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King David, Psalmist and Prophet
Did you ever sing a ‘round’ in school? Your teacher divided the class into groups, each singing seemingly different melodies. Then when you sang together, as if by some musical alchemy, your combined voices produced the most unexpected harmony.
Psalm 22 is simultaneously about a dark time in David’s life – a word-perfect prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion while also reminding us of God’s promises to us in 2023.
As the psalm begins (vv1–2), David pleads for his God to return to him in a crisis. Over 1,000 years later, Jesus cries out in this same way, sharing His deep grief at being separated from His own Father. Their cries reflect how deep their love has been, and is for God that they should feel His distance so deeply. In verses 6–18, David daubes a vivid fresco of scornful onlookers relishing his demise. In Matthew 27, Jesus is subjected to that same savage mockery as He hung from the cross. It’s a frenzied, depraved, and seemingly hopeless place for both Jesus and David in these middle verses. Flashes of clothing being torn, with the malevolent spectators gambling over the rags for trophies. Then in verse 22, David draws back heaven’s curtains and bathes these desolate scenes with heaven’s hope and joy. The chapter draws to a final soaring crescendo (vv25–28) as we can almost hear the combined choirs of heaven and mankind singing of God’s undiminished dominion over all things! I adore David’s change of gear here, reminding us that God’s glory will eclipse even the darkest of moments. Our future is assured to such scale we can’t even imagine.
Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES
Scripture
About this Plan
King David truly was a ‘hero of the faith’ – the only person mentioned more in scripture than him was Jesus Himself. He was, however, far from perfect. In his life, he was confronted by many challenges, some of his own making, some through no fault of his own, but despite all this, he stayed faithful till the end. In this plan, we’ll explore together five of the psalms David wrote throughout his life. How did King David navigate the seasons of joy, trouble, and the immense difficulty he came across? What insights can we draw from David’s life that could impact our own?
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