Trust The Lord And Look To The Savior When Darkness Envelopes You (Psalm 22)
Horrible difficulties arise in this life. And there are times when the hardship just seems as if it will never go away. In fact, it feels as if the more we pray the more things get worse. And this can send us into a place of deep and dark despair.
Psalm 22 goes into that place.
But that is not the only place that Psalm 22 goes. Psalm 22 not only dives into incredible hardship and sorrow, but it also reveals that Jesus went into that hardship and sorrow for the redemption of His people.
It will be difficult to discuss both. I imagine there are much more talented preachers than myself out there that could handle the task much better, but this text speaks so much of Christ that many ancient believers thought that it was Christ who was speaking this and not David at all. And I get it. As G. Campbell Morgan wrote,
“Whatever may have been the local conditions creating this psalm, it has become so perfectly and properly associated with the One Son of God, that it is almost impossible to read it in any other way.”[1] (G. Campbell Morgan)
But I believe that we miss something if we only speak of the sacrifice of Christ in this text. I am certain that the sacrifice of Christ is the most glorious message that this text will preach, but we should also see in this text our response to suffering.
And I believe seeing both our suffering and Christ’s suffering in this text is of massive benefit to us. It strengthens our hearts before the Lord in our time of trial. When we are amid despair we trust the Lord. When all seems lost, we trust the Lord. And when we begin to think that God has forgotten about us, we realize that Christ willingly entered into suffering to bring us to God.
Trust the Lord and look to the Savior as suffering and hardship seem to envelope you.
In this Psalm, David is really suffering. Many people date this to the period of tremendous tribulation at the hands of Saul. And what we will notice in the text today is that what David spoke in hyperbole to describe his great sorry, Jesus suffered fully on the cross as He paid for our sins. God who called David to be king, also rules and controls history. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit David spoke things that both described his turmoil and the suffering of our Savior.
And so, as we discuss this text today be pulled in both directions. Look inward and think about the great turmoil that you have faced or are facing at this moment. And let your response be to trust the Lord look to the Savior.
God, I Know You’re there, And For Me, But It Feels Like You’re Not (Psalm 22:1-18)
This psalm opens with an incredible amount of turmoil. David feels forsaken of God, but notice what the first thing he did was. He took his plea to God. This entire psalm, even the deep feeling of abandonment is addressed to the Lord.
Even though he goes to the Lord, notice how deep his sorrow is. God is exalted and praised because He has responded in the past to others (Psalm 22:3). God had responded to the “fathers” Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and even others such as Joshua, and Gideon (Psalm 22:4-5). And he is there not getting an answer. God was close to them and is far off to him.
David is humbled, scorned, despised, mocked, and all of this is probably because of his trust in the Lord. That trust in the Lord has led him to this place (Psalm 22:6-8). And he feels abandoned by God.
David had been with the Lord from the beginning and still the Lord feels far from him. From the womb he has been with the Lord, and still he feels far from the Lord (Psalm 22:9-11). And now he feels as if he is facing a multitude of troubles alone (Psalm 22:12-13).
The troubles that David is facing are very intense. He is facing a mighty army with mighty foes that are seeking his destruction (Psalm 22:13). And from the feeling of this text, he felt as if they would undo him.
David has been facing these troubles, seemingly alone. These people are seeking his destruction and it has made him incredibly weak (Psalm 22:14-15). He is weak, distraught, dehydrated, and feels as if he is dying all while he is surrounded by rabid enemies (Psalm 22:16). And it has all left him feeling stretched out, thin, and he is being mocked for his condition (Psalm 22:17). His enemies believe they will have the victory over him and are already trying to divide up his stuff before he is even dead (Psalm 22:18).
There are times in the Christian life where we feel abandoned by God. Sometimes, pray as we might God doesn’t give us the answer that we want, and it just seems like He is not listening.
In those times there exists in the Christian what some have called, “Spiritual Depression”. The Puritans called it “The Dark Night of the Soul”.
R.C. Sproul describes it this way,
“The dark night of the soul. This phenomenon describes a malady that the greatest of Christians have suffered from time to time. It was the malady that provoked David to soak his pillow with tears. It was the malady that earned for Jeremiah the sobriquet, “The Weeping Prophet.” It was the malady that so afflicted Martin Luther that his melancholy threatened to destroy him. This is no ordinary fit of depression, but it is a depression that is linked to a crisis of faith, a crisis that comes when one senses the absence of God or gives rise to a feeling of abandonment by Him.”[2]
Christians can feel this sense of abandonment in their life. Things can become completely overwhelming, and the feeling of God’s absence leads us to feel abandoned by God.
One of the beautiful things about the psalms is that it oftentimes gives us a clear understanding and expression of the experiences we have in this life. There are times when it feels like the darkness will not lift, but like David, our response should be to go to the Lord.
David had not abandoned all hope. He went to the Lord with all of his despair. Charles Spurgeon put it this way,
“While the living God can be spoken of as the life of our salvation, our hope will not quite expire.”[3] – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
And G. Campbell Morgan states something similar when he said,
“While the sense of God abides, darkness has not triumphed.”[4] – G. Campbell Morgan
This is an experience that sometimes happens in the Christian life. Christians can have depression. Christians will sometimes feel abandoned by God. But the Christian will continue to go to the Lord because somehow, we understand that all is not lost and the Lord is for us even when everything within us seems to scream to the contrary.
Lord, Come and Rescue Me (Psalm 22:19-21)
You can see a turnaround in David’s attitude here. Though he is still in the depths of pain, he is now pleading with the Lord to draw near to him and rescue him. The darkness is still there, but it seems as if the light is shining, and he seeks the Lord for rescue.
His plea to the Lord is quite simple. He asks for the Lord to come near. You know he desperately wants the Lord to bring him comfort and be near to him. And he asks the Lord for rescue and salvation from all who would do him harm.
I have seen this turnaround in my own life. And I think other people have likely seen this as well.
The darkness that has hovered over us for so long begins to give way. In my experience, I’m not sure why when it happens. But the Lord begins to let a little of the light peer through the clouds and we once again begin to call out to the Lord for help.
And our confidence rises.
Lord, I Know You Will Rescue (Psalm 22:22-31)
As we look at the end of this passage, we see another shift in attitude. David now rises in confidence before the Lord.
David now knows that there is coming a day of rejoicing for the victory that God has done (Psalm 22:22-31). He probably already knew this, but now he is mastered by this idea. Now, rather than feeling abandoned he knows that God hears and will deliver (Psalm 22:24). Even before God delivered him, he began making plans to fulfill every vow he made to the Lord (Psalm 22:25).
David is fully absorbed in the thought that there is coming a day when God’s people will be satisfied with all that happened on this Earth (Psalm 22:26). No matter the circumstances, there is coming a day when God’s people will see and be satisfied. When all was lost to Job and his friends were telling him that he had done something to deserve his miserable state, what was Job’s response?
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27 ESV)
There is coming a day when God’s people will see the Lord and be satisfied. And on that day, Jesus will reign forever.
“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)
And this kingship will not be over a few people, it will encompass the world. The most powerful and wealthy of people on the Earth will bow to Him (Psalm 22:29). Everyone will serve the Lord (Psalm 22:30). The good news of Christ’s reign will fly forth from His people to the world (Psalm 22:31).
David has gone from a sense of deep abandonment to an unwavering confidence in the Lord. It may have taken a while but he eventually understood that the Lord would work all things together for the good of His people. And eventually we must get to the point where we believe and understand Romans 8:28 is true for us. And that all things will be right in the end. God is for us, He loves us, He cares for us, and all things are working together for our good.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 ESV)
And as good as this is, it is not the end of the story. This is not the final word on the matter that we have concerning suffering.
Look To Christ’s Sufferings Amid Your Very Own (Psalm 22)
Our Lord and Savior suffered on this Earth (Hebrews 2:18). And when Jesus suffered on the cross He called us to this psalm.
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Matthew 27:46 ESV)
The psalms did not have numbers until rather recently in history. The psalms did have titles though. And the title of Psalm 22 was, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
But why would Jesus call our attention to this text?
Jesus called our attention to this text because it is ultimately about His suffering.
God the Son willingly suffered for us. He willingly suffered on our behalf. God the Son chose the enormous suffering described in this text for us. He took on human flesh and dwelt among us and lived a perfect life. He fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of people. And then willingly went to the cross. He willingly underwent excruciating physical torment and mental anguish for the salvation of His people.
God the Son had always been one with the Father, and for this moment in history he felt abandoned. He was fully God and fully man. And since He was fully man on the cross, He felt the full weight of this mental agony on the cross. Now, there was no answer (Psalm 22:2). He suffered on the cross paying the full punishment for sin and seemed to be the only person in history that was not rescued (Psalm 22:3-5). God the Son was humiliated on the cross, credited with our sin, stripped naked and nailed the cross (Psalm 22:6). He was mocked, beaten, and scorned (Psalm 22:7-8, Matthew 27:43).
God the Son was always with God, and He was born of a virgin for the salvation of His people, but now felt completely alone (Psalm 22:9-11). He felt alone while surrounded by soldiers who mocked Him (Psalm 22:12-13). He was weak while hanging on the cross with His bones out of joint, from the pressure of hanging there (Psalm 22:14). And, what David described as his heart feeling “like wax” and “melted within my breast” could very likely be both Jesus’s sorrow and His heart failing (Psalm 22:14 ESV). Heart failure is the most likely cause of death for a person hanging on the cross, possibly asphyxiation. Either way, it would likely describe both Jesus’s physical and emotional turmoil while hanging on the cross. He was also dehydrated and weak, which is why Jesus said “I thirst” from the cross (Psalm 22:15, John 19:28). And Jesus was encompassed by Gentiles, which were oftentimes called “dogs” by Jews all while He continued to undergo tremendous suffering. These would have been Roman soldiers who beat Him, mocked Him, scourged Him, forced Him to carry His cross, and stretched Him out and nailed Him to the cross (Psalm 22:16-17). He was dehydrated and I’m sure one could count His bones as He was stretched out there on the cross (Psalm 22:17). And as He was suffering and dying on that cross, His garments were divided by lots (Psalm 22:18, Matthew 27:35).
But this was not the end for Jesus. After undergoing this incredible torment for sin, He rose from the grave. Jesus was rescued from the grave (Psalm 22:21, 24). And He will reign eternally and rule over all people (Psalm 22:27-31).
As Christians, on this side of the crucifixion, we have another thing to consider and to rest our hope in.
We suffer in this life and go through intense darkness. And so did our Savior. He willingly underwent this devastating torment for my salvation. That is my great hope. When all seems lost, Christ suffered so that I could be with Him. He has saved me through His suffering.
Conclusion
We will face trials and hardships in this life. We may also face deep, dark depression and feel abandoned by God. In that day and in that time, trust the Lord and look to the Savior. When all feels lost we keep looking to Him. When we feel completely abandoned, we still take our plea to Him even if the best we can muster is “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” There will be some days when your cry out to God sounds a lot like, “Why would you allow this to happen to us?” But at some point, faith has the victory and we understand that God is working all things for our good. And we look to the Savior and see His tremendous sufferings. We see all that He did for us to bring us into fellowship with God forever. And our sorrow is turned to confidence. Our mourning is turned to worship and proclamation of the glory and goodness of God.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] G. Campbell Morgan, Notes On The Psalms, Fleming H. Revell Company, p. 47
[2] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/dark-night-soul
[3] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David Volume II, from his notes on Psalm 88.
[4] G. Campbell Morgan, Notes on the Psalms, from his notes on Psalm 88.