Psalm 22: When David saw Jesus

Psalm 22

I've been looking at the connection between David and Jesus, and Psalm 22 is a pretty massive connection!

It's a psalm which David wrote, and it clearly prophesies about Jesus' death on the cross, an event which would not take place for hundreds of years.

On the cross, Jesus cried out v1: 'My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?' This showed that at that point in time, the Trinity was ripped apart as God the Father poured out His wrath for sin on His Son, the innocent and perfect atoning sacrifice.

But Jesus' quote also pointed His observers to what was happening. The psalm contines in v3-5 to talk of God's sovereignty, and the way He has always saved those who trust in Him. Those watching Jesus die see Him as one rejected by God, and their words virtually repeat v8: 'He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue Him.'

The people could not see that Jesus was enduring the shame of the cross so that they could be saved if they believed.

Jesus also quoted the psalm to show how prophecy was being fulfilled. Being poured out like water, being parched, being pierced in hands and feet, having garments divided- all these details came to pass.

Ultimately Jesus quoted this psalm to remind Himself of the promises of God-
'He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one' (24);
'The poor will eat and be satisfied' (26);
'All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord' (27). 'They will proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn- for He has done it.' (31)

On the cross, Jesus thought of us. When He proclaimed, 'It is finished', He died knowing He would be raised... and so would all those who died in faith.

David could not have known this, but God's Spirit rested on him, and in this psalm, he had a glimpse of Jesus. How much more privileged are we, to have the full picture in the New Testament!

Psalm 70-71: True hope

Lessons from David- Psalms 70-71

True hope in a situation of despair, like David's, can be found only in God. Note how David:

a) knows God can rescue him from ANY situation v1

b) knows God will protect him in any situation-
'Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go' (3)

c) knows that God will definitely save him from hell and give him eternal life-
'You will again bring me up' (20)

d) accepts that God knows what He's doing, and his job is to trust and praise Him-
'But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You' (4)
'You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. From my birth I have relied on You.' (5-6)
'My mouth will tell of Your righteousness, of Your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.' (15)
'Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again' (20).

How to fix your greatest problem (Eph 2)

What is your big problem in your life right now? Perhaps it's money, given the recent financial climate of the credit crunch. Perhaps it's your job, or your relationship, or a long-term illness.

We live in a world where there are lots of problems. People everywhere are suffering, whether it's being a civilian in Georgia attacked by Russian troops, or a patient on the cancer ward. Many may look at the title of my blog 'Treasuring Christ' and think how irrelevant it is to their lives. But all the problems that we experience here on earth are symptoms of an even bigger problem...


The bad news
Every single person on earth has a debilitating condition. It makes you a slave, and it makes you unable to live a life of complete satisfaction and joy. It's called 'sin'.

Ephesians 2 opens with the verse 'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins'. What does it mean?

Well, a 'sin' or a 'transgression' is something that offends God. Such as... Ignoring Him. Rejecting Him. Deciding to live life your own way, without Him. Thinking He's nice, but not worth getting to know too well. Not worth giving up any time for, and not worth giving up certain aspects of your lifestyle for either.
You see, when we think of sin, we often think of murder, theft... And yes those things are sins. But they are outworkings of inner distortion and corruption. Sin is not just outward actions, but it is evil thoughts too. That's why no one can honestly stand up and say they have never sinned.

So what is the effect of sin? Death. Physically, all humans must die. Our mortality is the result of original sin in Eden (see Gen 3). Spiritually, sin cuts us off from God. He is holy and pure, and therefore a huge chasm lies between us and Him. We are spiritually dead before God, and there's nothing we can do about it.

You see, what the world calls freedom- choosing YOUR way to live- is in fact slavery to our own desires, and bondage (imprisonment) to sin and the Devil. What the world defines as a good life, the Bible tells us straight as it really is: being an object of God's wrath (3).

That is our greatest problem, whoever we are, whatever we've done. We're all sinners, and we're all separated from God for ever. Unless...

The good news
Unless it is possible to made alive again...
Unless the chasm can be crossed...
Unless there is a way for us to access God...
And there is.

'But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.' (4-5)

'you were separate from Christ... without hope and without God in the world. [But now Christ] has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.' (12, 14, 18)

We were dead- unable to move, unable to do anything to help ourselves. But God in pure grace, gave us life and forgiveness in Jesus. We did not deserve it; God did not have to do it, but He did- because of His great love for us. He sent Jesus to die on the cross, and in His body He took the punishment that should have been ours. He was a substitute, taking our place, so that if we choose to trust in Him, we don't need to be burdened with our sin anymore. We can nail our sin to His cross, and be freed from its power over us. We can receive God's forgiveness, and know Him personally, because Christ has made it possible for us to access Him. We have been rescued from slavery, saved from destruction, and shown mercy instead of righteous judgement- if we believe and trust in Jesus.

If someone rescued you from drowning, you'd probably respond very well to them! You'd be grateful and possibly even love them. Now imagine the rescuer was someone you knew you'd wronged. That's like us and God. That's why Paul emphasises the 'incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus' (7). This grace is completely unique! We have been 'raised' up with Christ and seated in the heavenly realms with Him (6)- there's no way we could ever earn or deserve that honour.

That's why this blog is called 'Treasuring Christ'. Jesus has achieved for us what we could never achieve for ourselves. He has given us amazing privileges, above and beyond what we deserve. Are you treasuring Him? Or are you tempted to think that He is irrelevant to your busy daily life?

Perhaps in our thinking we need to widen our perspective, to try to comprehend how BIG God is and how small, puny and weak we are. If His grace is incomparably huge, so is our sinfulness and our capacity to completely reject God and live life our own way. We shall love Jesus more if we appreciate what it means for Him to be 'our peace', destroying the barrier of our sinfulness, our inability to follow God's law. That is why Paul describes Jesus as 'abolishing in His flesh the law' (15)- He fulfilled the law's requirements so that we don't have to. And 'through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit' (18). In our sinful state, we can't access God. But through Jesus' purity, we can. God has made us part of His household (19) and given us His Holy Spirit (22)- blessings which are only possible through Jesus. We need to open our eyes to 'the incomparable riches of his grace' (7), instead of focusing on our problems.