My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 22:1
Psalm 22 begins with a heart-wrenching cry: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (v. 1). David voices the raw emotions that come from feeling abandoned by God in amid intense suffering. He pleads for God’s presence, wrestling with the seeming silence of heaven even as he cries out day and night (vv. 1-2). This tension between despair and trust is central to the psalm.
While David feels forsaken, he also remembers the holiness and faithfulness of God: “In You our father’s trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them” (v. 4). He clings to this hope even as his circumstances overwhelm him.
David, in his agony, describes himself as “a worm and not a man”, scorned and mocked by those around him (vv. 6-7). His enemies taunt him, twisting his trust in God into mockery and ridicule: “He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him” (v. 8). At this point, David has become physically weak and broken – his strength dried up, his bones out of joint, and his hands and feet pierced (vv. 14-16). Even his garments are divided among his enemies (v. 18). This striking imagery paints a picture of unparalleled suffering that goes far beyond David’s personal struggles and points prophetically to the suffering Savior, Jesus.
Despite the suffering and feelings of abandonment, Psalm 22 doesn’t end in defeat. In v. 22, there is a sudden shift: “I will tell of Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.” Those feelings of abandonment are replaced with David rejoicing in God’s faithfulness. As in many other psalms, we see David finding hope in the consistent nature of God’s character. Because of that, he knows that God has not despised or ignored him (v. 24). This praise expands beyond Israel to include “all the families of the nations”, who will remember and worship the Lord (v. 27) and concludes with the assurance that God’s righteousness will be proclaimed to future generations, declaring “He has done it” (v. 31).
Seeing Jesus in Psalm 22
Psalm 22 is tied to Jesus’s crucifixion as Jesus cried out the opening words from the cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Additionally, the vivid descriptions of pierced hands and feet (v. 16), divided garments (v. 18), and mocking enemies (vv. 7-8) are fulfilled in stunning detail and accuracy at Calvary. These connections reveal that David’s suffering pointed to Christ’s ultimate suffering, but Psalm 22 doesn’t end at the cross.
David’s shift from lament to praise reflects the resurrection, as Jesus declares, “I will tell of your name to my brothers” (v. 22, Hebrews 2:12). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus brings the nations ot worship God, fulfilling the psalms vision of the praise of the nations and eternal life (vv. 27-31). All in all, Psalm 22 reminds us that Jesus was truly forsaken so that we never have to be, and His victory ensures our hope.
Reflection
Psalm 22 invites us to honestly bring our pain to God, just as David and Jesus did. When we feel abandoned or overwhelmed, we can cry out to the Lord, trusting that He hears us even in His silence. At the same time, we are called to fix our eyes on God’s faithfulness – His deliverance in the past, His presence in the present, and His promises for the future.
Because Jesus bore the ultimate forsakenness on our behalf, we can trust that God is always with us, even in our darkest moments. As we meditate today on Christ’s suffering and victory, may we join David in proclaiming, “He has done it” (v. 31)!
The #dailyPSALMSchallenge gives us the opportunity to start 2025 in God’s Word by digging into a psalm a day. Each day will identify a key passage for us to meditate on as well as seeking to help us see Jesus in the psalm and reflect on what we have read.
Won’t you take the challenge?
Just Keith Harris 