Psalm 22

I just want to share, since my weekly psalm reading landed on 22 that we read last week, a little of a message I heard at the Canvas conference 2 weeks ago from Cole Brown. David wrote this psalm about how he felt so see this first how he wrote it...

Suffering feels like:

1) Abandonment: vs 1, 2

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

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

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

by night, but I find no rest.

2) Condemnation: vs 7, 8

All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

“let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

3) Worthlessness: vs 6

But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

4) Loneliness: vs 11

Do not be far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no one to help.

5) Prison: vs 12,13

Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

6) Death: vs 14, 15

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

These are all the things suffering feels like. It reminds me of Isaiah where he names Jesus as "a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Think about it, if David says all of this is what suffering feels like, when we apply it like we see the story of Jesus unfolds in Matthew...suffering feels like all the things Jesus suffered for us. It feels like abandonment, but He was totally abandoned: it feels like death and He actually died, etc. He knows what suffering feels like in total. How we feel falls somewhere in the middle on a scale of 1-10, but He has gone all the way to 10 in every category....and He did that for US!!! Finally, suffering ends praise: vs 22-26

I will declare your name to my people;

in the assembly I will praise you.

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 scorned

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, I will fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied;

those who seek the Lord will praise him—

may your hearts live forever!

in Christ,

paul