So much in one Psalm . . .

I've been drawn to the twenty-second psalm this week, and as I read and re-read it, I was at once in tears and also humbled. There is no way that I am adequate to explain or clarify or teach this psalm. 

This is a Mega-Psalm.

I can't overstate its significance to our faith. 

It prophetically describes our Savior's crucifixion.

It proves the accuracy and inspiration of the Bible.

It encapsulates the gospel and tells us to spread the word.

And it's coming to us at the start of the Advent season, when we anticipate our celebrations of Christ's birth. 

Please, please bear me up in prayer as I post. I've been so blessed by my studies; I want to pass some things along to all of you.

Because of the length of the psalm, I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles and read it. I will post verses as we go, but today I will simply introduce our passage and ask you to read it in your quiet times. This passage is holy ground, ladies; please pray and let's begin.

Have you ever seen the movie, The Time Machine? I mean the 1960 version with Rod Taylor; I'm a classic film buff, so no "new" stuff for me. (Grin) It's based on the H. G. Wells novella, written in 1895. The premise of the film is that George, the main character, can travel backward or forward in the time device that he has invented. In the movie, George travels to war times and peace times, and even millennia into the future. His worldview is changed, and he chooses to join a community far in the future and live his life there. 

It's an interesting concept, no? Are there any times or places that you would want to travel to, if you had the chance?

Me? Well, I'm torn. I think first of traveling to Bethlehem on a quiet night to see a babe in a stable. I also think I'd like to attend the ascension of Christ into heaven - how inspiring! Or perhaps to change the lives of those I pray for, to take them with me to Gethsemane or Golgotha . . . 

But here's a thought - what if one could travel back to a time when some of the deep things of our faith were explained?

Maybe a Sunday many years ago. Where? A dusty road between Jerusalem and a tiny village named Emmaus. I'd like to tag along as two men walk that road, and then watch and listen as a risen Savior appears and talks to them. Oh, I'd be prostrate on that dusty road, but then I would race to keep up with them -- because they didn't understand all the events of the previous days -- and because Jesus then began with Moses and all the prophets and "explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." (Luke 24)

Seriously. Wouldn't that be awesome?

He explained all that was said in the Scriptures concerning Himself. 

And I bet, I just bet that He would have included this psalm, number 22.

Because in this psalm, David talks about Christ's suffering and then he talks about Christ's glory.

Now, yes, at some point someone will remind us that this refers (on one level) to some period of the life of David. On a bird's eye view of the psalm, we could say that. It could be when he was being pursued by Paul. It could be the anguish he felt as his own son, Absolom, threatened his throne and his life. But in actuality, there is no situation recorded in our Bible where David went through the trials that are described here in excruciating details. Not to the degree that this psalm describes for us. It's apparent that David is looking far beyond himself -- he is speaking prophetically about Jesus Christ. 

So, in order to study the psalm, we need to focus on how it applies to our Lord. It describes a death by crucifixion hundreds of years before that mode of torturous execution was known.  Each of the details in Psalm 22 were fulfilled by the Lamb of God, the Messiah, around a thousand years after this was written.

Again, I feel completely inadequate to post on this text, but we are going to study here what our salvation cost our precious Savior. His sufferings were far beyond what we can comprehend; in this psalm we get a glimpse of the agony he endured for each one of us. Surely our response to Psalm 22 must be to bow in worship and gratitude, and to submit ourselves again to do His will. 

He loved us.

He gave Himself for us.

Please read this psalm and we will endeavor to study it this week.