A Study in Psalms - Psalm 40

I want to welcome you back to our second Night of summer of Psalms and tonight We'll be looking at Psalm 22 While you're turning to Psalm 22, I just want to remind you of that wonderful story in Luke 24 That we call the disciples on the Emmaus Road The two disciples were traveling from Jerusalem to the Emmaus Road and They were talking with each other and along comes Jesus Christ now

They did not recognize him Jesus had hidden from him and they were talking about Jesus arrest his crucifixion trial resurrection and Jesus asked him what are you talking about? And they looked at him and says don't you know? That are you the only one in all of Israel who doesn't know what's happened in the last few days and they would explain to Jesus The things that had happened ending with the empty tomb then Jesus looks at them in Luke 24 verse 25 and says Oh foolish ones and Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory and Beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things Concerning himself and then later on in verse 32 when they had gone into the room and Jesus had vanished

They said Jesus opened to us the scriptures. I wonder what scriptures Jesus held that first Bible study after the resurrection I'm sure he shared Genesis 3 15 About he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel Probably shared Deuteronomy 18 18 It says I will raise up for them a prophet like you from them all their brothers I'm positive

He would have shared Isaiah 53 the whole chapter But Isaiah 53 6 says all we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid on upon him the iniquity of us all But I also know that he would have gone to the Psalms He would have gone to Psalm 68 verse 18 to talk about Christ's ascension He would have gone to Psalms 41 9 to talk about Christ's betrayal He would have gone to Psalms 45 verses 6 and 7 to talk about Christ's deity He would have gone to Psalms 8 verses 5 to 6 to talk about Christ's exaltation He would have gone to Psalms 2 verse 6 in Psalms 89 Verse 18 and 19 to talk about Christ's kingship He would have gone to Psalms 2 again to talk about Christ's lordship He had gone to Psalms 40 verse 6 to 8 to talk about the obedience of Christ He would have gone to the Psalms 110 verse 4 to talk about Christ's priesthood He would have gone to Psalm 16 10 to remind him that the Messiah would rise from the dead resurrection He would have gone to Psalms 2 7 to talk about Christ's sonship He would have gone to Psalm 69 verse 9 to talk about Christ's suffering and he would have gone to Psalms 118 verses 22 to 23 to talk about Christ's supremacy and I'm a hundred percent sure That he would have taken them to Psalm 22 verses 1 to 22 Because it's the entire psalm is about Christ's death and the triumph of Jesus Christ There are other psalms like Psalm 72 Psalm 102 and Psalm 109 that we consider messianic psalms Dietrich Dietrich Bonhoeffer that great German theologian who Hitler executed right at the end of World War two said Christ is the secret of the psalm Now I read that 10 years ago 15 years ago. I don't think I really Completely grasped that concept till I studied this Psalm 22, and I hope you'll see that tonight Listen to what some commentators said one said this psalm is beyond all others The psalm of the cross it may have been repeated word by word By our Lord when hanging on the cross it begins with my God my God Why hast thou forsaken me and the ends with according to some it is finished It's a photograph of our Lord's saddest hours and the record of his dying wounds Listen to what J

Vernon McGee said in the Gospels It's recorded the historical fact of Christ's death and some of the events which attended his crucifixion but only in Psalm 22 do we see the thoughts and Emotions that Jesus Christ felt are recorded

It is believed by many scholars That actually the Lord Jesus will on the cross said the entire Psalm 22 and Then Spurgeon said We should read this psalm reverently Putting off our shoes from our feet as Moses did at the burning bush For if there be holy ground Anywhere in Scripture It is this psalm. I won't make you take your shoes off tonight, but we're gonna read Psalm 22 now Psalm 22 if you're there To the choir master according to the dough of the dawn a psalm of David My God my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night, but I find no rest Yet you are holy enthroned on the praises of Israel in you our fathers trusted They trusted and you delivered them to you They cried and were rescued in you they trusted and were not put to shame But I am a worm and not a man Scorned by mankind and despised by the people all who see me mock me They make mouths at me

They wag their heads He trusts in the Lord Let him deliver him Let him rescue him for he delights in him Yet you are he who took me from the womb you made me trust you at my mother's breasts on you I was cast from my birth and from my mother's womb you have been my God Be not far from me for trouble is near and there is none to help Many bulls encompass me strong bulls of Bashan surround me They open wide their mouths at me like a raving and roaring lion. I Import out like water and all my bones are out of joint

My heart is like wax It is melted within my breast My strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws You lay me in the dust of death for dogs encompass me a company of evildoers in Circles me they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones They stare and gloat over me they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots But you Oh Lord do not be far off Oh you my help come quickly to my aid Deliver my soul from the sword my precious life from the power of the dawn Save me from the mouth of the lion

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen I will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation I will praise you you who fear the Lord praise him all you offspring of Jacob glorify him and Stand in awe of him all you offspring of Israel For he is not despised or aboard the affliction of the afflicted and he has not hidden his face from them But he has heard when he cried to him from you comes my praise and in the great congregation My vows I will perform before those who fear him the afflicted shall eat and be satisfied Those who seek him shall praise the Lord may your hearts live forever All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord all the families of the nation shall worship before you For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations all the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship Before him shall bow down all who go down to the dust even the one who could not keep himself alive Prosperity shall serve him it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn That he has done it

Let's pray father in heaven We love you, and thank you for this beautiful Wednesday night as we open Psalm 22 father May we learn more about you Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit May we leave here today knowing more of you and what it is We are to do in Jesus name

Amen The type of psalm I already mentioned it's a messianic psalm Some would say it's quoted 13 times in the New Testament One commentator believes there's as many as 33 prophecies that may be going a little too far But it's a messianic psalm the context of the psalm where it's placed is very important psalms 22 23 and 24 are a triology Trilogy Psalms 22 is the Good Shepherd dying for the sheep Psalms 23, which I'm sure you all know is the Great Shepherd who lives for the sheep and Psalms 24 is the chief shepherd who returns in glory to reward his sheep So Psalms 22 is past work Psalms 23 is the present work and Psalms 24 is the future work There's a superscription on the psalm to the choir master according to the door of the dawn a psalm of David We really don't know what that means It may just be the name of the tune by the chief musician as I mentioned last week quite a few of the superscriptions We really don't know what they mean Now history of the psalm now when you read psalms like this, it's by David So normally like last week's psalm 11 It was about David and we know probably it was about David's trouble in Saul's court, but here Most commentators I say most Say it has nothing to do with David's life Because there's nothing in the history of David that we have that can account for the agony described in the psalm The intense suffering here described isn't about a sick man or a soldier in battle But it's basically of a criminal being executed the writer of Hebrews Quote Psalm 22 as the words of Jesus Christ himself And when you read Acts 2 30, it calls David a prophet So I believe that David here is writing as a prophet Describing the agony of the coming Messiah and the suffering on the cross

So I believe it is all about Jesus Christ You have an outline I hope you got today or picked it up out there There's seven points and on the back of that outline if you see Dr William Barak the professor emeritus of the Master's Seminary Made a little chart from his study on Psalm 22 You can take that home and look at it and you can see the the gospel accounts the times and then quite often Not all the time, but quite often Psalm 22 has a reference to those accounts So I'll let you study that more What dr

Barrett did but let's look at our seven points tonight There's really two sections in this song Psalm, I'm sorry verse 1 to 21 is a cry for help Verse 1 to 21 is a cry for help and in Psalms 22 2 Psalms 31 are a praise from the cross so two sections But I've broken down into seven points tonight Let's begin with point a Christ's separation from God verses 1 & 2 2 points here Spurned by God verse 1 and silence from God verse 2 You're all familiar with verse 1 The first Psalm first the psalmist prophesies that the Messiah would be spurned by God It begins with this

He begins the psalm with probably the most anguished cry in human history The psalm begins with an agonizing prayer We know this verse because it's the fourth thing of the seven sayings that we have from the cross Matthew 27 46 says about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli lemma sabbath and I that is my God my God Why have you forsaken me an exact quotation of Psalms 22-1 in John 10 Jesus said I and the John 10 verse 30 Jesus said I and the Father are one When I go through the book of John, which I'm studying in my quiet time now, I recorded 91 times that Jesus calls God father father father

He always calls God his father But only here Does he say my God? Something's happened

God turned his back on his son while Jesus Christ was on the cross There was a separation as never before in the history of the world and will never be again To be forsaken by God means to have the light of God's countenance and the sense of his presence withdrawn Which is what happened to Jesus as he suffered the wrath of God against sin for us Let's look at number verse 2 silence from God Why was Jesus spurned by God and God silent? It's an agonizing question from Jesus It's a cry from the cross The only possible answer is that Jesus must have been bearing the sins of the world on that cross during those three hours of darkness What separated Jesus from God was my sin your sins and all the sins of the world Habakkuk 1 13 says God's eyes are pure eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong Romans 5 8 says that God showed his love to us While we were sinners Christ died for us one commentator said it seems that God Who answers the prayers of sinful men is not answering the prayer of the sinless Messiah Warren Risby said for our sake Christ was forsaken by God that we might never be forsaken We cannot be forsaken because the Savior was forsaken in our place We cannot be forsaken because his promise is to never leave us or forsake us Hebrews 13 5 We cannot be forsaken because his abiding and eternal presence with us Matthew 28 20 We cannot be forsaken because of his promise to work all things for the good of those who are called According to his purpose Romans 8 28 in spite of all our circumstances and feelings Remember God will not forsake you but he did forsake his son What do we learn from here in these first two verses? Jesus was forsaken so that you and I would never be forsaken God punished his own son as if his son had committed every wicked sin ever done by every sinner who would ever live It was that if Jesus is this the father abandoned his own son God loved his son, but he turned away from him as he punished his son on the cross for the sins of the world Jesus felt the pain and We received Jesus righteousness The question is why why would the Holy Sinless Son of God endure this horrible suffering for three hours of darkness? Well, that's the next point point B Christ's strength from God verses 3 to 5 and verse 3 says it all Yet you are holy Christ is talking to God the Father So sub point 1 God is holy God is holy Righteous and just that means he must punish sin and wherever he finds it God cannot overlook sin the love of God desired salvation for all mankind But the holiness of God Demanded that the wages of sin be punished God is holy and it necessitated that That there be a sacrifice and at some point to Jesus Christ was sinless The Lord Jesus Christ was sinless

He took our sin upon himself He voluntarily took the responsibility to pay the penalty of sins for the sin of the world The debt we owed was charged to Christ's account Now God can forgive sinners the holy and just demands that sin be punished have been met The beloved Son became our sin bearer

My favorite verse in the New Testament is 2nd Corinthians 5 521 and you all know it says for our sake he God Made him Jesus to be sin who knew no sin So that in him we might become the righteousness of God God is holy Jesus Christ is sinless and then in verse 4 the holiness of men three times You have the word trusted trusted and trusted in there in the past Israel trusted the Lord and God delivered him Jesus at his darkest hour is Strengthening by remembering God's faithfulness to the children of Israel Moses Abraham and David God always showed himself faithful to those in the past who trusted him So when we feel that God has abandoned us when we are at our weakest, we need to remember the faithfulness of God God turned his back on his son Because in his holiness, he must punish sin Mm-hmm, not the sinless son, but our sin Let's look at point C Christ scorned from the cross and two points there

He's reduced below a man verse 6 and Ridiculed by the people verses 7 to 8 verse 6 says but I am a worm and not a man Scorned by mankind and despised by the people now The psalmist is going to prophesy that the Messiah would endure insults Ridicule Mocking that would make the Messiah seem less than a human and here you have the first of many animal metaphors in the psalm And it's a reference to a helpless frail animal that is often crushed

We crush worms, but it's also interesting Henry Morris and a few other commentators make the case that this is not the normal Hebrew word for warmer It's a special word for a worm That's called the crimson word that they would get the coloring scarlet from to dye cloth So they literally would crush this worm the scarlet worm to get scarlet So to yield that dye the lowly worm had to be crushed Isaiah 53 5 Prophesied says he was crushed for our iniquities Christ was crushed I like what Charles Spurgeon said what a contrast between I am Yahweh and I am a worm Another one of the prophecies that the Messiah would be disfigured by his enemies and not even look human Isaiah 52 14 says his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and His form beyond the children of mankind, you know, we don't put crosses of Jesus up in our church But when you see them generally, they're fairly pretty right But the truth is Jesus was naked on that cross and he was bloodied and battered beyond recognition they had beat him so bad Number two, he was ridiculed by the people verses 7 and 8 first He was mocked in verse 7 and in verse 8

He was insulted It says all who seek me mock me They make their mouths at me They wag their heads One of the amazing things about Psalms 22 is the fact it foretells exactly what the Gospels would record about Jesus and In Matthew 27 39, it says as Jesus is on the cross It says and those who pass by derided him wagging their heads exactly what Psalm 22 verse 7 says and then it prophesies that the Messiah would be insulted in verse 8 you have this mocking Sentence he trusts in the Lord Let him deliver him

Let him rescue him for he delights in him so another amazing thing about Psalm 22 in this prophecy is the fact that it foretold exactly what Christ's enemies would say and you want to turn to Matthew 27 you can or you just record it Matthew 27 verse 40 says and This is what the evil the religious leaders describes The Pharisees are saying to Jesus when they're looking up on the cross It says you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days Save yourself if you are the Son of God come down from the cross So also the chief priests the scribes the elders mocked him saying he saved others

He cannot save himself He is the king of Israel

Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him He trusts in God let God deliver him now if he desires him for he said I Am the Son of God So the priests and many of the people looking up at Jesus on the cross They probably knew Psalm 22 most Jews would know all hundred and fifty of the Psalms They did everything While Jesus was doing his ministry to try to disprove his claims of being the Messiah But here Actually their lips proved the prophecy of Psalm 22 that Christ was indeed the Messiah Let's look at point D Christ's submission to God in verses 9 and 10 in These two verses you have the words you you you I think in this Psalm you have the word you 25 times But here it says yet you who took me from the womb

You made me trust at my mother's breasts Commentators debate and argue about what these two verses mean But I believe that Christ is acknowledging that God has been with him since birth Birth is his human birth God protected him at birth God delivered him from Herod's attempt to slaughter him when God gave a bit a dream for Joseph and Mary to go to Egypt So and his beginning with God, you know, he says on you I was in verse 10 I was cast from my birth from my mother's womb

You have been my God, you know, a helpless newborn baby is is totally dependent Christ is looking up to God as his only helper who can help him during every moment of Christ's life God had been his God and father had sustained him Christ has a memory of God's faithfulness in the past now while he's suffering He's asking Will God be faithful to me now I can rely upon the father But I want to get to point e Point e Christ suffering from God and I think in your outline you can see like there's like nine sub points This is the meat of the message

This is the point that just stuns me and blows me away You know, the deity of Jesus Christ is being attacked today like never before The homosexuals are saying Jesus never spoke about Homosexuality. I actually watched a video last week that a guy said that Jesus Christ never existed Which kind of shocked me because there are actually 29 books outside the Bible that reference Jesus For example, Josephus a Jewish historian writes extensively about a man called Jesus now that doesn't prove He's God but to deny Jesus, so I remember In college we had a we had a chart that said did Jesus claim to be God? So if he didn't make that claim then it's just a legend as this guy on this YouTube video was claiming It's just a legend But if Jesus claimed to be God, then is his claim true or false? Well, if it's a false claim and he didn't know it's false, then people would call Jesus a lunatic But if he knew it was false, then some people would call him to be a liar like the Pharisees would call him a liar But if Jesus claimed to be God and he made the claim and that claim is true

We know he is Lord He's not a legend, he's not a lunatic He's not a liar

He's not a Lord Why do I bring that little chart up about Lord liar lunatic and legend? well I wish every man and woman in the world would read the next few verses in 11 to 18 and I wish that would make them come and bow down at the cross and believe in Jesus Christ I am a Christian today because the resurrection of Jesus Christ the tomb is empty that proves to me Jesus Christ rose from the dead and I know I'll rise from the dead when I die But the second reason I I know positively I'm a Christian is because of all the prophecies of the Bible proved to me that the Bible is the very words of God and verses 11 to 18 here are some of the most remarkable verses of Scripture ever written because they're describing in detail an event that would take place a thousand years later It's an accurate description of crucifixion Written when they didn't even do crucifixion The Roman Empire was not even in existence who introduced that cruel form of execution But here in Psalm 22, we have a picture of a man dying by crucifixion in verses 11 to 18 So let's look at it Number one his anticipated agony verse 11 says be not far from me for trouble is near There is none to help and the prophecy that the Messiah would be all alone hanging on the cross Mark 1450 says and they all left him and fled all the disciples left him It was one thing for Judas to betray Christ, but all the disciples fled. I know John did come back at the cross Christ wasn't just abandoned by the father when he hung on the cross, but he was abandoned by his disciples Number two his life surrounded verse 12 many bulls encompass me strong bulls of Bashan surround me here We have a prophecy against the abuse that the Messiah would encounter We have the second animal metaphor in this Psalm strong bulls refer to strength, right? Well Bashan is today is where we know the Golan Heights Remember Israel captured the Golan Heights and I think in the 1973 Arab-Israel war and it's it's high It's topography receives more rain than the rest of Israel

So it produces better grass for grazing the cattle So the bulls of Bashan were known to be bigger stronger and more vicious So the emphasis here is on verbal abuse the hostile crowd They they cried crucify him crucify him the religious leaders spilled out their vile hatred towards him Roman soldiers mercifully mocked him enjoying another execution while Christ was surrounded and all alone at that cross Number three his safety threatened

It says they open wide their mouths at me like a raving and roaring lion So we have the third metaphor of animals here a roaring lion and you all know from National Geographic That lions only roar win when they capture their prey They roar the Pharisees and the priests had finally captured Jesus They had tried to capture him They had tried to kill him up to eight times I believe in Matthew Mark Luke and John tried to throw him off a cliff They tried to capture him So this first refers to their viciousness

They're described as raving and roaring lions point number four his bones disjointed two things here the Messiah is going to be dehydrated and He's gonna be Have it somewhere on page He's gonna be dislocated Dehydrated and dislocated So you have the prophecy that the Messiah would suffer dehydration and you all know in the third saying of the seven Recorded in the Gospels in John 19 28 It says after this Jesus knowing that all was now finished said to fulfill scripture. I Thirst so when they're hanging on the cross, they would be very thirsty And so he's poured out like water

The second thing it says all my bones are out of joint So when they're hanging on a cross you have two spikes in your arms You have spikes in your feet But to breathe the the man crucified would have to lift up very painfully Otherwise he suffocate So at some point the the joints in the shoulder blades and different parts of the body would start to rip from their tendons Crucifixion was just a horrible horrible thing

So it says all my bones bones are out of joints one commentator said The Christ who holds all things together Colossians 1 17 had all his joints dislocated Number five It says his heart melted My heart is like wax It's melted within my heart So here it's a prophecy of the Messiah is emotionally broken His vitality is gone You know, he was so weak He couldn't even carry the cross beam down the road Remember in the garden when Jesus was sweating drops of blood remembering knowing what was coming So he's just emotionally broken here number six verse 15

His strength is gone It says that my strength is dried up like a pot shirt my tongue sticks to my jaws You lay me in the dust of death

He's physically exhausted He's thirsty the one who gives living water in John 4 was dried up like a broken clay pot And then ultimately it's God's doing it says you lay me in the dust of death That's a reference to 23 first Corinthians 521 Talk about the prophecy of the burial of Jesus that he's going to be laid in the dust of death and Matthew 27 verses 59 to 60 it says and Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean shroud and laid it in his own new tomb Which he had cut in a rock and he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away number seven His body pierced for dogs encompass me a band of evildoers encircles me So before we get to the part the last part of verse 16 about the piercing you have the fourth animal metaphor here and it's dogs dogs in that time was a common name for Gentiles and Especially the Romans who they hated It's likened to hunting dogs hunting dogs would chase a fox or a rabbit and they would surround him here The hunting dogs have surrounded Christ on the cross and then verse 16 says they have pierced my hands and feet Here's the prophecy of the type of death that the Messiah would have by piercing and just so you know 200 years before Christ came there was a translation of the Bible called the Greek Septuagint It has this exact phrase too

They have pierced my hands and feet It describes the exact method of Jesus death After the resurrection remember when Christ said to the cycles see my hands see my feet touch me For a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones

So we know that he was pierced through his hands through his feet Let's look at number point number eight his bones exposed and this is really important. I can count all my bones They stare and gloat over me now when a man was executed on the cross They could live up to 30 hours in the cross birds would come often and pick their flesh But you remember when Jesus was crucified It was the day of preparation the Sabbath preparation So in John 19, if you want to turn there write it down John 19 verse 31 It says since it was a day of preparation so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away So understand that as a thief is on the cross

He's lifting up his legs to try to breathe Otherwise, he'll suffocate so they they want to get them down from the cross because the Sabbath so they say break the legs so the soldier came and broke the legs of the first thief and That of the other thief who had been crucified with him But when they came to Jesus they saw that he was already dead and they did not break his legs But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water He who saw it has borne witness His testimony is true And he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe and verse 36 says for these things took place That the scriptures might be fulfilled that Psalms 22 verse 17 not one of his bones will be broken and Again, another scripture says they will look on him whom they have pierced and I believe that's from Zechariah 12 understand the perfect Lamb of God Had to be without any blemishes the Old Testament sacrifices of lamb

You could not bring a mutilated a Maimed lamb the lamb had to be perfect and Christ was the perfect Lamb of God So they could not break his legs and you all know they did not Number nine his clothes divided

This is an important one, too It says they divide my garments among them and for all my clothing they cast lot So you have the prophecy here of the soldiers dividing up the clothes of the executed one Now this is one of the few events that all four Gospels record about Christ's Crucifixion Matthew Mark and Luke all say and they crucified him and divided his garments among them Casting lots for them to decide what each would take but John in John 18 gives a little more information It says when the soldiers had crucified Jesus They took his garments and divided them into four parts one part for each soldier and also his tunic But the tunic was seamless Woven in one piece from top to bottom

So they said to one another let us not tear it But cast lots to see who it shall be and then it says this was to fulfill the scripture which says What's it say they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots So in your Bible when you're reading John 18 and you come to verse 24 There's probably a little space of white space right there and then you have a verse that Psalms 22 verse 18 a direct quote So think about all the abuse that Christ suffered think of the emotions

He suffered on the cross You would think that the mother would get the clothes right? But no the executed soldiers that was kind of their bonus kind of their their their payment They would get the clothes of the prophesied one John MacArthur said the strongest objective argument for the validity of Scripture comes from Bible prophecy and that's one of the reasons I'm a Christian today and these verses 11 to 18 are just stunning when you look at them All right Let's move to point F We got two more points We got a hurry

By the way. I told pastor Lance that Some Easter you need to take this psalm and preach a four-part series Because I'm going fast tonight 31 verses it's kind of insane to try to cover a psalm we took seven verses last week I'm trying to do 31 tonight, but Lord willing someday in the future on Easter Lance can dig deeper and I'm going tonight Christ supplication to God verses 19 to 21 two things strengthen me and save me verse 19 He's on the cross He says but you Oh Lord be not far off from me

Oh you my health come quickly to my aid We know that Christ was abandoned by God for those three hours But many commentators here make the case that Christ might be abused by Satan here Okay, because it says that in Luke 22 53 Christ says this is your hour and the power of darkness I think Satan and his demons were rejoicing and celebrating those three hour of darkness and Ephesians 6 10 to 18 tells us that Reverend would reference that all hell was gathered around Christ on the cross

They thought they had the victory didn't they? So he's crying out to God to strengthen him and then he's saying in verse 20 to 21 save me Okay, so he says he's asking to be delivered from the dogs Here in verse 20 and 21 You have the metaphors again of a dog a lion and a wild oxen Bulls lion and dogs are repeated again That's how the enemies of Christ are described Someone has said they possess the strength of the bull The power of the lion and the savagery of the wild dog

That's how Christ's enemies are are Described and then it says so verse 21 Christ will be crying out rescue me from the lions and the oxen Some of you may still have the King James Bible anybody have the King James Bible here Does it say unicorn? Yeah, it says unicorn in the King James Bible But most commentators now believe that this is not a unicorn that we think of some fantasy animal But there actually was an animal that's extinct now There's an animal It's extinct That's smaller than an elephant that actually has a horn

It was a vicious animal and a brutal animal So it's a fitting description for the religious leaders who I counted eight times in the Gospels tried to kill Christ But finally the hour came and God allowed it to happen So you have cried the prophecy here of Christ committing his life to the father in Luke 23 46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice father into your hands. I commit my spirit and Having said this he breathed the last Let's look at the last point in the few minutes

We have I intentionally wanted to cover the first 21 verses to talk about the prophecies So I'll go quickly on the Lex 10 verses, but this is the second section here If the first 21 verses are a cry for help Then the next 10 verses are a song of praise

In fact, I believe praise is mentioned in verse 22 verse 23 verse 25 and verse 26 We see a change from prayer to praise You know, we need to experience the bitterness of the cross Before we can truly and praise him, right? Because the results of Calvary we can praise him Hebrews 12 to says for the joy that was set before him He endured the cross Christ had joy why knowing because what he would accomplish on the cross We can now talk about in these final verses the final verses anticipate the preaching of the gospel Which can only take place? Because what Jesus Christ did and they're in three groups number one

It's proclaimed to the Jews number two It's proclaimed to the Gentiles and number three It's proclaimed to the whole world

So number one proclaimed to the Jews he says in verse 22, I Will tell of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will praise you So it's the risen Christ that's gonna say I will tell you Christ is gonna lead a great praise in the great congregate in the great congregation now this will take place at the end of the tribulation going into the Millennial Kingdom and Christ says my brothers after The resurrection Jesus Christ was a preacher and a missionary, but how can Jesus speak? 2,000 years after this psalm

Well Paul says in Ephesians 2 17 and he came And he preached peace to you who are far off and peace to those who were near Jesus Christ never went to Ephesus to preach So what's that mean? Well, it means when Paul preaches or any preacher preaches today He's preaching the Word of God Jesus Christ is speaking through his word that gives you great comfort in just about three weeks Will he go into Argentina and when we preach the gospel? Jesus is speaking

The Holy Spirit is with us helping us preach so the risen Christ will preach his gospel and then points up to it to to believing disciples in verse 23 and 24 he's talking about the disciples the offspring of Jacob and And the offspring of Israel and you remember after Jesus rose from the dead He was here on earth for about 50 days

He only showed himself to Believing disciples and in 1st Corinthians 15, he says even up to 500 people at one time so believing disciples So the gospel first went to the Jews and Romans 1 16 says I am NOT ashamed of the gospel For it's the power of God the salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles So the gospel was proclaimed to the Jews you see that in Acts chapter 1 to Acts chapter 7 The gospel exclusively for the Jews and then you spin number point to proclaim to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 8 the gospel goes to the Samaritans to the Ethiopian eunuch to the Roman centurion and Then it'll it'll goes all over the Gentile world

So in verses 25 to 29 Apostle Paul would try to take the gospel message to the Jews, but they would generally reject it John 1 11 said Christ came into his own and his own people did not receive him Paul would have some Jewish believers but not many and so then Paul would go to the Gentiles on four missionary journeys and the gospel would explode about in the world the Psalm says they're all in verse 27 all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn Lord all the families of the nation So worship before you I believe we have planted churches and all of the hundred and ninety four countries of the world Some of those countries the churches will be underground But the psalmist says there's gonna be a great Congregation from all the ends of the earth and all the families of the earth shall worship before Christ Let's look at number three It's gonna be this gospel is gonna be claimed to all peoples verse verse 30 and 31 I didn't mention that I think the last four verses 28 29 30 and 31 I believe the Holy Spirit is speaking in these verses because he says he he he he But in verses 30 to 31 the gospel is gonna be proclaimed to all peoples

It says in verse 29 all The prosperous of the earth and then it says all shall bow down to him so the Holy Spirit's describing peace and prosperity probably during the Millennial Kingdom here ultimately and Lots of things are gonna go on there

They don't have time to go through poverty is gonna be abolished The poor and afflicted will eat and be satisfied The earth will be filled with God's praises there will be a worldwide revival The ends of the earth will remember what Christ did at Calvary the Lord himself will exercise worldwide domination He will rule the nations But I want to finish the psalm tonight with the last five words and what powerful words they are that he has done it this is the prophecy of the Messiah's last words on the cross and Most commentators say that the words that he has done it have the same meaning as It is finished in John 19 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine He said it is finished

He bowed his head and gave up his spirit What a fitting conclusion to this psalm They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn Written a thousand years before Christ's birth that he has done it

What has he done? he has Proclaimed the great work of redemption a Special message will be passed down from generation to generation That Christ has finished the great work of redemption Now the Catholic Church would teach that that work is not finished, but the Prophet David foretold It was and Christ himself said it is finished the satisfaction of Christ is The only satisfaction for sin and is so perfect and final that it leaves no pain Peniel Peniel liability for any sin in the believer and it makes me think of that great verse in Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 to 10 that says After this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could count from every nation from all the tribes peoples and language We're standing before the throne and before the Lamb clothed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands crying out with a loud voice Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb So what do we learn tonight? Well, I just I'm just stunned by this psalm But it just makes me believe the scriptures

It makes me want to share the scriptures Many people have called Psalm 22 the fifth gospel I thought the book of Isaiah was the fifth gospel, but many commentators are saying this is the fifth gospel Messianic Psalms like this one our prophetic revelation Confirmed in the New Testament and you can go home and take that chart and look up the verses which I mentioned them to it So it makes me believe the scriptures are the very living act of words of God It makes me want to obey the scriptures when you see the suffering the emotions, you know You can read about Matthew Mark Luke and John and get the story of the gospel Which I you know, I just we just had Easter a couple months ago, but here I see the suffering in a new light I see the suffering that my Savior went through and I need to die to sin and Live for him Galatians 2 20 It also reminds me that he will never he who was forsaken will never forsake me Hebrews 13 5 and then it makes me want to share the scriptures more. I want to believe him more I want to obey them more and I want to share them more I want to be part of bringing people to that great congregation that these last few verses mentioned and what do we tell him? That he has done it that Jesus died on the cross for our sins was buried Rose from the dead and ascended at the right hand and then he's coming back Next week, we're gonna look at a Psalm 50 the judgment song So if people reject Jesus Christ, they're gonna experience the wrath and the judgment that Psalm 50 partakes

Let's pray Father in heaven

Thank you for letting us just gloss over this wonderful song, but may we leave here tonight believing the scriptures? Believing that this psalm was written a thousand years before Christ would come and That Christ fulfilled many psalms. I believe over 300 of them from the in his first coming from the Old Testament It shows me that Jesus loved me so much that he would endure intense suffering pain in the most brutal form of execution probably ever invented Father, thank you for the love of Christ Help us to live for you as we live to leave here today But father, especially whether it be in Argentina or whether it be in our neighborhoods and our workplaces Help us to share the great message that he has done it that Jesus Christ has completed the work of redemption And all we need to do now is believe in him receive him as Savior Thank you

May we share that message as we leave here tonight in Jesus name Amen