“Songs of Messiah—The Sacrifice” (Part 3)

This week we are considering Psalm 22, the song of the Sacrificed Christ. Monday and Wednesday we saw His spiritual and emotional suffering as He was abandoned by His Father and the people He was dying to rescue. Today we close by examining His physical sufferings… and His victory. It begins with…

The Cry of Anguish (vv.11-18)

Now David turns his attention to the physical suffering that was the Cross of Jesus Christ. In the middle verses (vv.14-16), we see a mirror image of Calvary, and the descriptions cannot be lightly passed over, for they capture the physical pain and suffering that made crucifixion the cruelest of deaths. Four key phrases turn our minds to the horrible nature of the anguish of the cross…

• “Poured out like water”- the suffering of physical dehydration was a reality for the crucified, as if the very strength and life was being drained from Him.
• “Bones out of joint”- perhaps referring to the stretching of the body on the cross then dropping it into the ground, causing the very joints to tear and separate.
• “Heart turned to wax”- some see this as metaphorical of a dissipation of courage, but it may refer to the physical phenomenon of the rupturing of the heart described in John 19:34, where blood mingles with water in the chest cavity.
• “Pierced my hands and feet”- the literal fulfillment in crucifixion is obvious, and is probably the one statement in the psalm that most plainly points to death by crucifixion.

The amazing clarity of these terms as they relate to the cross is only compounded by the fact that crucifixion was not yet invented in David’s time! Yet, in it all, the Lord Jesus Christ was experiencing all these layers of suffering one upon the other-

The Abandonment of the Father was compounded by….

The Rejection of the people was defined by…..

The Untold Suffering of death by crucifixion.

The hateful hearts of sinful men find full vent in these awful moments on Calvary. Of these hateful men, Robert Alden wrote, “For years they had surrounded Christ, waiting for the opportunity to gore Him. As a hungry salivating lion, they lurked in secret to take Him. And now, they have Him on the Cross—dehydrated and hungry, seemingly helpless.”

The Cry of Victory (vv.22-31)

The amazing thing about all these levels of anguish is that they could not have happened had He Himself, the Willing Sacrifice, not allowed it! Jesus Himself had said, “No man takes my life from me, I lay it down willingly!” In the words of Christ we hear this willingness of His heart to endure all these things. And why? Because of the powerful results that God the Father would accomplish through them! Notice the reach of the Cross and its work…

To the Jews- “the great assembly” (v.25)

To the Gentiles- “all the ends of the earth” (v.27)

It is the psalmist’s version of Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” He, the Lord Jesus Christ, our willing, substitutionary sacrifice, accomplished all of this! Notice v.31,

“They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.”

“He has performed it!” What a statement of victory! Derek Kidner declares, “The psalm that began with a cry of dereliction ends with the word ‘He has wrought it,’ an announcement not far removed from our Lord’s great cry, ‘It is finished.’” The writer of Hebrews had it right, “He endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy set before Him.” What joy? The joy of the powerful results brought about by His great suffering! FB Meyer put it this way…

There is surely here a forecast of the effects of the death of the Cross, first on the Jews (v.23), but also in these verses  (vv.27-31) on the Gentiles. The ends of the earth converted, the usurper dethroned (v.28), the resurrection accomplished (v.29), and the seething of a spiritual seed to satisfy the travail of the Redeemer’s soul!

This is why Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself (“no man takes my life…”). This is why He accepted the sufferings that we deserved, that He might bring to Himself, and to the Father, a redeemed people from all the nations of the world—cleansed, forgiven, and glorified forever.

Truly, as Kirkpatrick wrote, this is the first and greatest of the “passion psalms.” Spurgeon agreed, saying,

This is beyond all others “The Psalm of the Cross.” David and his affliction may be here in a very modified sense, but, as the star is concealed by the light o the sun, he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see David. Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the Cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glories that shall follow. Oh for grace to draw near and see this great sight! We should read reverently, putting off our shoes from off our feet as Moses did at the burning bush, for if there be holy ground anywhere in the Scripture, it is in this psalm.