Psalm 22:1-10
At the outset of this journey through the Psalms, there were only five that I could call by number where I knew something of their content. Psalm 22 is one of those five – this one because of prophecy fulfilled with Jesus’ death on the cross. Today we see two of those prophecies/words fulfilled. The first is today’s first verse: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Those words were repeated by Jesus on the cross: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, … “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Then we see a second sentence of prophetic words from today’s reading: He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him… (v. 8a). These words parallel the Jews’ jeering words from the foot of the cross: He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if He wants him. (Matthew 27:43a) Christians cannot read these words (and later words in this Psalm) without cringing, without going to the cross themselves. Powerful.
Reading ahead, what I love about Psalm 22 is the end, where lamentation is turned to praise. I believe that, on the cross, Jesus was quoting not just the first but the whole psalm to the end.