Psalm chapter 22. Now, this is one of the most important psalms in the book of Psalms if you go by the number of references in the New Testament to it. So some of the most important and crucial references in all the New Testament to the Old Testament are in Psalm 22. But Psalm 22 is not a psalm that many Christians are familiar with. We're very familiar with its, you could say, more popular cousin, Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. And as we read, you're gonna find out why it's perhaps less popular. Starts very differently. But I have lived in Psalm 22 in some periods of my life, and it has brought incredible encouragement to me, and my hope and prayer is it will do the same for you. So as we read, we're gonna read the entirety of Psalm 22, and I want you to pick up on the very, very different shift from verse 21 to verse 22. Verses 1 through 21 have a particular tone, and then verses 22 and onward have a different tone. And as we read, let's remember this is God's word.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from from the words of my groaning? Oh, my God. I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted, they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued. In you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man. Scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me, they wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord, Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth and from my mother's womb, and you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay me in the dust. Death for dogs encompass me. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off. O you, my help. Come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life, from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you, you who fear the Lord. Praise him all you offspring of Jacob. Glorify him and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel. For he has not despised or aboard the affliction of the afflicted. And he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard from when we cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation. My vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. And the families of the nation shall worship before you. My for kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship. Before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him. It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn that he has done it. This is God's word.
Lord, I pray your blessing over the preaching and the hearing of your word today. Amen.
Well, a few years ago, I joined a club that I never wanted to join, the chronic pain club. Is anybody currently in the chronic pain club? You're feeling it. You've got a chronic pain issue. Yeah. Come on. This is for you. At different times of my life when I. During this particular two year period, I had chronic back pain. Back pain so intense I could not walk without pain, I could not sit down without pain, and I could not lie down without pain. And all the people's advice to me was a variation of those. Have you tried walking? Yep. Have you tried lying down? I have. Have you tried sitting also? Yes. Right. It's just you trying to be helpful, but yes, everything hurts. If you're in the chronic pain club, you know these numbers. My pain ranged from a 4 to an 8 throughout the day.
And you realize when you join the chronic pain club that you Drop out of the normal people's club, and you are suddenly in, like, another world from them. You start to realize, man, these people, they're just walking around like nothing, just walking back and forth. Look at that. Oh, look, they're sitting down. They just look relaxed. That's great. How was your night of sleep? Nice? Oh, wonderful. You know, like, you realize I'm in a different world now. And I found. However, other people were in the chronic pain club with me, and I found them, for example, at the pain specialist office. It's not a real lively crowd at the pain specialist office. Not a lot of high fives, not a lot of merry Christmases. And I found people at church and in my normal everyday life, people would. Would hear what I was going through and talk about their experience, which was strangely encouraging to know that, okay, there are other people here with me.
And I was there for a real specific period of two years. And I have had a variety since then of other. Of that and other issues that have landed me at various times in the chronic pain club. Now here's the reality. Sooner or later, you too will join the. The chronic pain club. I've got it on good reports from brothers and sisters in their 70s, 80s, and 90s that they are all eventually in the chronic pain club. Now, it may be physical for you, but also the chronic pain club can include the department of mental pain. Right? Your brain cannot work the way it's supposed to. You could be dealing with a severe mental disorder or anxiety disorder or. Or at severe depression. You can be dealing with relational pain, which many times is worse. You'd rather trade the relational pain for physical pain any day if you've been there. Or maybe even spiritual pain, where you just. You wanna be close to God, but you just don't feel the closeness. And you're struggling and crying out. And here's the reality. When we read Psalm 22, we have to remember, you have been in the chronic pain club, you are in the chronic pain club, or you will be in the chronic pain club.
6 · Frames the entire sermon by identifying Psalm 22's central question and acknowledging why Christians avoid this text in favor of Psalm 23
And so Psalm 22 is a Psalm for people in the chronic pain club by someone in the club. This is an emotional psalm, a raw psalm, a psalm of anguish, and probably from verse one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You realized, yeah, I see why this is not as popular as Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And you're like, you see Psalm 22. My God, why have you forsaken me? You're like, skip over that one. Let's get to the shepherd part right in your Bible. I know you've done that in your Bible reading plans, but Psalm 22 asks and answers one of the most important questions we can ask and answer in life. And here is the question, what do we do when we land in a place of pain?
7 · States the sermon's controlling thesis in propositional form
And the answer is simple, deceptively simple, but we're going to unpack it. The answer is this. Remember that God will not forsake those who feel forsaken. What do you need when you're in the pain club? You need this, a reminder that God will not forsake those who feel forsaken. Forsaken.
8 · Signals the sermon's methodology—panoramic overview rather than verse-by-verse exegesis—and uses spatial metaphor to help the congregation visualize the approach
So let's begin in section one. Now, I'm going to warn you up front. We're not going to take every twist and turn of the road in Psalm 22 for the sake of time. Instead, what we're going to kind of do is walk up onto a mountain where you can see the path of Psalm 22, and I'll point out some twists and turns and patterns, because sooner or later we're all going to be on that path.
9 · Expositional survey of Psalm 22's opening section, cataloging the types of suffering David describes: mental anguish, social mockery, and mortal threat
So the first section is this, the experience of feeling forsaken. Now, this psalm uses some of the most brutal and honest language in the Bible to describe pain. Look at just some of this language. He's in mental anguish in verse two, where he says, I find no rest. Maybe you've been there. Maybe it's physical pain or emotional pain or spiritual pain. Just for whatever reason, you can't even rest because you're in such anguish. That's where he is. Look at verse seven. He's being mocked and chided. It says, all who see me mock me. That's not great. The thing you want when you're in the chronic pain club are receptive, helpful people around you. What you don't want is people mocking you when you're there. But man, that does happen, doesn't it? The circumstance, which we don't know, for David is some circumstance in his life where people are mocking, chiding, being angry at him, no sympathy. And he's under threat of his life, which comes through a number of times in the psalm. People are raging against him like roaring lions. He references the sword, so somebody somewhere is out to kill him, as was often the case in David's life.
10 · Analyzes the psalm's metaphorical language, distinguishing between clinical description of pain (the 'number') and lived experience (the 'feeling')
Now, that's the reality of what's happening. But notice that sometimes you can give a number to your pain on the pain scale, but it feels real different to live inside that number. Doesn't it? Like, have you ever felt like that? Like, what's your pain at? It's a seven. And they're like, okay. They just nodded. And then you just go, no, I don't think you understand. It really hurts, man. And this is what the psalm does. It helps us understand the feeling using these vivid metaphors of what it feels like to be in the pain club. Look at this language. He says things like, I am poured out like water, meaning I've got. I've got nothing left. He says, all my bones are out of joint, meaning the feeling I get from life is that every single part of me is not where it's supposed to be. He says, my heart is like wax, meaning my emotions, the seed of my affections. It just feels like it's melting. My strength is dried up. Just that feel like all the moisture and life and vitality been sucked out of him. I can count all my bones. This is language of, you're so emaciated, you look down, you can see all your rib cage and everything else.
11 · Addresses a major objection: that honest expression of suffering contradicts what some have been taught about Christian experience
Now, let me ask you a question. Are you perhaps surprised to see this kind of honest, brutally honest talk in the Bible? Now, this is surprising at times because some Christians have grown up in a sort of every day is a Friday kind of pop psychology Christian light, right? Where you're like, you've been taught every day is supposed to be a Friday if you're a Christian. And Psalm 22 is like, Nope, not every day doesn't seem like a Friday in Psalm 22, right? And so some Christians struggle, and they're going, well, maybe I'm not a Christian. Maybe Christianity is wrong, or maybe I'm on. I'm not doing this right if I'm in pain. But it's right there. It's in the Bible. It is biblical.
12 · Develops the ecclesiological dimension of lament by imagining the original corporate worship setting
And in fact, it's so biblical. Remember, Psalm 22 is a song that the whole gathered congregation of God's people would sing together. Meaning it's a. It's a common enough experience that in every. Any given, you know, Sabbath day, you'd have people singing it. And some people are singing it with tears in their eyes. And some people singing it thinking, I've been there, and then other people thinking it's coming, right? And they're singing this out. All my bones are out of joint. My heart's like wax, you know, just. It's not a real. Can you imagine you come into cross of Grace, and John Vogan's just. Just talking about, you know, the bulls of Bashan are around me I'm gonna get run down. Like, you're just like, man, I'm gonna go get a coffee and come back and see what it's like in a. But the point is this. It's meant to be honest. And it's not meant to be hidden. It's meant to be. It's meant to be in the people of God. It's meant to be a thing that is obvious and honest. Right?
13 · Direct application challenging the congregation's habitual dishonesty about their suffering, both in prayer and in community
And here's my question. Are you as honest with God and others as the psalmist is in Psalm 22? Because at times what can happen is we refuse to be honest about what's actually going on in life. You know, people see you, other Christian friends even, and they're like, how you doing? Like, yeah, great. But inwardly you're like, uh, you know, dying. Are you as honest with God and others? Now, sure, some people can be drama queens or kings, but I think the. The more common problem is that Christians suffer in silence. They never go to the Lord. They never go to others. And let me just say this clearly from Psalm 22, that's unbiblical to just try to go, I'm just going to bottle this. I'm just not going to talk about it. That's not biblical.
14 · Tracks the pattern of repeated crying out across Psalm 22, emphasizing that prayer is not a one-time act but sustained engagement
Second section, that the cry when feeling forsaken. So what does the psalmist do when he finds himself in the pain club? He. Well, he starts in verse one with a very clear response. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh, my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find no rest. What does he do? He pours out his pain in prayer to the Lord. He cries out to God, and he continues to cry out throughout the psalm. Look at verse 11. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Or 19. But you, Lord, be not far off. So can you hear what's happening as we overhear the psalmist? Can you hear what he's doing? He is doing something profound. He is bringing his experience and his hurts to God. Don't move too quickly past that. He is bringing an honest and raw account of how he is doing and what his life is like to the Lord in prayer.
15 · Addresses the false belief that being 'a mess' disqualifies someone from prayer, using the psalm's own practice to refute it
And sometimes I think Christians are going like, man, I'm going through really hard times. I don't want to go to the Lord. I'm a mess. My life is a mess. This is all a mess. No, that's exactly what Psalm 22 does. Psalm 22 has us bring these things to the Lord. And notice this, the psalmist continues to bring these things to the Lord. He continues to relate to God in prayer. He continues to cry out for deliverance over and over and over again. He stays in this place of prayer as he's going through difficulty.
16 · Personal narrative about his five-year-old's insistence on continued prayer models childlike faith that refuses to give up before God answers
Now, this last week, my 5 year old had a tummy ache. Now, if you have, you know, kids that are young, sometimes, you know, tummy aches are just, I don't want to go to bed, you know, and sometimes it's like, oh, you ate too much ice cream or whatever. So it wasn't. We knew it wasn't a big deal. But he asked us at bedtime to pray with his brothers for his tummy ache. So we prayed for his tummy ache. So I took him to his bedroom and as he's getting in his bed, he goes, dad, don't stop praying until it goes away. I was like, the tummy ache. And he. And he's like, yeah. And he could just tell, I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting there. So come on, bud, you could be praying, dad, let's go. Let's get the prayers going right. And I loved. And I was trying to get inside of his head and realize, oh, in his childlike faith, he was, it's funny, this was his kid logic, why would you stop praying before he answers? Just keep praying.
17 · Draws the theological principle from the illustration: persistent prayer until deliverance comes, not transactional 'drop-off' prayer
And of course. So I was like, okay, I'll pray again for you, buddy, you know, and we'll trust the Lord. And I realized, oh, my goodness, he's actually. His childlike faith is actually saying something profound that is echoed in Psalm 22. In Psalm 22, David does not stop praying until it stops hurting. I think for too many of us, we're like, well, I threw a prayer up and I didn't hear anything back. Well, have you continued in prayer, meaning in difficulty? We're meant to move into a place of prayer. Prayer is not a thing that we kind of walk in, drop off a prayer request and walk out of. But the psalmist sets up shop, in a sense in the area of prayer. And he continues to make his petitions to the Lord.
18 · Series of diagnostic questions pressing the congregation to examine the quality and persistence of their prayer life in suffering
And so just ask yourself this question. How is your prayer life when you end up in the pain club? Is it sporadic? Is it dropping off an order? Is it perhaps even being frustrated that God hasn't immediately responded to your request so you get mad and move away? Or do you. You like the psalmist? Do you do what we are going to see him do? Do you wrestle do you engage with God? Do you pray? Do you cry out? Are you honest? Do you remember things? Do you hurt with God? Do you rejoice with God? Do you continue in that pace of prayer until it goes away?
19 · Two applications: first, that lifelong prayer is the goal, not a burden; second, that the congregation must become a safe place for honest sharing of pain
And you might think, okay, well, but that might be forever. That's probably good, right? You just think, well, I might. I might just be praying all the way to heaven. Exactly right? That's. In this life, we're meant to allow the places of pain in our lives in some. Some senses, to be a helpful reminder to live our lives in a place of prayer. And here's the other just side application here. Remember, this is a corporate psalm. Remember that this is being sung. David is sharing this to be sung. And people are singing this like they mean it with tears in their eyes. And the rest of the congregation is there and to see and receive and minister to these people. This psalm models bringing pain to God and others. And so we want to, as a congregation, be a place that is safe for people to pour their hearts out to say, I'm actually not doing well this week. I actually could use prayer today. And the rest of us not move away from those people. If you ever notice that, like, sometimes when you're at the mall or whatever, somebody gets hurt, you have a handful of people that like, go and see what's going on, but you got way more people that are like, whoop, nope, I gotta go another store. I just remembered, you know, somebody's. Something weird's going on. Nope. Yep, that person not gonna go over there. That's sometimes what happens in life, but it should not be what happens in the church. As we as people open up their hearts and lives, we should go, okay, let's get to them. Let's walk with them.
20 · Structural transition marking the move from the psalm's first pattern (crying out) to its second pattern (remembering truth)
So we cry out, we experience forsakeness in some part. We cry out when we're feeling forsaken. Third, the reality when feeling forsaken. We need to remember the reality when feeling forsaken.
21 · Identifies the crucial structural pattern of Psalm 22—the oscillation between honest lament and active remembrance, marked by the repeated 'yet' construction
Now, notice this. This is so, so, so key, okay? The psalmist not only cries out in anguish over the experience of being forsaken, he then fights to remember what is true when he is forsaken. There was a back and forth in the text. If you, if you picked it up, there's this kind of back and forth. The psalmist cries out, and he says, yet you, God, are this, but I feel this. Yet I remember this about you, but I am experiencing this. Yet I remember you have acted this way in the past. Right? You see that back and forth, that back and forth is what this psalm models.
22 · Frames the psalm's dual movement as the avoidance of two opposite errors: suppressing feelings entirely vs
And this guards us from two really unhealthy extremes when it comes to the pain club. The first extreme is that when we're in pain, we never acknowledge our feelings. We never acknowledge our experiences. We bottle them, we bury them. We just never talk about it, Right? Which, you know, you can. If you've ever been in, like, a small group or a context where it is obvious someone has a prayer request, but they refuse to say it, right? You're like, so, you know, our discussion today's brought up some things, and you got somebody in the corner going, yes, it has. You know, so would anyone like prayer? And that person just goes, nope, it's all fine. Praise the Lord. You know, you're like, are you sure there's no one in the group that would like prayer for any reason? No. Good. All good here. You know, that's not healthy. That's what Psalm 22 helps us see. Not healthy. But neither is it healthy. Okay, hear me. To then go and be pouring out your heart, your emotions, your anguish, and leaving it all there unchecked, unadjusted, and. And. And essentially being passive in the sea of your emotions. So again, not good to not share where you're at. But two, not healthy either to live there in that swirl of anguish and emotions.
23 · Demonstrates the first mode of active remembrance—looking back at the corporate history of God's faithfulness to His people
What the psalmist does is he says, no, I'm going to be utterly honest with God and with others. But then I'm gonna fight. I'm gonna fight to remember what I need to remember. When I'm in the place of pain, I'm gonna fight to remember. And we're gonna see this who God is, who he has been. When I'm in the place of pain and it doesn't feel like I can see it clearly. Look at. Look at verse three. He cries out, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then immediately, almost, he. He calls to mind something in verse three. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you, our fathers trusted, they trusted, and you delivered them to you. They cried and were rescued. In you, they trusted and were not put to shame. Are you seeing the pattern? They trusted you. You didn't put them to shame. They trusted you and you answered them, and they trusted you and you came through. They trusted you and you were faithful. Do you see what he's saying? He's saying, this is what I'm feeling. This is what I'm experiencing. I feel forsaken. Yet I'm gonna remember something. I'm gonna look back on the long history of God's people. And remember all of the times in these many stories that God's people trusted and God delivered.
24 · Unpacks the implicit biblical-theological move by cataloging specific redemptive-historical moments (Abraham, Exodus, Conquest, Exile, Ruth) that would have been in David's mind
Think that over this. This cascade of stories would come down into their hearts. Abraham trusting God and God delivering him. The people of Egypt trusting God and God making a way through the Red Sea. The people of Israel in the promised land and God conquering their enemies, them getting invaded, and then God delivered. And David trusting and God delivering, like, over and over. Ruth, right? This. This foreign woman trusts God and God rescues and saves her over and over and over again. Why is the psalm doing this? Because it's not two different stories. It's not as though the people of God have one story and I have another story. What the psalmist is saying is it's the same story. They trusted, they were delivered. I will trust and I will be delivered, right? That's what he's fighting to remember in the moment.
25 · Applies the biblical-theological principle by pressing the congregation to read redemptive history as their own story
So, friend, in the midst of pain, do you look back at others in the pain club to see how God has dealt with them, how God has rescued them? Your God, brother or sister, your God is the God of Egypt, right? When you read the story of God bringing his people out of Egypt, it's not as though, well, good for them, no, good for us, right? When God brings his people into the promised land after many years in the wilderness, you're not thinking, well, it must be nice for them. No, you're thinking, that's. That's my story too. We think Ruth being provided for, even as a foreigner, you should think that's my story too. Remember, friends, he's the same God. He's the God of Ruth, the God of Exodus, the God of David, the God of. Of his victory over Goliath. Over and over, these are the reminders.
26 · Identifies the second mode of active remembrance—personal history of God's providence from conception onward
And not only that, but there's a second place of memory that David goes. In verses 9 and 10, look at this. He says, yet you. So again, that pattern. Yet you are he who took me from the womb on you. I was cast from birth. You have been my God. So what's he doing there? He's not looking back at ancient history anymore. He's looking much closer. He's looking at his own life. He's looking at the very beginning of his life, reminding himself that, you know what. This God that I'm worried about, whether he cares about me because I feel forsaken. I'm gonna remember. He's the one that sparked my existence into being. He's the one that sustained me. He's. He's the One that brought me into this world. He's the one that's keeping the breath in my lungs and the beat in my heart. So if I'm wondering, well, is God faithful? Just look at yourself. Are you breathing? Is your heart beating? Yes. He's gotten you to this point. He will continue to be faithful to you.
27 · Diagnoses the spiritual amnesia that suffering produces—the goldfish metaphor captures how pain erases memory of past faithfulness
So, brother and sister, do you remember, in the midst of pain, God's goodness in your own life? I don't know if you've experienced this, but sometimes it's really easy when things are going well for you to tell all the stories of God's faithfulness and goodness in your life. You know, you meet a new couple, and you're like, oh, man. Yeah. The Lord brought us through this amazing, difficult thing in our marriage, but it was amazing. God rescued us. Or were we restrained from this person? But God brought reconciliation or God broke this addiction I had. And all of a sudden, when you land in the pain club, you're like, I don't remember any of that. You become like a goldfish. You know how goldfish have, like, you know, notoriously short memories? They can't remember what they did yesterday or last hour or whatever. That's what happens to us in the pain club. And it's very true, because chronic pain has that effect on you. It makes you forget.
28 · Personal testimony illustrating the totalizing effect of chronic pain on memory
Last week. You know, I remember one time a physical therapist was like, well, just remember, you know, you haven't always been in pain, and we're gonna get you back to that state of not being in pain. And I just told him, I don't remember not being in pain. All I remember is being in pain. And they're like, well, you weren't always in pain. I mean, you ran around as a kid. And I was like, I don't remember running around as a kid. I don't remember sleeping. I don't remember anything. I just remember this right now. Right? That's what happens to us in the pain club.
29 · Synthesizes the two modes of remembrance (corporate history and personal history) as the psalm's answer to spiritual amnesia
And so do you see what the psalmist is doing? He's saying, no, no, no, no. I'm not gonna be a goldfish. I'm gonna be honest about what I'm feeling and experiencing, But I am gonna fight to remember. I'm gonna remember, first of all, that these stories are my story. And every time I read about God rescuing somebody, I'm gonna put myself into that story, and I'm gonna remember my own life and the places of God's goodness and rescue in my own life. I'm gonna fight to remember. So, brother and sister, if you're there in the place of pain, pour out your heart, be honest with the Lord. But then fight, Fight to remember who he has been for his people and for all. Right, section four.
30 · Brief structural marker signaling the shift from the psalm's middle section (remembering) to its climactic movement (rejoicing)
Then the answer when feeling forsaken.
31 · Sets up the psalm's most crucial exegetical observation: the dramatic tonal shift from lament to praise occurs without any change in external circumstances
So the psalmist fights to remember, but then he receives an answer that comes from a surprising place. Now I want you to look really briefly at the transition between verses 21 and 22. So you could say verses 1 through 21 have a particular tone of anguish and lament. Crying out for Mercy in verses 22 and onward have a particular tone of rejoicing. So I want us to see, okay, what is the crucial difference between these two sections? So look at verse 21. Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you, you who fear the Lord. Praise him. Okay, so this is where I spent a bunch of time this week trying to look at. Okay, what's the difference here? What in his circumstances changes from verse 21 to verse 22. Are we meant to read into there? That. Okay, that was his lament. And then like six months later, when God rescued him, he wrote the rest of the psalm. What was it that materially changed in his circumstances from verses 21 to 22? And after a bunch of study, do you know what my conclusion is? Nothing changed.
32 · Identifies the internal shift that produces praise: apprehending the truth of God's immutability
The people who mocked him still mocking the people angry at him, trying to take his life, still there. The anguish he's in, experientially probably still there. So then you're going, what changed? How did we get from verses 21 to verse 22? Well, notice what David is doing in verses one through 21. He's reminding himself of three crucial things. Number one, God, you have rescued your people. Number two, God, you are a rescuer. And number three, God, you have not changed and therefore will rescue me. What changed was not his circumstances, but him grabbing hold of a truth about who God is. This is David's conclusion after reviewing his history, after pouring his heart out, after seeing God's faithfulness in his life. This is David's conclusion. Who God has been is who he will be. You hear that? Who God has been is who he will be. Therefore he can rejoice today.
33 · Direct pastoral confrontation of the congregation's tendency to defer praise until deliverance
He's not waiting so. So often I think we're waiting like I've done this. I thought, man, when God takes away this pain, I am going to praise him so much want to be so praiseful, you know, once these These headaches go away. This back pain goes away. This difficult emotional situation goes away. I just can't wait to praise the Lord after he does this. And Psalm 22. David's over here going, what are you waiting for? Nothing changed for me. And yet this overflow of Praise in verses 20 through 30 just flows out. Why? Because David apprehends the truth that God will be who he has been. Who God has been, he will be.
34 · Extended analogy comparing trust in a bank's past reliability to trust in God's promises
Okay, think of it this way. Just recently, I had to deposit a check at GCU right down the street. So I brought in the check, I made the deposit. I got the little paper that says your funds will be available now or in two days or whatever, and I walked out. And I was not worried at all. Why? Why was I not worried? I mean, it could be a little bit of a dicey thing. I'm handing money to a bunch of people I don't even know. I don't know these people, right? Not a problem. Just give them the money. There you go. And they're saying, we'll give it to you in, like, two days. And I'm like, no worries. You guys have a nice day. Why wasn't I panicking? Why? Because I've been to this bank before. I have brought checks, I have deposited them. And when the little paper says, you're gonna get your money in X days, I've always gotten my money. Right. And when people walk in. Look, when you walk into a bank and everyone looks calm, that's good, right? If you walk into a bank and everyone looks real nervous, not good. Probably need another bank. Right? Right. If people are like, well, are you really going to give me the money? You know, get all these arguments. Nope, don't go there. You go to the bank where everyone's real calm and bored. That's the bank you want.
35 · Develops the bank analogy into a full theological claim about God's promise-keeping
Look, I've made deposits. All these people I don't even know, they're making deposits. They're making withdrawals. And I know a bunch of other people that use this bank. They've made deposits, they've made withdrawals. Brother or sister, here's my point. So it is with the bank of Heaven. Heaven, we bring to the Lord a promise he has made to his people. We present it to the bank of Heaven that God will be with his people, that God will deliver his people, that God will do good to his people. We present to him his promise. And here's the good news. The check always cashes. There has not been one time in the history of God's people they have presented to him a promise that. That God has not ultimately fulfilled. No. Say, look, I. Look, I challenge you. Read this book, see if God has not kept his promises. And then ask your friends that have been walking with the Lord 30, 40, 50 years, find the oldest person you can and ask them, has God been faithful to you? Why? Because God keeps his promises. Why? Because who God has been is who God will be. Therefore, you can rejoice today, right?
36 · Extends the banking analogy to address the specific problem of delayed promises—when God says 'later
I'm not. When I see, hey, funds available in two days, I'm not, like, going, we'll see. Right? And this is the challenge with the Christian life. There are promises God has made to us that it's like, okay, payable later or payable next week or payable next year. And we're going, we'll see. We'll see if God does it. Hmm. And what the psalmist is doing is he's going have all the other checks cashed. Yeah. Okay, then go ahead and have a party because the money's in your account and the Lord's gonna keep his promises. Brother or sister, this is the beautiful truth of Psalm 22. You do not have to wait for your circumstances to change in order to rejoice today. Because who God has been is who he will be. So do you, friend, do you trust God's past record as God's future promise? Right? His past record will be his future record. It's not as though he's going to change. He has not and will not.
37 · Returns to the text to demonstrate that the psalm's praise section is built on future-tense promises, proving that rejoicing precedes deliverance
So banking on God's past actions and God's present character is how we get to praise in God's future promises. And look, this is what we see over and over. This is why the psalmist is praising. Look at verse 26. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. Meaning, these are future statements. Look, if you're afflicted now the psalmist is saying, if you're afflicted now, you're going to be satisfied. Are you trusting him now? Are you seeking him now? You're gonna praise him in your deliverance, right? This is the good news of this psalm.
38 · Prophetic moment addressing specific individuals the pastor senses are present, holding God's promises at arm's length
And look, bro, if you are there, I just got the sense from the Lord. I think if you are there today, I just have almost the image of one or more people at church today that you've got the check of God's promise. And you are just staring at it so skeptically, you don't even wanna take it up to the bank counter, right? You don't wanna talk about it. You wanna present it. You don't wanna ask for help. You don't even wanna fight for the promises. Cause you're like, I just don't know. And in Psalm 22, gently, the Psalmist comes alongside us. David comes alongside us and says, brother, sister, I have felt what you're feeling. I've experienced hardship, I've experienced hurt. And yet I am here to tell you who God has been is who he will be. Bring your. Bring your promise to the Lord today.
39 · Pivots from the psalm's internal logic to its Christological fulfillment
You know how we know that he will always do that? Of a surprise. Fifth point, very brief. I said that was the answer to feeling forsaken. Well, I'm going to give you now the ultimate answer to feeling forsaken.
40 · Introduces the problem of sin into the equation—we are not merely innocent sufferers like David sometimes was, but also guilty forsakeners
Because here's the reality. When it comes to David writing this psalm, somebody was asking me after the first service, well, when was this written? Because do we know if David's experiences and feelings of forsaken are due to, you know, his own fault or due to other people just being mean to him? And the answer is, we don't know. Because in David's life, there were times he was unjustly forsaken. But, man, there were some times, many of them, where David forsook people who should not have been forsaken. There are times he forsook the Lord, forsook his country, forsook his wife, right? These are. These. These are things that were not good. And here's the reality. For those of us who feel forsaken, there is an aspect that we have to remember that we have also done our share of forsaking. And many times we think other people are going to forsake us because we forsaken others. We're thinking of God like. Like ourselves. Why? For so, so how do I know he's really going to keep his promises? How do I know that God is different from me and from other people that have broken their promises to me?
41 · Identifies the New Testament quotation of Psalm 22:1, using audience participation to create the 'aha' moment
And guys, that is where Psalm 22 just shines out brilliantly. Because I think that cry in verse one should have been familiar to you. Look at verse one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Anybody remember where that's from? Anybody sound familiar? Somebody shout it. Jesus on the cross. Jesus on the cross. Now, here's what the strange thing is about Jesus. Jesus lives a life, and he in his life never forsakes anyone, ever. He always does what is right. He never forsakes the Lord, never forsakes others. And so you think, okay, well, he's the person that deserves to never be forsaken out of everyone, right? And yet he is the one on the cross crying out, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why is that happening?
42 · Unpacks the substitutionary atonement logic: Jesus takes the forsakenness we deserve so we receive the faithfulness He deserves
Because on the cross, Jesus goes and experiences a level of forsakeness none of us could ever imagine to pay for the sins of those who do the forsaking. By all of our sins, all of the forsaking that we have done in our lives, it is placed on Jesus, who never forsook anyone. And he goes to the cross. And Isaiah 53 says that essentially on the cross he is substituted for us, those of us who are forsaking others and deserve to be forsaken. In walks Jesus, in comes Jesus onto the cross. And God treats Jesus as. As if he had done all the forsaking by God the Father, forsaking him and pouring his wrath, passive and active, out on Jesus. Do you know why he does that? So that he can cash every promise he has made to his people for generations. Because God does not treat us the way we treat others. When we forsook him, he did not forsake us. He goes to the very cross and is forsaken so that those who have forsaken others like you and me, would never be forsaken by God.
43 · Demonstrates the Christological depth of Psalm 22 by showing that what was metaphorical language for David became literal reality for Jesus
Look, he cries something out that is metaphorical for David, right? David uses all this metaphorical language like, this is what I feel like. I feel like I can count all my bones. I feel like my hands and feet are pierced and I can't even walk or move. I feel like my bones are out of joint. You know what? It's not metaphorical for Jesus. Literally, his bones are out of joint. Literally, his hands and feet are pierced. And it's not as though he feels forsaken. He is forsaken. Why? For us.
44 · Brings the cross to bear on the sermon's opening question—what do we do in pain? The answer: remember that Christ has already experienced worse pain as your substitute, guaranteeing you will never be forsaken
Look, this is where Psalm 22 becomes an ironclad guarantee over your life. If God would go so far as to go to the cross to fulfill his promises for you. Do you ever doubt that you will be forsaken in that moment where surely the Lord could have said, you know what? It's too far keeping those promises. It costs too much. No, he didn't do that. Jesus goes to the cross. He's forsaken by God. Why? So that you and I would never be forsaken. So that even forsakers like you and me would never be forsaken. Brother sister, are you struggling to trust the Lord in the circumstances in your life? I want you to see the cross and what it means for you. It means that you have somebody who experienced all that you are experiencing and yet Far more. There's nobody in this church that Jesus could not sit down and hear your story and go, I can't relate. I've never experienced pain like that. For every single person, every one of us, he would be able to say, I know physical pain, I know emotional pain, I know abandonment, I know loss, I know hurt, I know all of it and far more. And yet he could also sit down with each one of us in our pain and say, I went to the cross, that your pain would be taken away. What I experienced, I did for you, that you would never be forsaken.
45 · Returns to the banking metaphor for the climax—the cross is the divine co-signature guaranteeing every promise
And so the cross is the guarantee. You know how in the bank sometimes you need a co signer that you're like, you're sketchy. We're going to need your brother in law who makes more money than you to sign this. Think about it this way. These checks from the bank of Heaven are endorsed by Jesus Christ, written in his very blood. Do you think these checks won't cash? Every single one of them has and is and will cash.
46 · Rhetorical questions bringing the exposition full circle—Psalm 22 is not the depressing psalm to skip but the essential psalm containing the gospel itself
Do you see why Psalm 22 is encouraging? Do you see why it shouldn't be neglected next to Psalm 23?
47 · Restates the universality of suffering established in the introduction, now in light of the gospel
So as we close, I just have real briefly good news and bad news for you as we wrap this up. Here's the bad news. Every life comes with a membership to the Pain Club, right? You're like, I'd rather not, sorry. There's just various levels of membership. I talked to somebody, they were like, I think I moved from gold to platinum recently. And I'm like, oh, welcome. You know, get smaller as we go, right? The challenge is this humanity, being a human being living in a fallen world comes with a membership to the Pain Club. And you might think, well, if I'm a Christian, I'll get less pain, right? Not exactly. Sometimes the world hates us. Sometimes following Jesus makes life more difficult.
48 · Eschatological reframing—present suffering is the first act of a story whose ending is guaranteed glory
But here's the good news, that's the bad news. Here's the good news. The Pain Club for those in Christ is also the Glory Club. The Pain Club means that you're just in the first part of the story before you see the deliverance. It means that you're in the Exodus before the Red Sea. It means you're David before Goliath, right? It means that you're in the right. And if you're in the right story, the ending of deliverance and the promised land and life eternal will be yours. So you brothers and sister, you bear that Pain Club membership proudly because they're gonna take that at the gate of heaven, signed by Jesus in his blood and turn it into a glory card.
49 · Evangelistic appeal to non-Christians, addressing the objection that Christianity adds hardship
And, friend, if you are here and you don't have the hope of Christ, look, here's the reality. You might think I talked to somebody one time, they're like, man, I don't want to. I don't want to follow Jesus because it just seems like life gets hard sometimes when you have to keep all these rules and you got to do all these things. And I just told him, look, man, life is already hard for you. It's not like not being a Christian makes life easier or less difficult or less fallen in the world around us. The difference is we've got Jesus and his promises. The difference is that we have the hope of glory. The difference is that we have this ironclad guarantee that every one of the promises made to God's people is going to come true for us. And he was like, yeah, that does sound better. You know, wish I. So we're still talking. I'm still trying to see what the Lord will do there. But, friend, if you're there today, if you're like, man, I don't know if I want to join the pain club that comes with following Jesus. Friend, the reality is this. It's the Glory club. It's the never be forsaken club. It's the he went to the cross for you club. It's the he's waiting for you at the gates of heaven club. So come on in. There's room for everyone.
50 · Closing prayer interceding specifically for those in pain, echoing the sermon's two-part movement: first bringing pain honestly to God, then fighting to remember His faithfulness
Would you stand and let's pray? Heavenly Father, Lord, I just pray specifically for any brothers and sisters who are in the midst of pain today, whether that pain is physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, whatever it might be. God, I pray that you would first of all, allow them and help them to bring their pain to you, to bring the anguish to you, to be honest with you about what they're experiencing. And then, Lord, I pray that you would meet them in your word today. Lord, you'd interrupt that loop of constant pain with the knowledge that you are faithful to your people, that who you have been is who you will be. Lord, that you've been faithful to your people across the generations. You've been faithful to them in their individual lives. And so I pray you would raise their eyes up so that they could see Jesus. The guarantee of God keeping his promises to his people. And I pray that as we sing, they would see in Christ going to the cross, a guarantee of his promises. Amen.