Welcome everyone to our Resurrection Sunday service, 2025. Let me invite you now to take your Bibles and turn with me to the OT book of Psalms, chapter 22. 

  In the summer of 1776, George Washington wrote the following missive to his soldiers concerning the Revolutionary War. At the time, he was preparing New York for the invasion of the British fleet. Things were bleak. His people were scared. And Washington knew, even then, that things would get worse before they got better. But he was hopeful that they would get better. And he wrote prophetically, “The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.… Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world, that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.” Things did get worse. But then things got better for millions of Americans to follow. 

  As we turn our attention now to Psalm 22, we realize that things had to get worse before they got better. On Good Friday, we looked at the first two sections of this psalm. Psalm 22:1–11 presents the Messiah’s turmoil. Psalm 22:12–21 presents the Messiah’s torment. Today we want to focus on Psalm 22:22–31 and Messiah’s triumph. 

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But first, let’s review. First, we saw…

1) The Messiah’s turmoil (Ps 22:1–11)

David writes in verse 1.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

We know these words were on the lips of Messiah Jesus as he cried out, “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.” Whereas David expressed his emotional turmoil at feeling distant from the Lord, Jesus literally experienced this separation, as God the Father poured out his wrath upon the Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. That was part of the Messiah’s turmoil.

David writes in verse 6, 

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 

7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 

Whatever took place in David’s day pales in comparison to what happened with Jesus. With mocking words and disapproving gestures, the people gawked at Jesus as he was tortured on a cross. They literally wagged their heads at him. 

David speaks of the mocking taunts of the onlookers when he writes in verse 8. 

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 

The religious leaders in Jesus’s day taunted too. They said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (Matt 27:42–43).

And as part of the lament, David reiterates the way in which he feels distant from the Lord in verse 11. This is part of his turmoil as he says, 

11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 

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In the next section of this psalm we delve a little deeper into the suffering of the Servant Messiah. And we see…

2) The Messiah’s torment (Ps 22:12–21)

David writes in verse 12. 

12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 

David is going to use a number of different animals in this section to metaphorically describe the danger he feels. He talks of bulls and lions and dogs and wild oxen who encircle, surround, and encompass him. It’s like your worst nightmare. You are swimming in the ocean and sharks are circling you.

Look at verse 13.

13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 

This metaphorical language becomes literal for Jesus in verse 15.

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 

16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 

There are several different references to the “piercing” of the Messiah in the OT (Ps 22:16; Isa 53:5; Zech 12:10; see also John 19:37; Rev 1:7). But this is the oldest and the most cryptic. Literally David says something like they have “bored holes” in my hands and feet. How that makes sense in the days before crucifixion was invented as an instrument of torture and death, I don’t know. David probably spoke better and more accurately of the future messiah than he knew. 

Verse 17 says, 

17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 

That was the purpose of crucifixion—that people would stare at you. It was meant as a deterrent in Roman society to keep people from defying the powers-that-be in the Roman Empire.

Verse 18 says, 

18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

I can’t envision a scenario in David’s life where this actually happened. Probably David was speaking metaphorically about how he was being mistreated or opposed by his enemies. But he was also speaking proleptically about what soldiers would actually do during Jesus’s crucifixion. They actually cast lots for his clothing. 

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 

20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 

On Friday, I commented on how prevalent the salvation language is in this psalm. Save me. Deliver me. Rescue me. There are several different Hebrew words used in this psalm to describe this concept of salvation. What’s interesting is that there is only one verb in this section that speaks of salvation and is used in the past tense. It’s at the end of verse 21. “You have rescued me…” 

Now that could be past tense, because David is remembering the times when God has rescued him in the past. And he’s saying something like, “Rescue me, Lord, like you’ve rescued me in the past.” But more likely, verse 21 initiates a transition. We move from lament to praise. We move from suffering messiah to sovereign messiah. And that’s because everything else in this psalm, verses 22–31, sounds wildly different than verses 1–21. 

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Let me say it this way: Turmoil and torment turn to triumph! And everything in the next section could be described as follows…

3) The Messiah’s triumph (Psalm 22:22–31)

 So, let’s talk about the triumph of the sovereign messiah. Write this down as a first subsection of verses 22–31.

a) Eternal salvation is provided by Messiah (v.22–26)

David writes in verse 22. He prophesies as follows:

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 

 Now, from David’s vantage point this is the turn in the lament. Typically laments have a turn. They move from grief and questions and complaint to praise. That’s what differentiates a lament in the Psalter from grumbling in the wilderness. 

So laments typically go like this: “Life is hard, and I’m not doing well physically or emotionally, but I’m going to praise the Lord in the midst of it.” It’s very similar to what Job says in the book of Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)

But Psalm 22:22 is so drastic a change that we can posit something else happening here. Probably what happened is that David wrote the first part of this psalm from a place of deep pain and despair. He prays his heart out before the Lord. And then (probably), he wrote the next part of the psalm after God answered his prayer. Something happened to change David’s circumstances. Maybe he recovered from an illness. Maybe he succeeded in a battle after things looked bleak. Maybe he escaped the clutches of King Saul. I don’t know. But things changed in verse 22. 

I like to think of Psalm 22 like someone’s journal. You write an entry one day in a state of utter despair—that’s Psalm 22:1–21. But a few days later, you circle back, pick up your pen and write, “God answered my prayer.” 

I had this professor at Moody who would journal regularly. And he said once that he would revisit his prayers in his journal every year. And when he ran across something that he was praying for, and it was answered he would write “AP” next to that prayer. It was an abbreviation for “Answered Prayer.” And he said over time as he would flip through his journals, it was littered with APs written everywhere.  

I think something like that happens in Psalm 22. Because David’s mood totally changes. There’s no more lament. There’s just praise and worship and “AP” (answered prayer) everywhere. And David says,  

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 

 Now from a Christological perspective there’s more that’s going on here than meets the eye. Prophetically speaking, this is Jesus Messiah providing salvation and prompting his brothers to praise the Lord. “How can you say that, Pastor Tony? You’re making too much of this!”

 Well, don’t take my word for it. The author of Hebrews said it. He says in Hebrews 2:11–12: “For he [Jesus] who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.’” 

In Psalm 22, David was speaking of his brother Israelites. But prophetically he was speaking of Jesus and Jesus’s “brother believers,” including both Jews and Gentiles, who are praising God together. And what the author of Hebrews makes clear is that “big brother Jesus” makes a way for us to be saved. His suffering led to our salvation. 

 Speaking of his own brotherhood, David continues in verse 23. 

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 

24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 

David must have received relief from the Lord after his lament and prayer. At the beginning of this psalm he said over and over again, “God is not listening.” “God is not responding.” “God, you are not answering.” But now, God hears. God is not hidden. 

David lamented in verse 1, “Why are you so far from saving me?” David lamented at the beginning of this psalm that that God had forgotten him or forsaken him or worse. Now he says, “God has not despised the afflicted… he has not hidden his face… he has heard when he cried to him.” 

 Let me say two things about this. Let me say something about this applicationally for us in the midst of trials and difficulties. And let me say something about this Christologically. I would say applicationally that even in the midst of the greatest trials of your life, God is not absent. God has not hidden his face from you. God does not ignore your cries for help.

Now, he might not answer your prayers the way that you want. He may, as he promises us in his Word, bring trials and difficulties into our lives to grow us and shape us and mature us. But he doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t forsake us. 

There’s a sense in which those opening words in this psalm are hyperbole on the lips of David. And likewise they are hyperbole on our lips, if we pray “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Because Jesus said himself, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). God does not abandon or forsake his own. He is always with us. He will never leave us.

 I heard a pastor say once that he has a crippling fear of flying. He refuses to get on an airplane. And another pastor told him, “No, you’re okay. God will help you. God will give you the strength. God will never leave you or forsake you.” And the fearful pastor replied, “No, you don’t understand. Jesus said, ‘lo, I am with you always to the end of the age.’”

 Speaking to his covenant people, God said to the Israelites in the OT, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut 31:6). The author of Hebrews reiterated that statement to the Christians of his day, “For [God] has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb 13:5–6).

Now let me also speak to this passage Christologically. There is a sense in which Jesus was truly forsaken by the Father on the cross. I don’t know how that makes sense in light of the Trinity. I don’t know how the Father and the Son could have been separated in that dark moment. But I do believe that God the Father poured out his wrath upon the Son. 

And that’s the reason that Jesus cried out, with more reality than David did in the OT, “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.” But that forsakenness wasn’t permanent. It didn’t last. And so we can comfortably put these words in verse 24 on the lips of Jesus too. 

24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 

God the Father did not forsake Christ Jesus in the grave. He raised him. The separation they experienced lasted, at most, only a few days. And then God raised him from the dead.

By the way, more often than not in the NT when the word “raised” is used in reference to the resurrection, the subject of the raising isn’t Jesus. Did you know that? In other words, when the NT describes Jesus’s resurrection, it doesn’t speak of Jesus raising himself. It speaks instead of God the Father raising Jesus from the grave. That’s significant. 

Look at verse 25.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 

David is going to praise the Lord and declare his glory in the great congregation. He’s going to perform his vows too. Probably this is a reference to a vow that David made when he was suffering. Now that God has rescued him, he’s going to follow through with that vow. 

By the way, there was such a thing in the OT sacrificial system as a vow offering. Sometimes it’s called a votive offering (Lev 7:16–17). This was an offering that was brought to the priest as part of a vow and the sacrifice would actually become a communal meal. Allen Ross describes it this way, “While the animal was roasting on the altar, the one who brought it would stand beside the altar and tell people what God had done. Then all the people would eat together (It was the only sacrifice that Israelites could eat in the sanctuary). They would eat because God had blessed this person.” I can envision something like that happening with David. After his rescue, he brought forth this votive offering, and he recounted what God had done for him as the people feasted together. 

Christologically what this brings to mind is the Lord’s Supper. We eat and drink and remember Christ’s death and resurrection that provided our salvation. It also brings to mind eschatologically what we will do in eternity at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We will eat and drink and celebrate what Christ has done for us, his bride.

And David says in verse 26, 

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

Now these verses are pretty cryptic. But from an NT vantage point, we can see how Jesus’s suffering made a way for our hearts to live forever. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. And “Eternal salvation is provided by Messiah (v.22–26).”

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Here’s a second subsection of verses 22–31.

b) Universal kingship belongs to Messiah (v.27–29)

David writes in verse 27.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 

All of a sudden this psalm takes on a cosmic dimension. And David doesn’t just talk about how his testimony will strengthen God’s people, the offspring of Jacob, and the offspring of Israel. Now he talks about how his testimony will spread to the ends of the earth. And they all shall turn to the Lord. That’s fascinating. 

Look, even in David’s day there was an expectation that all the nations of the earth would worship Yahweh, not just Israel. That goes back even to the Abrahamic promise where God told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3, NIV).

And why is that the case? Why was there this universal expectation? Because look at verse 28.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 

God is not localized in Jerusalem. And God is not localized in a temple. God’s kingship is cosmic. God’s kingship is multicultural. And God’s kingship is universal. 

You know what that sounds like in verse 28? Can I draw a line for you between Psalm 22 and Matthew 28? That sounds like the Great Commission. That sounds like Jesus’s edict to his disciples after his resurrection.  “Go and make disciples of all nations.” “All nations, Jesus! Even those heathens in America.” “Yes, all nations.”

Listen, it was always part of God’s plan to bring in the nations. Because God is not just the God of the Israelites. He is not just the God over Jerusalem. He’s the God of the universe. Everything belongs to him. 

And this is where David’s prophecy moves past the first coming of Christ and centers securely on the second coming of Christ. Messiah’s first coming is verses 1–21. Messiah’s first coming was as a suffering servant. Messiah’s second coming will be as a sovereign king. That kingship has been inaugurated, but it hasn’t yet been consummated. We are still awaiting his return.

Look at verse 29.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 

In other words, Christ will be king of the living and the dead. He will raise the dead to populate his kingdom. Some will be raised for everlasting life. Some will be raised for everlasting death (Dan 12:1–2). 

This is not unlike what I read to you on Good Friday. Philippians 2:8–11 says, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

And all the families of the nations shall worship before the Lord. Red and Yellow, Black and White. Male and Female. Rich and Poor. The Quick and the Dead. All people will worship the Lord. Why? Because Jesus is a Universal King. 

28 … kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

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And then, finally, David prophesies that…

c) A future people will serve Messiah (v.30–31) 

He writes in verse 30.

30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 

By the way, “Lord” in verse 30 is not Yahweh but Adonai. “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool’” (Ps 110:1). David is speaking of his future Lord here. How can David’s son be his Lord? Who calls his son “Lord?” David does! Because genealogically speaking, Jesus is the Son of David, but cosmically speaking, Jesus is the Son of God.

And verse 31 says,

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. 

Remember that George Washington quote I gave you earlier: “The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.” Whatever was true for America and the unborn millions of Americans that followed Washington is even more true for the unborn followers of Christ that followed Christ’s death and resurrection. And we proclaim his righteousness, not our own. 

David anticipates a day when the righteousness of a future messiah, the Lord, will be proclaimed to a people not yet born. There will be an army of saints for generations following and serving the Messiah. Jews and Gentiles both will serve him, worship him, and follow him into eternity.

By the way, the last statement here “he has done it” is interesting. It’s an odd way to close out a psalm. It’s actually only one word in Hebrew. It’s a past tense (Hebrew: Qal, Perfect) form of the verb עָשָׂה which means “to do” or “to perform.” And there’s no pronoun. So this could be translated “He performed” or “He did it.” Or it could be translated, “It is done.” Loosely translated, it could even be rendered, “It is finished.” Think τετέλεσται (tetelestai) in John 19:30.

Some have speculated that Jesus recited not just verse 1 of Psalm 22, but maybe the entirety of the psalm from the cross. If so, then the last words he spoke from the cross have a correlation with the last words of Psalm 22. It’s done. It’s finished.

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I’ve often wondered with passages like this, “How much did David know?” Even as he wrote Psalm 22, probably with his own experiences mixed in from start to finish, how much did he understand about what he wrote? How much of Jesus’s coming and kingdom did he clearly see? I don’t know. Someday I’ll ask him in eternity. 

But from our vantage point, we see clearly. At least backwards. And we see pretty clear forward too. We see a messiah who suffered on a tree and cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” We see a messiah whose clothes were stolen from him and gambled over. We see a messiah whose bones were exposed on a cross, whose heart melted like wax, whose life expired in humiliation as God the Father poured on his wrath on an undeserving victim. We see a suffering messiah in Psalm 22. 

But praise God we also see, in Psalm 22, a sovereign Messiah. A Messiah whose kingdom is eternal. A Messiah whose kingship is universal. A Messiah whose constituency is multicultural.  

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 

Christ died even for families of the nation of America 2,000 years after Christ’s death, and 3,000 years after David penned Psalm 22. We can have salvation through Christ our King.  

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I’ll close with this. Several years ago, in England, there was a famous slave trader named John Newton (1725–1807). And if I could be so bold, I would just want to tell you that Newton was, at one time in his life, a horrible person who did some horrible things. He worked on ships, even captained ships, full African slaves that were kidnapped from North Africa and sent to different destinations in North America and elsewhere. 

And he said of himself at one time that “I sinned with a high hand” and “I made it my study to tempt and seduce others.” He was a sinful man, and he was proud of his sinfulness. If ever there was a man beyond saving, it was this man. 

So it’s not without a little irony, that God did indeed save this man. He broke Newton by his grace. And he actually transformed him into a man that would work with William Wilberforce and others to abolish the slave trade in England. 

So, when Newton wrote those words, he wasn’t exaggerating. 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, 

that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found, 

Was blind but now I see.

When Newton called himself a “wretch” in that song, he wasn’t hyperbolizing or using poetic license. He meant it. In fact, on Newton’s gravestone the following epitaph is written. He wrote this himself: “John Newton, clerk. Once an infidel, and libertine…” But it also says this… “A servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Gospel which he had long labored to destroy.” 

And to that, you might say, “Well it’s a good thing I’m not a wretch like John Newton!” Sure you are! We all are. We are infinitely more like John Newton than we are Jesus Christ. We are all sinners. There are only sinners in this room. But thankfully, Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Psalm 22, the sacrifice for our sins, died to offer sinners like you and me grace.