MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?
February 8, 2022

A. Starting point: Rev. 7:12

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”
B. Praying from: PSALM 22:1-15
Meaning
Psalm 22 is a psalm of lament by a person who does not feel the presence of God in the midst of suffering, but rather experiences fear in the face of persecution by enemies. The well-known Christological sense of the psalm (see below) should not distract us from the fact that the psalm is not a prophecy, but rather a lament which may be a model prayer for worshippers today who can use this psalm to call on God to make himself present in the midst of pain. The confidence and joy expressed at the end can impart hope, as the psalmist moves towards God rather than staying mired in disappointment.
Jesus experienced a similar situation when he was attacked by those who hated him, and so he and the Gospel writers used the psalm to articulate his feelings and the events surrounding his crucifixion. First, 22:18 is cited (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; John 19:24) or alluded to (Luke 23:34) in reference to the soldiers who divided the clothes of the condemned Jesus among themselves. He experienced the taunts and saw the derisive shaking of heads of those who passed by the cross (Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29; Luke 23:35, referencing 22:7–8). Jesus expressed his feeling of divine abandonment by uttering the first verse of Psalm 22 (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). The Father loved the Son, but sacrificed himself by withdrawing his special presence from him, so the Son could experience the full force of the meaninglessness of the fallen world.
Context
Christian readers almost immediately read Psalm 22 as pointing to the death of Christ, since it is so often quoted in the Passion Narratives of the New Testament. While we will consider the Christological import of the psalm later (under Meaning), this song served as a lament for the people of God during the Old Testament period. The title claims that David wrote the song, and there is no good reason to doubt this tradition. The psalm is a prayer by an individual who feels abandoned by God in the midst of the vicious attack of his enemies, and the historical books of the Old Testament record more than one occasion in David’s life that could have produced such a composition. That said, as usual, the psalm is devoid of specific historical references, because it was written not to create a historical record, but for use by later worshippers in a similar, though not necessarily identical, situation.

The psalm begins by asking God why he has been absent from the psalmist (vv. 1–2), even though Israel praises him and he has rescued his ancestors in the past (vv. 3–5). Since God is absent, the psalmist’s enemies have demeaned him (vv. 6–8). He feels sub-human (v. 6), even though he has had a relationship with God since birth (vv. 9–11). He then complains about the harmful actions of his enemies, referring to them using animal analogies (bulls, lions, dogs), and notes his fearful response (vv. 12–18).

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”

C. Praying Time:
Comment
22:1–2. Why?
The psalm begins with a question made famous by Jesus’ cry of dereliction from the cross (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34), the significance of which will be discussed below (Meaning). In its Old Testament context, the cry is uttered by the psalmist and taken up by later worshippers when they felt abandoned by God in the midst of their pain. The one praying has not yet given up on God. After all, he addresses his challenge to God himself, but he has not yet experienced any concrete response to his cries for help in his struggle. Thus, God appears far from saving him. Of course, the psalmist does not detail the exact nature of his problem, thus allowing later worshippers to use this prayer as a model of their own when they find themselves in similar, though not necessarily identical, straits. Verse 2 tells us that God has not responded to the prayer for help, even though the psalmist has been asking constantly (day and night).
22:3–5. You rescued our ancestors
God’s silence is baffling and confusing in the light of the praises and trust of Israel in the past. Verse 3 has been rendered differently depending on where the poetic division is set. The NRSV represents one school of thought with: ‘Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel’ (see also NJB and NLT). However, the NIV is more likely, since typically the first colon is longer than the second in Hebrew parallelism: Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. Fortunately, the meaning is not widely divergent, in that both appeal to God’s uniqueness (holy), his kingship, and as the recipient of Israel’s praise. While the NRSV’s version captures the imagination, God’s kingship is not dependent on Israel’s praise, although it is possible to understand Israel’s praise as an acknowledgment of the reality of his rule.
The psalmist is also confused because in the past (our ancestors) Israel cried out to God for help, and they were rescued from their calamity and not shamed by being left in their troubles. If he cared to, the psalmist could have identified any number of instances, but perhaps the most striking was the exodus. Why is God not responding to him as he responded to his ancestors in the past?
22:6–8. I am a worm
God’s silence has provided the opportunity for his opponents to revile him. They insult him and shake their heads, a gesture of derision. They mock his trust in God and the fact that he claims that God delights in him. If that were the case, they reason, God would have rescued him already. Such scorn and God’s lack of help lead him to appraise himself as a worm and not a man. A worm is corrupting and corrupted. Worms spoil the things that they consume, whether the manna in the wilderness (Exod. 16:20, 24) or dead bodies (Isa. 14:11). Their association with the grave and with dead bodies also highlights the fragility and temporariness of life. The truth of the matter is that human beings are a little lower than God (see Ps. 8:5), but the psalmist’s present condition makes him feel like the lowest of animal life.
22:9–10. Since birth
He is further stupefied by God’s silence, because his relationship with God goes back to his birth. God was the agent of his birth (v. 9a), and from the day of his birth God has been his God. He has trusted God from infancy (even at my mother’s breast). Earlier we saw him draw a connection between trust in God and deliverance (v. 4), so the unspoken point here is that, although from birth he has always trusted God, he has not yet been rescued from his trouble.

22:11. Come close
We now get a plea for help, typical of lament (Do not be far from me), although a plea for help is likely implied in his cries of anguish (v. 1c). He specifically asks that God not be far from him, which is how he has experienced him so far (v. 1b). He is in trouble and beyond human aid, and so far God has not responded (there is no one to help).
22:12–18. The attack of the enemy
The psalmist’s enemies are likened to dangerous and powerful animals, bulls and lions. They outnumber him (many) and are vastly more powerful than he is. He is a worm and they are bulls, even bulls of Bashan, a region noted for its impressive cattle (Deut. 32:14; Ezek. 39:18; Amos 4:1). They are lions that rip open their prey, and he is the prey (see comment at 17:12). Verses 14 and 15 describe the psalmist’s reaction to his enemies, and it is one of utter terror.

D. THE A-MEN OF ROMANS 16:20, 24, 27
16:20 “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. A-men.”