March 2nd

Psalm 22: 21-31

Just the facts

The tone of the psalm changes at vs. 22.  ‘From the horns of the wild oxen You have rescued me.’  Something dramatic has happened and just in the nick of time.   Earlier in the psalm, the memory of the community had only increased the psalmist’s despair, but here he becomes a witness to the congregation of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. 

The Hebrew root for praise occurs four times in vs. 22-26 and vs. 24 gives the reason:  ‘God did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted.’   What the psalmist affirms is that God is present among those afflicted.  God is not hiding his face; God hears the cries.  God shares it! 

And so the psalmist is exuberant:

²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember
   and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
   shall worship before him.
²⁸ For dominion belongs to the Lord,
   and he rules over the nations.

Ethnic and national boundaries are superseded; God’s people includes the whole world.  Generations yet unborn will be told of God’s marvellous deliverance.

Psalm 22 anticipates Paul’s affirmation that ‘whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.’  (Romans 14.8). 

The genius of Psalm 22 is that it insists on facing two sets of facts.  It invites people to look directly in the face of adversity, but also to stay attentive to the facts about God they already know; the facts of God’s steadfast love and attentiveness to the pain of the world.  The prayer thus moves between ‘Why have You abandoned me?’  and ‘You, O God, are enthroned as the holy one.’ 

Someone has commented that men and women often see the circumstances of life very differently.  When a problem occurs, guys tend to look the other way, not wanting to admit that a problem may impair his relationships or his general confidence about life.  Women, however, see the problem clouding their whole horizon and she sees the possibility of an impaired relationship, and even will dare to name it. 

These reactions are true of many of us, of the way we react to God when something bad happens.  Some avoid facing what has happened because it would imperil their fundamental belief that God is faithful and involved in our lives.  Other people face the tragedy and do then find that their fundamental understanding of God is threatened.  (the story of Job is instructive here).

So, the psalm allows us to face both facts: We don’t need to deny the reality of pain and suffering nor what we know about God.  Neither does it insist that we deny the reality of the present struggle but it stoutly reminds us that our present circumstances are not the final word.  There is something grater at work.

Verses 22-31 are a testimony to others that God hears and acts.  This is testimony to build up faith, especially in our children.  From our viewpoint this may seem preposterous (think of our grandparents fleeing the Soviet Union in the 1920s).  But the psalmist’s confident witness has been prayed over and contemplated in worship for over 3000 years.  Quite a witness indeed! 

Jesus seems to have known this psalm intimately.  Before his death he knew death would not be the end.  He knew it because of what he knew about God and about the scriptures he had heard read in the synagogue.  He was not afraid to face both sets of facts!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPP3XmYxXg&feature‘ How can I keep from singing?’