A Complete Bible Study on Psalm 22 A Prophetic Cry of the Messiah
Psalm 22 begins with a question Jesus spoke from the cross, but it does not end with that question. How can David’s real anguish describe the crucifixion so closely, and does “forsaken” mean the Father actually turned away from the Son? To answer that, we need to follow the whole psalm from lament through God’s answer and the praise that reaches the nations.
David’s Lament and the Greater Son of David
David wrote Psalm 22 while he was suffering, but Scripture never identifies the event. I think we need to respect that silence instead of inventing a crisis from his life. His anguish was personal and historical, and the Holy Spirit inspired the words he used to pray. Yet some details go beyond anything Scripture records about David. The Gospel writers place Jesus within this psalm at the cross, and Hebrews applies its declaration among the brethren to Christ.
We do not have to erase David in order to see Jesus, and we do not have to stop with David in order to honor the historical setting. Biblical prophecy can grow out of a real experience and reach a greater fulfillment that later Scripture makes clear. Jesus did not select a vaguely similar poem after the fact. He spoke its opening words while the crowd mocked Him. His body was pierced, and He thirsted as soldiers divided His garments. The pattern had been given in the psalm long before those events unfolded.
David supplies the inspired voice and vocabulary. The poetic form belongs to his real anguish, not to a passive dictation in which his own suffering meant nothing. The Holy Spirit carries those words toward the Son of David, whose cross and resurrection reveal their fullest reach. Because the New Testament establishes that connection, we are letting Scripture interpret Scripture rather than building an argument from resemblance alone.
The whole psalm must guide us. Verse 1 gives the cry, while verse 24 says that God did not hide His face and heard the afflicted One. Prayer rises from suffering before the answer comes. Once delivered, the sufferer praises God among his brethren. The nations then turn to the LORD, and future generations hear what He has done. A reading that stops with divine abandonment has stopped before the inspired answer.
This larger movement keeps us from treating prophecy as a bag of isolated predictions. Psalm 22 is one act of worship. The righteous sufferer entrusts himself to God while enemies show their contempt. God answers him, and that answer produces praise among people he never met. Jesus fulfills both the crucifixion details and the direction of the whole psalm. His bodily resurrection brings the lament to its appointed victory.
The heading calls this a psalm of David and includes the phrase often translated “The Deer of the Dawn.” It may name a familiar tune or give another musical direction, but its exact function is uncertain. We should not turn it into a secret code for the hour of the crucifixion or resurrection, and it gives us no basis for inventing an unknown ceremony.
The psalm was given to the Chief Musician, so David’s private pain became public worship. God’s people learned to pray when circumstances seemed to contradict His faithfulness. The setting also prepares us for the ending. The sufferer’s deliverance is first announced in the assembly, and from there the testimony reaches the earth and generations not yet born.
The Cry of the Sufferer and the Faithfulness of God
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
Psalm 22:1
Matthew and Mark record Jesus speaking this verse from the cross. His agony was real. Wicked men mocked and tortured the sinless Son before nailing Him to the cross and killing Him. We should not reduce His words to a theatrical hint offered only for the crowd, as though He did not truly enter the lament.
At the same time, the quotation places Psalm 22 before everyone who reads the crucifixion account. We do not need to prove a fixed Jewish rule that quoting the first line always meant quoting the entire psalm. Jesus spoke Scripture, and the events around Him followed its words. The repeated “My God” remains an address of faith. He is praying, not renouncing the Father or announcing a division within God. The question rises from terrible suffering and help that appears delayed, but the One He addresses is still “My God.”
This is also why we must not turn the word forsaken into the final punishment of unbelievers. The second death and the Lake of Fire describe their final judgment, not what Jesus suffered on the cross. He did not endure an eternity of punishment compressed into a few hours or continue suffering in hell. He promised the repentant thief that they would be together in Paradise. Before dying, He committed His spirit into the Father’s hands and declared the sacrifice finished. A theory that requires hatred or separation within the Trinity adds an event the Gospels do not record.
O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
Psalm 22:2-5
The sufferer tells the truth about what he experiences. He cries out but does not yet perceive an answer. Faith does not require him to pretend that silence already feels like relief. Then he anchors himself in what suffering has not changed. God remains holy, and generations of Israel have known His faithfulness. Their history teaches him not to let present feelings redefine God’s character.
Past deliverance does not promise that every prayer will be answered at the first moment it is spoken. It gives the sufferer a reason to continue praying. The fathers cried to God before they were delivered, and their trust was not put to shame. In the same way, delayed help is not proof that God’s holiness has failed or that His covenant faithfulness has disappeared.
The crucifixion brings that tension to its greatest point. The beloved Son obeys perfectly while His enemies appear to win. Yet the Father has not become unholy, and His promises have not failed. Jesus continues trusting Him throughout the suffering. The resurrection will openly vindicate what the hours on the cross seem to conceal.
But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
Psalm 22:6-8
“A worm, and no man” expresses humiliation. The sufferer is treated as though he has no human worth. A proposed dye-making symbolism for the worm goes farther than the context allows. The plain point is public contempt.
Matthew 27 records people wagging their heads while the religious leaders say, “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him.” The correspondence is direct. People charged with knowing Scripture become speakers in a prophecy they reject. Their taunt also exposes bad reasoning: they assume God’s delight must prevent present suffering. The Father truly delights in the Son, but the victory will come through resurrection rather than escape from arrest.
Verses 9-11 remember God’s care from the womb and ask Him not to be far away. David’s dependence upon God did not begin with the current crisis. In its fullest fulfillment, the incarnate Son speaks in true humanity. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary. He always pleased the Father, and His prayers were never playacting. A request that God make His help near does not prove He has abandoned the sufferer. Jesus told His disciples they would scatter and leave Him alone, then immediately said He was not truly alone because the Father was with Him.
Enemies Surround Him and His Body Fails
Strong bulls of Bashan surround the sufferer. A roaring lion opens its mouth, dogs close in, and wild oxen threaten him. Bashan was known for well-fed cattle, so its bulls give a vivid picture of intimidating strength. Together the animals portray enemies who are powerful and hungry for violence.
At the crucifixion, the religious rulers worked through Roman authority. Soldiers carried out the sentence while a crowd mocked Jesus. We can recognize that collective fulfillment without assigning each animal to a particular office or building an unseen demon hierarchy. The psalm’s point is the sufferer’s helpless exposure before violent enemies. Jesus could have summoned heavenly armies, but He willingly remained. His restraint was not weakness. He laid down His life by His own authority and allowed human wickedness to reach the limit God foreknew and would use for salvation.
I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
Psalm 22:14-15
The poetry moves through the sufferer’s whole body. His strength fails as death approaches, and his dry mouth shows his desperate thirst. Crucifixion subjected Jesus to extreme pain and public exposure. He endured exhaustion and blood loss until John records Him saying, “I thirst.” He then received sour wine.
We should keep the bodily suffering real without forcing the poetry into a modern medical report. The verse does not require every bone to be literally dislocated, and a heart like wax is not a clinical diagnosis. The images communicate total physical collapse. In the same way, “You have brought Me to the dust of death” recognizes God’s sovereign purpose without making the Father the violent executioner. Acts names wicked men as the responsible agents even while affirming divine foreknowledge.
Those two truths must remain together. Jesus submitted to the saving path the Father willed, but men carried out the torture and killing by their own wicked choice. Divine purpose did not make the scourging imaginary or remove the guilt of those who condemned an innocent Man. The psalm can speak of God’s purpose while the Gospels and Acts identify the human hands that shed Christ’s blood.
For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
Psalm 22:16-17
The NKJV follows the received reading, “They pierced My hands and My feet.” It fits Roman crucifixion and the risen Jesus’ invitation for the disciples to examine His hands and feet. David did not die in this manner, which makes the prophecy especially striking.
A textual dispute exists because the consonants are sometimes vocalized as “like a lion.” That wording leaves the clause unfinished because it supplies no action. I believe we should retain the Masoretic and received tradition reflected in the NKJV rather than let a modern critical reconstruction erase the piercing. The Gospel witness to Christ’s wounded body agrees with that reading.
A word study by itself cannot settle every textual question, so the sentence and the larger witness both deserve attention. “Like a lion my hands and my feet” does not supply a complete action. “They pierced My hands and My feet” completes the clause and fits the surrounding scene, where enemies enclose and stare at the exposed sufferer. The risen Jesus then shows the wounds that crucifixion left in His hands and feet.
“I can count all My bones” describes a stretched and exposed body under the gaze of enemies. It does not say the bones were broken or literally visible through the skin. John specifically tells us that none of Jesus’ bones were broken. The language remains vivid without being pushed beyond what the psalm says.
Divided Garments and the Answer That Changes Everything
They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
Psalm 22:18
All four Gospels record the division of Jesus’ garments. John explains that His tunic had no seam, so the soldiers cast lots rather than tear it. They were carrying out an ordinary part of an execution, not trying to honor Scripture. Yet their actions fulfilled a detail written centuries earlier.
The scene adds to the shame. Jesus hangs exposed while His executioners treat His clothing as spoil. This is concrete history, not an abstract myth. Named rulers authorized the execution, and Roman soldiers carried it out in public. God’s perfect foreknowledge does not excuse the actors. They chose their part in the rebellion and remained responsible for it.
Verses 19-21 renew the plea for the LORD to be near and rescue the sufferer from the sword, the dog, the lion, and the wild oxen. Then the grammar turns: “You have answered Me.” With those words, the psalm moves from enemies closing in to the sufferer proclaiming God’s name.
For David, the declaration expresses confidence or a deliverance he experienced within the inspired lament. In the greater fulfillment, the Father heard the Son and raised Him bodily from the dead. Jesus was not delivered by avoiding death. He passed through death and rose beyond its power. That is how a psalm of such complete suffering can end in victory.
The cross and empty tomb are therefore not two unrelated messages. Without the cross, the suffering and sacrificial death have been removed. Without the resurrection, the psalm’s answer and spreading praise have been cut away. The Messiah’s victory begins when death fails to hold Him, and from there the testimony moves outward.
We must keep the nature of that suffering clear. Wicked men physically tortured, punished, and killed Jesus. He willingly bore that real punishment for our sins in His innocent body. He shed His blood, died, was buried, and rose bodily. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father and Son remained united in the saving work.
The Risen Messiah Leads Praise to the Nations
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
Psalm 22:24
Verse 24 gives the psalm’s direct answer to the idea that the Father abandoned Jesus. God did not despise the afflicted One or hide His face from Him. He heard the cry. This explicit explanation must govern how we understand the poetic question in verse 1.
The first verse and verse 24 are not competing accounts of what happened. The first gives the sufferer’s question from within agony and apparent delay. The later verse tells the worshiping assembly what God actually did. When the psalm itself explains that God heard and did not hide His face, we should not use the earlier question to teach the opposite as a hidden event.
Verse 22 says the delivered One will declare God’s name to His brethren and praise Him in the assembly. Paul, the author of Hebrews, places those words in Christ’s mouth in Hebrews 2:12. The chapter says Jesus tasted death for everyone before being crowned with glory and honor. The risen Son then identifies with those He sanctifies and leads their praise. Suffering has given way to victory.
The praise does not remain in one assembly. The afflicted eat and are satisfied. The ends of the world remember and turn to the LORD, and families from every nation worship because the kingdom belongs to Him. Christ died for the whole world, so the gospel invitation is genuine for every person. That does not mean everyone will be saved, because people can resist and reject the offer.
At the end of the psalm, a posterity serves God and tells a future people that He has done this. Those words agree beautifully with completed divine work, but they are not linguistically identical to Jesus’ words “It is finished” in John 19:30. We do not need to make that claim in order to see the glory of the passage. Generations not present at Calvary will hear God’s righteousness proclaimed.
The church therefore does more than preserve an ancient poem about grief. We announce what God has done in Christ to people who were not there. That message includes Jesus’ real bodily suffering and the blood He shed. It tells of His death and burial before declaring His bodily resurrection, then calls the hearer to repent and believe. A bloodless message, or one that leaves Jesus in the grave, separates what Psalm 22 and the Gospels hold together.
The worship of the nations also looks beyond the present spread of the gospel. The LORD rules now, and Jesus will return bodily to exercise His royal authority openly. Other passages establish the pre-Tribulation gathering of the church, followed by the seven-year Tribulation and Christ’s literal thousand-year reign. Psalm 22 does not develop that whole timeline, but it agrees with the larger pattern: suffering comes before glory, and the rejected Messiah is the King before whom the nations will bow.
That movement also teaches us how to pray when help seems far away. David does not hide the anguish, and neither does he let anguish become his final theology. He remembers who God is and continues asking for help. When the answer comes, his private cry becomes public praise. A believer may speak honestly about fear or pain while still measuring present experience by God’s revealed character rather than the other way around.
Every person must personally repent and believe in Jesus Christ. The one who truly believes is forgiven and justified. The new birth makes that person new, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within and seal the believer. Every genuine believer is eternally secure. That security is never permission for lawlessness, and a superficial profession does not prove that someone has been born again.
Three related studies follow important parts of this subject. The Messiah in the Bible traces the promised Seed, Servant, Priest, and King through His suffering and resurrection to His return and reign. The Blood of Christ for Salvation examines Christ’s physical sacrifice, blood, atonement, reconciliation, and resurrection. A Complete Bible Study on Isaiah follows the Holy One, the suffering Servant, the divine Child, and the coming kingdom.
My Final Thoughts
After following Psalm 22 from its opening cry to its final proclamation, I do not believe we can use one line to teach that the Father abandoned the Son. The suffering was real, and wicked men brought Jesus to the dust of death while He willingly gave Himself for our sins. The same psalm tells us that God heard Him, and the bodily resurrection turned the lament into praise that still reaches the nations. When help seems delayed, we can speak honestly to God without allowing pain to rewrite His character. Our hope rests in the crucified and risen Messiah, who will return as King.