Psalm 22, Silent and Suffering, Ignored by God

For the director of music. To [the tune of] "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David.

Presumably "Doe of the Morning" was an ancient song.

Psalm 22: 1-2, Where are you?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

Why are you so far from saving me, 

so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 

by night, and am not silent.

The Silence of God is an important problem for any serious believer.  At times God may seem very close.  But at other times God is silent and appears to be inactive.  How do I respond to this silence? It is not unique to me, for both David and Jesus (!) experienced it.

Psalm 22: 3-5, The Holy One of Israel

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; 

you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust; 

they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved; 

in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

David turns back the clock and reminds himself of past history.  This is the beginning of a response to the Silence of God. Israel was created by the Holy One, YHWH, who called them out of Egypt.

Psalm 22: 6-8, Mocked and insulted

But I am a worm and not a man, 

scorned by men and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me; 

they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

"He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. 

L:et him deliver him, since he delights in him."

But just because God worked in Abraham's life ... is there any reason for this "worm", David, to expect similar treatment?

Psalm 22: 9-11, From my mother's womb I was cast on you

Yet you brought me out of the womb; 

you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

From birth I was cast upon you; 

from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near 

and there is no one to help.

David leans on God's divine plan, a plan implemented even when David was in the womb.

Psalm 22: 12-18, The bulls of Bashan

Many bulls surround me; 

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

I am poured out like water, 

and all my bones are out of joint. 

My heart has turned to wax; 

it has melted away within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, 

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 

you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs have surrounded me; 

a band of evil men has encircled me, 

they have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones; 

people stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them 

and cast lots for my clothing.

In verse 16 ("Dogs have surrounded me... pierced my hands and feet") a number of Hebrew manuscripts, including the Septuagint and Syriac (says the NIV), end the verse with words that translate as "lion, my hands and feet."  But a slight alteration of the Hebrew word for lion turns the phrase into "[they have] pierced my hands and feet."  This seems to be a commonly acceptable translation for that verse, accepted both by Hebrew scholars Kidner and Alter.

David is in pain, surrounded by enemies.  He is physically ill, in pain, as he is humiliated, tortured, mocked.  As a number of commentators point out, this appears to be an execution.  In this passage the psalm has moved away from any historical event in David's life.  The desperation of the early verses, in which David is surrounded by enemies, is not unusual.  But this death scene is.

Psalm 22:19-22, Rescue me from these lions!

But you, O LORD, be not far off; 

O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

Deliver my life from the sword, 

my precious life from the power of the dogs.

Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; 

save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my brothers; 

in the congregation I will praise you.

Another plea for help.  Somewhere, somehow, in all this suffering, the speaker knows that God's plan is at work....  even as vicious animals surrounding this shepherd.

Psalm 22:23-31, Descendants of Jacob, Honor YHWH!

You who fear the LORD, praise him! 

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! 

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; 

he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; 

before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; 

they who seek the LORD will praise him-- 

may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, 

and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 

for dominion belongs to the LORD 

and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; 

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- 

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him; 

future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--

 for he has done it.

David's song turns to instruction.  Once again, a decision has been made and David moves forward in confidence.  Notice all the promises David slings out in his ecstasy and enthusiasm.

Of whom does David speak in verses 30 and 31?  Future generations of Jews?  Or even future unknown Gentiles (like me)?

The death scene described in verses12 through 18 does not fit a historical event in David's life and has messianic overtones and the rest of the psalm fits descriptions of a messianic figure.  The New Testament passage Matthew 27:33-50 describes the crucifixion of Jesus and there are clear allusions to this psalm.  (How many of the events described by Matthew can you find in Psalm 22?)   Indeed, in Matthew 27:46, Jesus quotes the first verse of this psalm! (Jesus quotes the psalm in the local Aramaic, not in Hebrew.)  Surely the audience at the foot of the cross understood the scripture from whence the cry came.

Other passages which record the crucifixion are: Mark 15:20-37, Luke 23:26-46 & John 19:17-30. Psalm 22 is also quoted in Hebrews 2: 10-12.

A major challenge to Christianity is the Problem of Evil.  How could a powerful loving God allow suffering, pain? How can Jesus be defeated by death?  How can Jews be destroyed by Hitler and other clearly evil enemies.  There is not an easy answer to this problem.  But the psalms, especially this psalm, claim that God is at work but that the actions of God are slow and deeper, more complicated than we can know -- that God is not human and we cannot make God follow our wishes or meet our demands.

At this point the crucifixion and the resurrection become important.  On the cross, God is completely defeated and ... Jesus quotes this psalm!  How could God be killed?  How could there be any victory in this?  Yet, at the end of this psalm, in the resolution, we hear "all the ends of the earth will ... turn to the Lord.  This includes those who go down to the dust (to the grave) before Him.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis has Aslan call this plan "deep magic".  Believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus requires believing that there is a longterm (indeed infinite) plan far beyond the suffering described in the psalms.  We are only given hints of this plan, by a Being who is not human and does not bow to our demands ... but appears willing to listen to our pleas.