WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.520 Thank you, guys. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean, one of the pastors of Trinity 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:11.060 Cambridge Church. It's my joy and privilege to preach God's Word to you. If you don't have a 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:14.919 Bible, please raise your hand. We'll bring a copy over for you that you can use and that you can 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:27.500 have. We're going to be in Psalm 22 this morning. Psalm 22. Let me pray for the reading and preaching 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:44.379 of God's Word. Heavenly Father, we are all coming this morning with carrying various 00:00:44.380 --> 00:01:01.439 burdens. Some of us in the midst of trials. Some of us grieving. But Lord, we come to 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:10.120 you seeking to hear from your Word. And we want all that we are going through in our 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:20.439 lives to be situated, to be placed in the context of what you have done in Jesus Christ. 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:37.180 Grant us today as we incline our hearts and ears to you, Lord, in Psalm 22, grant us to 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:43.479 have such a grand vision of your love for us and of Christ's glory. 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:56.060 God, we can pray the depth of His love demonstrated in His suffering and death so that in all of our 00:01:56.060 --> 00:02:06.719 own pains, we can remember Christ. We can hope. We can trust. And we can groan in faith. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:24.120 So Lord, help us. We need you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you are willing and able, please stand 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:35.620 for the reading of God's Word. Psalm 22. To the choir master, according to the doe of the 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:48.759 Don, a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:58.560 from the words of my groaning? Oh, my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:12.199 no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you, our fathers trusted. They trusted 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:20.199 and you deliver them. To you, they cried and were rescued. In you, they trusted and were not put to 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:31.539 shame. But I am a warm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me 00:03:31.539 --> 00:03:39.679 mock me. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord. Let him deliver him. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.739 Let him rescue him, for he delights in him. 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:53.200 Yet you are he who took me from the womb. You made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 00:03:53.820 --> 00:04:00.600 On you was I cast from my birth. And from my mother's womb, you have been my God. 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:06.520 Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:15.020 Many bulls encompass me. Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:23.160 like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. 00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:30.860 My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast. My strength is dried up like a potsherd 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:39.460 and my tongue sticks to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me. 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:47.020 A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:54.500 They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. 00:04:54.500 --> 00:05:03.839 But you, O Lord, do not be far off. O you, my help, come quickly to my aid. Deliver my soul from the sword. 00:05:03.939 --> 00:05:09.360 My precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:17.079 from the horns of the wild oxen. I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:23.240 congregation, I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob, 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:30.280 glorify him and stand in awe of him. All you offspring of Israel. For he has not despised or 00:05:30.280 --> 00:05:36.579 abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. And he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:44.519 when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation. My vows, I will perform 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:50.980 before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him shall praise 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:57.939 the Lord. May your hearts live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:02.900 Lord. And all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the 00:06:02.900 --> 00:06:09.100 Lord. And he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship. Before 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:13.939 him shall bow all who go down to the dust. Even the one who could not keep himself alive. 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:20.219 Posterity we shall serve him. It shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They shall come 00:06:20.219 --> 00:06:27.660 and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn that he has done it. It's God's holy and 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:37.060 authoritative word. Please be seated. Last week, we began a month-long sermon series entitled Psalms of 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:42.759 Lament. Lament. Lament is to Lament. Lament is to Lament. Lament is to mourn something, to express sorrow 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:50.399 over something. All of us have and will experience some kind of pain and sorrows in our lives, and we 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:57.500 have a choice to make. We can either let that painful circumstance drive us toward God in lament, 00:06:57.500 --> 00:07:03.199 or we can let it take us away from him in bitter silence. 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:11.480 As I mentioned in the last two weeks, 2 Corinthians 6.10, Paul says that he and Timothy, as servants of 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:18.040 God, have been sorrowful but always rejoicing. These two things go hand in hand for the Christian. We're 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:23.980 sorrowful on the one hand because we are honestly acknowledging the hurt and pain and brokenness in our 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:29.360 lives and in our world, but we are also rejoicing because we trust in the goodness and sovereignty of 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:36.300 God through it all, and we remember his promises to us. The kingdom of God is already here, but it is not 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:44.879 yet fully here. It's been inaugurated, but it's not consummated, and that's why Lament exists in this day 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:52.100 and age, to bridge that gap between our pain and God's promises. It gives us a language to process 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:58.600 what's going on, and if you're thinking to yourself, maybe last week and this week, well, my life is 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:05.360 actually pretty good right now. Well, I don't have any significant suffering in my life. Don't worry, 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:11.379 because the Lament Psalms can still be helpful for you. Even if you're not going through a crisis 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:18.160 or intense suffering, there's still plenty of normal griefs, day-to-day griefs and sorrows in our lives, 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:27.380 sicknesses, inadequate finances, being misunderstood by a friend, or persistent conflict with your 00:08:27.380 --> 00:08:34.540 boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife. And the lessons of Lament can be applied to those more 00:08:34.540 --> 00:08:40.279 ordinary situations as well, and applying them, learning to apply them to these ordinary situations 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:48.539 will prepare us when, in the future, we do face extraordinary hardship. And last week, we focused 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:54.240 on the first step of Lament, turning to God, seeking the Lord. And this week, we're going to listen to 00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:00.419 what God has to say in Psalm 22, and focus in particular on the second step, which is to groan to God. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:09.319 In Psalm 22, in particular, is where the psalmist laments a sense of loneliness and forsakenness. 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:15.120 The subtitle of the psalm tells us that it's a psalm of David, which likely means that it was written 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:21.120 by David, and it is to be played according to the tune of the Doe of the Dawn. And in this psalm, 00:09:21.199 --> 00:09:30.179 David feels scorned and forsaken by God. Some of you also know the pain of loneliness and rejection. 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:39.459 Maybe you feel like a worm and not a human, the way people look at you and talk down at you. 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:46.320 But even more significantly, you know, some of you have felt forsaken by God himself. 00:09:48.379 --> 00:09:51.480 You're having trouble reconciling your present circumstances, 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:56.000 your present unfavorable circumstances with the gracious presence of God. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:03.480 If you feel that God is absent or silent, this psalm is for you. It teaches us that when we feel 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:10.059 forsaken by God, we should groan to him nonetheless in Christ, looking to Christ. 00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:15.960 So we're going to look at the outline of the psalm in first, why have you forsaken me? To yet you are, 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:21.120 and then be not far off, and finally praise the Lord. I'm going to cover those first two points 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:26.600 together. And right at the beginning of the psalm in verse one, David turns to God, and then he begins 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:32.860 immediately to groan to him. He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:42.419 He addresses God twice. My God, my God. This is not a stock phrase like Father God that sometimes we 00:10:42.419 --> 00:10:49.860 mindlessly pepper our prayers with. I've done that. And David is here crying out to God in a deeply 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:59.560 personal way out of sheer desperation. My God, my God. And three times in verse one to two, David cries 00:10:59.560 --> 00:11:10.519 out that way. God, you are my God, not his God or her God or their God. You are my God. I worship you. 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:18.120 You have claimed me as your own, and I belong to you. But then why have you forsaken me? 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:27.080 As if I don't belong to you? David's experience is all the more painful because God frequently 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:36.840 describes himself as someone who will never forsake his people. So why, my God, have you forsaken me? 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:44.340 Why is such a heart-wrenching question? In his book, Man's Searching for Meaning, 00:11:44.340 --> 00:11:52.519 Viktor Frankl, who is an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, writes about his experience 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:58.160 in a concentration camp. And he quotes the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, 00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:04.139 who I don't cite as a spiritual authority by any stretch of the imagination. But in here, 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:08.960 he does express something that is at least partially true. Nietzsche says, 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:14.280 he who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:22.980 And using that quote, Viktor Frankl argues that people can endure a harrowing ordeal in prison 00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:27.720 only if they have a purpose or a future goal to look forward to. 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:36.200 When you understand why you have to go through something, it makes it more bearable no matter how 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:43.320 it happens. Another way to put that is knowing the purpose of something helps you to endure 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:52.519 the matter of it. We all hate waiting, but if we know why we're waiting, what we're waiting for, 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:59.779 it makes the waiting that much more bearable. Right? We all hate pain, for example. But if we know why 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:06.000 we have to endure pain, if we know that it's serving some purpose, for example, helping us to lose fat, 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:13.639 gain muscles, and be healthy, then we can endure that pain. It makes it more bearable. 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:21.139 Conversely, when you don't know why, it makes the pain that much more difficult to bear. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:29.439 And the reality is, we don't exactly know the why of all of the disappointments and the sufferings 00:13:29.439 --> 00:13:38.659 of this life. So David cries out, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:46.579 from the words of my groaning? He's saying to God, when I need you most, my God, why do you seem so far 00:13:46.579 --> 00:13:55.719 away? When I most need to be heard by you, why do you turn a deaf ear to me? And the word translated 00:13:55.719 --> 00:14:01.459 groaning in verse one is not a tame word that describes this, someone who's just whimpering, 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:09.820 you know, under their breath. In Isaiah 5, 29, Ezekiel 19, 7, and other places, the same Hebrew word 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:18.280 describes the roaring of a lion. So imagine rather someone who is screaming for help, someone whose 00:14:18.280 --> 00:14:27.060 voice is hoarse from crying out, who grabs hold of you and demands, why, why have you forsaken me? 00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:34.639 It might strike you as inappropriate to cry out to God so boldly, but not only in these lament songs, 00:14:34.719 --> 00:14:40.219 but also in laments found all throughout scripture, we see the saints of God expressing their sorrow 00:14:40.219 --> 00:14:44.859 sincerely and expressing their doubts and questions with heartfelt honesty. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:52.199 And I mentioned this when I preached through Exodus 15 and 16, that there is an important biblical 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:59.800 distinction between groaning and grumbling, right? We often find the saints in the Psalms and other 00:14:59.800 --> 00:15:07.860 places groaning, moaning before God or sighing as is sometimes translated. But that's distinguished from 00:15:07.860 --> 00:15:17.700 grumbling, which invariably refers to a sinful complaint. Groaning to God with your complaints is not the same 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:26.400 thing as grumbling against God. Moaning in your grief and pain is not the same thing as murmuring in prideful 00:15:26.400 --> 00:15:33.540 resistance and rebellion. The New Testament also maintains the same distinction. Philippians 2, 14, 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:41.940 15 says, do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent. But Jesus 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:47.360 opposes those who grumble, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Jews, and sometimes his own disciples who grumble 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:56.060 against him throughout the gospels. We are supposed to groan. Romans 8, 26, that's even the Holy Spirit 00:15:56.060 --> 00:16:03.080 groans with groans that are too deep for words. And we, along with all creation, are groaning for the 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:10.740 redemption of our bodies, as it says in Romans 8. This kind of groaning is appropriate for us. 00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:17.240 So when you are grieving the loss of a loved one and mourning the fact that our world is broken and death 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:25.899 still ravages God's creation, we can weep and we can groan as Jesus wept before Lazarus's tomb. 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:35.960 When you face rejection and isolation and loneliness due to sinful people, something maybe as small 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:44.060 but maybe significant to you as not receiving that invitation, that wedding invitation or that party 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:53.199 invitation that you were expecting, but it never arrived. When you feel like an outcast, when you can groan, 00:16:53.539 --> 00:17:03.099 when you are saddened by your own sins, we can groan and sigh, but we must never grumble. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:11.240 To groan is to grumble. To groan is to implore God. To grumble is to impeach him. 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:18.640 Groaning is a desperate appeal to God. Grumbling is an angry protest. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:28.120 Imagine groaning as raising up your arms, pleading with God, while grumbling is raising your fist 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:32.239 at God and pointing your finger in accusation. 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:40.039 David understands this, and so he is groaning to God. He says in verse 2, 00:17:40.139 --> 00:17:46.099 I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find no rest. Day and night, 00:17:46.439 --> 00:17:53.339 he's indicating that he's crying out to God all throughout the day, but there is no answer and no 00:17:53.339 --> 00:18:04.799 rest to his question why. At this point, we might expect David to move on and seek out alternative 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:11.159 solutions, right? I mean, what's the point of continuing to dial a number where no one answers? 00:18:12.899 --> 00:18:20.599 But David doesn't do that. When our experience seems to be at odds with our theology, it can be 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:27.099 tempting simply to dispense with our theology. But that gives too much weight to our subjective 00:18:27.099 --> 00:18:33.679 experience and our ability to make sense of that experience, both of which are fallible and have 00:18:33.679 --> 00:18:42.599 been affected by sin. So in this psalm, David does not let his present sufferings append everything he 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:49.179 knows to be true about God from the past. He does not let his present circumstances and what he's feeling 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:55.160 at the moment, explode everything that he knows and believes about God. He holds on to it. 00:18:56.039 --> 00:19:02.759 That's why we find the word yet in verse 3. In every lament in scripture, there's always a pivot 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:08.740 point, a turning point where the believer goes from groaning about his dire circumstances toward God to 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:14.360 remembering God's character. And this is where scripture goes far deeper than Nietzsche. 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:22.679 Because for the Christian, even when we don't know the why of the situation, we can cling to what we know 00:19:22.679 --> 00:19:35.639 about the who. The one who knows who God is can endure even when he knows not why he is suffering. 00:19:35.640 --> 00:19:49.460 So there's a shift from verses 1 to 2 where in first person personal pronouns, like I, my, and me 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:56.060 predominated in verses 1 to 2, but in verses 3 to 5, the second person pronoun, you, predominates. 00:19:57.020 --> 00:20:00.800 David shifts his attention from what he is going through to who God is. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:10.200 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. He remembers that God is holy, meaning he is set 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:17.919 apart from us. He's different from us. He's unlike us sinful human beings. We are fickle, but God is 00:20:17.919 --> 00:20:26.819 constant. He is faithful. He's unchanging. We are weak, but God is strong. He is mighty to save. 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:35.480 We are unrighteous, but God is righteous. So the fact that God is holy, he's unlike us, he's set apart 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:41.879 from us, is the basis for the psalmist's hope and confidence. And God is enthroned on the praises of 00:20:41.879 --> 00:20:48.419 Israel. Because of who God is and what he has done throughout history, the praises of Israel are so many 00:20:48.419 --> 00:20:54.379 and so lavish that it forms a metaphorical throne for God. That's how great God is. 00:20:54.380 --> 00:21:02.000 So that's a basis for David's confidence. And then in verses 4 to 5, he recalls how his forefathers 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:08.320 trusted in God. He says, in you our fathers trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you they 00:21:08.320 --> 00:21:15.560 cried and were rescued. In you they trusted and were not put to shame. Even though at the moment, 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:21.840 David feels like his God has forsaken him, he recalls that God is also the God of his forefathers, 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:29.819 and they trusted God and God delivered them. Three times he repeats the word trusted for emphasis. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:37.619 It's almost as if David's exhorting himself, reminding himself to trust God as once his forefathers did. 00:21:38.939 --> 00:21:45.919 Though my present experience might not fit with this, I remember that those who trusted in God in the 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:51.980 past were not put to shame. They were not disappointed, but they were vindicated and rewarded. 00:21:54.080 --> 00:21:58.560 But David's remembrance does not make his doubts and struggles vanish immediately. 00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:06.740 There is this dialectic throughout verses 1 to 10, a back and forth argument David has with himself 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:12.360 from despair to hope, from living by sight to living by faith. 00:22:12.359 --> 00:22:17.159 And so we're back to David's present sufferings and struggles in verses 6 to 8. 00:22:17.959 --> 00:22:25.059 But I am a warm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me, 00:22:25.139 --> 00:22:30.619 they make mouths at me, they wag their heads. He trusts in the Lord, let him deliver him. Let him rescue him 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:38.539 for delights in him. The Hebrew word translated as trust here is not the same one as one that we saw in verses 1 to 2, 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:45.619 but it means literally to roll over, to rotate over. It's referring to how David has essentially 00:22:45.619 --> 00:22:54.759 rolled himself over to God's disposal. He has cast himself upon God saying, I have nothing I can do of 00:22:54.759 --> 00:23:03.440 my own. I'm at completely at your disposal, surrendered, help me. And as David remembers that 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:09.799 he himself has been trusting God as his forefathers did, but that he has not yet been delivered, 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:16.340 this becomes a sore spot for him. And precisely because he has not yet been delivered, 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:24.019 his enemies are actually mocking David for his trust in God. They are pursing their lips in scornful 00:23:24.019 --> 00:23:32.000 disdain and they're wagging their heads and dismissive condescension. Ha! He says he trusts in 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:40.639 the Lord. Boys, look at this fool. He thinks that God will deliver him. Let's see what this God does 00:23:40.639 --> 00:23:51.400 if he really delights in him. While God seems to be silent, his enemies are loud in their derision 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:57.060 and they're not treating him like a fellow human being. They are treating him like a worm, 00:23:58.820 --> 00:24:06.240 a scormy worm that wiggles around in the dirt and gets stepped on by everybody walking around. 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:11.140 Have you ever been mocked for your trust in God? 00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:20.620 Have you refrained from indulging in drunkenness at a night out at the bar with your coworkers? 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:30.120 Or rebuffed the sexual advances of a flirtatious neighbor? Or you refused to cheat on your exam 00:24:30.120 --> 00:24:33.780 along with your friends and then you got mocked for it? 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:41.720 You self-righteous prude? You holier than thou? Good eat to shoes? 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:46.379 You actually believe that there is a bearded old man up in the sky? 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:51.619 Never mind that the Bible never describes God that way. 00:24:51.619 --> 00:25:02.879 When my father was an electronics engineer in Korea before he retired early to become a pastor, 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:12.459 the boss of his company branch took him out and he took his team out for a night at the bar for drinks. 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:18.759 At that time in Korea, I think this is probably still the case, but at that time it was particularly 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:21.900 pronounced that drinking was a huge societal problem. 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:28.079 Many men in particular would get drunk all the time, would not neglect their household responsibilities 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.440 as fathers and husbands. 00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:36.359 And because of that, Christians in Korea made a convictional stance and said, 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.539 we as Christians will not drink alcohol. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:42.400 So many Christians to this day in Korea still don't drink any alcohol. 00:25:43.180 --> 00:25:48.680 And my dad was one of those people and this became a problem because he went to the bar 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:52.380 and then the boss told him to motion him to come. 00:25:52.820 --> 00:25:54.620 And that means I want you to pour me a drink. 00:25:55.120 --> 00:25:58.360 And so you're supposed to kneel and you pour him a drink. 00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:00.759 And then he's going to pour you a drink. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:05.200 And you're supposed to down that and receive that right away. 00:26:05.820 --> 00:26:10.240 And because it's such a hierarchical culture and a communal culture, 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:18.559 to refuse that is like career suicide because you're offending your superior. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:24.440 You're dissing him in a way when you refuse to take his drink. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:30.660 And so my dad was offered the drink and then he respectfully set it aside, 00:26:30.859 --> 00:26:33.559 said he can't drink it because of his Christian convictions. 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:39.940 And then the boss just flew out in rage and railed against him and said, 00:26:40.159 --> 00:26:42.039 you think that you're a Christian? 00:26:43.619 --> 00:26:48.919 I have many Christians working for me and they all take a drink when I give 10,000 to take a drink. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:51.039 And you think that you're better than them? 00:26:51.419 --> 00:26:55.599 And you will never get promoted under my watch. 00:26:56.419 --> 00:26:59.659 That was one of the worst days of my dad's professional career. 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:04.660 And my mom, I remember her sharing about how he came home and he just was totally dejected. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:11.740 And in God's sense of humor and in God's kindness and vindication, 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:20.519 within a year that branch company boss got fired by the boss at the Capitol, the big boss. 00:27:21.019 --> 00:27:24.380 And then my dad got promoted before all of his coworkers. 00:27:24.380 --> 00:27:31.900 And we were the only ones that got shipped out to the U.S. to continue his work and a sister company in Seattle 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:35.640 while all the other people lost their jobs eventually when the company closed. 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:38.600 So, I mean, just God's care for his people. 00:27:39.540 --> 00:27:43.300 And, but this is, but it doesn't always end up like that, right? 00:27:43.360 --> 00:27:45.620 It doesn't always end up with a happy ending like that. 00:27:45.660 --> 00:27:52.640 David here has not yet seen that vindication and he's being reviled for his faith and trust in God. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:55.560 You think God will save you? 00:27:56.100 --> 00:27:57.960 You think God can help you? 00:28:01.860 --> 00:28:08.060 Are you willing to be treated like a worm and not like a man for Jesus' sake? 00:28:11.860 --> 00:28:16.140 Are you willing to endure people mocking you and making mouths at you 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:19.380 and wagging their heads at you for Jesus' sake? 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:27.440 Will you trust in the Lord when you are scorned and despised by those around you? 00:28:29.940 --> 00:28:35.280 Still awaiting his vindication, David once again pivots to remembering who God is in verses 9 to 10. 00:28:35.720 --> 00:28:38.100 Yet you are he who took me from the womb. 00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:40.840 You made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.280 On you I was cast from my birth. 00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:46.360 And from my mother's womb you have been my God. 00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:52.539 David's remembering that God has been with him from before he was born. 00:28:53.159 --> 00:28:56.679 Even when he was still in his mother's womb, God was there to care for him. 00:28:56.939 --> 00:28:58.479 God was there to watch over him. 00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:04.959 You have been my God and I have been raised to worship you and to trust in you from my childhood. 00:29:06.399 --> 00:29:08.159 You are the God of my youth. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:12.140 Who else can I turn to? 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.660 Pastor Mark Vrogab writes in his book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, 00:29:18.779 --> 00:29:23.440 that the psalmist's complaints are not cul-de-sacs of sorrow, 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:26.620 but bridges that lead him to God's character. 00:29:26.619 --> 00:29:32.819 We're not supposed to keep going around and around in the cul-de-sacs of sorrow, 00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:39.039 but eventually we need to cross that bridge between our pain and God's promises by faith. 00:29:40.419 --> 00:29:42.859 Yes, God, I feel forsaken by you right now, 00:29:42.919 --> 00:29:45.339 but I remember that you are the God of my forefathers. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.019 You are the God of my youth. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:52.559 I have always trusted in you and I will again trust you. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.000 And that's what David does. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:00.039 Having turned toward God and grown to him and having remembered God's character, 00:30:00.679 --> 00:30:06.079 he now boldly appeals to God to act on his behalf in verses 11 to 21. 00:30:06.639 --> 00:30:10.079 And we find the main theme of David's appeal in verse 11, 00:30:10.179 --> 00:30:11.859 which is repeated again in verse 19. 00:30:12.460 --> 00:30:14.519 Be not far from me. 00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:18.859 This has been David's primary concern from the beginning. 00:30:18.859 --> 00:30:23.379 When you cried out to God, why are you so far from saving me? 00:30:26.379 --> 00:30:29.519 People's rejections, suffering, physical hardship. 00:30:30.819 --> 00:30:31.919 It's all bearable. 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:34.959 If you know God is with you, he's near. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:39.000 But it's hard when you feel that he's far. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:42.559 And so his main cry is, God, be not far from me. 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:44.959 Be with me in the midst of my struggle. 00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:48.600 And note the contrast in verses 11 to 12. 00:30:48.779 --> 00:30:51.779 Be not far from me, for trouble is near. 00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:54.380 And there is none to help. 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:56.660 Many bulls encompass me. 00:30:56.779 --> 00:30:58.840 Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. 00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:01.680 God seems far, but what is near? 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:03.500 The troubles. 00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:05.279 The troubles feel very near. 00:31:07.900 --> 00:31:09.400 There is none to help. 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:10.640 He feels utterly alone. 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:11.900 None to help. 00:31:11.900 --> 00:31:14.980 But there are many who are attacking him. 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:16.620 Many detractors. 00:31:16.860 --> 00:31:18.000 Many assailants. 00:31:18.380 --> 00:31:19.940 Who surround him, in fact. 00:31:20.060 --> 00:31:21.280 Encompass him completely. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:26.480 David's like a sheep that has been cut off from the flock. 00:31:26.580 --> 00:31:29.000 Who's bleeding helplessly by himself. 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:31.200 And surrounded by a pack of ravenous wolves. 00:31:32.620 --> 00:31:37.259 And David himself uses this imagery, this animal metaphors, to describe his situation. 00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:38.820 He says in verses 12 to 13. 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:40.879 Many bulls encompass me. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:42.700 Strong bulls of Bashan surround me. 00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:46.259 They open wide their mouths at me like a ravening and roaring lion. 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:51.960 Bashan was a country within the land that God had promised to the Israelites. 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:55.579 That stretched from Gilead to the south and Mount Hermon in the north. 00:31:56.059 --> 00:32:00.379 And it was known for producing the fattest and the largest cattle in the area. 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:05.840 And so imagine, like, you don't imagine, like, six small cows. 00:32:06.060 --> 00:32:10.240 Like, imagine big, plump bulls, wild oxen. 00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:18.340 And when the Israelites entered the promised land, the kingdom of Bashan, led by their king, Og, 00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:21.560 actually opposed the Israelites and fought against them. 00:32:21.559 --> 00:32:29.700 And Og is described as the descendant of the Rephaim, a race of giants that seem to be related to, 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:33.839 and at least maybe include, the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6, 4. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.139 And that's a highly debated verse. 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:37.720 And we don't know exactly who they are. 00:32:37.779 --> 00:32:43.740 It's possible that these are kind of mighty men of old that came to exist because of demons, 00:32:43.740 --> 00:32:50.839 demons, angelic beings, demons having, impregnating or basically having relationships with human women. 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.120 That's what Genesis 6, 4 seems to suggest. 00:32:55.140 --> 00:32:59.620 Although there's different interpretations of that that you guys are welcome to seek out. 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:05.960 Regardless of your interpretation of that, because of this background, Bashan's historical background, 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:10.779 it's used in scripture often as a symbol of resistance against God. 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:18.399 So in Psalm 68, 15 to 16, the mountain of Bashan is described as looking with hatred at Mount Zion, 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:21.139 which is God's chosen dwelling place, his mountain. 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:26.759 So then David's enemies have surrounded like strong bulls of Bashan. 00:33:27.339 --> 00:33:31.559 And they're opening their mouths to devour him like a ravening and roaring lion. 00:33:32.899 --> 00:33:36.440 David compares them to still other beasts in verse 16. 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:39.039 For dogs encompass me. 00:33:39.320 --> 00:33:41.759 A company of evildoers encircles me. 00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:43.539 They have pierced my hands and feet. 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:51.019 The dogs in view here are not cute chihuahuas or I don't know the many dog breeds. 00:33:51.120 --> 00:33:53.500 I think I wrote some down in beagles or Malteses. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:01.539 These are wild dogs, jackals, which are more like wolves than dogs as we think about them probably. 00:34:01.539 --> 00:34:05.980 They're like a pack of hungry jackals attacking a wounded prey. 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:10.420 And they're also called evildoers surrounding David. 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:13.980 And they seem to be wielding some kind of sharp, pointy weapon. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:19.279 Maybe a sword or something because David says they have pierced my hands and feet. 00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:25.340 David describes what's happening to him as a result of this vividly in verse 14. 00:34:25.340 --> 00:34:29.900 I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. 00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:31.960 My heart is like wax. 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:33.760 It is melted within my breast. 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.579 All three of these metaphors convey the same reality. 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:42.740 When you tilt over a bucket of water, the water doesn't just stay in the bucket. 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.559 It pours out without any reservation immediately. 00:34:46.120 --> 00:34:47.840 It's emptied immediately. 00:34:48.620 --> 00:34:53.920 Similarly, bones without joints supporting them would simply collapse under its own weight. 00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:58.099 When you apply heat to wax, what happens? 00:34:58.220 --> 00:34:59.320 It just crumbles. 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:01.139 There's no resistance. 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:03.800 It caves in upon itself. 00:35:05.240 --> 00:35:07.300 That's what David feels like. 00:35:08.059 --> 00:35:09.860 In other words, David is collapsing. 00:35:10.200 --> 00:35:18.320 He's being emptied out, completely drained of energy and depleted so that he can offer no resistance. 00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:21.420 He continues in verse 15. 00:35:21.420 --> 00:35:51.400 He says, 00:35:51.420 --> 00:35:55.920 Because he knows that God can do something about his situation. 00:35:56.380 --> 00:36:00.559 He is calling God to account and appealing to him to intervene. 00:36:02.720 --> 00:36:05.000 David continues in verses 17 to 18. 00:36:05.099 --> 00:36:06.740 I can count all my bones. 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:09.039 They stare and gloat over me. 00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:10.960 They divide my garments among them. 00:36:11.019 --> 00:36:13.680 And for my clothing, they cast lots. 00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:18.159 I was wondering what it means that I can count all my bones. 00:36:18.319 --> 00:36:22.219 And then my family were eating fish last night. 00:36:22.779 --> 00:36:28.960 And after we had eaten all the flesh, I looked at it and I realized, oh, wow, I can count all the bones. 00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:33.679 When I can count all my bones. 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:42.820 I think it's an expression of just how emaciated and weary and gaunt he has become through all his suffering and pains. 00:36:42.820 --> 00:36:45.760 And he said, you can count all my bones. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:54.760 It seems his nakedness is exposed. 00:36:54.760 --> 00:37:05.100 Note that David is not dead yet. 00:37:05.220 --> 00:37:06.120 He's still alive. 00:37:06.200 --> 00:37:08.140 He's still alive and kicking. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:09.960 Maybe barely so, but he's alive. 00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:17.480 And yet, even before he is dead, his enemies act like he's already dead. 00:37:17.659 --> 00:37:20.579 Like it's a foregone conclusion and they start dividing up his clothes. 00:37:20.780 --> 00:37:22.220 Well, he's gone. 00:37:22.280 --> 00:37:23.280 He doesn't have any use for that. 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:25.619 So let's divide up his clothes for ourselves. 00:37:26.980 --> 00:37:28.940 The situation can't be more dire. 00:37:29.820 --> 00:37:32.720 So David once again returns to his main plea in verse 19. 00:37:32.720 --> 00:37:38.400 But you, oh Lord, do not be far off or you, my help, come quickly to my aid. 00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:49.700 So in verses 12 to 18, David compared those who were attacking him to bulls, lions, dogs, and evildoers with some kind of piercing weapon. 00:37:50.500 --> 00:37:55.519 And now in verses 20 to 21, in reverse order, David summarizes the plight he is in. 00:37:56.039 --> 00:38:00.539 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 00:38:01.139 --> 00:38:02.980 Save me from the mouth of the lion. 00:38:03.460 --> 00:38:06.320 You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen. 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:09.860 So he's again crying out to God. 00:38:10.740 --> 00:38:17.320 But notice this radical shift in perspective in that last sentence in verse 21. 00:38:18.220 --> 00:38:19.980 Notice the change in tense. 00:38:21.200 --> 00:38:27.000 David goes from saying, deliver my soul, save me, both of which are present imperatives, 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:30.800 to saying you have rescued me. 00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:37.400 It's a perfect tense, which is supposed to indicate something that has already happened. 00:38:38.720 --> 00:38:40.960 But David's still in the midst of the same prayer. 00:38:41.100 --> 00:38:48.000 This is an expression of David's faith-filled confidence that God will indeed rescue him. 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:55.260 So in the same way, his enemies are dividing his clothing as if his death is a foregone conclusion. 00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.000 David is now saying, you have delivered me. 00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:02.039 You have rescued me. 00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:07.559 As if that's a foregone conclusion because of his confidence in God. 00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:16.779 And fittingly, it's from this shift, after this shift, there isn't a single word of lament in Psalm 22. 00:39:18.039 --> 00:39:24.059 Psalm, the prayer of David is superseded by the praise of David, starting in verse 22. 00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:26.719 And David invites others to join him. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:34.699 That brings us to the final step of lament, to trust or to wait with expectant hope. 00:39:36.859 --> 00:39:42.980 David praises God and tells of God's name to others in the congregation of worshipers because for, it says in verse 24, 00:39:43.399 --> 00:39:46.739 he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:51.699 And he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard when he cried to him. 00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:55.199 Once again, this is a declaration of his faith. 00:39:55.199 --> 00:40:00.059 Even though David has not yet heard an answer from God, as it says in verse 2, 00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:04.599 he nevertheless believes that God has heard and has responded to his cry. 00:40:05.399 --> 00:40:09.259 And there's a contrast between verse 24 and verse 6. 00:40:09.839 --> 00:40:12.299 Remember what the people did to David in verse 6. 00:40:12.399 --> 00:40:17.239 He said he was scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:18.259 It's the same word. 00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:21.379 He was despised, treated like a worm and not a man. 00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:28.119 But here, David says that God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. 00:40:29.980 --> 00:40:32.160 This is so comforting for me personally. 00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:40.519 It is often the tendency of sinful men to trample down those who are already broken down and brought low. 00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:44.820 To jeer and point fingers. 00:40:45.219 --> 00:40:50.079 To poke at people when they are too weak or humiliated to do anything about it. 00:40:53.039 --> 00:40:54.179 It's like a piranha. 00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:54.679 Smell it. 00:40:54.759 --> 00:40:57.199 We're tasting blood and attacking. 00:40:57.199 --> 00:41:01.939 It gives them an ego boost to step on others. 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:13.119 Isn't this why, if we're honest with ourselves, that we hesitate to tell others of our sins, of our weaknesses, of our failings? 00:41:15.960 --> 00:41:20.319 Deep inside, we feel shame and we fear their judgment and rejection. 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:26.080 But this passage reminds us that our God is not like that. 00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:32.960 We know from Psalm 51, 17 that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. 00:41:33.460 --> 00:41:38.059 A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 00:41:39.960 --> 00:41:43.640 The Lord is compassionate and gracious. 00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:51.039 When we are brought low, when we, out of our brokenness and pain, are groaning to him, 00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:56.619 other people might look down on us and jeer at us and mock us. 00:41:57.139 --> 00:41:59.500 But our God will not despise us. 00:42:00.039 --> 00:42:01.819 He will not abhor our affliction. 00:42:02.219 --> 00:42:04.199 He will not hide his face from us. 00:42:04.859 --> 00:42:06.839 Though men might regard us as worms, 00:42:07.179 --> 00:42:11.440 our God will regard us as humans created in his own image. 00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:18.199 Our heavenly Father will regard us as his own precious children. 00:42:19.879 --> 00:42:23.019 So knowing this, David says to God in verse 25, 00:42:23.159 --> 00:42:26.319 from you comes my praise in the great congregation. 00:42:27.079 --> 00:42:30.659 By this, David doesn't mean that God is praising him in the congregation. 00:42:30.859 --> 00:42:36.900 Rather, he's saying that God provides the reason for David's praise and worship of him. 00:42:36.900 --> 00:42:41.660 Because God regards him with compassion and faithfully answers his prayers, 00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:44.700 David will praise God in the great congregation. 00:42:45.579 --> 00:42:50.099 And then he proceeds to encourage his fellow worshipers the same way in verse 26. 00:42:50.619 --> 00:42:52.720 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. 00:42:52.880 --> 00:42:54.460 Those who seek him shall praise the Lord. 00:42:54.820 --> 00:42:56.579 May your hearts live forever. 00:42:57.780 --> 00:42:59.820 That's a very interesting blessing. 00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:02.420 May your hearts live forever. 00:43:02.420 --> 00:43:07.700 Early in verse 14, David reported that his heart was like wax. 00:43:08.460 --> 00:43:10.260 That it dismelted within his breast. 00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:15.800 This is a prayer and a blessing to the opposite effect. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:17.659 May your hearts live forever. 00:43:18.420 --> 00:43:21.500 May you not be disheartened. 00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:24.220 May you not lose heart. 00:43:24.659 --> 00:43:26.180 May you not lose hope. 00:43:26.300 --> 00:43:28.519 May you not ever despair. 00:43:28.519 --> 00:43:28.739 May you not lose heart. 00:43:30.659 --> 00:43:33.320 And that's been my prayer for you. 00:43:34.099 --> 00:43:36.480 Leading up to this sermon, but for this whole series. 00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:40.219 That you would not lose heart in the midst of your pain. 00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:41.820 In the midst of your suffering. 00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:43.739 That you would not lose heart. 00:43:43.960 --> 00:43:45.820 But that your heart would live forever. 00:43:45.820 --> 00:44:04.840 Because, brothers and sisters, we, as Christians, have even more reasons than David himself did to not lose heart, but to continue to trust in the Lord. 00:44:04.840 --> 00:44:15.700 Verses 27 to 31, David prophetically anticipates a day when all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. 00:44:16.039 --> 00:44:19.039 And all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 00:44:19.300 --> 00:44:20.660 For kingship belongs to the Lord. 00:44:20.720 --> 00:44:22.120 He rules over the nations. 00:44:22.640 --> 00:44:29.300 He's anticipating a time when not only the Jews, not only the Israelites in the land, the Canaan, 00:44:29.300 --> 00:44:34.820 but people from all nation, tribe, and tongue. 00:44:35.120 --> 00:44:37.019 Not just Jews, but Gentiles. 00:44:37.280 --> 00:44:40.019 People from the ends of the earth will all worship God. 00:44:40.060 --> 00:44:41.120 And when did that happen? 00:44:41.680 --> 00:44:42.980 It happened when Jesus came. 00:44:46.180 --> 00:44:50.180 Not only that, David says, both the living and the dead, all will go down to the dust. 00:44:50.280 --> 00:44:53.280 Even the one who could not keep himself alive will worship God. 00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:59.760 When do people receive eternal life? 00:45:00.160 --> 00:45:02.920 When are the dead raised in the resurrection? 00:45:03.100 --> 00:45:04.519 It also comes with Jesus. 00:45:04.680 --> 00:45:09.280 Jesus is the one who ultimately fulfills these verses. 00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:14.580 Because he came to us in human form and died on the cross for our sins. 00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:17.720 And then he rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. 00:45:17.820 --> 00:45:20.720 That's why this psalm is fulfilled. 00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:26.379 Many of you have probably already noticed as we were reading initially that this psalm bears 00:45:26.379 --> 00:45:30.619 striking resemblance to the words of Jesus during his crucifixion. 00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:37.419 And that's because the quotes, Jesus quotes many parts of this psalm directly. 00:45:37.859 --> 00:45:44.359 And because during his death, the gospel writers use words, the verses of this psalm to make 00:45:44.359 --> 00:45:46.199 sense of Jesus' death and suffering. 00:45:46.199 --> 00:45:53.859 It's for good reason that some Christians throughout church history have dubbed this psalm the fifth gospel. 00:45:54.619 --> 00:45:57.279 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Psalm 22. 00:45:58.699 --> 00:46:01.079 Some people call it the gospel according to David. 00:46:02.419 --> 00:46:07.139 Hebrews 2, 12 to 13 explicitly states that this psalm is referring ultimately to Jesus. 00:46:08.279 --> 00:46:09.579 In verse 7, David said, 00:46:09.579 --> 00:46:19.219 And it says in Matthew 27, 39 that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, 00:46:19.819 --> 00:46:20.039 quote, 00:46:20.119 --> 00:46:25.639 This is an allusion to Psalm 22. 00:46:27.400 --> 00:46:30.480 In verse 8, the people mocked David's trust in God, saying, 00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:40.740 Similarly, in Matthew 27, 43, the onlookers at Jesus' crucifixion mocked Jesus, saying, 00:46:41.159 --> 00:46:42.340 He trusts in God. 00:46:42.679 --> 00:46:45.179 Let God deliver him if he desires him. 00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:48.619 In verse 18, David noted, 00:46:48.619 --> 00:46:58.880 John 19, 23 to 24 quotes that verse and observes that the Roman soldiers took Jesus' garments 00:46:58.880 --> 00:47:01.980 and divided them among themselves into four parts. 00:47:02.759 --> 00:47:07.900 And then, because they didn't want to have to tear the seamless, the woven tunic, 00:47:09.059 --> 00:47:12.119 while Jesus was still alive and hanging nakedly on the cross, 00:47:12.219 --> 00:47:14.699 they were casting lots to see who would get it. 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:22.019 And finally, in Matthew 27, 46, when Jesus was breathing his last, 00:47:22.099 --> 00:47:23.719 when his breath was expiring, 00:47:24.339 --> 00:47:26.619 Jesus called out desperately from the cross, 00:47:27.079 --> 00:47:32.299 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:47:33.319 --> 00:47:34.799 That's Psalm 22, verse 1. 00:47:37.599 --> 00:47:42.480 What King David endured in Psalm 22 anticipates the sufferings of Christ, 00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:49.940 and it's fulfilled ultimately in the death of the new and better David, Jesus Christ. 00:47:52.440 --> 00:47:56.719 Brothers and sisters, Jesus was despised and rejected by men. 00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:00.579 He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 00:48:02.780 --> 00:48:05.840 He knows the pain of being betrayed by a friend 00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:12.420 because he was betrayed with a kiss by one of his 12 disciples, Judas Iscariot. 00:48:15.100 --> 00:48:17.300 Jesus knows the pain of abandonment 00:48:17.300 --> 00:48:21.579 because when he, the shepherd, was struck down on the cross, 00:48:21.720 --> 00:48:25.120 the sheep of the flock scattered, as it says in Matthew 26, 31. 00:48:25.119 --> 00:48:30.139 So don't draw away from Christ in your pain, 00:48:30.259 --> 00:48:32.440 but draw ever closer to him in your pain, 00:48:32.960 --> 00:48:36.400 knowing that he is not unable to sympathize with your weaknesses. 00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:40.940 Jesus knows the pain of humiliation 00:48:40.940 --> 00:48:46.239 because he humbled himself by taking on human flesh, 00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:47.339 the form of a servant, 00:48:48.019 --> 00:48:50.019 and because he subjected himself 00:48:50.019 --> 00:48:51.980 and became obedient even to death, 00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:53.659 to death on a cross. 00:48:53.659 --> 00:49:23.639 Jesus knows the pain of feeling for us, 00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:24.579 the pain of being forsaken by God. 00:49:26.339 --> 00:49:28.739 The deeper your relationship with someone, 00:49:29.099 --> 00:49:32.079 the more painful it is to be forsaken by that person. 00:49:36.079 --> 00:49:39.559 You might get unfriended by your friend on Facebook 00:49:39.559 --> 00:49:42.119 or an acquaintance on Facebook, 00:49:42.359 --> 00:49:44.000 and that will sting a little bit. 00:49:45.079 --> 00:49:46.480 It's not going to hurt that much. 00:49:47.420 --> 00:49:48.319 You shouldn't. 00:49:48.320 --> 00:49:54.360 But if you're backstabbed by a friend of several years, 00:49:54.900 --> 00:49:56.059 it's going to hurt a little more. 00:49:59.059 --> 00:50:01.900 If your spouse of several decades 00:50:01.900 --> 00:50:04.660 cheats on you and abandons you for another, 00:50:05.660 --> 00:50:07.960 that's going to hurt a lot more. 00:50:07.960 --> 00:50:18.940 Imagine the pain of being the eternal son of God 00:50:18.940 --> 00:50:25.639 who for eternity past enjoyed unbroken, 00:50:26.420 --> 00:50:30.780 intimate, perfect fellowship with his father. 00:50:30.780 --> 00:50:38.180 And he's dying on the cross. 00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:40.780 He who has never sinned, 00:50:41.560 --> 00:50:43.900 carrying the weight of our sin upon his shoulders, 00:50:44.900 --> 00:50:46.540 and absorbing in himself 00:50:46.540 --> 00:50:51.040 the fiery wrath of God the Father towards sinners, 00:50:51.519 --> 00:50:53.120 taking that all upon himself, 00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:56.819 and crying out, 00:50:56.980 --> 00:51:00.619 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:04.079 Matthew, more than any other gospel writers, 00:51:04.219 --> 00:51:05.940 captures that sense of forsakenness. 00:51:06.639 --> 00:51:08.639 In all of the gospel of Matthew, 00:51:08.900 --> 00:51:11.460 Jesus always prays to God as my father. 00:51:13.079 --> 00:51:16.619 The only time is when he's dying on the cross. 00:51:16.679 --> 00:51:19.139 He says, my God, my God. 00:51:20.980 --> 00:51:22.239 You can almost feel that. 00:51:23.900 --> 00:51:24.380 Distance. 00:51:25.380 --> 00:51:26.579 The sense of alienation. 00:51:29.940 --> 00:51:34.980 Of course, Jesus was not forsaken absolutely or permanently. 00:51:35.859 --> 00:51:38.259 The father will raise him from the dead and vindicate him. 00:51:39.139 --> 00:51:41.400 And of course, it's not that the eternal trinity 00:51:41.400 --> 00:51:43.019 was severed at the cross. 00:51:43.099 --> 00:51:44.839 The son of God never ceased to be 00:51:44.839 --> 00:51:46.739 the second person of the Godhead. 00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:52.819 However, Jesus really, truly died in his human nature. 00:51:53.119 --> 00:51:56.299 He bore the wrath of God. 00:51:58.460 --> 00:52:00.259 Isaiah 53, 10 tells us, 00:52:00.319 --> 00:52:02.559 the Lord, his father, crushed Jesus. 00:52:03.380 --> 00:52:05.839 God, the father, put his son to grief. 00:52:06.839 --> 00:52:09.259 Acts 2, 23 tells us, 00:52:09.639 --> 00:52:12.279 Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan 00:52:12.279 --> 00:52:13.699 and foreknowledge of God. 00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:14.839 This was the father's will. 00:52:14.839 --> 00:52:15.399 This was the father's will. 00:52:15.839 --> 00:52:18.980 This was the father's plan to crush his son. 00:52:19.719 --> 00:52:21.519 That Jesus would be forsaken. 00:52:21.619 --> 00:52:23.219 Because then and only then, 00:52:23.379 --> 00:52:24.699 we can be forgiven 00:52:24.699 --> 00:52:27.000 and rescued from death. 00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:32.019 Here is the decisive difference between David and Jesus. 00:52:33.019 --> 00:52:35.340 David was rescued from death. 00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:39.199 Jesus was not. 00:52:42.179 --> 00:52:44.340 Jesus died on that cross. 00:52:44.340 --> 00:52:46.140 And it is for that reason, 00:52:46.340 --> 00:52:49.559 he is the only one who can truly cry out, 00:52:49.680 --> 00:52:53.320 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:58.700 Jesus was forsaken so that you and I can be assured 00:52:58.700 --> 00:53:01.920 in all of our trials and sufferings and hardships 00:53:01.920 --> 00:53:05.140 that we will never be forsaken. 00:53:05.139 --> 00:53:13.819 Jesus was condemned on that cross for our sins 00:53:13.819 --> 00:53:16.579 so that you and I can know 00:53:16.579 --> 00:53:20.199 that we can always come back to him 00:53:20.199 --> 00:53:23.679 knowing that there is no condemnation 00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:25.119 for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:53:27.539 --> 00:53:30.799 That's why 2 Corinthians 4, 7 to 10 is true of us. 00:53:31.659 --> 00:53:33.639 We have this treasure in jars of clay 00:53:33.639 --> 00:53:36.299 to show that the surpassing power belongs to God 00:53:36.299 --> 00:53:37.159 and not to us. 00:53:37.619 --> 00:53:39.900 We are afflicted in every way, 00:53:39.980 --> 00:53:40.960 but not crushed. 00:53:42.799 --> 00:53:45.119 Perplexed, but not driven to despair. 00:53:46.519 --> 00:53:48.960 Persecuted, but not forsaken. 00:53:49.900 --> 00:53:52.699 Struck down, but not destroyed. 00:53:53.859 --> 00:53:56.779 Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus 00:53:56.779 --> 00:53:58.279 so that the life of Jesus 00:53:58.279 --> 00:54:00.819 may also be manifested in our bodies. 00:54:00.820 --> 00:54:04.440 Do you feel like you're carrying death? 00:54:05.900 --> 00:54:06.920 Suffering pain? 00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:10.980 If we're carrying the death of Jesus in our lives, 00:54:11.120 --> 00:54:13.980 we can be assured that the life of Jesus, 00:54:14.120 --> 00:54:15.440 the resurrection life of Jesus 00:54:15.440 --> 00:54:17.480 will also be manifested in us, 00:54:17.860 --> 00:54:19.580 in our bodies and in our lives. 00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:23.039 So remember that we are not forsaken. 00:54:24.400 --> 00:54:26.220 We will never be forsaken. 00:54:27.220 --> 00:54:27.860 Let's pray. 00:54:27.860 --> 00:54:27.960 Amen. 00:54:27.960 --> 00:54:28.000 Amen. 00:54:30.820 --> 00:54:49.640 Lord, it is true that 00:54:49.640 --> 00:54:53.120 even if our father and mother forsake us, 00:54:53.160 --> 00:54:54.380 you would never forsake us. 00:54:56.840 --> 00:54:59.140 And some of us have already experienced that. 00:54:59.139 --> 00:55:03.179 Lord, it is also true that 00:55:03.179 --> 00:55:05.139 our friends 00:55:05.139 --> 00:55:08.039 and siblings, 00:55:08.739 --> 00:55:10.500 brothers and sisters may forsake us, 00:55:10.559 --> 00:55:11.059 but you, 00:55:11.259 --> 00:55:12.920 you will never forsake us. 00:55:14.299 --> 00:55:16.719 And some of us have already experienced that too. 00:55:21.099 --> 00:55:22.039 Lord Jesus, 00:55:22.259 --> 00:55:23.420 you are the faithful 00:55:23.420 --> 00:55:25.339 and true witness. 00:55:25.340 --> 00:55:30.840 you showed us the greatest love 00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:32.480 by laying down your life for us, 00:55:33.120 --> 00:55:33.780 your friends. 00:55:40.280 --> 00:55:41.539 And because of you 00:55:41.539 --> 00:55:43.960 and because of your spirit now 00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:45.840 indwelling and enlivening us 00:55:45.840 --> 00:55:47.059 with life, 00:55:47.059 --> 00:55:51.559 we know, 00:55:51.779 --> 00:55:51.880 Lord, 00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:53.559 that we will never be forsaken. 00:55:57.159 --> 00:55:58.000 Help us 00:55:58.000 --> 00:55:59.840 to remember that, 00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:00.159 Father, 00:56:00.460 --> 00:56:02.079 in the midst of our trials, 00:56:02.799 --> 00:56:04.940 when we are brought low. 00:56:07.380 --> 00:56:08.519 Help us to remember 00:56:08.519 --> 00:56:10.559 that you will not forsake. 00:56:10.559 --> 00:56:16.400 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:56:17.019 --> 00:56:17.299 Amen. 00:56:17.299 --> 00:56:17.420 Amen.