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Psalm 22
John 10:11- “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Hebrews 13:20- “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant”
I Peter 5:4- “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
These are 3 key titles for the Lord Jesus given to us in the N.T—The Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd which correspond to the messages of Psalm 22, 23 and 24.
Let us give praise to God as we rejoice in the Shepherd-hood of Christ in these Shepherd Psalms!
Psalm 22 gives a complete description of Christ’s suffering in 3 distinct portions. Now when we usually speak of these things this is the normal order:
- Physical Suffering
- Mental Suffering
- Spiritual Suffering
But these are completely reversed in the 22nd Psalm:
- Spiritual Suffering-Psalm 22:1
- Mental Suffering-Psalm 22:6-7
- Physical Suffering-Psalm 22:15-16
Based upon this analysis we must be careful with any description of the Cross which does not center upon the spiritual sufferings of the Lord as being foundational to the rest.
*How does Psalm 22:22-31 help us enter deeper into Christ’s death on the Cross?
These verses describe the results of the Cross while the first 21 verses give the sufferings of Christ on the Cross. The sufferings first then the results.
- Resurrection Deliverance.
- Worldwide Blessing.
The important truth about the Lord Jesus which is revealed through a comparison of Psalms 23 and John 10 is as follows:
Psalm 23 begins with “the Lord is my Shepherd” and John 10 records Jesus as saying “I am the
Shepherd”. The truth here is the deity of Christ, that is to say Christ is God. Christ claimed to be the Shepherd of the OT. When He did this, he was automatically claiming to be the deity of the OT…Almighty God.
Specifically, how does Psalm 22 help you enter into the message of Psalm 23?
Psalm 22 helps describes the Cross of Christ and Psalm 23 describes the results of the Cross of Christ. In other words, the 22nd Psalm is foundational and the 23rd Psalm is super-structural. You cannot have the 23rd Psalm unless you have the 22nd Psalm.
Psalm 22:1- “…my God, my God, why have you forsaken me…”
Psalm 23:4- “…I will fear no evil: for you are with me…”
“you have forsaken me…you are with me…” there is only one way I can say God is with me and it is predicated upon Christ saying thou hast forsaken me. God forsook Christ so that He could be with me.
Psalm 22:1- “Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”
Psalm 23:2- “he leads me beside still waters.”
The only way I can have still waters in my life today is because of Christ’s roaring and groaning.
4 times in the 22nd Psalm we read of wild animals which picture the enemies of Christ as He died on the Cross. Verses 12, 13, 16 and 21. In verse 12 we have bulls of Bashan mentioned.
Then in Psalm 23:4- “your rod and your staff they comfort me.”
A shepherd uses their rod to protect the sheep from wild animals who seek to ravage and destroy. The only reason we have the shepherd protecting us from ravenous animals is because He was devoured by the wild animals Himself in order to protect His Sheep.
Conclusion: No one has any right whatsoever to the 23rd Psalm except by way of the 22nd Psalm. One of the most frightening things is when people try to claim the 23rd Psalm without the 22nd. The 23rd Psalm is cold and lifeless unless they first experienced the 22nd Psalm… Christ as their Suffering Substitute.
