The Song of Suffering and Salvation

By Danny Saavedra

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? . . . All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. . . . Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. . . . All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. . . . They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!”—Psalm 22 (NIV)

Have you ever said something like, “I’m starving. If I don’t eat soon, I’m gonna die.” Now, even though you may have been really hungry, chances are you probably weren’t starving or on the precipice of death—although there may be some of you reading this whose life experiences have brought them much closer than others to actual starvation. For the most part, the people who say this are, at most, just a few hours removed from their last meal. My daughter, for instance, says this all the time. And I have to tell her each time, “You’re not starving; you ate four hours ago. You’re not going to die. Go get a little snack.”

Why am I telling you this? Well, when you read Psalm 22, written by the great psalmist David, just know that despite the fact the descriptive language throughout sounds like the words of someone who was experiencing a painful execution, he never experienced this type of torture . . . at least not physically. You see, David was using symbolic language, as was his commonplace, to describe how he was feeling.

He wasn’t literally naked, humiliated, mocked, and emaciated with his hands and feet pierced. He wasn’t surrounded by actual packs of dogs, lions, or strong bulls. But whatever he was going through, it caused him to ask the question, “Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” It brought him to the point where he uttered the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Now, the word forsaken is important. It means “to depart; to leave behind; to abandon.”

Have you ever felt God has forsaken you, abandoned you, turned away from you? Have you ever felt God was far away? I know I have. But the truth is, in David’s life, in my life, and in your life—if you’re in Christ, if you’ve been saved by grace through faith in Jesus, you’re never forsaken, abandoned, or rejected by God.

He will never turn away from you. Any distance we feel or silence we hear is generally on our side—sometimes because of sin, other times because we’re not hearing what we want to hear or seeing Him show up in the way we want Him to. But through every painful struggle, no matter how painful it may seem, we CAN trust in the Lord and know He’s enthroned as the Holy One, He is in control, and He IS there and He IS working for our good and His glory.

And this brings me to the most important aspect of this psalm. It’s a Messianic psalm, a prophetic psalm that in amazing and vivid detail describes an actual, historical execution: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

On the cross . . .

Jesus was treated like a worm, scorned by everyone, mocked, had insults hurled at Him (Matthew 27:27–31, 38–44).

The teachers of the law essentially said, “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants” (Matthew 27:43 NIV).

Jesus’ bones were on display and His garments were divided and lots were cast for them (Matthew 27:35–36).

His blood was poured out like water, His mouth dried up (Matthew 27:48; John 19:28–34).

Jesus was forsaken by God (Matthew 27:46) because all of our sins, the sins of the entire world, were imputed and placed upon Him. Thus, the eternal fellowship the Father, Son, and Spirit had experienced was broken as the Father, who is perfect and cannot have fellowship with sin, had to turn away from His Son due to our sin.

And yet, the Son prayed just a few hours before this moment, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39 NIV, emphasis added), showing He trusted the Lord and knew He would deliver Him. He knew the Father was enthroned as the Holy One, and that through this great work, people from every nation would turn to the Lord, bow down to Him, and proclaim His righteousness because “He has done it”—as Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.”

And because of the literal, true, full suffering of Jesus, because He was forsaken by the Father while on the cross, because He experienced all that David described He would, we’ll never be forsaken by God, we’re forgiven our sins, we’ve been spared God’s righteous wrath, and we’re able to say, “He has done it!”

Pause: What does Psalm 22 teach us about ourselves and our suffering? What does it teach us about Jesus?

Practice: Reread this psalm and examine it in light of Matthew 27 and John 19.

Pray: Jesus, I’m forgiven because You were forsaken. I’m accepted because You were condemned to die for my sins. I praise Your name forever. I thank You for the love You poured out for me. I know I will never be forsaken or abandoned. So, Father, be with me today in my struggles, pains, and suffering. Make me more aware of Your presence, Your power, and Your peace. I pray not as I will, but as You will in my circumstances, because Your will is perfect and good. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.