[Editor’s Note: This article on Psalm 22 is a companion piece to Brad Baugham’s piece “The Messiah and Psalm 22: A Carol of The King.” It was published in our December 2024 theme Handel’s Messiah: Singing Scripture’s Hallelujah.]
A Prelude of Silence
Watching a loved one take his last breath is jarring. Then silence, like a long, narrow hallway, stands before you. It is the kind of feeling C.S. Lewis lamented after losing his wife to cancer: “Where is God? . . . . Go to him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence.”[1] “Hello darkness, my old friend,” Simon and Garfunkel would say.[2] What happens when such a lament arises not from the heart of a beleaguered believer, but from the maligned Messiah? Such a soulful song emerges in Psalm 22. It is the surprising carol of the King.
1. C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2015), 5–6.
2. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence,” Columbia Records, 1964.
The Context of Psalm 22
Every line of Psalm 22 is a mineshaft of mercy, a rich quarry of grace. He who stares at Psalm 22 stares deep into the bottomless heart of Christ and beholds a “photograph of our Lord’s saddest hours, the record of his dying words” [3] The reader must forgive if we only broadly explore this portrait of the King in his dying and rising hours. Before focusing on Psalm 22’s content, a note about the context will help frame the sacred scene.
3. C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Volume 1: Psalms 1–57 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), 324.
The Flow of the Psalter and Psalm 22: Lament to Praise
The Psalter contains more songs of lament than any other type.[4] Such a statistical reality appears to contradict the Hebrew title of the Psalter as Tehillim (praise songs). When one follows the symphonic flows of the Psalter, however, one realizes that the Psalter crescendos from lament to praise.[5] The opening series of five Davidic laments in Book I (Pss. 3–7) climaxes with a cosmic chorus of five praise songs in Book V (Pss. 146–150).
4. Claus Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms, trans. Keith R. Crim and Richard N. Soulen (Atlanta: John Knox, 1981), 257.
5. Gerald Wilson explains: “The clear shift from dominant lament in the first half of the Psalter to predominant praise and thanksgiving in the last half indicates that we are called to live in a real world of undeniable suffering and pain. Yet lament is not God’s final word. Thus, it is appropriate that the Hebrew title of the Psalter is Tehillim, ‘Praises.’” Gerald H. Wilson, “The Structure of the Psalter,” in Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches, ed. Philip Johnston and David G. Firth (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsityPress, 2005), 246.
The flow of Psalm 22 reflects the sweeping story of the Psalter. The Psalter’s symphonic flow from lament to praise finds fullest expression in the life of Christ, David’s son, whose Good Friday resolved to his resurrection day—when his “you do not answer” (Ps. 22:21a CSB) suddenly became “you have answered me” (Ps. 22:21b CSB). Easter Sunday follows Good Friday. If it be so for God’s messianic King, it is then true for all who trust in him (Ps. 22:27–31). Elizabeth Barrett Browning concludes:
Yea, once, Immanuel’s orphaned cry
His universe hath shaken—
It went up single, echoless,
‘My God, I am forsaken!’
It went up from the Holy’s lips
Amid His lost creation,
That, of the lost, no son should use
Those words of desolation![6]
This is what Psalm 22 is finally about. God’s “Yes!” on Easter morning was louder than his “No” on Good Friday.
6. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Cowper’s Grave,” Stanzas 13–14, 1838.
The Content of Psalm 22
The King’s Superscription
The superscription describes Psalm 22 as a “Psalm of David.” A scan of the psalm’s contents reveals that, though written by David, it is not about him. True, David’s position and experience as God’s covenant king in the Psalter often foreshadow those of Jesus Christ (e.g., Ps. 35:19 // John 15:25). The arrangement of the Psalter also points to Christ through David. But Peter tells us that David was not only a king; he was also a prophet (Acts 2:30).
At times, David wrote prophetic poetry and sang directly of the Christ to come (Acts 1:16; 2:30–35; 4:24–26). Hearing the anguished cries of Psalm 22, Derek Kinder concludes that “no incident recorded of David can begin to account for [the events of Psalm 22]. . . . It is ‘not a description of illness, but of an execution’” (italics original).[7] David’s experiences in Psalm 22 might be present “in a modified sense, but . . . he who sees Jesus will probably neither see nor care to see David.”[8] Psalm 22 is written by David, but it is not about David.[9] This is the surprising carol of the King.
7. Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 122.
8. C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Volume 1: Psalms 1–57 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988), 324.
9. Not all interpreters see Psalm 22 as directly prophetic as hinted at in this article, e.g., John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, trans. John King, Accordance electronic edition, Calvin’s Commentaries (Complete) (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1847), Psalm 22. Other interpreters do, however. For two examples, see Michael P. V. Barrett, Beginning at Moses: A Guide to Finding Christ in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2018), 290–294 and Hung Kim, “A Literary and Theological Analysis of Psalm 22” (PhD diss., Bob Jones University, 2010).
The King’s Carol
David set Psalm 22 to the tune “The Doe of the Dawn” (Ps 22:[1]). We are not sure what this means precisely, let alone how it sounded. It is natural to wonder what such a tune would have sounded like to capture the cry of the King. Was it like the haunting theme from Schindler’s List played by an Israeli violinist?[10] Did it sound like the lament of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs?[11] Maybe it was more common, like the mournful music of Johnny Cash as he sang a song simply titled, “Hurt.”[12] What music must have accompanied the derelict cry of the sovereign Son of God?
10. John Williams, comp., “Theme from Schindler’s List,” Schindler’s List: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, MCA, 1993.
11. Henryk Górecki, Symphony No. 3: II. Lento E Largo—Tranquillissimo, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, 1976.
12. Johnny Cash, “Hurt,” American Records, 2003.
David arranges his carol of the King in two main stanzas. The first stanza records the surprising suffering of the Savior (Ps. 22:1–21a). The second stanza records the surprising success of the Savior (Ps. 22:21b–31).
The King’s First Stanza: A Carol of Good Friday
The first stanza moves in two main sections. Christ is deserted (Ps. 22:1–11). Christ is despised (Ps. 22:12–21a).
First, in Psalm 22:1–11, God appears to desert Christ: “Why have you abandoned me? . . . . Do not remain far away from me,” Christ yells into the darkness (Ps. 22:1, 11 NET). This orphaned outburst of the eternal Son of God sent a sonic boom that split the sky and darkened the heavens (Matt. 27:45–46).
Hanging between heaven and earth, rejected by men and abandoned by God, Christ recalls how God delivered those who trusted in him in the past (Ps. 22:3–5).
Did you not deliver Abraham, Moses, and Elijah? Did not you deliver David? You even delivered Lot and Samson. ‘They trusted you, and you delivered them; they cried to you, and you rescued them.’ So, if you rescued them, then ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,’ the Son in whom are well pleased?
“This is by far the most antagonizing interrogation of God that we have heard or will hear in the totality of the Psalter,” reflects C. Hassell Bullock. “The entire Old Testament [and New] will not … articulate a more painful question than this one, because it represents the lowest rung of human despair.”[13] This is the surprising carol of the deserted King.
13. C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms, Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 157.
Second, in Psalm 22:12–21a, God and men despise Christ. God’s King rests not on a throne but spread-eagled on a tree. We descend to the gates of hell; the king now lies in “the dust of death” (Ps. 22:15).
The crowds smell blood. They encircle him like beasts (Ps. 22:12–13, 16–18). The King cries, but God does not answer (Ps. 22:2). This is not the blessed man and king of Psalms 1 and 2 that we expected to behold. Neither is this what we have come to expect of God. “You delivered others who trusted in you,” the King stammers into the silence, (Ps. 22:3–5), “but I am left as a worm” (Ps. 22:6). The mocking crowds know it, too: “They sneer at me, saying, ‘He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him’” (Ps. 22:6–8 // Matt. 27:43).
Then, centuries before the practice was known, David describes the execution of the crucifixion with eyewitness precision: “They pierced my hands and feet” (Ps. 22:16 ESV).[14] The Gospel writers quote Psalm 22 more than any other psalm as they capture Christ’s excruciating pain and emotional agony as he reigns from the cross (Μatt. 27:46; Mark 15:34; John 19:24).[15] Not one part of his body or soul lay free of pain. God’s King was singing the blues.
14. Although pierced is a disputed reading in Psalm 22:16b [17b], the earliest Hebrew evidence, discourse analysis, and ancient translations strongly support the verbal reading. See “The Text of Ps. 22:17b,” Psalms: Layer by Layer. David began to reign unopposed around 1,000 BCE. John Donahue mentions the earliest record of crucifixion occurring when Darius crucified 3,000 prisoners of Babylon in 519 BCE. John R. Donahue, “Crucifixion,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 298.
15. Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: An Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 377.
As painful as the crucifixion and despising calls of the crowd were, however, “the deepest stroke that pierced Him, was the stroke that Justice gave.”[16] Isaiah had foreseen a dark day when it would be “the will of Lord to crush him [and] . . . put him to grief” (Isa. 53:10). As Christ bleeds out on the cross, that time had come: “You lay me in the dust of death,” he sobs (Ps. 22:15). Like a sudden series of flares firing into the night sky, the King on the cross erupts in a final volley of desperate pleas.
16. This line comes from the song by Thomas Kelly, “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted,” 1804.
“Do not be far off!”
“Come quickly to my aid!”
“Deliver my soul from the sword!”
“Save me from the mouth of the lion!” (Ps. 22:19–21a)
The deserted and despised King pushed out his last ragged breaths. The surprising suffering of the Savior was being accomplished. Good Friday had fallen.
The King’s Second Stanza: A Carol of Easter Sunday
The King began the first stanza with a distressing cry: “I cry by day, but you do not answer (‘anah)” (Ps. 22:1–2 CSB). Then, right in the middle of a strophe, David writes a Picardy third into the score—a minor progression suddenly turns major. The King declares, “You answered (‘anah) me!” (Ps. 22:21b). Deserted. Despised. Delivered. This is a surprising carol of the King, indeed. On the day of his death, Christ sang the day of his resurrection.
As God’s King breathed his last, he foresaw his vindication. Christ’s final cry on the cross (mirroring his cries at the end of Psalm 22:18–21a) was a cry of faith. Leave it to a beloved physician to record the dying words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Christ was quoting another Davidic psalm in that moment, Psalm 31:5. Peter says that, with those final words, Christ “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:25). If Christ sings of his crucifixion in part one of his carol, then he sings of his sudden resurrection in part two. This is the carol of the delivered King.
John Donne once preached a Christmas Day sermon declaring that “[Christ’s] birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas day and his Good Friday are but evening and morning of one and the same day.”[17] The same is true of Christ in Psalm 22. The cries of his Good Friday and Easter Sunday rest in the same verse (Ps. 22:21). His cry of the cruel cross and shout of the empty tomb inhabit the same breath. On the day of his death, Christ sang the day of his resurrection. This is a carol of the successful King, indeed.
17. John Donne, “Sermon IV: Luke 2:29–30 (Preached at St. Paul’s on Christmas Day, 1626),” Bible Study Tools: The Works of John Donne, 7 April 2020.
As stanza two concludes, Christ holds an Easter feast of praise. We hear a voice of congregational praise (Ps. 22:22–26). We also hear voice of global praise (Ps. 22:27–31).
When Christ sings the praise of God’s name in Psalm 22:22, he sings of God’s power to save. God answered Christ’s cry for vindication after all: “He has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him” (Ps. 22:26). God’s King praises God’s name and his power to save, so that others will hope in God as well.
The writer of Hebrews hears the congregational praise of the King in Psalm 22:22 coming directly from the lips of Christ: “[Jesus] is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise’” (Heb. 2:12 // Ps. 22:22). The pastor of Hebrews also comforts us by saying that Jesus Christ so identified with us in our humanity as “sons” that he “[brought] many sons to glory” through his suffering (Heb. 2:10). Just as Psalm 22:22–26 predicted, Christ is now our fellow brother who leads the congregation in praise to God for his great salvation. The preacher of Hebrews assures us that Christ’s suffering and success in Psalm 22 is both a comfort in our weakness and salvation from our sin. Christ is a sympathetic priest and king for his people; he is the atoning one, too (Heb. 2:17–18). This is the surprising carol of the suffering and successful King.
The King’s congregational praise builds to the assurance of global praise (Ps. 22:27–31). The solitary voice of the suffering King crescendos to a countless chorus of worshippers from “all the ends of the earth,” “all the families of the earth,” and even from “people yet unborn” (Ps. 22:27–31). This is covenant language, taken from the promises to the patriarchs (Abraham, Gen. 12:2–3; Isaac, Gen. 26:4; Jacob, Gen. 28:13–14).[18] King David, as the inheritor and keeper of those covenant promises (2 Sam. 2:9, 12, 19–20; Ps. 2:6), now sings the unexpected way they will be fulfilled—through a suffering King. This is the surprising carol of the suffering and successful King.
18. See the numerous linguistic connections between Psalm 22 and the covenants in Robert L. Cole, “Psalm 22: The Suffering of the Messianic King,” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy: Studies and Expositions of the Messiah in the Old Testament, ed. Michael Rydelnik and Edwin Blum (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2019), 538–540.
A Postlude of Promise
The Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke once vacationed at an inn in Victoria. He was struck by a painting that portrayed a battle scene of Waterloo that captured the end of the war between Duke Wellington and Napoleon. When Waltke inquired of the proprietor, she relayed the story behind the painting.[19]
19. The following is adapted from Waltke’s lecture. Bruce K. Waltke, “Lecture 16: Petition Psalms, Lament, Psalm 22,” Biblical eLearning, 22 October 2020.
England’s life lay in the balance. News of the battle’s end was carried first by ship to the southern coast. From there, signal flags relayed the news to London. As the report was first given at Winchester Cathedral, a heavy fog set in. The flags on the cathedral spelled out ominous news: “Wellington defeated.” And the fog fell.
Gloom filled the hearts of the people as the news spread throughout the countryside. The painting that Waltke saw, the innkeeper reporter, captured the look of the blacksmith’s face when he heard, “Wellington defeated.” All was lost.
But as the London fog began to lift, the full message was revealed. The signals of Winchester Cathedral had actually spelled out this message: “Wellington defeated . . . the enemy!”[20] This is the surprising carol of the King in Psalm 22.
20. See Waltke’s lecture. Bruce K. Waltke, “Lecture 16: Petition Psalms, Lament, Psalm 22,” Biblical eLearning, 22 October 2020.
The news of “Christ defeated” (Ps. 22:1–21a) becomes the news that “Christ defeated . . . the enemy” (Ps. 22:22b–31). “It is finished,” the Gospel writers declared (John 19:30). Or, as David predicted long ago, “He has done it!” (Ps. 22:31). Good Friday became Easter morning. He had done it indeed.
