Download discussion questions:  Psalm 22

This week’s Calvary Institute discussion on Psalms of Lament was led by Matt, one of the elders at Calvary Restoration Church.  As Matt pointed out, Psalm 22 is best known for its messianic allusions, especially Jesus’ cry on the cross from the first verse of the psalm.  However, he suggested we also look at the passage from the point of view of the original writer and his experience of suffering and his response.  As we read through the psalm individually, Matt encouraged us to look for themes and progression and turning points.

Structure

Our group had a number of observations about the structure.

• Verses 1-2 are a clear cry of lament or abandonment. One person suggested it even sounds like an accusation against God for His inaction.  Those opening verses are about “me” and what “I” have asked, and how “my” God has not answered “me.”
• Verses 3-5 turn the focus to “You” and declare God’s faithful character and what “You” did for petitioners in the past.
• Verses 6-8 now turn to others and their opinions and mockery of the writer.
• Verses 9-18 comprise a long section detailing difficult circumstances. Again the focus is “me” and all the awful experiences that have happened to “me.”  The section is full of powerful images of animals and bodily injuries.  Some of the language seems literal and some seems metaphorical.
• Verses 19-21a again turn to “You” and ask for God’s rescue.
• Verses 21b-25 mark what one member of our group called a “big shift” in the attitude of the writer. The emphasis is on the rescue God provided and the writer’s eager reporting to others.  Another comment was that this section sounds like the psalmist’s personal testimony.
• Verses 26-31 change to a vision of the future and what will happen to a wide range of people: the afflicted, nations, the prosperous, etc.

Themes

After those initial observations, we looked for themes or ideas that run through the psalm.

• The writer is “surrounded” or “encompassed” by dangers from beasts and men (v. 12, 16)
• He is mocked and taunted (v. 7-8). One person suggested that the description in verse 6 (“I am a worm”) was the effect of the taunting on the writer’s attitude.
• The psalmist complains of unfairness: God rescued others but not him (v. 4-5).  Someone suggested that the beginning of verse 6 about being a worm might relate here.  Maybe the writer felt that God did not rescue him as He rescued others because of his own unworthiness.  The title attributes the psalm to David, and as one person pointed out, if you didn’t know the author, you would not imagine that this was written by a king.
• Motherhood is mentioned (v. 9-10) with the implication that the writer never had a choice about choosing God because God chose him. The suggestion in our discussion was that he was completely dependent on God, and God had let him down.  He considered himself a victim.
• Thinking of himself as a victim led to self-pity and a continuing focus on his terrible circumstances (v. 12-18).
• The contrast of the greatness of God and the suffering of the psalmist runs throughout the psalm (v. 2-3, 5-6, 21a-21b).
• The distance from God is a repeated concern (v. 1, 11, 19). In each case the psalmist described God as being far from him rather than seeing himself as far from God.  This might be a result of the self-pity or victim view he had of himself.

The consensus of our group was that the psalm has a continuous atmosphere of raw emotions and complete honesty with God.  The writer moves from complaints and even accusations, then to despair and hopelessness, and then to hope and the desire to pass that hope along to others.  The psalm divides into almost equal thirds:

• The tension between my circumstances and God’s goodness (v. 1-10)
• The turmoil of my life (v. 11-21a)
• The trust in what I know and declare about God (v. 21b-31)

Turning Point

The obvious sharp contrast within the psalm (v. 1-21a, v. 21b-31) raises the question, what changed?  How did the psalmist’s attitude shift so dramatically?  What happened between the beginning and the end of verse 21?

One very helpful suggestion was that perhaps the psalmist was processing his experiences as he wrote.  One of the benefits and values of regular journaling is how writing forces us to articulate what may otherwise be vague emotional moods.  Inarticulate negative complaints or grumbling can spiral into increasing despair.  (C. S. Lewis describes the ever-complaining soul who eventually devolved into nothing more than a grumble.[1])  Perhaps as the psalmist expressed his innermost realities to God, he recognized that spiral.  In the midst of verse 21, he saw the devastating direction of his despair.  That shocking realization turned his attitude back to what he knew about the God who rescues.  Suddenly he was enthusiastic and eager to tell others about that God.  One suggestion in our group was that maybe his circumstances had not changed.  But his attitude and hope in God was so dramatically changed that he could praise God to others in the midst of the circumstances.

As we have discussed in our group before, sometimes our difficult circumstances do not change.  Jesus’ circumstances on the cross didn’t change.  Yet He endured because of the “joy set before Him,” His return to the right hand of the Father (Hebrews12:2).  Like Jesus, and like the psalmist, knowing God’s character and our future hope in Him can give us joy in our present circumstances.  Anticipation enables our endurance.

The Forsaken Messiah

We know that the first line of this psalm was on Jesus’ lips from the cross.  It is likely that the entire psalm was on His heart.  The Jewish custom of memorizing psalms would mean that quoting a line or two would bring to mind the entire chapter.  Think of how one line or one phrase from a beloved hymn brings to your mind a flood of images and ideas:  “Amazing Grace,” or “A Mighty Fortress,” or (my favorite) “And Can It Be”.  When Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” He was experiencing all the pain and emotion and rejection expressed in Psalm 22.  Most likely his hearers would also have recognized the words and made the connection with the lament of the psalm.  So should we.  Reading Psalm 22 this week as we approach Good Friday can help us understand just a little better what Jesus experienced on the cross, what our sin cost Him.  What was He experiencing during those horrible hours?  The despair of the psalm shows us a hint of what He accepted on our behalf, what we would have faced without His self-sacrifice.

The last third of the psalm reminds us of the hope we have in His resurrection, but we need to experience the initial lament to appreciate that hope.

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (London:  HarperCollins, 2009), 77, Kindle Edition location 742.