A U G U S T R A D IO MESSAGE
PSALM 22
by Dr. John Hunter
O ne of the most wonderful things about the book of Psalms is that we can find in them such practical truths for ourselves in dai ly living. We see the actual, literal fulfillment of the prophecies concern ing Christ clearly delineated. When the Saviour was crucified, in Matt. 27:46 we are given His poignant words, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” These words were the fulfillment of Psa. 22:1. The reason why there was no answer to Christ’s call in agony on the cross is found back in the Old Testament. The third verse of Psa. 22 tells us, “But thou art holy, 0 thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” God forgot His own Son that He might remember us for all eter nity. Peter speaks of Christ, “Who His own self bare our own sins in His own body on the tree.” “He was made sin for us, who knew no sin.” He was forsaken because of the holi ness of God. In Psa. 22:14, under the inspira tion of the Holy Spirit, David pro phetically says, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.” What a graphic description of the crucifixion is shown through out this entire passage. Crucifixion was specifically a Roman form of torture and death. Amazingly, how ever, when this Psalm was written, the Roman nation had not even been started. The painfully excruciating method was to have the cross laid on the ground and the victim nailed upon it (v. 16). The body was stretched out and then lifted upright and dropped into the earth’s socket. The flesh was tom in agonizing bru tality. Such a fiendish punishment was devised by sinful man. You can imagine the humiliation of such a death (v. 17). The body was exposed
and people would laugh and mock. Another very fascinating thing is verse 18, where we are told, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” In John T H E H E A V E N L Y G U EST If you open the door and let Christ in He will come as a courteous guest; He will take the space that you give Him And will leave you all the rest; If you crowd Him out of your larg est room And give Him a corner small, If you scarcely remember that He is there And speak of Him not at all, Ah, then He may grieve when He sees your mind By the cares of the world possessed, When your feet have strayed and your soul is faint And your heart by grief opprest; But He cannot comfort and lift and guide And help as He longs to do, Where He sits apart in your House of Life, For you have not asked Him to. Oh, make Him the Master of all you have, The Lord of your heart and soul, Yield all yourself for His dwelling- place And let Him take the whole; He will do with you, He will work for you, He will reign in your life alone; And you'll find the blessing that you have missed And the joys you have never known. 19 :23 we have the literal fulfillment of that prophecy. This is exactly what the soldiers did with the Sav iour’s garments. To find Christ in Psalm 22 is not 6
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