Psalm 22 is – in many respects – the perfect song for Good Friday. All four gospels quote or allude to Psalm 22 when talking about the cross.
So why use Psalm 22 for Easter Sunday?
In Psalm 22 we hear how David passed through suffering and affliction – and yet "you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen" – and the LORD "has heard when he cried to him." And so the families of the nations shall worship before the LORD – because "kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations."
If "kingship belongs to the LORD" – then who is the Messiah – the LORD's anointed?!
In Psalms 20-21, the focus was the LORD's anointed – the Messiah.
In Psalm 22, you see a suffering servant who passes through affliction to glory. Then, as we'll see over the next couple weeks, in Psalm 23, the LORD is the shepherd of the shepherd-king, and in Psalm 24, the LORD himself is the King of Glory.
Think about what this meant for Jesus on Good Friday and Easter Sunday! What did Jesus mean when he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!" And particularly, what does it mean to say "my God"?
"My God, my God" is a confession of faith. You are the God of my salvation. You are the God who saves me (remember Psalm 88 from Friday night).
Right now you seem entirely absent. You do not answer. Indeed, you are the one who is doing this to me!
And yet, you are my God – I am living right now – Jesus says – at the beginning of Psalm 22: and I am the one who will bring Psalm 22 to its completion in three days!
When we sing Psalm 22 on Good Friday, we only sing the first half. But because it is Easter Sunday, we must sing the whole thing!!
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