The
first 21 verses of Psalm 22 give us a powerful prophecy of the Good Shepherd
suffering for the sheep! In those verses we can clearly see the physical,
mental, emotional, and spiritual suffering of Jesus as He hung on the cross,
and during the last three hours of darkness He experience His own Father
forsaking Him as the wrath of God was poured out on Him for our sins!
The
suffering and death of Christ on the cross was as much for God as it was for
us! God is a righteous, just, and holy
God and could never forgive us of our sins simply because He loves us! There had to be a punishment, a judgment for
our sins that God could accept. And the only acceptable substitute and
sacrifice was the Perfect, unblemished Passover Lamb of God, Jesus Christ (1
Peter 1:18-19). Jesus “Himself became
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world” (1 John 2:2). Propitiation
means “in the place of”. Jesus satisfied
the wrath of God, in our place for our sins, and God’s righteousness was
satisfied.
Now
in Psalm 22:22-31, we move from suffering to glory, from prayer to praise (vv.
22, 23, 25, 26). In verses 1-21, Jesus "endured the cross," but now
He enters into "the joy that was set before him" (Heb. 12:2).
He had prayed to be delivered out of death and that prayer was answered. “Who,
in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications,
with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and
was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became
the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:7-9).
Jesus
sang a Passover hymn before He went to the cross (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26), and
according to Hebrews 2:12, the risen Christ praised God in the midst of His
people after His resurrection (see Matt. 18:20). We should note that in His
song, our Lord deals with the expanding outreach to both Jews and Gentiles through
the atoning work He finished on the cross.
According
to Hebrews 2:9-18, it was Jesus who sang praise to God before the great
assembly (vv. 22-25). For years as a part of my morning devotions I quoted
these verses from Hebrews 2:9-18 to begin my prayer time. I trust you will read
them and be as blessed by them as I have over the years!
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by
the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him,
for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For
both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for
which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: "I will
declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing
praise to You." And again: "I will put My trust in Him." And
again: "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me." Inasmuch
then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise
shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power
of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels,
but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to
be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest
in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who
are tempted.”
God
bless!
