22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping
me, from the words of my groaning?
22:2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
22:3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
22:4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
22:5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
22:6 But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.
22:7 All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
22:8 "Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver-- let him rescue the one in
whom he delights!"
22:9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother's breast.
22:10 On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my
God.
22:11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
22:12 Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
22:13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like
wax; it is melted within my breast;
22:15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me
in the dust of death.
22:16 For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and
feet have shriveled;
22:17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me;
22:18 they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
22:19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
22:21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have
rescued me.
22:22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the
congregation I will praise you:
22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand
in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
22:24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide
his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
22:25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before
those who fear him.
22:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!
22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the
families of the nations shall worship before him.
22:28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
22:29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow
all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
22:30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
22:31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
I find it fascinating that Jesus probably recited (or prayed?) Psalm 22 when he hung on the cross. Psalm 22 may have been his last prayer. How do we know that? Because the Psalm starts with the words: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" and ends very similarly to Jesus last words: "it is finished."
Just plain fascinating!
In the bright light of hindsight, it is easy to see this psalm describes so well the crucified Christ on the tree. But it wasn't written by Jesus. I wonder if the author got his prayer answered, and an opportunity to make good on his promise to praise God in the congregation. Jesus thought the prayer worth repeating. Is it OK for me to adopt it too, for myself? tom in TN(USA)
In the Bible you're using, you have a serious,
misleading mistranlsation.
"...my hands and my feet have shriveled......:
Some Bibles used by the Christians have "They pierced
my hands and feet", but the proper translation is
"..like a lion they are at my hands and feet".
The fundamentalists Christian interpreters actually
changed the spelling of the word from KeAri
(like a lion) to Kari. If one then totally ignores
Hebrew grammar, one can twist this to mean "He gouged
me", then as in the King James' Version they make it
read "They pierced my hands and feet".
I am thinking about praying through Psalm 22...
CONFESSION: (v.1-2) "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken ne?" When Jesus took on the sin of us, that sin separated the Father from the beloved Son. Similarly, our sin will separate us from God: "O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent."
THANKSGIVING (v.3-5) The Psalmist remembered back what God had done to previous generations. We also need to recall His Deed among us today.
PETITION (v.6-8) "Yet I am a worm and not a man... They mocked me..." Here we also need to bring our deepest despair to God.
RENEWAL (v.9-10) "...you made me trust in you ... from my mother's womb you have been my God..." The Psalmist renewed his trust in God despite what was going on.
INTERCESSION (v.11-18) Here the Psalmist cried out again in regard to his surrounding (interesting correlation with Jesus' bones and cast lot for his clothing, etc.) We should lift up our brother and sister and put ourselves in their place of pain as we pray for them
AFFIRMATION (v.19-21) "Come quickly to rescue me"...
ADORATION (v.22-25) Here the Psalmist cried "I will declare your name, I will praise you in the congregation"
CLOSING PRAYER (v.26-31) This is almost a benediction like, with vision of restoration and the whole earth will join in worship God and God reign forever...
Coho, Midway City.
I think it is significant that when we just say "The Lord is my Shepherd..." we know the rest of the story. So it must have been to Jesus' Jewish audience when they heard him cry out the beginning of the 22nd Psalm. It was not a cry of despair but a proclamation of hope in the end, as seen in vv.19-31, an ascent from the depths of despair.
So it is that we can call this Friday Good.
B Rock
