Christ in the Old Testament

Psalm 22:2

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. (NIV‬‬)

Today’s Reading: Psalm 22

We move on to verse two of Psalm 22 today. David begins the second verse the same way he began the first verse with “My God.” As we learned yesterday, the phrase my God is used in the Psalms as an expression of trust in God to deliver or rescue. Jesus is in agony from being abandoned by God and cries out to God for action in verse one. Receiving no rescue, he begins again with a call out to God for deliverance.

He cries out by day and receives no answer. Jesus knows his task must be accomplished and he isn’t going to be rescued by God. But he cries out anyway. Throughout the day as he hangs on the cross, he cries out to God. The hours tick away and God is silent. The day turns to dusk and still no answer.

Thus Jesus finds no rest. That phrase is better translated “no stillness for me.” The pain of being crucified is compounded by the pain of being abandoned by God. Jesus cannot rest from the pain nor stop crying out. There is no stillness for him.

The third verse begins a line of remembrance of God and His position. The word “yet” is an interesting transition from Jesus crying out to a statement of praise. Other translations use the word “but.” Without the first two verses and without the “yet,” the acknowledgment that God is holy and seated on His throne would clearly be words of praise.

But Jesus is crying out for rescue and God has abandoned him. So this could be more of a bitter accusation of God in that He sits on his throne with the power to deliver him and yet does nothing. God is the one Israel praises but is it deserved if he cannot rescue His son?

This may not be the tone of Jesus. His praise is probably true praise in this moment even while being abandoned. But in my human nature, I can speculate that there could be a tone of bitterness. As a human, it reads like a bitter recognition of God’s ability to save yet He sits on His throne.

If the Psalm is about David and his need of deliverance from his pursuer Saul, then bitterness is certainly plausible. However, if Jesus is the object and Jesus is looking to God for deliverance, I don’t believe there is any bitterness at all. This is true worship from Jesus on the cross and even he will praise God as he hangs as a curse on the tree.

Today’s Prayer: Help me Lord to praise you at all times – especially the bad times – because you are holy.