Psalm 22:1-2 Forsaken

When Jesus was tempted by the devil, His response was to recite Scripture. When the Pharisees accused Him, He recited Scripture. And, as one ancient Christian tradition tells us, when Jesus died on the cross, He recited Scripture.

We know from the gospels that Jesus quoted the first few words of this Psalm as He hung on the cross for our sins. We also know that He quoted verse 5 of Psalm 31 right before He died. The ancient tradition is that Jesus, in His weakest human moments, knew His time was up, felt excruciating pain, and turned to God’s Word for comfort. He began reciting the Psalms, beginning in Psalm 22, and made it to Psalm 31:5 before He breathed His last.

Whether this tradition is true or not, it is certainly a good model for us. In Jesus’ most desperate hour of need, He turned to God’s Word. But why did He begin with this Psalm?

Because Psalm 22 is one of the clearest pictures of the crucifixion in all of Scripture, perhaps exceeded only by Isaiah 53. We are going to spend the next couple of weeks walking through this Psalm as our devotional. If you are interested in other prophecies of the crucifixion, check out our sermon series, “Prophecies of Christ,” which you can find on the “sermons” tab of our website.

Please read the beginning of Psalm 22 (the intro and verses 1-2).

While the introductory words are not part of David’s original composition, they have been passed down for ages, and are included in some of the earliest manuscripts that we have of the Psalms. They were likely used by the early Israelites as instructions for the musical accompaniment to this song of worship. However, sometimes, they gives us even more information about the purpose of the Psalm, as in this case. “The doe of the dawn,” is a reference to Jesus Christ. That’s why some scholars refer to this as “the Psalm of the Cross.”

There is nothing like this Psalm in its use of plaintive language rising up from the depths of our Messiah’s heart as He hung on the cross in agony. We can hear His cry even now and weep: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.”

We know why God forsook Him in those moments: it was because of my sin; it was because of all the evil that I have thought, all the evil that I have said, all the evil that I have done. God the Father could not bear to be in the presence of such wretched sin with which God the Son had clothed Himself for my sake. So, for the first time in all of eternity, the Father forsook the Son.

And yet, even as Jesus cries out, He does not commit any sin on His part. Rather than accusing God, He leans on God, and seeks out the Father to sustain His strength. The name that He uses, “El” signifies strength and identifies Mighty God as the all-sufficient support and comfort for His people. Twice Jesus uses this name in faith to call on the only One who can give Him strength. He called on the Father in faith.

Yet, for our sake, the Father did not answer the prayers of the Son. Night and day passed. Moments felt like an eternity. Jesus called out again and again, but the Father had abandoned Him. For our sake, the Father slew the Son.

May we never forget how wretched sin is! May we never forget the terrible price that was paid so that we may be freed from its grasp! May we always praise the Son for taking our place, and experiencing that pain for us.