Psalms about Temptation
The Passion of the Cross
Psalm 22
1To the victor, upon the aijeleth hashachar5; a psalm of David.
My God, my God, Why hast Thou forsaken me?
Why art Thou far from my salvation, from the words of my roaring?
2My God, I call by day, but Thou answerest not;
And by night, but there is no stillness for me.
3But Thou art holy,
O Thou who dwellest in the praises of Israel.
4In Thee did our fathers trust;
They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.
5To Thee they cried, and they escaped;
In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed.
6But I am a worm, and not a man;
A reproach of man, and despised of the people.
7All they who see me deride me;
They open up the lips, they wag the head, saying,
8He committed6 himself to Jehovah; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, if He delights in him.7
9For Thou art He who brought me out from the belly;
Thou didst make me to trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.
10On Thee was I cast from the womb;
From my mother’s belly, my God art Thou.
11Be not far from me, for adversity is near;
For there is none to help.
12Many bullocks have surrounded me;
Bulls of Bashan have closed around me.
13They open wide their mouth against me,
As a lion tearing and roaring.
14I am spilled out as water,
And all my bones are separated;
My heart is as wax;
It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15My power is dried up as a potsherd8;
And my tongue sticks to my jaws;
And Thou hast set me on the dust of death.
16For dogs have surrounded me; the congregation of evildoers have encircled me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17I can number all my bones;
They look, they see into me;
18They part my garments among them,
And upon my clothing they cause the lot to fall.
19But Thou, be not far, O Jehovah;
My power, hurry to my help.
20Rescue my soul from the sword,
My only one from the hand of the dog.
21Save me from the lion’s mouth;
And from the horns of the unicorns, answer me.
22I will recount Thy name to my brothers;
In the midst of the assembly will I praise Thee.
23You who fear Jehovah, praise Him;
All you the seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
And be afraid of Him,
All you the seed of Israel.
24For He has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted one;
Neither has He hidden His face from him;
And when he cried out to Him, He heard.
25Of Thee shall be my praise in the great assembly;
I will pay my vows in the presence of those who fear Him.
26The meek shall eat and be satisfied;
They shall praise Jehovah who inquire after Him;
Let your heart live forever....
28For the kingdom is Jehovah’s;
And He is the ruler among the nations....
31They shall come and shall tell His justice
Unto a people that shall be born, that He has done it.
verses | topic | Summary of the Spiritual Sense |
---|---|---|
3-5, 8 | 9 | Prayer to the Father that He be not forsaken, |
6, 7 | 4 | seeing that He was more despised than all others, |
9, 10 | 9 | that He was the Father’s from conception, |
12-15 | 9 | that those who are of the church, where the Word is, have condemned Him to death, |
16, 17 | 9 | that they have crucified Him, |
18 | 9 | that they have divided His garments, or dissipated the truths of His Word. |
19-21 | 6, 9 | Supplication that He may not be forsaken. |
22, 23, 25 | 11 | A church [will come into existence] from this, [that the Lord was assisted by the Father]. |
24 | 9 | And He endured [the temptation] by power from His Divine. |
26-31 | 11 | Through this there will be a church that will be gathered together from all parts, and it will worship Him. |
Thou art He who brought me out from the belly.
AC 4918.2. As rebirth, and hence the church, are signified by “going forth from the womb,” therefore the Lord is called in the Word, “He who forms from the womb,” “He who brings forth from the womb;” and those who are regenerated and made a church are said to be “carried from the womb,” as in David: “Jehovah, who brought me forth from the womb” (Ps. 22:9).
5Literally, “doe of the dawn”
6Literally, “rolled” or perhaps “enrolled”
7Quoted in Matthew 27:43
8A piece of broken pottery
Questions and Comments
- How many references do you see in this psalm to the Lord’s crucifixion and the events surrounding it?
- Are there parts of this psalm that you can relate to more than others?
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