s handed over to. Remarkably, he says ‘my only life, God you can’t leave it in the grave, this is the life I have, it’s the life I’ve always had, it’s the life I’ve had from the womb, it was cast upon you, I trusted you, I fellowshipped with you in my mother’s belly, this is my life, it’s all that I have,’ it’s not “my darling,” it’s “my only one, LORD,” imagine. You know, listen, human beings, on their deathbed, are keenly aware of that. They’re drawing to the place where they take their last breath. They can have all kinds of theories, they can argue with you, and make you feel stupid as a Christian, they can do that, and occasionally we see someone leave this world still bitter, but it is interesting how open most people become to hear the Gospel at that point in time. I’ve got a few family and friends where we think that’s what it’s going to take, it’s going to be then when they’re saying ‘This is my only life, it’s fading, it’s slipping, my life is running away like water. It’s gone, it’s over, why was I born? What was the purpose of all of this?’ He’s wrenching that out for every human. ‘Deliver my life from the sword, my only one, from the power of the dog,’ “Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.” (verse 21) Again, aware of the principalities and powers around him. King James says, “horns of the unicorns” it’s “the horns of the wild ox”, this orox, this huge oxen. He’s saying ‘these principalities and powers around me, they think they’re dragging me down to hell now, they think they have victory, Satan thinks that he has this signed, sealed, and delivered Father. He handed me over to the Jews, to the priests, to the Romans, all of his hordes have surrounded me now Father, and I’m sinking, my only life seems to be ebbing away, LORD, rescue me now,’ he says, ‘from the lion’s mouth, these bulls that gape like lions, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the wild ox.’ And then it goes silent, then it goes silent, that’s the end. On the cross he said “Father, into thy hands do I commend my spirit.” That’s what he’s saying here.

Psalm 22, 2^nd Half: The Risen Christ

verses 22-31, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” Verse 22, everything changes. Verse 22 to verse 31 we have triumph. We have praise, we have declaration. In fact in verse 22, we have his own words, then in verse 23, he begins to speak to us, to David, to the Jews, to you and I, the exhortation. Up until verse 22 it’s “I” and “thee” all the way, it’s the chemistry between the Son on the cross and his Father throughout. All of a sudden in verse 22, from the place of victory he begins to speak about his Father, 23 then he turns to us and speaks, and 25 onward David and you and I, that should be our response as we move forward. Now this is the interesting part of the Psalms, now look, ancient Jewish writers took note of this, it’s kind of interesting. Here we are in verse 22, this is the first time in the Bible where we’re going to have Hillel, first time in the Psalms, in the Book of Praises, we’re going to have the word “Praise” the proper word “Hillel.” “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I Hillel thee.” “I will Praise,” interesting. Henry Morris, in his commentary on Psalm 22, a scientist, a wonderful man, I had an opportunity to meet him before he went home to be with the Lord, he used to say, “You know, the interesting thing is that language, the fact that we have language that we speak, the phenomenon of language itself has no evolutionary explanation.” In other words, animals make noises, give each other signals, ‘You better get away,’ or ‘Hey, honey this is mating season,’ whatever they’re trying to communicate, but there’s no language. You and I sit around and say ‘You know, I imagined,’ what’s imagination? Or ‘Didn’t that taste great?’ or ‘You know what I was thinking?’ Language is something that is strictly ours, because we’re created in his image and in his likeness. And he makes his own noise. And you know, it’s interesting, the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, there are five other structures that can be the ending of a sentence, but it has 22 letters. And here God’s Word, in the 22^nd Psalm, in the 22^nd verse, he says, “there has to be something there, I’m a scientist, I know that there’s more than coincidence tied into all of this, this is the first time in the Book now we have this word “Praise.” It’s almost like it’s been reserved for the lips of The Suffering One, when he’s victorious.” He says “I will declare” this is from the grave, he’s risen, he’s up from the grave, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren:” that’s what happened [as the risen Jesus Christ showed himself to his disciples and then the 120 loyal followers he had, amazing how this fits the first part of verse 22!]. “in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” (verse 22) He tells us this in the Book of Hebrews, it says “For both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified, they are all one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” (Hebrews 2:11-12) he says, interesting. Here it is, he says “I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation” “in the church” Hebrews 2:12 says, “I will praise thee.” And then he turns to us, and says, Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.” (verse 23) “Ye that fear the LORD” that’s you and I. Not just Israel, but Jacob, the conniver. He’s paid the price, it says ‘the one whose sanctified and they who are sanctified, his brethren, they’re all sanctified, they’re all one,’ “all ye the seed of Jacob glorify him, and fear him all ye the seed of Israel.” “For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;” (verse 24a) [“he has not abhorred the afflicted in their affliction” is the idea, the King James wording kind of messes up the thought being expressed.] He saw us in our corruption, he knew that this mortal had to put on immortality, this corruption had to put on incorruption. It says “For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.” (verse 24) That answers ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ He says right here, that he might stand up and declare his name in the midst of the congregation, amongst his brethren, that he may rise and praise his Father. And he says, ‘You need to praise him too, you need to realize when he saw you in your affliction and your weakness and your mortality, your infirmity, he didn’t despise you, he heard your cry, he responded. That’s why I hung there, that’s why I had to cry ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ I’ve cried unto you, and you haven’t heard me,’ he said, ‘but he heard you. You praise him.’ And then David responds and says, “My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.” (verse 25) And that will be forever, as we see the Lamb in the midst. This should be our response, “I will pay my vows before them that fear him.” “The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” (verse 26) His melted like wax, “your heart shall live for ever.” “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” (verse 27) What a day, every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess, this is a prophetic look at the future when he sets up his Kingdom, all the nations of the world, what a day that will be. “For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.” (verse 28) Man, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Nobody left to try to get anything through Congress or the Senate, or wonder whether they’re overriding the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. There’s going to be One voice, One ruler, one Throne, all-powerful, everybody comes to worship there, every knee bows, every tongue confesses, he’s the Boss. I’m looking forward to that [me too, want to see what it’s gonna be like? See http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm].

‘This Is The One, He Finished It’

“All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” (verses 29-31) In the Old Testament being fat was different than it is now, this is not a Jenny Craig thing, it means they’re blessed, they’re prospering, God’s blessing is upon them. “unto a people that shall be born,” any of that sound familiar? “unto a people that shall be born,” that’s you and I, born-again. And what shall the declaration be? “he hath done this.” “this” is in italics, it’s an interesting phrase in the Hebrew, it’s “he hath done, he hath performed, he hath wrought,” properly “he hath finished.” In John chapter 19, verse 30 he cried, “It is finished.” And a people are going to come, the nations are going to gather around him, and they’re going to say ‘This is the One, he finished it, he did it.’ They’re going to come, they’re going to worship him, they’re going to pay him homage, ‘he hath done it, this Mighty One.’ All the nations of the world coming to worship him, this Lord of lords and King of kings that took on human flesh, the Mighty One.

“The Crimson Worm”---‘They Will Forever Be Dyed With The Colour Of My Sacrifice, It Will Never Fade’

Isn’t it interesting? He says in ‘I am a worm, no man, I am a worm,’ the Mighty One, a worm (Psalm 22:6). He uses the Hebrew word Toleth, it’s the word scarlet, they would call this worm the scarlet worm, same word that’s used in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, though they be crimson toleth, they shall be white as wool.’ It’s the same word they used when they set up the Tabernacle for the scarlet they used, they died the priests garments and the inside of the Tabernacle toleth. It speaks of a specific worm called the coccus ilicis, which is a little worm, and it, a female, when that worm is ready to give birth, to lay eggs, she climbs up a tree or a wooden post, and she attaches herself to that wooden post, and all around the edges of her body she glues herself, she knows she’s not going to come down, she’s going to die there. And when it’s time for the eggs to hatch, which are sealed under her, to protect them, when they first hatch, they feed on her living body. When that begins to happen, she exudes this red dye, it dyes the post or the tree, it dyes her young, they are scarlet for the rest of their lives, dyed with the colour of her ebbing life. She washes them, as it were, in this scarlet, it’s never removed from the tree, it never fades. Isn’t that wonderful? They feed off of her living body, they live off of her, and then they are covered, stained with the colour of her life, scarlet. The Jews, the way they would collect this, is for three days then, after the eggs hatch and the larvae leave, you can scrape that off of the tree or off of the post, and they would let it dry in the sun, and they would grind it and mix it and turn it into a dye, and they would dye their garments and so forth with this toleth, which is a scarlet worm. The interesting thing is, that after three days, it dries up [the worm] and it curls into the shape of a heart, and it turns pure white, it turns pure white. And they’ll collect that then, and they’ll use it to create a shellac to finish wood, it preserves. [see http://www.discovercreation.org/newsletters/TheCrimsonOrScarletWorm.htm] You read in certain places they wash something with hyssop, with blood and so forth, and scarlet when they’re purifying, because there are antibodies in this red dye that kill bacteria. There’s so many types and shadows. You think, you know, here is Jesus, before the world is created, ‘the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world,’ and God in his genius, as he’s thinking through his creation, says ‘I’m going to make a toleth, so that my Son can talk about it in the 22^nd Psalm.’ And thousands of years after Creation, from the lips of our Saviour he’ll say ‘I am a worm, I’m nothing, but I’ve attached myself to the tree, and I’ve protected those that I give life to, and they will forever be dyed with the colour of my sacrifice, it will never fade.’ ‘I am a worm, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Mighty One, coccus ilicis.’ And that worm knows it’s never going to come down, it’s going to give it’s life there, it seals its fate there, as he did. He said that he had to accomplish it, ‘I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I long to accomplish it, it’s for this cause I came forth,’ he knew. Let’s have the musicians come, we’ll sing several songs, let’s bring our hearts before our Saviour, our Lord, who cried ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me,’ so you and I never have to cry that. Look, if you’re here this evening, and you don’t know Christ, it’s a Wednesday night so I’m assuming most of you know the Lord. If you don’t know the Lord, you need to get up here at the end of this service, let us pray with you, give you a Bible. Do you know Jesus, do you know he died for you? He was the Mighty One, he was God [YAHWEH, the great I AM, cf. Exodus 3:13-15; John 8:58] and he took on skin, and he died in your place, he paid the ultimate price, so that then you can be forgiven. As in the dilemma in the Book of Romans, how can God be both the Just and the Justifier of the ungodly? And this is how he did it, he came and died in our place. He paid a price he didn’t owe, because we owe a price we can’t pay. And because he didn’t owe anything, when he died on the cross, his death purchased a value, because he didn’t need to die, he wasn’t sinful, he didn’t deserve it. So he purchased a value when he died on the cross. And in faith tonight, if you don’t know him, you can take that value, and you can apply it to your own life, [so you can say] ‘He died for me, Lord, I’m going to believe tonight, you died for me, you died in my place, I deserved that.’ ‘He, the Father, made him who knew no sin, to be sin, so that you and I might be the very righteousness of God in him.’ How wonderful. Let’s bow our hearts, we’ll pray, we’ll worship, and if inclined and you want to raise your hands, I encourage you to do that. Again, I encourage you before the evening is over, if you’re not saved, at the end of the service you get yourself up here, we’d love to give you a Bible and pray with you. ‘Father, I know you’ve overheard, Lord we can look at these things, for the rest of our lives, Lord, we will look at them, no doubt, on into eternity, Lord. And we’re so thankful, it says when you rose, Lord, in power, that you led principalities and powers in your train, they have no authority over you, they had no power in the presence of your resurrection, your glory, Lord. That all authority in heaven and earth is given to you, Lord. And Lord, to hear your heart-cry, to hear these things, to know that we never have to go there, because you did that for us. Lord, these things can only be comprehended by the power of your Spirit, Lord. You said when your Holy Spirit comes he wouldn’t speak of himself, but he would take the things that belong to you and you would show them to us. So Lord as we lift our voices now, as your Word says, to inhabit our praises, do that by your Spirit, Lord. As we lift our hearts this evening, Lord, fill us afresh with your Spirit, Lord. Move in our midst, Lord, we trust you, Lord Jesus we look to you, we believe, Lord, this is a delight to you, Lord, as we kind of just bathe ourselves in Psalm 22, Lord, we bring ourselves afresh before you, Jesus, in your name, amen.’…[connective expository sermon of Psalm 22:1-31, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]