(A Psalm of David to the chief Musician, upon Aijeleth Shahar)
“My God my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.1)
In many ways this is the most amazing of all the psalms. In it we have a picture of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus painted by the psalmist David one thousand years before Jesus Christ was born. It constitutes one of the most amazing predictions of all time. At least nine specific events or aspects of the crucifixion are described here in minute detail. All of them were fulfilled during the six hours in which Jesus hung upon the cross.
Moreover, the latter part of the psalm clearly depicts the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The probability that the predictions of these nine events would be fulfilled by chance in one person, on one afternoon is inconceivably small. The chance that all this could occur by accident is beyond any realm of possibility our minds could imagine. Yet all was fulfilled as predicted in this amazing psalm.
Psalm 22 has two major divisions; verses 1-21 recount the torments of an unknown sufferer who is entirely alone crying out to God in His agony, then in verses 22-31 we find the suffer no longer alone but in the midst of a large company praising God and shouting in victory.
Our text today deals with the cry of anguish by the suffer experiencing what is perfectly described as death by crucifixion, eight hundred years before it was invented. The words in our text, “Why have You forsaken Me”, are also found in the gospel accounts of Christ death. When Jesus became sin for us, He endured a separation from God He had never experienced in His entire existence. Why? Because the Father is holy and can have no association with sin, so He had to turn from His only Son during that time. Simply put, sin causes separation, no matter who you are.
However, praise God for not allowing His Son to see corruption, but raised Him in incorruption, who now sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and me day and night before the throne of God. Great is the mystery that God became a man, but greater still is the mystery that that man became our sacrificial lamb.
The Truth: But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled..?” (Matthew 26:53)
