"Resurrection in the Crucifixion Psalm"

MyBethanyBible

Psalm 22:19-31: But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!  Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.  Save Me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!  You have answered Me.  I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.  You who fear the Lord, praise Him!  All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!  For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him, He heard.  My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.  The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the Lord.  Let your heart live forever!  All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations  shall worship before You.  for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations.  All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive.  A posterity shall serve Him.  It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this.

 

Prayer for resurrection from the dead (vv. 19-21; Hebrews 5:7).  Jesus did not pray to be delivered from death, because He came to earth to die.  He prayed to be delivered out of death; that is, He prayed for the resurrection.  The Father answered that prayer and raised Him from the dead on the third day.  The phrase “my darling” in verse 20 means “my only one,” that is,  “my precious life.”  The word “unicorns” in the King James in verse 21 should read “wild oxen”  I have seen them on the way to the Dead Sea.  The are now called “ibex”  and sideways it looks like they have one horn.  The funny thing was that I was talking about this as we were descending at about 1000 feet below sea level.  My blood pressure had collapsed, because of the loss of altitude, and I was literally gasping for air.  I did recover. 

 

    

A.  The Savior and His Church (22:22, 25)  The last part of this Psalm emphasizes praise, while the first section emphasized prayer.  The purpose of prayer is accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory.  and in praise we give God glory.  So they are both accomplishing the same thing. 

1.    Joy as Christ comes forth in power from the grave to the church—the congregation (v. 22).  There is no more talk about bulls, lions, dogs, and wild oxen, now he is in fellowship with His brethren. 

2.    The vow that is paid is the peace offering (v. 25-there is a sharing with others of the meat)

 

                 B.   The Savior and the Children of Israel (22:23-25)

Jesus death was also for the nation of Israel, which will one day recognize their Messiah.  Jesus died, not only for the church and to save individuals, but He also died for the people of Israel.  Today the children of Israel sit in darkness, but one day they shall see their Messiah, believe, and be saved.  Then the nation will join in praising the Lord for what He has done for them. The people of Israel have suffered greatly in this world—more than any other nation, but their suffering has not gone unnoticed by God.  He will accomplish His divine purposes on the basis of what Jesus did on Calvary.   In verse 25, the paying of vows refers to the OT peace offering described in Leviticus 16. As a part of the ceremony, the worshiper invited family and friends to share in a meal at which they ate some of the meat of the sacrifice. Since the Jews did not often get to eat roasted meat, this was a time of joyful feasting. 

 

C.   The Savior and the World (22:26-31)

People from all nations will seek Him, turn to Him, worship and bow down before Him.  “A seed shall serve Him” refers to His spiritual family.  During Jackson’s administration a man named George Wilson was convicted of robbing the US mail and was sentenced to be hanged.  Jackson granted him a pardon, but Wilson refused to accept it.  This went to Chief Justice Marshall, who concluded:  A pardon is a slip of paer, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned.  If it is refused, it is no pardon.  George Wilson must be hanged.