Psalm 22. You know, if you didn't have any
other chapter in the Bible that confirms this book to be the
Word of God, Psalm 22 surely does. This was written twenty-eight
generations before the birth of Christ, according to Matthew
chapter 1, over a thousand years. before the Lord came in the flesh,
David wrote these words, but these aren't David's words. These
aren't David's words. Speaking in the power of the
spirit of prophecy, he wrote, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? Those words you
find throughout the New Testament as being the very words of our
Lord at Calvary himself, on that cross. And when he starts his
complaint, he doesn't complain about the fact that Judas had
forsaken him. He doesn't complain about Peter
denying him, or the disciples leaving him. He doesn't even
start out complaining about needing something to drink. His primary
complaint is a complaint that His Father has forsaken Him. He was destitute there on the
cross of a presence that He had known from before the foundation
of the world. He was daily the Father's delight,
it said in Proverbs chapter 8. Daily His delight. And suddenly
there on the cross, forsaken of God and afflicted. That's
what the Bible says. deserted here, and this isn't
a cry of ignorance, and it's not a cry of impatience. He knew
exactly what was going on. He wasn't ignorant. I complain
oftentimes because I'm ignorant of what's going on. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man, knew what was going on. And he is
speaking in the misery of his soul, the blackness of being
forsaken by the Father for the sake of his people. This is incomprehensible. You know, hell, the hottest flame
in hell is going to be to be forsaken of God. Even the most
common graces, things you take for granted here in this world,
light, food, drink, there will be no mercy in hell. To be separated
from God Almighty, to be without mercy, that's what the Son of
God is going through. And in this picture, you see
one who is so gigantic that he can, in a few hours time on that
cross, take the eternal damnation of every one of his people, millions,
and die there, separated from God. Oh, hallelujah, what a Savior. That's no common man. That's
no common man. And he complains here, why are
you so far from the words of my roaring? He desires to be
heard. desires to be heard, and he says, I'm just roaring. You
know, have you ever complained to the point where all you can
do is roar? That's what's going on. Oh my God, I cry in the daytime.
Thou hear'st not. And in the night seasons, I'm
not silent. He cried day and night. He cried
the night before at Gethsemane. He cried that day. And even from
twelve to three, the scripture says, the sun stopped shining,
and the night season there at Calvary, he cried. He cried. Constantly cried. I cry in the daytime that you
hear not. Why is that? That you're holy. You see that in verse three?
But thou art holy. holy, O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel." The reason I'm all alone, the reason I'm
crying, I'm not hurt, the reason for that is because you are holy.
God is too holy to have anything to do with His Son when our sins
are placed upon Him. You're holy. It's right for you
to do this. It's right for you not to spare
me. That's what He's saying here. It's right for you not to spare
me. As a matter of fact, if you did spare me, it would be wrong.
It would be contrary to your holiness, because you're laying
the sins of your people upon me." At Calvary, you see the righteousness
of God revealed. That's what Paul said. He said,
I'll just quote this to you, God sent him forth to be a propitiation
through faith, in his blood, to declare his righteousness
To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might
be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus."
It's the righteousness of God, you see, it tells you. The righteousness
of God. The justice of God. The forsaking
of the Son for the sake of His people. I thought this morning,
if I had any other thing to hope in, I'd just give it up. My sins, I have no hope. Our fathers trusted in thee.
They trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and
were delivered. They trusted in thee and they
were not confounded." Three times he says it. They trusted. They
trusted. They trusted. They were delivered.
They were not confounded. But, I'm a worm. I'm no man. They trusted in you. I'll be
the only trusting one who wasn't delivered. I'll be the great
exception. That's what's going on. I'll
be the great exception. I'll not be delivered, though
I trust you. I'm a worm. I'm no man. He was made a little
lower than the angels, but I'll tell you, he's lower than men
here. trodden underfoot, crushed, unnoticed,
despised of men, and it was right for him to be there." That's
something that's beyond comprehension. I don't know how you can talk
about it. Look at this contrast, but I
am a worm. You see, that one that spoke
in the bush, I am that I am. for his people. Jacob was called
the worm. O Jacob, thou worm! It's the
people that Christ is dying for. The Father spared him not, but
delivered him up for us all. He's going to give us all things
as a result of this, my friends. Look at verse 7. All they that
see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out their lip, and
they shake their head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he
would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighted in him." You can read that in Matthew 27. Those exact
words were said to him. That actual word there is, he
rolled it all on the Lord. He rolled it all on the Lord.
He laid all his burden on the Father. See what has got him
now hanging on that cross? He rolled it all on Him. And
the smile's gone. The smile's gone. I want you to enter with me this
morning into the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ here, if it's
possible. Listen. Thou art he that took me out
of the womb. Thou didst make me to hope when I was upon my
mother's breast. There Calvary's tree, the Son
of God. In spite of all this happening,
it says, you're the one that took me out of the womb. There was a special providence.
throughout my life. You were there. You were my midwife
that night in Bethlehem, out there in that little cave or
stable, whatever it was. You were the one that took me
out of my mother's womb, and you were the one that made me
the hope when I was upon my mother's breast at the weakest time of
my life, the time when I was At my weakest point, my most
indefensible point, you were the one that made me to hope.
You were the one who was taking care of me. Even then, when Herod
sought to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, we've read that story
so many times about the wise men coming from far away, bringing
gold, frankincense, and myrrh, bringing it up to look at this
child, this baby, this king who was born in Israel, of these
poor parents, and they bring these great gifts worth, who
can tell how much money, And the Lord tells Joseph, you take
that child and you get down to Egypt. How are you going to finance
such a trip? Go old frankincense and burn.
Go old frankincense and burn. What of it? The father was going
to take the son down to Egypt, because it's written, out of
Egypt have I called my son. That the scriptures might be
fulfilled, even Christ himself would go down into Egypt. Like
his people had to go down into Egypt. I are called out of the darkness
and brought back. The Son of God had special providence,
cared for by His Father. In moments when everybody was
out to get Him, everybody, look at verse 10, I was cast upon
thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's
belly. Now, this is a special person here. Cast upon Him from
the womb. There's not a person in this
room that can say, he's been my God from my mother's belly. Every one of us was born in sin. Every one of us was born children
of darkness, just like others. This one was born and God was
his God from the mother of his mother's belly. Virgin born,
sinless man. Sinless man hanging on that cross, my goodness. Don't
be far from me. Do not be far from me, for trouble
is near. There's none to help. Don't be
far from me. If I can't feel your presence,
if you won't stay with me, just don't be far. It's like a child
saying, just don't go too far from me. There's none to help. All the disciples fled the day
that the shepherd was smitten. All his disciples fled. There
was none to help. Peter, James, John, all gone. You know, I've had people ask
me about, what about the guy who carried the Lord's cross?
Look at Matthew 27. I want to show you that. Well,
he had some help, they say. There was a man that carried
his cross. Matthew 27, look at verse 32. And when they came out, they
found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to
bear his cross. This Simon was not volunteering.
This was no man standing by feeling sorry for the Son of God as he
was going out there. They had to compel that man.
You pick that up and carry that. He's not moving fast enough. You pick it up and carry it.
That man was compelled. of God's wrath all by himself,
he would accomplish salvation by himself. And it says here
in verse 12, many bulls encompassed me. Strong bulls of Bashan had beset
me around. The bulls of Bashan were big
critters. Bashan was a very fruitful area,
and bulls there were very big, very mean. This is talking about
the high priest. He's talking about the scribes,
the Pharisees, the bullies, shall we say, of religion that encompassed
him that day on that cross. Strong bulls of Bashan, they
have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their
mouths. roaring lions, roaring for their prey, and I'm poured out like water. I pour this water out right now.
You just can't retrieve it. Our Lord is saying, I'm spent.
I'm spent. I'm poured out like water. no retrieval here, poured out
like water, all my bones are out of joint." Stretched out
on that cross, every one of his bones being pulled. None broken, but pulled. Stretched out on this rack. You
know, it's hard to conceive of what crucifixion is like in our
day. We have no idea. We have no idea. He was stretched
out, his bones pulled out of joint, my heart is like wax,
it's melted in the midst of my bowels. You mentioned that? Fire, the fire, the heat of the
wrath of God on the Son of God. It just can't be described. It
just cannot be described. My heart is melted like wax. Like that Passover lamb in the
Old Testament that they roasted with fire and bitter herbs. That lamb on that tree under
that fire, that wrath of God, poured out like water under the
wrath of God. And you, you notice that, thou
hast brought me. And thou hast brought me into
the dust of death." You see who's doing this? It's God Almighty.
Now, I know that men did this. But they did that which was determined.
God. Look at Acts 2. Look at Acts
2. I want to show you that today.
Acts chapter 2. I'm quoting things to you. I'm
confident that you've heard before. I seem to have to hear them over
and over myself. Acts 2.23. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and with wicked hands crucified and slain. Look over at chapter
4 in the book of Acts. Look at verse 27. You see this
repeated. The apostles made no bones about
this. They were very frank about it. For of a truth against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered
together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Thou hast brought me down into
the very dust of death. Every particle of me is being
brought down into the dust of death. It's a complete offering. A complete offering. Back in
our text, verse 16. Dogs have compassed me. The assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me. They've pierced my hands and
my feet. You've seen the bulls. You've
seen the dogs. You've seen the lions. This is
the crowd that's around him. He's talking about them and he
says, you've pierced my hands and feet. You know there's no
way. Nobody in the Old Testament meets this. Nobody. This can't
be said of David. This is, as I said earlier, there's
a scripture that proves the authenticity of God's Word. It's this text.
They pierced my hands and feet. That wasn't the way Jews kill
people. They stoned them. He was crucified by the Romans.
And this is a beautiful, beautiful description long before The dogs
had compassed me about. The assembly of the wicked had
enclosed me, pierced my hands and feet. I can tell all my bones.
I can count my bones. I can tell them. That's what
he's saying. I can see and count my bones. And they stared upon me. They stared at me. Stretched out there. You know,
all the pictures you see and all the little crucifixes you
see, our Lord always looked so pretty. I'm just telling you,
He was not pretty. And he was not clothed, he was
naked. See, back there in the garden,
there was a man that brought us down. He made us naked before
God. And this second one that came,
that obeyed God, he became naked before God. He became naked that
he might clothe us with righteousness. Look here in verse 8, now this
is what they thought of him. They part my garments among them,
and cast lots upon my vesture. They thought nothing of the Lord
Jesus Christ, so poor that he said, Foxes have holes, and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where
to lay his head. He doesn't have a place to lay his head. When
he needed money to pay his taxes, even though there were very few,
he sent Peter out and said, Throw a hook over there in the lake,
and pull a fish out, and get that coin out of his mouth. His
man had no money. He had to borrow a penny one
day to illustrate a sermon about rendering that unto Caesar which
belonged to Caesar. He was a poor man, and they thought
so little of him, yet they would sit and bid for his clothes.
Now, that's the attitude of men towards the Son of God to this
very day. People who think nothing of God
himself or the Son of God himself would be willing to pay millions
to get ahold of a garment that he wore. You see that, isn't
it? pay all kinds of money, and ignore
the one who's up there, dying, bearing the wrath of God for
His people. They cast lots for my garments. I'm not worth a
thing to them. O Father, don't be far away from
me. Be not Thou far from me, O Lord. O my strength, make haste
to deliver me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling." He's talking about his soul. My darling, my only
one. "...from the power of the dog." Save me from the lion's mouth. Thou hast heard me from the horns
of the unicorns." So many things being there described.
Don't be far from me. Deliver my soul, my darling.
Save me from the lion's mouth. You know, I can tell you, I can
make a guess about who the bulls are. Pharisees, high priests. I'm pretty sure about the lions,
that's the Roman soldiers. And I know who the dogs were,
the worthless rabble in the crowd. This last thing he mentions here,
he says, you've heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I
don't know what a unicorn is. You can read in Job, nobody ever
was able to take a unicorn. Book of Job talks about that.
Can you take a unicorn, get him to plow your field? Some people say it was a, they
call it a yuri, a monasaurus. We don't know. Julius Caesar
described it as being a beast that was slightly smaller than
an elephant with a horn. It was the fiercest thing out
there. and said he was not afraid to attack anything. But they're
gone. Nobody knows what they are to
this day. No one can tell you what it is. And I tell you, I really think
that fits here, because there's something that happened at Calvary
that's way beyond our description. We could talk about the physical
suffering. I've never seen a unicorn, and thank God I'm never going
to see what happened at Calvary. when the Father Himself plunged
that sword into His Son. And He made His soul an offering
for sin. I'm glad that critters gone. But I love this here. My Lord
says, now, that hit me. That unicorn hit me, but you
heard me. Did you see that? Thou hast heard
me from the horns of the unicorn. You've heard me. And I'm telling
you, I'm going to read on here, because from this point in this
text, everything changes. The darkness is gone. The gloom
is gone. Suddenly, you've got a completely different picture.
Listen to it. I will declare thy name to my
brethren in the midst of the congregation. I will praise thee.
You see that in verse 22? I'll declare thy name." I've
got to get this. We read that verse, Hebrews chapter
2. I'm going to declare your name, your character, to my brethren. I'm going to declare it to my
brethren. name, your character known to
my brethren." That's what he's saying. To my brethren, I am
going to stand in the midst of that congregation. No man has
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son of God. He who is
in the bosom of the Father hath declared Him. Do you realize
that every time in the Old Testament God appeared, it was Jesus Christ
our Lord there? Nobody's ever seen the Father.
It was the Lord Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ. He has
declared the Father from the beginning. He declares Him now.
He says, I'm going to declare Him to my brother in the midst
of them. And look, I'm going to lead him
here. I'm going to lead him. In the midst of the congregation,
I will praise thee. You that fear the Lord, praise
Him. All ye seed of Jacob, glorify
Him. And fear Him, all ye the seed
of Israel. He's saying, I'm going to lead
in prayer and praise of my people to you." That's the Son of God
leading his people. Great congregation. The great
congregation. Look at verse 24. Why are we
going to praise him? For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid
his face from him, but when he cried him he heard. Things weren't
like they looked. He heard me. He turned away in wrath, but
for a moment he put away the sins of his people. He heard
them. We have reason to praise him
that he heard the song. Oh, my praise, look at verse
25, shall be of thee in the great congregation. You know, our Lord
didn't do this for just a few. It's a great congregation, a
great congregation. Look at Isaiah 49, I want to
show you a verse here. Verse 49. Chapter 49, excuse me. Verse 5. And now saith the Lord
that formed me from the womb to be his servant. Verse 5, chapter
49 of Isaiah, Now saith the Lord that form me from the womb to
be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be
not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God shall be my strength. And he said, now this is the
father speaking to the son, It is a light thing that thou shouldest
be my servant to raise up the tribe of Jacob, and to restore
the preserved of Israel. Oh no, no, no, I will give unto
thee Give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest
be my salvation unto the ends of the earth." If he was just
sent for Israel, if he had just been sent for a few in the Old
Testament times, or a few Jews, that would have been a light
thing. But I've raised you up to be a light to the Gentiles,
to the ends of the earth. Ah, it's a great congregation.
Look back here in the text. A great congregation. There's a great congregation
of people, and the Son of God says, I'm going to pay my vows
before them that fear Him. Right there in front of their
eyes. I'm going to pay up. I'm going to pay up. I'm going to do what I said.
And the people will see it. Before the world began, He entered
into a covenant with the Father. I'll go. I'll be a surety for
the people you've given me. I'll stand in their stead. I'll
bear the wrath that they should bear. I'll take the justice that
they have come unto them. I vowed that. I'm going to pay
that vow. And they're going to see it.
You see, I'm going to pay my vow before them that fear Him. They're going to see that. I
said I'd go and be their stand-in. I said I'd be their surety, their
substitute. I said that I would not only
die for their sins, but raise up and stand in the very presence
of God as a forerunner, and stand to intercede for them as a high
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. I promised that. I promised that, Father. I'm
going to pay up. I'm going to pay up. I told them
if they would look to me, they'd live. I told them that if they'd
believe on me, Any man that seeeth the sun and comes to the sun,
I said, you'll have everlasting life. I'm going to pay you. I'm
going to pay that vow. I said, you that are labor, heavy
laden, you come unto me. I'll give you rest. Did he promise
that? He's going to do that. That'll
be seen. He'll perform his vows in the
midst of the great congregation. You pay those vows. I'll build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
You pay that vow. And the meek shall eat. Look
at verse 26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. Did I tell you? Those that hunger
and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. Did I tell you
that? For the meek shall eat and be satisfied. The poor in
spirit, God's going to raise them up. Was that promised? meek
shall eat, and be satisfied." Oh, I'm telling you, they shall
praise the Lord that seeks Him. They shall praise the Lord that
seeks Him. Everyone that seeks Him will have a cause to praise
Him. Do you see that? Everyone that
seeks Him will have cause to praise Him. You know why? Because those who seek Him will
find Him. Those who knock will have the
door opened up to them. Those that come, he will in no
wise cast out. He made that promise, he made
that vow, and he's going to pay it. He's going to pay it. Ah, listen to that. Your heart shall live forever. Your heart shall live forever. Your heart shall live forever.
It's got everything to do with what went on in the beginning
of this chapter, the end of this chapter. Your heart shall live
forever. And ha, listen, all the ends
of the world will remember. This gospel is going to go forward.
All the ends of the world will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the kindred of the nation shall worship before Him. All
the ends of the world will remember. Here's a beautiful picture of
conversion. Remembering. We've forgotten God. And one
day the gospel comes. We hear the gospel and suddenly
we come to life. It's like you remember. There's
a God in heaven. Not a sin. All the ends of the
earth shall remember and turn. Turn. Change. Go the other way. And it isn't just turn or reform.
We're not talking about, I'm going to give up this and give
up that and give up this. I remember when I first got religion, I
stopped doing everything. My poor wife, I used to give her grief because
she put on fingernail polish. I just stopped everything. That's
not what it means. It's turn to the Lord. You turn to the Lord. You turn
away from your idols. You turn away from the false
gods you worship. And you turn to the Lord. You turn to the Lord. And you worship Him. You see
that? They're going to remember, they're going to turn, and all
the kindreds of the nation shall worship. They're going to fear
Him, worship Him, thank Him, praise Him. How's that going
to happen? Well, the kingdom is the Lord's.
That's how. Verse to the next verse. There's
the answer. For the kingdoms is the Lord's, he's a governor
among the nations." How are all nations going to do this? How
is that going to come to pass? We're dealing with an absolutely
sovereign God that can bring this to pass. This is no peanut.
This is no weakling. This is no mere mortal like me
who has his plans and cannot perform them. This is the sovereign
God of heaven and earth that says this is going to happen.
And that's, he goes on, not only all nations, but now he describes
all kinds of people. They that are fat on the earth
shall eat and worship. They that go down to the dust
shall bow. There are people that are high and fat, wealthy and
noble. There are people that are low,
down by the dust. They're going to bow before Him.
And it doesn't matter whether or not you're rich or poor, whatever
nation you're in, there's none that can save your soul or keep
alive his own soul other than bowing to this One. Do you understand
that? There's none other name given among men whereby we must
be saved. That's why that last verse is stuck on there. Nobody
can keep himself alive apart from this one we've been reading
about here. All nations, all people, all
kinds of people, and not only that, throughout all time, as
long as this world stands. Look at that next verse. A seed
shall serve him. Do you understand? A seed is
going to serve him throughout all times. We see how extensive
the work is. We also see that it's not only
going to be in all times and all places among all people,
but it's going to be extensive to the sake that there will be
a people that serve him in every generation. A seed shall serve
him. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. That makes me feel good as I
see See things going on in life. I'm getting older, my friends
are getting older, but the Lord will always have a people on
this earth worshiping the one true God. Counted is his generation. The prospects are good. I know
it's hard, sometimes you don't feel that way. people from one generation to
the next, and that's going to come to pass because as long
as this world stands, there are going to be people preaching
the gospel. They shall come and declare His
righteousness. You see that? They shall come
and declare His righteousness. That's how this is going to happen. Watch the stars at
night. You see the bright ones going
down. They were put there. They were
ordained and put there to be a witness in the heavens. You
read that today. They have their courses. They're
running. If you stay out there long enough, the North Star may
go down. Martin Luther may go down over the horizon. Ralph
Barnard may go down over the horizon. If you're out there
long enough, you'll see other stars coming up. The Lord's always
going to have people. declaring His righteousness.
That's the message that's being spoken of here. They shall come
and shall declare His righteousness. That's always going to be the
message to every nation, every place, and every generation.
God hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. The gospel. Being made righteous through
the work of the Son. People coming and declaring to
every generation that the Son of God is going to pay His vows.
He's going to do what He said. He's going to honor His word
and His promise. And He's going to come to a people
that shall be born. You see that? I know that every
one of us is ordained to be born in this world. That everything
is a season, a time to every purpose unto heaven. There's
a time of your birth. There's a time of your death. That's
just established. My friends, there's a time for
every child of God to be born. And these people come in declaring
his righteousness, and that's how that happens. They're born
again by hearing the Word of God. Born again by hearing of
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That'll always
be his message, and it's summarized here in this last three or four
words. He hath done this. He, the eternal God. It's accomplished. He hath done
this. Everything we've read here, he's
done it. That word this, you notice, is
in italics. He hath done. There are many
that believe that word right there, that last phrase is, it
is finished. You know that? The psalm that
began with my God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" Ends
with, it's finished. He hath done. I hope that's a blessing.