Or, Faith’s Response When Feeling Forsaken
Scripture: Psalm 22:1-31
Date: August 21, 2022
Speaker: Sean Higgins
It is one thing to have trouble, it is another thing to have trouble and feel as if God isn’t near. It’s different when you are in a trial with strong faith then when the trial is a test of faith. Pain and persecution of the outer man doesn’t feel good, but when the inner man feels forsaken by God, that is a kind of consuming discomfort.
Psalm 22 is a song of faith for those who feel forsaken. I’ve already used the word “feel” a few times. David wrote this song with correct theology; he knew that God is everywhere, as he wrote in Psalm 139:7. Where can we go from His presence? We use the word omnipresent. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). So the truth of it is, in space and time, God is always near. In our experience, we do not always sense it.
This song is from David and for the assembly. The choirmaster arranged it and taught it to the congregation for at least a couple reasons. And for us it’s almost impossible to read (or sing) it as other than a prophetic song about Christ’s experience during His crucifixion. Jesus quoted the first verse, the apostles applied many more lyrics to the events of Good Friday. There is no doubt that the Messiah fulfills it, in His first and second comings. One journal article even calls Psalm 22 the “Fifth Gospel.”
It is about Christ, it is also about the king, and it is for the congregation. All of this works together for our instruction and edification as well.
There have been numerous suggestions on how to divide the song, but we’ll consider just two parts: the grief part (verses 1-21) and the glad part (verses 22-31).
It is written “according to the Doe of the Dawn” with Doe or “Hind” (words for a female deer) likely referring to the tune for singing.
There are a number of problems that the psalmist describes, but the worst is that he feels forsaken.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(Psalm 22:1 ESV)
Jesus used the Aramaic of these words on the cross, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Matthew 27:46).
Why have you forsaken me? (verse 1). Why are you so far from saving me? (verse 1). You do not answer (verse 2). God seems to be far from the psalmist in verses 11 and 19. Verse 11 is the summary problem and request.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
(Psalm 22:11, ESV)
The song starts with questions (verse 1), with crying (verse 2), then with a contrast between those who were heard and rescued and the psalmist who is alone (verses 3-11). He is singing in the dark.
The song recounts deep theology, but the truth almost makes the experience worse. You are…enthroned on the praises of Israel (verse 3), inhabiting and exalted by the nation’s worship. As the fathers , the previous generation, worshipped and trusted they were delivered (verses 4-5). David knew the stories, but felt at the moment as if the inheritance had been spent.
The psalmist doesn’t feel heard, he doesn’t even feel like a man; I am a worm and not a man (verse 6). Those around him despise him, mock him, and make mocking gestures at him, they make mouths at me (verses 6-7); the worst Monty Python taunts (and as applied to Jesus, Matthew 27:39). Verse 8 makes clear that they know the psalmist identifies with Yahweh, but apparently Yahweh has rejected this psalmist because there is no rescue (also to Jesus, Matthew 27:43).
He rehearses the truth: Yet you are he who took me from the womb…from my mother’s womb you have been my God (verse 9). His whole life, physically and spiritually has been dependent on God.
But he’s attacked as if by animals. There are bulls, lions, and dogs. The strong bulls of Bashan were from a fertile area and these fat bulls came circling and biting (verses 12-13).
His own physical strength was drained, poured out like water . He couldn’t keep it together, all my bones are out of joint . His courage was like wet bread, my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast (verse 14). He can’t cope. It was as if his clay pot was shattered and had been sitting out in the dessert all summer, a potsherd (verse 15). You lay me in the dust of death acknowledges how he got into this position.
The dogs are back to sniff and snarl and bite; they surround the psalmist and have him circled. They have pierced my hands and feet (verse 16) is a rough translation, but certainly one that works by the time the apostles apply it to Jesus (see also Zechariah 12:10, John 19:37, and Revelation 1:7).
He’s so sickly and gaunt that his bones are obvious, the dogs are glad, ready to gnaw (verse 17). Death is close, because they’re already dividing up his clothes to make a game out of it (verse 18).
Yet he doesn’t forget the Lord. He says again, But you, O LORD, do not be far off! (verse 19) Come and help and deliver and rescue. All the animals are mentioned again, in reverse order.
Verse 21, a word of unknown meaning, the wild oxen or horns of the unicorns (KJV), also considered a buffalo, or maybe rhinoceros. They are symbols of the threats.
Such a significant change in tone happens around this point in the psalm that some commentators have invented a scenario in which the worshipper gets a “new” word from the Lord through a priest or prophet such that now he can rejoice. That’s clever, but not necessary.
The place to be is with the assembly.
I will tell of your name to my brothers,
in the midst of the congregation
I will praise you.
(Psalm 22:22, ESV)
Hebrews 2:12 applies this to Christ who suffered in order to save and sanctify His brothers (see Hebrews 2:10-11, too).
There is a call to praise Him, to glorify Him, to stand in awe of Him (verse 23). It’s for those who fear Him, who have His word and His promises.
It’s also a reminder that the LORD does not actually forget or forsake His people, even though they feel like it.
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.
(Psalm 22:24, ESV)
He repeats that he will praise in public and obey in front of the God-fearers.
Such worship is not limited to Israel, but for both Jews (“offspring of Jacob” and “offspring of Israel” verse 23) and Gentiles.
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD.
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before You.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
(Psalm 22:27-28, ESV)
All the ends of the earth is phrase found thirteen times in the Old Testament (Gerald Wilson).
We have come a long way since the beginning of the psalm. But the discipline of prayer, of public worship, of remembering, and of hope pull us toward the expectation that salvation for anyone is in submission to the Lord.
Depression to eschatology, emotions to politics.
Whether men are rich or poor, old or young, their hope is in the Lord. Those who fear Him will tell their kids, their grandkids, and fear of the Lord will be their future for their good. A feast will be provided for the faithful (verses 26, 29).
They shall come and proclaim his righteousness , the testament that the Lord does what is proper.
It is probably fine if you have never felt this way, as long as you are thankful, though you wouldn’t know how thankful you really should be. Agony is like a test, and the anguish is also forming Christ in our hearts.
If you have felt, maybe are feeling, this way, friend, you are not alone. Your Savior knows.
A thousand years of saints sang the song between David and Jesus, a couple thousand more years of saints have been singing it since. This is how you do it. This is the response of faith when feeling forsaken.
Accused, criticized, canceled, can’t cope?
The tools, the tactics against loneliness in this Psalm, include:
“My God” in faith is fine. That there can never be first person singular is silly; those criticisms aren’t consistent with scripture. What is not fine is never first person plural, the we, the assembly. A typical second level temptation to the first level temptation of sadness is isolation. What is not fine is refusing to subject your subjective feelings to truth. Do. Not. Do. It.
I don’t know exactly how you feel, but the Lord does. I don’t know how you feel, but I know you are not actually alone. I don’t know how you feel, but I know that the Lord wants you to live by faith; your need for faith hasn’t expired. So though you cannot steer Him, you must stay stuck to Him and stand firm in faith.
The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. (1 Kings 8:57–58, ESV)