Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Psalm 22
Where do we begin with Psalm 22? There is a lot to say about it. Psalm 22 is one of those obviously prophetic passages. It was written by David but clearly inspired by the Holy Spirit. By my count there are at least 17 prophetic statements in this Psalm. But the entire Psalm seems to be the words and thoughts of Jesus as he hangs on the cross.
We are going to go through this Psalm very deliberately. It may take us a week or two to get through it. I would encourage you to read the entire Psalm every day that we study it. My hope is that each day you read it that you will see something new and gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of what our Savior did for us.
We have record of Jesus saying seven things while hanging on the cross. One of those was, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matt 27:46). It was extremely difficult and painful for Jesus to breathe much less speak from the cross. I believe that Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 word for word to point his followers and us to the Psalm 22.
He didn’t have the strength to quote the entire Psalm so he just pointed us to it as if by quoting the opening line in essence he quoted the entire Psalm. The only question I have then is: was Jesus quoting Psalm 22 or was David quoting Jesus?
This opening line sets the tone for the entire Psalm. Jesus is full of anguish and despair. He is crying out to God not asking a question but expressing an accusation. For the very first and only time, Jesus was the recipient of God’s wrath and abandonment.
The phrase “my God” is found 55 times in the book of Psalms. That phrase is typically used in the psalms as an expression of trust and confidence in God’s ability to deliver. For example, Psalm 7:1 records David saying, “O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me,”
Jesus opening in anguish with “My God, my God” is a statement of trust that God can deliver him. It was also a request of God to do something – take action. Jesus was bearing the sins of the world and God had turned His back on His son. God was not going to save him and this was Jesus’ cry.
Recall from our study a few weeks ago, Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).” Jesus was being cursed and it was almost unbearable.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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