MPC
17th February 2008.February 17 - Psalm 22 - "Songs of the King - Part 2"
MPC
17th February 2008.
Phil Campbell
The air was thick with sobbing as the gravediggers opened a six foot hole in the back garden of the family home. The crowds were restless. All wanting to see or to touch the coffin before its final descent.
The scene of course, is in Dili. The funeral on Thursday of East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado.
And the banner read, "Goodbye hero. You can die. But your spirit will live on forever."
Brave words. But I wonder if it's actually true? Goodbye hero. You can die. But your spirit will live on forever. Fitting epitaph for a noble rebel leader? Or misguided optimism for a criminal who died in a hail of bullets in a botched kidnapping and will stay just as dead in spirit as anyone else, and soon enough be forgotten? I mean, you can put hopeful words on a banner all you like. But maybe the hope of a happy ending it's just whistling in the dark.
We're going to be looking at a Psalm today. A Psalm in dark times. With the same sort of optimistic ending.
A Psalm by David, who in due course goes on to become king of Israel, but in his early days looks very much like a rebel leader himself.
Because even though in 1 Samuel 16 the prophet Samuel anoints David, and so David is the next anointed king of Israel... for a number of years, King Saul is still very much in power. And in spite of young David's heroism in defeating the giant Philistine warrior Goliath, by 1 Samuel chapter 19, King Saul is in a seething rage. And determined to kill him.
1 Samuel 19 verse 2, Prince Jonathon, David's friend, gives him warning. He says to him "My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there."
Which he does. And from that point on, David's always got one eye over his shoulder. Always watching for a spear from the hand of King Saul. Escaping through a window, fleeing in the night; hiding in Ramah, living on stale bread from the tabernacle, pretending to be mad among the Philistines in Gath so they wouldn't kill him, hiding in a cave. And on it goes. Chapter after chapter; David the rebel leader hounded by jealous Saul. With the enemy Philistines thrown in for good measure.
Which from David's point of view means a life of constant fear and despair. Here's the one anointed by God to be king... and that's the literal meaning of the Hebrew word messiah... the king in waiting. Here's Israel's original messiah being hunted down like a criminal. Here's Israel's messiah... living in caves and eating stale bread. And you could hardly blame him, could you, for throwing in the towel.
You can see first hand how he feels as you come the psalms that David wrote along the way. Which are in some ways much like a journal.
Sometimes he'll even give a note about the specific situation at the start of the Psalm. So flip over quickly and see the introduction Psalms 54. "For the Director of Music." The small print above Psalm 54. "With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, 'Is not David hiding among us.'" The Ziphites have informed on him. And David says in his Psalm, "Save me O God, hear my prayer. Strangers are attacking me," verse 3, "ruthless men seek my life."
Or across to Psalm 56. "To the tune of A Dove on Distant Oaks. Of David - A Miktam. When the Philistines had seized him at Gath".
And as you read the Psalm, you can see the interrogation. And they're twisting his words to catch him out in verse 5 and they're plotting to harm him and they watch his every step, eager to take his life. And yet David... keeps trusting in God.
Life for an anointed messiah can be tough. And no Psalm captures that quite as vividly as Psalm 22. Which is our focus today. It's a Psalm that starts in absolute despair. And yet we're going to notice ends with a note of optimism. A Psalm that starts with the prospect of death. And ends with the hope of life. Which is not misguided optimism at all.
But before we look at the Psalm, let's get a birds eye view of its shape.
You'll notice as you run your eye down it very quickly that in verses 1 and 2 the Psalm starts in absolute despair.
And yet in verses 3 to 5 there's a note of hope. Because God's got such a good track record as David looks back at Israel's history.
But it's down again in verses 6 to 8. Because David decides he's just a worm. And maybe not worth saving.
And yet... verses 9 and 10 there's a note of hope again. Because God's got a good track record as David looks at his own life as well. Right from his mother's womb.
But down again in verses 11 to 18. The longest section. As David lists off all the reasons he can't possibly be saved.
A cry for help in verses 19 to 21.
Followed by an optimistic ending. From verse 22 to 31. A complete change of tone. As David says I will call everyone to praise God because he's heard my prayers. And all the nations on earth... will bow down to him.
If you colour code it, it looks like what you can see on the screen.
Despair - hope - despair - hope - despair. An internal debate. Followed by an absolute future confidence.
For simplicity, we're going to group the similar bits together. But keep in your mind that it alternates like that as David alternates between hope and despair. We're going to start where he starts. With the dark side. As we listen to the despair of this prototype messiah who's feeling so far from God. Verses 1 and 2, the picture couldn't be more bleak. In your own bad days you might know exactly how he's feeling. As if your prayers just bounce back off the ceiling. As if God's disinterested in your despair. David says,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
Some people say the town of Walgett in Western New South Wales is a God forsaken hole. Well, in David's mind... he's the God forsaken hole. If you want to be in the one place on the planet where God is not, go sit with David. God's not saving him, God's not listening to groans, God's not answering his prayers though he's crying out day and night. God couldn't be more distant.
Step down to verse 6 for some more of the same.
I'm a worm and not a man. Scorned by men, despised by the people.
He says everyone who sees me mocks me... they hurl insults, as they shake their heads. And their mockery is a mockery of David's God as well. "He trusts the Lord. Let the Lord deliver him since he delights in him."
It's peculiarly painful, isn't it, when you see a Godly person suffer; and tongues are wagging like that. Fat lot of good it's done him being a Christian.
So the question is in verse 8, will the Lord rescue him... or not?
Verses 11 to 18, the enemies are pressing in. David's dialing triple 0 on his phone as frantically as he can. "Do not be far from me," verse 11, "for trouble is near and there is no one to help."
Surrounded by torments. Which he pictures as marauding bulls and wild dogs and raging lions. Which in these days just symbolize football teams, but in David's mind represent his enemies. David is physically broken. And he's mentally exhausted. Verse 14:
"I am poured out like water, my bones are out of joint, my heart like melted wax. My strength is dried up like a potsherd," a broken piece of a dried clay pot. And I thirst. "My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death."
God's anointed messiah is weak, he's parched with thirst. David might as well be dead.
More vividly, verse 16, the band of evil men who circle him have pierced his hands and feet.
They stare and gloat at his concentration-camp physique... I can count all my bones. People stare and gloat over me. And in the final indignity, verse 18, he says, they're even dividing up his garments. And casting lots for my clothes. Splitting the spoils. Before he's even dead.
Which leaves desperate and despairing David with just the slimmest thread of hope.
It's a thread that's already been there in the verses we skipped over; so look back at verses 3 to 5.
Because David is aware that the God he's dealing with is in fact the God who has watched over Israel from the beginning. He says, yet you are enthroned as the Holy One... verse 3. You are the praise of Israel. And in the past, his promises to Israel have been backed up with action.
In you our fathers put their trust... they trusted you, and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved. In you they trusted and were not disappointed.
So maybe even though he's just a worm, he's a worm that needs to keep trusting the same God as his fathers did. No matter what the mocking. No matter what the humiliation. Maybe even in the dust of death, which is where he got to in verse 15... he should keep trusting in the God who brought him from the womb.
Just as long as the Lord doesn't delay too much longer.
And so in verses 19 to 21 you get that final plea. Help me, verse 19. Deliver me, verse 20. Rescue me. Save me. Verse 21.
Our fathers put their trust in you and you delivered them. They trusted in you and were not disappointed. So David says, no matter how tough the odds, I'll do the same. Make sure you save me as well!
Which then brings a sudden turnaround in the tone of the Psalm. Here's that note of optimism. Because David says from verse 22, it's all going to work out fine.
We'll all praise the Lord says David, because he hasn't written me off at all. Verse 24,
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of his afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him. But has listened to his cry for help.
And so from verse 25, everything will be put right. Everything will... turn around.
And it's that future tense that recurs over and over in verse 25 and 26 and 27 - the poor will eat and be satisfied and those who seek the Lord will find him, and all the families of the nations will bow down to him. When they see the way God's suffering anointed one is restored.
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one.
And so future generations will serve him and be told about the Lord, verse 30, and will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn... for out of absolute despair... out of a situation that seemed hopeless... he has done it.
Which are bold words of optimism, aren't they? From a guy who in King David's case for all appearances is a rebel leader on the ropes. Facing off against an established regime that holds all the power and might. And in 1 Samuel you can watch. As David rises from rebel leader hiding in caves in fear for his life... to be the rightful ruler of God's kingdom. Exactly as God promised. And it's no empty hope at all.
Now I guess you've noticed on the way through the Psalm, there are some very familiar words if you've ever read the accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Because when it comes to the Crucifixion of Jesus, who also in the eyes of authority looked like a rebel leader, David's words become his words. David's pain becomes his pain. In excruciating detail. And it's like as the crucifixion story is told in Matthew 27, it's all there. Step by step.
Except perhaps the conclusion. Which at this point, you've got to infer for yourself. Until you actually get to the resurrection in the next chapter. But even in this darkest of times... there's a note of optimism from Jesus. Hidden. In the way he quotes David's Psalm.
If you take a look at the screen, don't try to read it. It's too small. But it's Matthew's account of the crucifixion from Matthew chapter 27. And the words in red come straight from Psalm 22. Which just by looking at the colour coding shows you the amount of the psalm Matthew's quoting.
You've got Jesus, crucified. Pierced through his hands and his feet. And there they are, exactly like in the psalm, dividing up his clothes by casting lots.
You've got the mocking all around him. David said all who see me mock me. The enemies of God hurling insults. Maybe surprising that the enemies of God... are the chief priests and the teachers of the law. And they're picking up exactly the tone of Messiah David's mockers in the Psalm. Matthew 27 verse 43, they say, "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" It's like the initiation for God's anointed... is affliction.
And then there's darkness. And Jesus cries out in a loud voice, exactly David's words at the start of the Psalm. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" - which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Psalm 22 verse 1.
And he's thirsty. So they mock him some more with a drink of wine vinegar.
And Jesus cries out in loud voice. And gives up his spirit.
Leaving the obvious but painful question... is God going to rescue. Or not?
I mean, David in his Psalm says yes. Keep trusting, even when the odds are overwhelming. And Jesus does that. In one sense the mockers are right. "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'
And in what happens next, we'll find out for sure, won't we? If God wants him... then God needs to rescue him. From a situation that is almost exactly like the words of the Psalm. And yet on the surface at least, even more hopeless.
Because Jesus has given up his spirit. He's hanging there on the cross dead. Jesus is going to be laid in the dust of death in a tomb just down the road. God's anointed messiah. Who trusted in God. End of story.
Except even as he quotes the psalm with his final breath, even as he asks the question my God my God why have you forsaken me... Jesus knows where the Psalm is heading. And he knows that David says God has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one. And he knows that God has listened to his cry for help. And he knows the day has come when the families of the nations are going to bow before the God of Israel. And that something's about to happen that's going to tell the world... that in the words of Psalm 22 verse 28, "dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations."
That even from death... God's going to bring victory. Not just in the sense of his memory living on. Not just in the empty optimism that says "Goodbye hero. You can die. But your spirit will live on forever." But in his actual resurrection. In his physical and literal comeback from the dusty cave. Which we're going to think about in more detail next week as we look at Psalm 16.
And so even as he draws these final breaths... Jesus is making a claim. Even in his cry of despair... he's staking his hope in the righteous justice of his Father.
Which brings us to our final point this morning. Suffering and you.
Especially the kind of suffering that comes with unfair treatment. And mocking words. When you feel like you're surrounded by enemies rather than friends. And most particularly, if you're ever mocked for trusting God.
If you know what that's like, you need to remember, God's got a great future in mind for you. And it's called resurrection. Which gives you the basis for suffering through false allegations and unfair criticism and unkind comments and unfair gradings on your annual review with a new attitude.
The apostle Peter in 1 Peter chapter 2 applies the example of Jesus directly to the workplace. He says, when your boss treats you unfairly, remember Jesus.
1 Peter 2 from verse 19...
He's talking to Christian slaves with unfair masters. And says, "If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." And listen to the echoes of Psalm 22:
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
He was God forsaken so you and I don't have to be. He bore our sins to the point of death. He trusted God to raise him. And he guarantees the same for us. Which means there's nothing this life is going to throw at us that can bring us down for the count. Peter says face unfair treatment with the same trust as the Lord Jesus.
Can you do that? It's hard, isn't it? When they hurl their insults, not to retaliate? When you suffer unfairly, make no threats in return? And just entrust yourself to God who judges justly?
Particularly hard I guess if you live somewhere like China's Yunan Province; they say religious freedom is growing in China. But two weeks ago two Christian women in their mid-50s were detained by police... for handing around Christmas cards. And they were threatened. And they were mocked. And they were violently strip searched. Then taken home handcuffed. Where their houses were searched, and bibles and CDs and songbooks were confiscated.
And Peter says, to this kind of treatment you were called as well. Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. Confident that the Psalm that starts with the words my God my God why have you forsaken me... found its final fulfillment not with an empty hope for the best optimism... but in a very real resurrection. And an empty tomb. Which we'll see more of in Psalm 16 next week.