Thought for the Month - December 2001

Torture and Triumph (Psalm 22) - By Barry Adair

When the Lord Jesus Christ allowed himself to be tortured and die a physical death on Calvary's cross, it is recorded in Luke 23:33 as simply:

"there they crucified Him"

It is left to prophetic passages like Isaiah 53 and here in Psalm 22 that we can start to picture the true anguish that Jesus went through to pay the penalty of your sin and mine.

Let's have a brief look at some aspects of this great Psalm:

The anguish

This psalm is indeed a cry of anguish. Here we read, in prophetic form, of Jesus' crucifixion and the torture He went through, both physical and mental. We hear His groanings, see His mockers, read about His loneliness and marvel at His love. I want to mention something from verse 6.

"But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people"

The words "but I am a worm" reminds me of something I was told a few years ago. To produce a special and expensive red dye used in and around the land of Israel, the people would take a certain kind of worm. To extract this precious liquid, the little worm had to be crushed. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ was crushed like no other man and all to save wretched sinners like you and me.

The accuracy

Psalm 22 contains over 30 prophecies and a perfect description of crucifixion, hundreds of years before its first use by the Romans. In fact, those against God's Word will say that this psalm was written after Calvary because of the perfect fufillment of many of its prophecies (the others have yet to be fulfilled). David would have had little idea of what he was writing down. The true awfulness of crucifixion is shown: bones stretched out of their joints (v.14), the heart over- worked to the point of death (v.14), extreme dehydration (v.15) and His hands and feet driven through with nails (v.16). Of course, there are many other areas we could mention which were also fulfilled at Calvary - but maybe in another 'Thought'.

The adversary

Of course, the devil and the powers of darkness were not far away at Calvary. We can see this in Psalm 22:21:

"Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen"

This was to be the devil's finest hour. The Messianic line had been attacked ever since God's words to Satan in Genesis 3:15. But when Jesus uttered those words "It is finished" from the cross, it was the end for the devil. He is a defeated foe; hell awaits him, his demons and all those who refuse to accept God's sacrifice of His own dear Son (John 3:16).

The acclamation

Psalm 22 ends with a note of triumph just like the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. It points to a future time when Jesus will rule the nations (verses 25- 31) and when the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied (v.26). This Psalm of David is sub-titled "A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise". After we have looked at a little of the anguish Jesus suffered we should take time ourselves to praise Him for His unspeakable love.

"And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" Phil 2:8

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!