← ArchivePsalmsPsalms – A Song of Lament (Psalm 22:1-18)DateJune 12, 2022SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextPsalms 22:1–18Passages in this sermonPsalms 220:29Psalms 11:46Mark 1527:04TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you so much for joining us. Again, as the video shared earlier, join me in Psalm 22 today.0:29So this summer, we are looking at different genres of the psalms. So we're not going to preach every psalm. That would be 150 sermons this summer. But we're looking at different types of psalms. And if you don't know where the psalms is, a life hack is to take your Bible and lay it halfway in between. And you should be at the psalms.0:58If you have an electronic device and you have your Bible, I don't know, divide it in two. And you'll find a psalm somewhere within that electronic device. We gather because of the gospel, Jesus in our place. So if you're new here, we don't gather because we think we're better than anyone else. We gather, as we've already proclaimed publicly, because we are the chief of sinners. But we believe that Jesus Christ can save the chief of sinners.1:24That is why we gather. And I think of it this way. With a God who loves us the way that the Bible says he loves us, how could we not gather and worship a God like that? So this is why we gather. And again, we're looking at the psalms. Last week we looked at the wisdom of Psalm chapter 1. It was the title of last week's sermon was Five Ways to Be Wise. Or, for those of you who think like me, Five Ways Not to Be a Fool.1:53It was more of a light, upbeat sermon. This is God's blessing for those that believe and trust. Well, we're going to go to a darker side of our world today. And we're going to look at how God meets us in suffering. Because I believe that psalms, unlike any other book of the Bible, speaks of the different canvases of life. Because for all of us, there are deep moments of joy and adulation.2:22And all of us have moments in our life where we look and we say, God, where are you? God, this day could not be any more dark. And in the psalms, you will find people groaning out to God in dark moments and saying, God, I need your voice. Listen to me. And Psalm 22 is one of those psalms. It's what we call a psalm of lament.2:51A psalm of lament. A lament is defined this way. A passionate expression or a petition of sorrow. There's an entire book of the Bible called Lamentations, where the prophet Jeremiah is crying out to the destruction of his land. And saying, God, I'm weeping. Where are you? God, I need to see you work. And what the psalmist reminds us, that even on your darkest day, God is still there.3:19You might not see him. You might not hear from him. But God has not abandoned you. And the Psalm 22 is a psalmist crying out and not holding anything back from the Lord. So if you're here today and you think that you need to sterilize your emotions, right? I'm coming into church, so I can only have black or gray or white emotions, right?3:45Leave the yellow and the purple at the door. Only certain range when we come to worship. The psalms say that you can bring your full heart to God. And he will hear your heart. And he will work in your life. The Bible is not silent on dark moments of the soul. It's okay to pour forth your heart before the Lord.4:13Friedrich Nietzsche, the famed German philosopher. Interesting enough, Nietzsche did not have a lot of traction in his time. Nietzsche has more followers today than he did when he was writing. But he said this. Nietzsche said, To live is to suffer. To live is to suffer. I don't know about you, but this is not very hopeful. Yay.4:45Yay. Let's go home. Let's suffer. But for those of you who have lived longer than a week, you realize that pain is part of life. And for us to act like that is not true would be to live in injustice to a world who is longing for the answer of evil and longing for hope in the midst of suffering. For the Christian, Jesus meets you on your darkest day.5:14So I want you to read this quote from Philip Yancey as we read Psalm 22. He says when suffering happens, it forces us. It forces us to confront life in a different way than what we normally do. So when we suffer, it forces us to confront life in a different way. And Psalm 22 is a man who is suffering, crying out to God.5:40So I will begin to read Psalm 22, verse 1. You might recognize these words also found in the New Testament. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from the words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. By night, and I have no rest.6:11But you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted and you rescued them. They cried to you and were set free. They trusted in you and were not disgraced. But I, I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind, despised by people.6:38Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and they shake their heads. He who relies on the Lord, let him save himself. Let the Lord rescue him since he takes pleasure in him. It was you who brought me out of the womb, making me secure on my mother's breast. I was given over to you at birth. You have been my God from my mother's womb. Don't be far from me because distress is near7:08and there is no, no one to help. Many bulls surround me. Strong ones of Bashan encircle me. They open their mouth against me, lions mauling and roaring. I am poured out like water. All of my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax melting within me. My strength is dried up like baked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put into the dust of death my life.7:36Dogs have surrounded me. A gang of evildoers has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I count all of my bones. People look and they stare at me. They divide my garments among themselves. They cast lots for my clothing. But you, Lord, don't be far away from me. My strength, come quickly to help me.8:03Father, as we read your word, we are thankful for a God who meets us even in our darkest of moments. Lord, you are not silent. You are not absent. You know our hearts and our minds. There is nothing in our life that is hidden from you. And, O Lord, meet us once again. By your holy word, renew us.8:32Strengthen us that we might see the light of our Savior and our Redeemer. Lord, we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. This is a song of lament. And the psalmist, in the midst of his deepest suffering, asks really three questions. And the first is found in verse 1. And I think often it's a question that we ask when we are going through difficult moments.9:01It's in verse 1. And he says, God, where are you? God, where are you? Right? Verse 1. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Now, what we find often in the psalms is the unedited prayer of a person crying out to God. So, this is not saying that God has definitely abandoned him. But the psalmist is saying, God, I feel like you have abandoned me.9:30And if we're honest, some of us have felt like that before in our lives, haven't we? We know we have right theology. We know that Jesus says that I will not leave you and I will not forsaken. But in the midst of our difficult times, we feel as though God has left. And we're not told why he feels like this. Maybe the psalmist feels as if though God is too busy.9:59Or maybe he feels as though he is insignificant. But the psalmist reminds us of this. That when you are in a deep moment and deep darkness of the soul, the first place you should run is to the Lord. Even if you feel like God is not there, scripture reminds us that he has not forgotten those that he loves10:26and those that are called by his name. You see what the psalmist is doing? He feels like God has left him, but he still goes to God. Because if God has truly abandoned him, why would he cry out? So when you feel as though God has turned his back or though he has gone away, the first place you need to run is to God. And say, God, you have not gone.10:55He says, my God. That's a personal name. There's a personal relationship there. And what this man needs is not explanation, but action. The psalmist is not saying, God, I'm going through a really difficult time right now. And it would behoove me intellectually, and it would help my heart if you would explain to me the 10 reasons that I'm going through this pain.11:25He doesn't need an explanation. The psalmist needs action. He needs God's nearness. So let me just caution you and encourage you. The psalmist doesn't need you coming into his life and saying, it'll be okay. Cheer up. The psalmist doesn't need someone to say, listen, this is life. We all suffer. Get over it. The psalmist needs the presence11:54and the power of God in his life. In your darkest of times, draw near to God. And if you are here today and you are wrestling with a pain and a difficulty, if you think that if God would explain the reason why you're struggling, that would help you come to faith, that's not true. The why of suffering does not make suffering any easier.12:23We need the presence of God. And we see the psalmist crying out. It's the guttural cry of pain. And the psalmist knows that the feeling of abandonment is much worse than any difficulty he could go through in life. Church, the most difficult thing that anyone could ever experience is to be cast away from the presence of God. And the psalmist is saying, God, I need you.12:52So what do we do then when you feel as though God is silent? Am I the only one that's ever prayed and I feel like my prayers don't make it past the ceiling? Listen, I know that's not true. I have right theology, okay? But sometimes we pray and we just, we want God to answer on our time schedule. Am I the only one? Okay, I'm the only impatient one here. But one day I will mature13:22to your status. But sometimes I pray and I'm thinking, God, if you could answer this in the next 30 seconds, then I would really appreciate it. And sometimes I pray and God is hearing and God, I know He can act. I know there is nothing in this world that is beyond His power or authority. And I say, God, are you listening? When you feel that way,13:53you are not alone. Look at verse 2. The psalmist says, God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. Anyone been there before? God, even at night, and I do not find rest. Not only did the psalmist keep praying, but he recognizes that God is hearing. It's almost as if he's saying,14:22God, I'm trusting in you. I'm trusting in you. I'm trusting in you. Our ancestors trusted in you. I know you delivered them, but God, I need to see you. He's asking the question, God, where are you? God, where are you? C.S. Lewis once said this. He said, If our hearts need to be broken and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it.14:51Church, let me remind you that faith does not exempt you from suffering. If you came to faith in Jesus thinking, I'm going to have the pot of gold at the end of the eternal rainbow and I'm going to be able to eat spiritual lucky charms and I get to even, I only had to eat the grain cereal. Jesus is going to let me pick out the marshmallows15:21the marshmallows and eat those by themselves. Faith does not exempt us from suffering. And the joy of faith is faith does not ignore difficult questions in the midst of suffering. So if you have ever felt like you can't bring the difficult moments of your heart or your mind to Jesus Christ, that is not what the Bible teaches us. You can come to God and you can say, God, where are you? And I believe heaven's response is15:51I thought you would never ask because I am with you and I will not leave you. In suffering, we ask, the psalmist asks, God, where are you? But that's not all. He doesn't only feel like God has abandoned him, he also feels like other people have abandoned him. Look at verse 6. What about others? Verse 6 says, I am a worm and not a man. The worm is an animal16:19of insignificance. A worm out of all other creatures is the animal that comes out when it rains and when the rain stops, it's the only animal that dries out and dies on the sidewalk. That's how insignificant they are. In Scripture, it was a reminder that they were temporary and fleeting. It's a picture of someone16:48who has lost human dignity. And he says this in verse 7. Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer, they shake their heads and they say this. He who relies on the Lord, let's see if God can save him now. It's as if the psalmist is saying, God, my faith is making things worse because people are looking at me and they're mocking me. They said I believe, but now they want to see me prove it17:18even in difficult times. Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a place where the world is almost using your faith against you? You see, sometimes we feel alone because our pain pushes other people away. There's sometimes in our life where pain causes us to push people away. I believe the psalmist has pushed God away in certain instances17:47because he says, God, I don't know why I'm going through this and maybe his pain is causing him to push other people away and the only people who have remained are the mockers and the liars and the abusers. And we see that being in isolation can only make suffering worse. In 2018, a study found, this is before COVID, that loneliness levels have reached18:16have reached an all-time high in our country. Think about that. So what does it look like now? And suffering can make us push God away or make God feel distance and suffering can make us feel or question other people. But suffering also can make us look inward. Look what the psalmist says next. Verse 12. Before we move to that,18:46I want to remind you that if you are going through a difficult moment today, you do not have to suffer alone. You do not have to suffer alone. If you have people in your life that are mocking you and ridiculing you, find someone else that will support you and encourage you. If your friends are opening their mouth and pouring forth foolishness, find the friend that will just sit and be quiet.19:16never discount church how much your presence can mean to someone else who's in the midst of suffering. There are some times that people don't need your voice, they just need your presence. Don't suffer alone. the psalmist asks, what about other people? And now he asks, God, what about me? Verse 12. He says, many bulls have surrounded me. You know the bulls, the strong ones in the Golan Heights,19:45the area of Bashan. They were known for their fertile valleys and hills which produced fertile animals. They opened their mouth against me, lions mauling and roaring. And then he says this, I, I am poured out like water. It's interesting that the psalmist first asks, God, where are you? Then he says, God, what about them? And then he says, God, what about me?20:13He says, I am poured out like water. My bones are disjointed. It's almost like he's a, he's an ancient version of Stretch Armstrong. He feels like someone's pulling his arms this way and his legs this way. And I know some of you are too young to, you're looking at me, what if Stretch Armstrong was a, it was a male action figure, not to be confused with a doll.20:42Don't ruin my childhood, okay? Don't you go there. And you could stretch him in any direction you wanted. And he would always come back to the same position. And so as a young man, we, as young boys, we would say, let's see how far he can stretch. And the psalmist feels that way. Feels like, God, I, I can't stretch anymore21:12because there's nothing left to stretch. God, I'm being poured out. I'm being disjointed. My heart is like wax and it's a picture of a candle that is burning from the inside out. He's saying, God, I am in intense need because of the flame of suffering. He says, God, help. God, what about you? God, what about them?21:41God, what about me? And he's simply saying, poetically, God, I'm hurting. And I believe there are times in our life where we just need to say that. Instead of waxing poetically, we simply need to go to God and say, God, I am hurting right now. Help me. Because God is the one who can help in our greatest times of need. And we look at this22:10and we ask, will suffering ever ends? But we didn't read the rest of the psalm, did we? And now through one of the most difficult times of the psalmist's life, we see a light beginning to shine. So let's pick up in verse 20. He says, rescue my life from the sword, my only life22:40and the power of these dogs. Now these are not, this is not a puppy. Dogs in the ancient world were wild dogs. They were scavengers. They were known to kill and hunt and pack. So I don't want you to think that this is fluffy sitting on the couch. These are animals that you did not want to encounter. Think about a wild coyote. These were animals that would attack you if you gave them the opportunity. He says, this is how I feel, Lord.23:09Save me from the lion's mouth and the horns of the wild oxen. And then he says this, God, you answered me. Now we've read 20 verses already. At what point in the 20 verses has God answered him?23:29Anyone? At what point? You can put your finger there. The answer is we don't know. I believe that it was in the process of this psalmist pouring out his heart to God in the midst of his suffering that as he's pouring out his heart to God, God, where are you? That the spirit within him is already saying he's here. God, I'm being burned up. God is quenching the fire. God, I can't stretch anymore. God is restoring you.23:58Verse 22. I will proclaim your name to our brothers and sisters. And because we have read the Bible today, the name of the Lord has been proclaimed. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, honor him. All you descendants of Israel, revere him. For he has not despised or abhorred the torment of the oppressed. He did not hide his face from him, but he listened24:28when he cried for help. I will give praise in the great assembly because of you, Lord. I will fulfill my vows before those who fear you. The humble will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise him. May your hearts live forever. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord. He rules all nations. All who prosper on earth24:58will eat and bow down. All those who go down to the dust will kneel before him. Even the one who cannot preserve his life, their descendants will serve him. the next generation will be told about the Lord. If you have given your life to Jesus Christ, that's you. You are the generations to come. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born. They will declare25:27what he has done. Whether the psalmist knew it or not, church, you are the generation that was not born yet when these words were written. And the name of Jesus Christ is magnified in this place. God does not abandon you in your suffering. And in the moments of difficulty, the psalmist says, I don't know if you caught this in verse 11. He says, don't be far from me.25:56In verse 19, he says, Lord, don't be far from me. In verse 21, he says, Lord, you answered me. Verse 24, he says, you did not hide your face from me. In verse 24 again, he says, Lord, you listened to me when I cried for help. If you feel today as though God has abandoned you, listen to the psalmist. Keep praying. Keep trusting26:27Keep trusting because God is near the brokenhearted. Do not give up. Many, many years later, the son of David and a son of Adam on one of the darkest moments of his life would read and recite Psalm 22 out loud.26:57out loud. Maybe you've heard the words of Psalm 22 before. Mark 15, verse 33 says this, When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until about three in the afternoon. And at three o'clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and I'll excuse you if you don't recognize the words because it's in Aramaic. Eloi,27:28Eloi, Eloi, lamaq sabachthani. But the words in English translate to something like this, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? In one of the darkest moments moments of Jesus' life, he turns to Psalm 22 and says, God, why are you there? And I encourage you,27:57like I've done this week, read Psalm 22 in light of the cross and you will find this, that in verse 6, the psalmist was mocked and scorned by men and it was on the cross where Jesus the Messiah was mocked and scorned by the passers-by. In verse 8, when the psalmist says, Lord, people are mocking me and they said that you saved him.28:26See if you'll save him now. In the same way, passers-by and the criminals shouted at Jesus. He saved others. Let's see if he can save himself. In Psalm 22, verse 15, when it says that they pierced my hands and my feet, we're reminded that the feet of Jesus in the hands of our Messiah were pierced28:56were pierced upon the cross by nails. And the soldiers pierced him with the sword. In Psalm 22, when it says that I'm so dry that a tongue of my, the tongue is sticking to the mouth, we're reminded that Jesus Christ on the cross said, I thirst. And soldiers quickly put a sponge, a sour vinegar upon his mouth. We're reminded29:25We're reminded in verse 18 when the psalmist says, they divide my garments among themselves and they cast lots from my clothing, that on the cross the soldiers cast lots for the tunic and the robe of Jesus. We're reminded again when the psalmist says, God, why? That Jesus prays a similar prayer in the garden. He says,29:56He says, God, if it's possible, take this away from me. But then Jesus says something else. He says, God, not as I will, but you. You see, the cross of Jesus Christ echoes Psalm 22 through and through. Church, when you suffer, as Philip Beyonce says,30:26Beyonce says, it forces us to confront life in a different way than we normally do. See, when we suffer, I believe it draws us near God or it pushes God away. But something happened on the cross. See, Jesus didn't suffer on the cross because God had despised him. Jesus suffered on the cross that we might come near God. Jesus30:55Jesus willingly suffered that you and I might be in relationship. And in the last verse of Psalm 22 it says this, that they will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born and they will declare what he has done. In Hebrew, done is one word. It could also be and they will31:25declare what he has finished. And in like manner, on the cross, Jesus spoke one word in Greek, tetelestai, which is it is finished. we gather today to proclaim the finished work of Jesus Christ that meets us, church, even in31:54even in our most difficult times. And as I begin to wrestle with this and think through Psalm 22, I was reminded that Jesus gives us a picture, a lasting picture of his redemption. it's what we call communion of the Lord's Supper. And many of you have been in church and if this is your first time, Jesus, that last supper, took the bread and he said,32:22this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And he says about the juice, the wine, actually, he says, this is my blood poured out for you. And in the light of Psalm 22, why would Jesus give his church a lasting picture of his suffering? Jesus didn't say this,32:52say this, this bread represents the empty tomb, the victory. He didn't say that this blood is, is the glorious redemption that you will have. Forget all the bad stuff, forget the difficulty, forget the suffering, wash it out of your memory. It's almost as if Jesus wants to remind us of his suffering, as a reminder that when we suffer, you are not alone. And that33:22And that the suffering of Jesus brings you everlasting life. This church is the only hope that we have in the midst of our darkest moments. there's an old poem by Elizabeth Barrett and she says this and this phrase stuck out as I was reading and praying. She calls the cry of33:52cry of Jesus on the cross Emmanuel's orphaned cry. She says, so when Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Elizabeth says it's echoless. She said, Jesus cried out that phrase so that you and I would never have to echo that again. Jesus cried34:22Jesus cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me that you and I would never be forsaken again? Praise God for the echoless cry of Jesus on the cross. If you've never given your life to Jesus, maybe you've come here and today's a difficult day. I want you to know that Jesus Christ willingly entered into the most difficult34:52difficult moment of suffering that any human would experience so that you would have life. I believe Jesus entered into suffering so that we would know a Messiah who understands our suffering. If you've never given your life to Jesus, and I know that some of you, would you by faith receive the gift of eternal life today? Would you pray a prayer like this?35:21like this? God, I know I've sinned. I know that I've eternally turned my back against you. But Lord, I believe what your word says, that Jesus came, he lived a sinless life. I believe that your son died on the cross for my sin. I believe that he rose again. And Lord, today I turn from myself and I turn to you. God, forgive me. I receive eternal35:50eternal life that the suffering servant Jesus offers. Amen. The Bible says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will will be saved. And if that's you, we would love to celebrate. But church, our time of response this morning is going to be communion in the Lord's Supper. And I'm going to ask36:20you to remember it the way that Jesus remembered it. He didn't say this is the empty tomb, remember this. There is an empty tomb. He didn't say remember the stone. He said, remember my body broken. Remember my blood shed for the remission of sins. Because we have a suffering servant who died so that we would never be abandoned again. I'm going to36:50ask our deacons to come and they're going to be spread out through our worship sanctuary. And as the song begins to play, if you would like to sing, you can. If you've given your life to Christ, if you've been baptized, I'm going to ask you to come and grab one of the cups and then go to your seat. Spend these moments in worship. Church, we have a servant who suffered for us, who37:18cried out, my God, my God, why? But that was an echo-less cry, so that we would never have to cry that again. This is the hope and the beauty of the gospel. As we began to sing, if you would take one of the cups and go back to your seat in this moment of worship and we're going to eat and drink together. Father, we thank you for your word.37:48your word.← Previous in PsalmsPsalms – 5 Steps to the Wise Life (Psalm 1:1-6)Next in Psalms →Psalms – A Psalm of Confession (Psalm 51:1-13)More sermons on Psalms →
