Psalm 22. This psalm, beyond
all others, is indeed called the psalm of the cross. Some
people have thought, some of the writers that write about
these psalms, have thought that the words of this psalm were
actually repeated by the Lord Jesus Christ in its entirety,
Psalm 22, when he was crucified on Calvary's cross. I can't attest
to that, but that's what many of the writers say, that this
psalm is so filled with the things he said from the cross that they
feel like the entire psalm was quoted by our Lord on Calvary. Now the first words of this psalm
and the last words are very important and I call your attention to
them. The first words of Psalm 22,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me? and from the words of my roaring.
Now that's the first thing he said on the cross. And then after he died on the
cross, these words were spoken. He says in verse 31, this psalm
ends with this statement here. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness. unto a people that shall be born
that he hath done this. It's finished. They shall come, witnesses from
everywhere, apostles and preachers and teachers. They shall come
and declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born.
Not born yet, but they will be. They'll declare this message,
the Lord's done this, the Lord has done this, and it's a finished
work. And before us in this psalm,
I'm not going to try to preach on the whole psalm, I'm going
to tonight deal with about nine or ten verses, and later on I'll
talk about the other verses. But here before us in these verses,
is the darkness of the cross, the agony and suffering of the
cross of Calvary. And yet here before us is the
victory of our Redeemer, the victory of His death. And here
before us are the awful sufferings, awful sufferings, agony of the
cross of Calvary. And then before us here will
be the glory which is followed. which will follow. And then here
before us is the substitute, the substitute provided by God,
the substitute sacrificed. And here before us is the satisfaction
that he accomplished. And our Lord summed it up in
these words, listen, Romans 3, whom God set forth to be at propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that have passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that God may be just and justifier of him who believes in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All right, look at verse 1. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Martin Luther was reading this
psalm over 500 years ago according to the person who wrote his biography. And he was sitting at his desk
reading this psalm. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And the writer said, Luther rose
and struck the best with his fist. And he said, God, forsaking
God, no man can understand this. And that's right. No man can
understand this. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? A TV listener years ago wrote
to me when I preached a message from this scripture. And the
person wrote this, your doctrine of the Trinity, the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit is only a tradition. It cannot be true. And I replied,
I wrote this little note, there are greater mysteries greater
mysteries in the Word of God than the Trinity. If you're going
to question all the mysteries in the Word of God, you've got
greater mysteries than there being a Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. One would be the mystery of creation.
Everything brought out of nothing. Another would be God himself
incarnate in human flesh. Another would be God dying on
a cross. Another would be the Messiah
crucified, dead, buried. Another would be sinners justified,
born again, and made whole. Another would be eternal life
and eternal death. There are many mysteries. To
deny the Trinity is just foolishly to deny so many, many, many things
in the Word of God. It's a book of miracles. Well,
let's look at this statement. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? What is the great cause of the
Son of God being forsaken? What would you say is the great
cause? Why was he forsaken? Well, turn to Isaiah chapter
59. We'll read it in two verses of
scripture. The great cause why Christ was
forsaken of the Father. In Isaiah 59 verse 1 and 2, listen. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it
cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated
you between you and your God. Why hast thou forsaken me? Your
iniquities. Whose iniquities? Our iniquities
that laid on him. Your iniquities have separated
you from your God. And your sins have hid his face
from you, and he will not hear. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Because of your sins. Our sins laid on him. God will
not hear him. All right, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Well, what is the answer to the
question why? He's forsaken him. Now what's
the answer? Well, turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah chapter 53. And Isaiah the prophet said in
verse 4, Isaiah 53, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows, and we that esteem him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted. Here's the answer. He was wounded
by our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes
were healed. That's the answer. Why was he
separated from God? He bore our sin. What's the answer
to this? He was wounded for our transgressions
and our iniquities. Well, what's the great reason
for this grief and agony? If you'll notice in Psalm 22,
about three times the Lord used these words. Why are you so far
from helping me? Verse 1. Why art thou so far
from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Verse 11. Be not far from me, for trouble
is near and there's no one to help. Verse 19. Be not thou far,
O Lord, be not far from me, O Lord, O my strength, haste thee to
help me. Here is the answer, Psalm 53. Turn over there again, another
passage in Psalm 53. Psalm 53, this time verse 10
and 11. Psalm 53, verse 10, it pleased
the Lord. It pleased the Lord. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Your sins have separated you from your God. What's the
answer? He bore our sins in his body
on the tree, and by his stripes we are healed. Well, who arranged
all this? Verse 10, Isaiah 53. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. The Lord hath put him to grief.
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see. his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
For he shall see that the travail of his soul shall be satisfied,
and by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. He shall bear their iniquities. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? What's to be accomplished by
this? He was bruised for our iniquities and wounded for our
transgressions. Who designed it? It pleased the
Lord to bruise him, put him to shame. It pleased God. Verse
2, Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you don't hear me, and in
the night cease, and I'm not silent. cried from the cross. He prayed.
I believe the daytime is when the sun was shining and then
in the nighttime when the darkness over all the land. Our Lord cried
in the daytime and cried at night. He cried unto the Father. Someone
asked a question one time. Well, if all things are ordained
of God, and they are, then why pray? If the die is cast and
the whole lot is in the lap of the Lord, why pray? If the son
must be lifted up and the son must suffer and die, then why
pray? Well, our Lord prayed, that's
why. Our Lord prayed. In fact, before he went to the
cross, he said, Father, if it be thy will, if it be thy will,
let this cup pass from thee. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but thy will be done." There's the answer. The Lord prayed.
He prayed all night before he went to the cross. He prayed
at all times. He prayed about all things. Me
and ought always to pray. and not to fame. Prayer is not
just asking and receiving. Prayer is rejoicing. Prayer is
giving thanks. Prayer is worshiping. Prayer
is making supplication. Prayer is communion with God.
I must pray. I must talk to my Father. I must
pray about all things, even though the die is cast. And the whole
lot is in the hands of God. And the son must be lifted up,
but the son must pray. And I must pray. And I tell you
this, and the answer will come too. The answer will come in
his good time and due season. Just like the answer came to
Paul when God gave him the thorn in the flesh. And he spent a
lot of time praying about it. A lot of time. He cried unto
the Lord. He said three times. And the
Lord answered, My grace is sufficient. My grace is sufficient. All right,
verse 3. But thou art holy. Listen to
this verse here. Let me go back to verse, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me? But I cry unto thee in the daytime
and in the night. But thou art holy. But thou art holy. And here's
what he's saying. But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the secret place. That's where our Lord dwells,
in the secret place of the Most High. Thou art holy, thou that
inhabitest the secret place. of the Most High, where the praises
of true Israel are offered, he's holy. What God does, he does
because he's holy. What God does, he does on purpose,
according to his will, for his glory and for the good of his
people. But what God does, he does because
he's holy. That's what Christ is saying
here. But thou art holy. Thou who inhabitest the secret
place of the Most High, Thou who inhabitest that high place
where true Israel's sacrifice is offered. Our Lord here is
reasoning from God's character. But you're holy. You have forsaken
me. You won't help me. But you're
holy. And what you do is because you're holy. Why is he forsaken? because God's holy. Why is he
deserted? Because God's holy. Why would
God not hear him and help him? Because God's holy. Why would
God spare not his own son? Because God's holy. But thou
art holy. Christ, as the surety and sin
offering for his people, had all their sins laid on him And
because God is holy, it was perfectly agreeable to the holiness of
God and the justice of God to treat him that way. To put upon him the suffering and agony of our
sins. To send him into the wilderness
as the scapegoat of all. I turn back to Isaiah, listen,
I'll just read it to you. He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, because God's holy.
He's brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
a shearer's dung, he opened not his mouth, because God's holy. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. Who shall declare his pedigree?
He cut off out of the land of the living. Is that right? It's
right. It's agreeable with God's holiness.
For the transgression of our people was he stricken. Why?
Because God's holy. He made his grave with the wicked.
He died between two thieves because God's holy. And with the rich
in his death, though he had done no violence and no deceit was
in his mouth, Please God, because he's holy, to lay on him all that was required
to satisfy God's holiness. With our holy, O thou that inhabitest
the secret place of the Most High, Verse 4, our fathers trusted
in thee. Our fathers, who's he talking
about? Who's the Lord talking about here? He's talking about
his people. He's talking about the Abrahams and the Isaacs and
the Jacobs. He's talking about those whom
he has redeemed. The father, see the father and
the son have a kinship with his people. He said they're my people,
my Jew. The Father and the Son are identified
with his elect, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, our fathers. All that
my Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will of him that sent me, that all which he hath given me I
lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. This is the
will of him that sent me, that he that seeth the Son believeth
on him. shall be just like him, and I'll
raise him up at the last day. Our fathers, our fathers, that's
you, me, all of God's people, in God's generation, what do
you say about our fathers? Listen, our fathers, what does
he say about them? He said three times, they trusted
God. Let's read it, verse four. Our
fathers trusted indeed, they trusted. and thou didst deliver
them, they cried unto thee, and they were delivered, they trusted,
and they were not ashamed, they trusted, they trusted, they trusted,
they never quit trusting, they never left off trusting, this
was their life, to trust him, they died trusting him, our fathers,
they trusted in thee, They trusted in Thee and I just delivered
them and He'll deliver us. They cried unto Thee and they
were delivered. We cried, we'll be delivered. They trusted in
Thee and they were not put to shame. They kept on trusting. He was forsaken because of our
sin, but we'll never be forsaken. He was forsaken, but we'll never
be forsaken. We'll never be put to shame.
Now here is a verse that I'm like Martin Luther on this one. No man can understand this. Not
fully. You can comprehend it. You can
believe it. Lay hold of it. Rest in it. But understand it. This is a miracle of miracles.
This is a miracle of language. This is an awesome contrast. Listen, verse 6. I am. Who's talking here? The Lord Jesus Christ. I am that
I am. I am that I am. But here's the
contrast. I am a worm. I am a worm and no man. I am. who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. I am
a worm, no man. I am. Let all the angels of God
worship him. Bow down before his throne, higher
than the heavens. But I am made lower than the
angels, and lower than men. I'm a worm. This is the Son of
God. I am a worm, and no man of reproach
of men despises. I am a worm. I'm no man. I'm
trodden under feet, the feet of men, like a worm. I'm spit
upon. I'm mocked. I'm held in contempt. I'm rejected of all men and despised. The privileges of other men I
don't have. I'm even deserted by God himself. I'm alone. And they all hid,
as it were, their faces from me because I'm a worm. Oh, thy worm, Jacob. I am no
man. I'm a sinner, unclean. Even God
turned his back. I'm a reproach. I'm despised. I'm rejected. And you read in verse 7 here
about how they treated him. In verse 7, we get out here of
the ridicule heaped upon our Lord. Utter, complete ridicule. And all that see me laugh me
to scorn. You know something? I don't suppose
there's any grief more difficult to bear than contempt. When people
hold you in utter contempt and ridicule and taunting. And that's why all that see me
shoot out their lips, shake their heads. And they say he trusted
on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him now
that he delighteth in him. Turn to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. Let's read some of these taunts
and some of these things that they said about him as he was
hanging on that cross, a worm, trodden under the feet of all
kinds of people. stripped naked before the gaze
of that wicked bunch, hated, hated him. It says here in Matthew
27, 39, And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their
heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest
it in three days, save yourself. If ye are the Son of God, come
down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests
mocking him, the scribes and elders. He saved others, himself
he can't save. If he be the king of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross, we'll believe him. He
trusted in God. Let God deliver him, if you'll
have him. He said, I'm the son of God.
And the thieves also, crucified with him, cast the same name
in his teeth. all that see me, lack me to scorn. I'm a worm, and no man will approach
of me and despise of the people." A worm. I read something interesting
in Spurgeon's Psalms of David, the books that
we have about by Charles Spurgeon on all of the Psalms. An illustration
that one of those old timers gave about this worm. You see a fisherman when he casts
his lure into the river, when he casts his enticement into
the river, he doesn't throw in the bare hook. He doesn't throw
in the naked, uncovered hook. The fish should never bite the
hat. Therefore he hides the hook. The hook is ours. Here's the
hook. It's a shining, hard, powerful hook. But he hides that hook
in a worm. In a lowly worm. And the fish, in their effort
to take the worm, to steal the worm, to enjoy in themselves if the
worm, they're snagged with the hook. And the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking
of himself, I'm a worm, and no man. And he coming, sent by God,
to perform the great work of redemption, did cover himself
and hide his sovereignty, hide his divine power and purpose
within that worm in human nature. God was in Christ. When he put
Christ out there, the worm, no man, God was in just like the
fisherman through that lure. God was in that worm. And Satan,
and demons, and rulers, and religionists fell in the worm with a vengeance. And they cried, you that destroyed
the temple, you'll eat in three days. If you're the son of God,
come down from the cross. He saved others, himself he can't
save. If your king come down, we'll
believe you. He trusted in God. They fell on him with a vengeance,
determined to destroy the world, determined to put away the world. But in their determination, they
were hooked with God's divine sovereignty, with the hook of
his divine purpose, tore into their jaws. And those who fought
to destroy the worm were destroyed by him. And those who determined
to reign in the kingdom of darkness was destroyed with their kingdom
of darkness and lost themselves forever. But listen, the same one, the same lure The word was made
flesh and brought among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
And then we read over here in Isaiah 53, listen. Who hath believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He grow up as a tender
plant. The root out of a dry ground,
yet no form nor comeliness. When we see no beauty, we should
desire him. He's despised, rejected of men,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Everybody here doesn't
wear their faces from him. We're through with him. No, you're
not through with him. In the fullness of time. God sent forth his son made of
a woman, a worm, made under the law to redeem some folks that
were under the law. But God, while Satan and the
kingdom of darkness and all these evil people set forth, set themselves
with a vengeance to destroy the world, they were destroyed by
him. revealed to our hearts by God,
both salvation and our souls. Listen to our God. But God, who
is rich in mercy, by his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. And he
hath raised us up together with him, and made us sit together
with him in heavenly places, that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. By grace, you say, through faith,
that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, and not of works,
lest any man should bow. Let me show you the last thing
here about this, about the story of the worm in Psalm 22. Let's look back here. Psalm 22. Psalm 22. But thou art he, took
me out of the womb. Thou didst make me whole when
I was on my brother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb, thou art my God, from my mother's belly. This is the purpose
and will of our God from all eternity. Turn to Psalm 71 a
minute, let me read that again for you here. In Psalm 71. For thou art my hope, verse 5
of Psalm 71, O Lord God, thou art my trust for my youth. By
thee I have been holding up from the womb. Thou art he that took
me out of my mother's bowels. My praise shall continually be
of thee. I'm a wonder, I'm a wonder unto
many. There was a fellow named Saul
of Tarsus that had the same opinion of Christ that those Pharisees
and Sadducees, chief priests and elders had. And he sought to do all manner
of evil against the one who said to him, I'm a worm. He went down to Damascus, cast
his people in prison, and on the way great light from heaven brighter
than the sun, bokeh. And a voice came from heaven,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? I know why you hate me. I
know why the Lord sent Christ to redeem us by his
death. Who art thou, Lord? Who aren't
I? I'm Jesus of Nazareth. The Word? Yeah. What would you have me
do? That's the difference. That's
the difference. Let me show you a verse over
here in Luke chapter 20. In Luke chapter 20, verse, everybody
doesn't interpret this verse like I do, but this is what I
see. Luke chapter 20. Luke 20, verse 17. And he beheld
them, our Lord beheld them, Luke 20, verse 17. He beheld them
and he said, What is this then that is written? The stone which
the builders rejected, totally rejected, the worm. The same
has become the head of the corner. And whosoever shall fall upon
that stone shall be broken. That's the way Saul of Tarsus
fell upon it, was broken. I was broken, you were broken.
We were smitten, we were brought down, we were humble. We came,
Lord, what would you have me do? Those that fall upon him,
rest in him, believe on him, they'll be broken. But on whosoever
it shall fall by God's divine purpose. He'll grind you to powder. That's the difference. Fall upon
Him, you'll be fallen upon. Fall upon Him in confession,
in faith, in belief, in trust, they trust Him. Commitment, you'll
be broken at the wheel, smitten, humbled. But if He falls on you,
He'll grind you to powder. All right, I hope that's the
best thing. We'll go into this 22nd chapter at another time.