Latest / Reformed Thinking / Forsaken Yet Victorious: The Cry of the Righteous Sufferer (Psalm 22) | Charles Spurgeon

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Forsaken Yet Victorious: The Cry of the Righteous Sufferer (Psalm 22) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking and to the Deep Dive.
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This is where we take the sources you trust and really get
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into the details, pulling out the most important insights for
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you. Today.
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We're doing something a little this long.
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We're focusing on just one single piece of Scripture, but
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it's an astonishing 1 Psalm 22, and we're going to be looking at
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it through the eyes of Charles Spurgeon, using his massive
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commentary from the Treasury of David.
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That's right. And this is a text Spurgeon
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called, and you have to hear this, the photograph of our
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Lord's saddest hours. So our mission today really is
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to get a handle on the unique nature of Christ's suffering,
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not just the physical part, but the theological weight of the
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substitutionary woe that's described here.
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And then just as critically, we need to see how that darkness,
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that unparalleled darkness, just flips into this universal,
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lasting glory. This Psalm gives you the whole
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picture. The whole thing, the darkness
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and the glory of the cross. OK, so let's unpack this.
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And we should start right where the text begins, with the title.
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It's addressed to the chief musician, which kind of suggests
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this is a special piece, right, For the best temple singers.
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But then you have these words. Ijalith Shahar Spurgeon himself
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admits they're a bit of an enigma.
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What do we know about what those words mean?
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Yeah, there's definitely some uncertainty there.
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Historically speaking, some interpreters thought it was just
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a technical term, you know, maybe a specific kind of musical
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instrument they used for really mournful occasions to set that
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solemn tone. But the interpretation that
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really fits the Psalms content and the one Spurgeon leans into
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is the literal translation, which yeah, concerning the hind
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of the morning. The hind of the morning.
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That's a very poetic image, almost vulnerable.
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So how do you get from a confusing musical note to this
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powerful interpretation that connects directly to Jesus?
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Well, it connects because the hind, the female deer, is seen
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throughout history as this symbol of suffering,
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specifically persecuted righteousness.
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It's the gentle creature haunted down by vicious enemies.
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So the Messiah is the hind of the morning, then the Psalm is
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detailing the cruel hunt he went through starting at Daybreak,
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right around the time of his betrayal and trial.
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Spurgeon love to bring up the Welsh preacher Christmas Evans
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who painted this incredible picture of.
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It I remember that image from the source material, it's very
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vivid. Evans basically described the
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Huntsman, and for him they represented Herod, the Jewish
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rulers, poverty, even Satan himself.
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They all start their pursuit of this young Roe in the early
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morning light. They chase him everywhere in the
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temple, out in the wilderness, always on his heels, until they
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finally corner him. They drive him to the most
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dreadful, craggy, fearful hill of all the mountains of Bether,
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which he says is Calvary. So the title isn't just an
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accident, it's a prophecy. It sets the whole theme of the
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innocent one being hunted down for slaughter.
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That really changes things. It makes the title not just a
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footnote, but an integral part of the whole prophecy.
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It's anticipating the distress before you even get to verse
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one. Absolutely.
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And that's why, you know, whether it's a tune or a symbol,
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the source material is clear on this.
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The subject is the Psalm of the cross.
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It's recording his dying words, his last tears, and then the
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glory that comes after. And it sets up the 2 clear parts
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of the Psalm, the darkness and the suffering, which is verses 1
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to 21, and then the deliverance in the glory from verse 21 to
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the end. So we jump straight into that
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darkness. Let's start with that first
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part, the pitiful cry for help, beginning with that line
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everyone knows from the crucifixion.
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Right. First one.
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It starts with the most startling utterance from
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Golgotha, the one line that shows the true unique horror of
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what was happening. My God, my God, why has thou
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forsaken me, Eloy? Eloy Lama Savaktani Spurgeon
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calls it an exceeding bitter cry.
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He says it's the highest expression of sorrow ever
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uttered under the sun. We're looking at the Redeemer
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nailed to a cross, experiencing something no other human ever
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has or ever will. And the tension in that first
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line is just, it's overwhelming. It's a cry of pure anguish, but
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at the same time, it's bookended by faith, he repeats.
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My God, my God, it's not a cry of doubt, is it?
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It's a cry from within faith. That is the crucial point for
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anyone who holds a scriptural view of the sun.
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You have to see this. The spirit of adoption was still
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strong in him. Spurgeon makes this remarkable
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point. Even in that total darkness,
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with the Father's face hidden, Christ keeps his hold on God
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with both hands. He still has his personal
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interest in God. He's cleaving to a God who is
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afflicting him. I mean, what a model for any of
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us going through trials we can't explain.
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Faith doesn't stop just because you're afflicted.
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It clings tighter. And if you look at the specific
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name he uses for God there L that has some significance to
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write compared to say the covenant name YHWH.
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That's a great point. Yes, Else signifies the mighty
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God, the title of strength and absolute power.
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By using that name, the sufferer is showing that he doesn't
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distrust God's power to save him.
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His misery isn't about God's capability.
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So the full weight of the agony falls entirely on that question,
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that piercing, terrible question.
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Why has thou forsaken me? To really get the depth of this
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suffering, Spurgeon insists, we have to pause and put the stress
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on every single word of that cry.
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It's an act of deep contemplation.
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Let's start with the first word. Why?
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Why is everything it points to the mystery and the crushing
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injustice of it? If you're looking at it just
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from Christ's innocence, there was no cause in him for this.
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The perfect obedient son was deserted for no fault of his
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own. So the question forces the whole
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universe to ask how can perfect justice turn its back on perfect
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righteousness? Then the next word hassed.
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It's a done deal, it's a completed fact, not just a fear
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of what might happen. Precisely, it's a statement of
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current reality. It is done.
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He is enduring the forsaking right now in the very act.
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And this is so vital for understanding the
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substitutionary work. It wasn't a near miss.
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It was the full, completed act of separation that divine
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justice demanded. OK, moving to thou, this is
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where all the human cruelty, the nails, the thorns, it all just
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pales in comparison. Without a doubt, this is the
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greatest cause of pain. The separation is from his
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faithful Father, the one he shared eternal communion with,
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Spurgeon says. If you imagine hell, it's
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fiercest flame is exactly this, the separation of the soul from
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God. And the Son of God, who is God,
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willingly entered that state. He experienced the very essence
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of divine judgement. And what about the word
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forsaken? Why that word instead of, say,
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chastened or disciplined? Because to be chastened would
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mean that God's love and favor we're still shining on Him, even
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through the pain. But to be utterly forsaken, that
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means he was left alone to perish under a consuming, raw
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divine wrath. When the Father turned away, the
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Son was made fully subject to the crushing demands of justice,
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standing there as the sin bearer.
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And the final word, me, the innocent, obedient, suffering
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son. This leads us right to the
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theological conclusion, the reason why it had to happen.
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The reason recorded to Spurgeon and the core of Reformed thought
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is the substitutionary mechanism of the atonement.
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Why was Jesus forsaken? Because our sins had separated
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us from God. That's what sin does, and God is
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holy. Sin must be punished.
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So when Christ stood as our surety, taking on our guilt, the
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Father's justice demanded that He treat the Son as if He were
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the sum total of all human sin. He suffered the separation that
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was due to us. This is the critical non
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negotiable substitutionary element of the cross.
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It's the only thing that explains the Father's awful, yet
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just absence. So it highlights the absolute
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sovereignty of God's justice. God's delight in the sun was
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still there, but His justice against our imputed sin had to
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be fully poured out. That's the central paradox.
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Delight and wrath met on that cross.
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The infinite holiness of God cannot look upon sin.
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When the sun became sin for us, the light of God's face, which
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is life itself, had to be withdrawn.
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And that separation is the highest agony in this song.
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And it happened so that those who trust in Him will never have
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to experience it themselves. After this, this rational,
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bitter cry, the language changes very quickly.
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The anguish, it's so intense that he moves from speech to
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what's described as roaring. Right, the verse continues, Why
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art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my
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roaring. This is anatomy so intense.
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This speech fails. Spurgeon describes it as
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moanings and groanings, as men do in severe sicknesses, like
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the roaring of a wounded animal. The divine wrath was so crushing
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that the physical body could only respond with these raw,
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primal sounds of agony. And the source of that anguish
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wasn't just that God was far away, but that he was so far
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from helping me and from the words of my roaring.
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Exactly. His pain came from finding the
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Father standing afar off. The distance was spiritual, the
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distance of justice doing its work.
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The result was that the Father wasn't giving relief, and he
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wasn't even apparently hearing these raw, agonizing sounds, the
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sheer weight of having your prayer seem unheard by the only
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one who could help that would make anyone roar.
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But even with that extreme anguish, that apparent denial of
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his plea, the prayer doesn't stop.
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Verse 2 shows this incredible persistence.
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Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not.
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And in the night season. And I'm not silent.
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This is a tremendous study in importunity in the middle of
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darkness. He prayed all through that
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gloomy night in Gethsemane, and he kept crying on the cross.
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He sets this powerful standard for us that we should always
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pray and not give up. No delay, no apparent denial
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should tempt A believer to stop pleading.
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Even when the delay is grievous, prayer must continue.
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But then the tone shifts again in verse 3.
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Right after saying he feels unheard, Christ pivots to
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justifying God's character. How does Spurgeon explain that
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immediate, almost jarring turn? But thou art holy, O thou that
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inhabit is the praises of Israel.
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This is a crucial, defining moment of faith.
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Christ's humanity, under this immense pressure, might have
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been tempted to question God's goodness, but His perfect faith
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just refused. He would not let his terrifying
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circumstances libel God's character.
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He had settled it in the soul. There is no ill in God.
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If his prayer wasn't being answered, he knew it had to be
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for some other good and weighty reason.
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So even if the reason was hidden, the reality of
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substitution, the perfection of God, was the anchor.
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Precisely. We're taught that if we can't
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figure out the reason for our affliction right away, we have
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to leave the Riddle unsolved. But we must never accuse God.
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The purity and holiness of God are the ultimate defense against
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despair. And the source points out that
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he's using God's holiness as a plea, not as an accusation,
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which is just a stunning piece of holy logic.
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It really is. The afflicted speaker is
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marveling at how the holy God could seem to forsake His holy
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obedient. 1 Christ is arguing from God's character, basically
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saying, You are the one who inhabitants the praises of
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Israel. How can the one who is the
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subject of all this adoration now disregard his Son in his
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sharpest moment of need? We're taught that we can
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confidently argue from God's perfections even when we are
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afflicted beyond our understanding.
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The argument then moves on in verses four and five, where he
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uses a plea of precedent, the deliverance of the Father's.
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He's contrasting his own situation with God's past
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dealings. He says our fathers trusted in
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thee be trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
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The pattern for the Saints is laid out right there in
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scripture. They trusted, they cried out,
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and they were not confounded or put to shame and notice the
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repetition. They trusted, they trusted, and
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they trusted which. Reveals this deep paradox.
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Christ, who trusted more than anyone ever could, seems to be
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left without deliverance. Yet he masterfully uses that
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history as a plea for help. It highlights just how unique
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his suffering was. While other Saints found comfort
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in knowing their fathers were delivered, Christ for a moment
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finds himself sinking while everyone else in history seems
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to have been saved. But instead of letting that
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drive him to despair, he uses it as a weapon of all prayer.
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If God was faithful to them, He must be faithful to his
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promises, even if the path to fulfilling them requires this
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one-of-a-kind terrible suffering.
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And he doesn't say your father's, he says our fathers.
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Even at the point of greatest separation, he's maintaining his
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unity with his people. Yes, our fathers, He's placing
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himself right in the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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He is one with His people even on the cross.
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It demonstrates that the covenant God made with his
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nation was now being fulfilled and established for all time
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through His suffering. The lesson for us is that even
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when our situation feels totally unprecedented in its sorrow, a
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prayer of faith anchored in God's past faithfulness can get
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the job done when nothing else can.
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So now, having covered that internal theological agony of
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being separated from God, we transition to the specific
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descriptions of the Messiah's humiliation, his physical
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collapse, and the crushing cruelty from man that he endured
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under God's wrath. Right, and the shift in self
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description in verse 6 is just startling.
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He goes from claiming the divine title L my God saying I am a
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worm and no man. Spurgeon calls that a miracle.
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In language, it captures the depths of the incarnation and
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the shame of the cross. Just think of the contrast
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between the eternal declaration I am and the total abasement of
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I'm a Worm. He deliberately chose the
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weakest of creatures, something that's passive when it's
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crushed, unnoticed, despised. This is so important.
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He was all writhing, quivering flesh, with no outward mind
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except the strength to suffer silently.
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So the image of the worm really emphasizes how utterly passive
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and helpless he seemed under the execution of God's judgement.
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Precisely. The worm offers no resistance,
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it just gets crushed and the follow up phrase and no man
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takes the humiliation even further.
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He placed himself beneath the dignity of man, rejected by men,
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outlawed from society and shut out from the smile of heaven.
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This total self envying, this humiliation was the full price
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required for our redemption. And this abasement made him the
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target of universal contempt. He became a reproach of men,
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their common joke, their butt, and despised of the people.
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And this is tied directly to his role as sin bearer.
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Since sin is worthy of all reproach and contempt, Jesus was
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given up to be treated shamefully, absorbing the public
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disgrace that our guilt deserved.
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And the psychological pain was just compounded by the cruel
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mockery in verse 7. This wasn't silent suffering, it
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was under constant, vicious ridicule.
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All they that see me laugh me to scorn.
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The iron of that scorn entered his soul, and the ridicule was
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universal. The highest religious
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authorities, the rulers, the common people, Jews and
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Gentiles, they all united in this general scoff.
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It was suffering inflicted by cruel mockings.
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And the physical gestures of contempt were described as just
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base and degrading. They were vile.
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They shoot out the lip. They shake the head.
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They were pouting, grinning, making faces at him, the one
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before whom angels veil their faces and adore.
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They turned his deepest sorrow into a subject for savage
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laughter, using the basest signs of disgrace that disdain could
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invent. Which leads to verse 8.
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And this contains the most bitter taunt of all, because it
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targets the very core of his identity and his faith.
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He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him, Let him
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deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
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Spurgeon suggests this mockery was learned from Satan himself
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because it attacked the most tender point in a righteous
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person's soul, their trust in God.
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It was biting, sarcastic, and just venomous in its intent.
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The horror of it is that it's wrapped in a half truth.
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They correctly identified his absolute trust, but they
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weaponized the fact that God hadn't stepped in.
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Exactly. They were, without knowing it,
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witnesses to the fact that Jesus had absolute trust in God.
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And a terrifying irony is that Jehovah did delight in his dear
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Son. But because that Son stood as
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our surety, taking on the sin of the world, God was pleased to
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bruise and slay him as he became obedient to death.
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This strange mix of divine delight and necessary divine
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wrath makes the substitutionary suffering totally unique.
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The scorners meant it as a triumph of doubt, but it was
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actually a testament to God's uncompromising justice in
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Christ's complete obedience. After enduring those taunts,
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Christ pivots again. He goes back to covenant
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reliance, appealing to God's care during his earliest moments
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of life. He shifts from confronting his
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enemies to arguing from his eternal relationship with the
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Father. He pleads.
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Thou art he that took me out of the womb.
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And this goes beyond just the kind Providence that every human
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birth has. It refers specifically to his as
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he was marvelously begotten of the Holy Ghost.
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Even the circumstances of his birth, destitute parents far
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from home, required the manifest cherishing hand of God for him
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to survive. So it becomes an argument for
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God's continuing and unflinching support.
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If God cared for him in his weakest moments, surely he would
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sustain him now. Precisely, he continues.
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Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
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The earliest experiences of being preserved, including the
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flight from Herod, provide an argument for later trials.
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He's arguing that he was given reason to trust from the very
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first moments of his existence. It shows the holy ingenuity of
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faith, recalling God's past faithfulness to secure present
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and future support. And that plea extends to the
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moment of his birth itself in verse 10.
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I was cast upon thee from the womb.
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Thou art my God for my mother's belly.
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He's claiming God is his own from the absolute start.
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Birth is our weakest, most perilous period, and yet
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omnipotent tenderness secured him.
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Then the logic is solid. He who was our God when we left
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our mother will be with us until we return to Mother Earth.
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The constancy of God's care doesn't change, no matter the
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storm at Golgotha. The focus now snaps back to the
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terrifying present. The prayer becomes urgent in
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verse 11. Be not far from me, for trouble
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is near, for there is none to. Help.
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He's relied on precedent, and now he returns to the core
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petition asking the God be near the great woe had been the God
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had forsaken him. So the plea is for that to be
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reversed, and he gives 2 strong reasons.
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Trouble is near, the enemy's closing in, and there is none to
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help. That utter friendlessness of the
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moment, being completely alone, must have made the suffering so
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much worse. It was crushing.
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His disciples had all run away, lover and friend were put far
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from him. It was a requirement that he
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tread the winepress alone, experiencing absolute heart
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loneliness which is devastating to the human mind.
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The soul wasn't made to be alone, so the separation from
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the Father plus the desertion of every friend created the deepest
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emotional chasm possible. The enemy surrounding them are
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then compared to this, this menagerie of ferocious, brutal
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animals in verses 12 and 13. It creates such a vivid picture
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of persecution. Yeah, you see a progression of
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escalating brutality, starting with the most powerful foes
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first. The many Bills have compassed
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me. Strong bulls of Bashan have
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beset me round. She's cattle were known for
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being wild, fat and just full of strength and fury.
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These represent the mighty ones, the chief priests, the elders,
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the rulers, bellowing their fury around the cross, eager to gore
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the innocent one. So they represent the
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institutional strength and malice.
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Exactly. Then you descend into even more
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ravenous cruelty with the roaring lion.
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They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a
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roaring lion. They open their blasphemous
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mouths, howling out their fury, longing to tear him apart like
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hungry cannibals or wild beasts. Christ's faith was passing
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through this savage conflict, abandoned to the cruel mercies
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of the wicked, yet He used these very dangers to add force to His
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prayers. And in verse 16 they become the
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despised, but no less vicious. Dogs.
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Dogs have compassed me. This represents the noble,
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vicious, hungry crowd howling and barking.
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This completes the cruel hunting scene, the hind of the morning
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being tracked by the relentless base blood hounds of Jerusalem.
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Spurgeon calls attention to the remarkable shift in language
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here. The Jewish people who called
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themselves the Assembly of the Righteous, are now marked by God
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as an assembly of the wicked for what they did to the Holy One.
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Now we get to the gut wrenching verses 14 and 15 which describe
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his physical dissolution under the intense heat of divine wrath
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and physical torment. This section needs some careful
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attention. It's utterly graphic.
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It details the physical collapse of the body under overwhelming
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spiritual and physical stress. I am poured out like water.
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He was completely spent, with no more physical furnace than
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running water. His body and soul were made a
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mass of misery. It's the image of a sacrifice.
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A libation poured out completely before the Lord.
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Every reserve of strength was gone.
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And the crucifixion itself brought about structural damage
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to his body. All my bones are out of joint.
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This is highly probable. The jarring impact of fixing the
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cross into the ground, followed by the terrible stretching from
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having his hands and feet fastened would have dislocated
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bones. It would have been like the
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agony of being distended on a rack.
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Every movement, every breath would have sent sharp pain
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through dislocated joints. The next description moves
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inward, detailing internal suffering that seems almost too
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intense for a human to endure. My heart is like wax.
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It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
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This intense pain and ability made his innermost life, the
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center of his being, feel like wax melting in a fire.
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Spurgeon insists this points directly to the intense heat of
20:55
Almighty wrath. Dr. Gill observes that if the
20:58
heart of a lion of the tribe of Judah melted under that wrath,
21:02
what heart of a mere man can endure it?
21:04
It's a necessary demonstration of the weight of the judgement
21:07
he bore for us. The fever and thirst, common
21:09
symptoms of crucifixion, are then addressed, but they're
21:12
described in apocalyptic terms. My strength is dried up like a
21:15
pot shirt. He likens himself to a broken
21:18
piece of earthenware, baked until the last bit of moisture
21:21
is gone. This reflects the high feverish
21:23
burning that afflicted his body, similar to the Pascal lamb
21:26
roasted in the fire. And following that dehydration,
21:29
my tongue cleaveth to my jaws from extreme thirst and horrible
21:33
clammyness. The suffering was total, but no
21:35
part of his body was untouched. And he concludes the description
21:38
of his physical state by saying, Thou has brought me into the
21:41
dust of death. His body was tormented in every
21:44
part, feeling like it was dissolving into separate atoms,
21:47
each one full of misery. It depicts Jesus wrestling with
21:50
death until he rolled into the dust.
21:53
With his opponent. Succumbing to mortality, the
21:56
Lord of Glory condescended to lodge among the moldering relics
21:59
of the grave. The point being made is that the
22:01
full price of our redemption was paid.
22:03
No part of the surety's body or soul escaped its share of agony.
22:07
Verse 16 contains that direct, undeniable prophecy of
22:10
crucifixion itself, which was an act unknown in David's.
22:13
Time they pierced my hands and my feet.
22:16
The source confirms that this specific agonizing act, the
22:18
tearing of the tender fibers and nerves in the hands and feet,
22:22
can only refer to Jesus of Nazareth.
22:24
This detailed suffering eliminates any possibility that
22:27
David is the primary, ultimate subject.
22:30
This act would shoot the Sherpas pangs through the entire frame
22:33
and agony only the cross could inflict.
22:35
Verse 17 then addresses the horrifying public exposure of
22:38
the shame that was added to the pain.
22:39
I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me.
22:42
The emaciation from suffering and fasting and the unnatural
22:45
posture on the cross made his bones visible through his thin
22:48
skin, but it's the act of being watched that adds the insult.
22:52
Unholy eyes gazed insultingly upon his nakedness, shocking the
22:56
sacred delicacy of his holy soul to the crowd.
22:58
Instead of sympathizing, just increase their savage mirth,
23:02
gloating over his miseries. This ultimate shame was
23:04
necessary so that the second Adam might clothe our naked
23:07
souls in righteousness. And finally, verse 18 details
23:10
the callous actions of the executioner's right at the foot
23:13
of the cross. They part my garments among them
23:15
and cast lots upon my vesture. The garments were the perks of
23:19
the executioner's. This detail shows how Minute Lee
23:22
David saw the Day of Christ centuries before it happened.
23:26
Spurgeon points out the incredible irony.
23:29
He gave his blood to cleanse us and his garments to clothe us.
23:32
It also shows how heartening the habit of gambling is practice
23:36
right at the cross foot while being sprinkled with the blood
23:38
of the crucified. And we have to pause here.
23:42
After that, descend into the deepest pit of suffering, we see
23:45
a shift in the Psalm. The deep lament turns back to
23:48
Victoria's prayer. This transition, starting around
23:51
verse 19, marks the spiritual victory being achieved even
23:54
before his last breath is drawn. Yeah, verse 19 shows that
23:57
invincible faith has returned to the charge, asking again for the
24:00
one thing he really needs. But be thou not far from me, O
24:03
Lord, Oh my strength hasty to help me.
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He repeats the plea for God not to be far from him, even in his
24:10
lowest state. He desires only his God, the one
24:12
who sustains his being. And notice the critical shift in
24:15
title. He calls the Lord my strength
24:18
even when he's experiencing the most complete personal weakness.
24:21
This is the definition of faith. When your human nature is
24:24
failing, the divine relationship provides the necessary strength,
24:28
and when necessity justifies it, we can be urgent with God about
24:32
time, crying, make haste. In verse 20, he cries for
24:35
deliverance from a specific danger, using those animal
24:38
metaphors one more time. Deliver my soul from the sword,
24:41
my darling, for the power of the dog.
24:43
The sword here likely means entire destruction or the deadly
24:46
sharp enemies around him. He's seeking deliverance from
24:49
the terror of the sword that God had bid to awake.
24:52
His darling, or only one, refers to his soul or his life, which
24:55
is most dear, his precious, irreplaceable existence.
24:59
And the dog, Is that still referring to the howling crowd,
25:01
or does it take on a deeper spiritual meaning here?
25:04
It can certainly mean the whole company of Christ's, those who
25:06
wanted to rend him, but more darkly, it refers to Satan, that
25:10
infernal Cerberus that cursed and cursing cur.
25:14
Jesus cried for help against the dog of hell, reminding us that
25:18
the adversaries power is great and only God can deliver us from
25:21
his grasp. This is the final spiritual
25:24
confrontation being one. The final plea in verse 21 shows
25:27
the anticipation of conquest. This is the moment where faith
25:30
pivots completely to assurance. Save me from the lion's mouth,
25:34
for thou has heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
25:37
This is immense. Having experienced deliverance
25:39
from strong enemies in the past, the mighty unicorns or wild
25:43
oxen, the Redeemer now anticipates conquest over the
25:46
fiercest enemy of all, Death itself represented by the Lion.
25:50
And the source material is adamant that this verse marks
25:53
the specific point where the prayer is her.
25:55
The gloom is departing. That's right, the battle of
25:58
faith is 1. In that moment the gloom of the
26:00
cross passes away and assurance floods back.
26:03
Faith, though it was sorely beaten and cast down to the dust
26:06
of death, wins the victory. The spiritual battle, the
26:08
forsaking, is over. The finished work is Insight.
26:11
This transition from the horror of the forsaking in the 1st 21
26:15
verses to the promise of universal glory in the remaining
26:19
10 is one of the most remarkable changes in Scripture.
26:23
The darkness is just replaced by the light of triumph and the
26:26
promised future results of Christ's finished.
26:28
Work and Christ's first post suffering thought is never for
26:32
Himself, it's for His people. Verse 22 reveals His immediate
26:36
priority. I will declare thy name unto my
26:39
brethren. In the midst of the congregation
26:42
will I praise Thee. Which shows an immediate focus
26:45
on the Church and the establishment of a relationship
26:47
secured by his suffering. Precisely.
26:49
He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
26:52
The crucifixion has secured that bond, and Christ intends to be
26:55
their teacher and minister, their authoritative guide.
26:58
The subject of his teaching is the name, or the character and
27:01
conduct of God. His faithfulness, his justice,
27:04
his mercy, all proclaimed through the gospel to this holy
27:07
brotherhood. His first act of gratitude for
27:09
deliverance is to tell his brethren what the Lord has done.
27:12
And he goes public with this. It's not a quiet, private
27:15
testimony in the midst. Of the congregation will I
27:17
praise thee. He seeks the great assemblies of
27:20
his Saints. Jesus is the one authoritative
27:22
teacher in the church, leading the song as both presenter and
27:26
preacher. And true praise, Spurgeon notes,
27:28
is of celestial origin. It springs from thee, from God
27:32
himself. This resolve then leads to an
27:34
exhortation in verse 23 where he calls the faithful to join him.
27:38
Ye that fear the Lord, praise him.
27:40
Christ exhorts all the faithful to join Him in Thanksgiving for
27:43
His deliverance, which is also their deliverance.
27:46
And the call is directed specifically to those who fear
27:49
the Lord, a sign of true grace and the very beginning of
27:52
wisdom. Holy fear, which is perfectly
27:54
consistent with the highest joy, should always keep the key of
27:58
the singing Pew. And this call extends
28:00
universally to all his chosen people.
28:02
All ye, the seed of Jacob, glorify him.
28:05
All Saints must unite. No tongue can be silent.
28:08
The genius of the gospel is praise, and both Jew and
28:10
Gentiles, saved by sovereign grace, should be eager to
28:13
magnify the God of our salvation.
28:15
The more we praise God, the more reverently we'll fear Him.
28:18
Verse 24 gives the concrete reason for this praise, and it's
28:21
drawn directly from his suffering experience.
28:23
This is crucial for us as listeners.
28:25
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the
28:28
afflicted. Christ's woes, though agonizing,
28:32
were sent in love with a view to ultimate glory.
28:35
Jehovah always loved him. The hiding of the Father's face
28:38
was temporarily required by justice, but it wasn't final.
28:41
But when he cried unto him, he heard.
28:44
Jesus was heard in that he feared, and now he bids his
28:47
people join him in singing a Gloria in excelsis.
28:50
And this testimony provides tremendous assurance and
28:52
encouragement for all believers who are facing their own trials,
28:55
however small they are compared to his.
28:57
It guarantees that affliction or poverty will never prevent an
29:00
accepted suppliant from approaching Jehovah's throne of
29:03
grace. The meanest applicant is welcome
29:06
at mercy's door because of the complete acceptance of the
29:08
substitute. Since God did not permanently
29:11
despise the affliction of His Son, He will never despise the
29:14
affliction of His adopted children.
29:16
Finally, in verse 25, Christ confirms His love for public
29:19
praise and resolves to pay His vows.
29:21
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation.
29:25
The Lord alone is the subject of the Master Song, and His resolve
29:28
to pay my vows before them. That fear Him relates directly
29:32
to the perpetual publication of the Gospel.
29:34
This is the fulfillment of the covenant engagements made by the
29:37
Surety, the Messiah who vowed to build a spiritual temple and
29:40
keeps His word by sending the message of salvation forward
29:44
through every generation. And now the vision just broadens
29:48
significantly. We move from the immediate
29:50
church to the sweeping eschatological results of the
29:54
cross across all nations and generations.
29:56
Right verse 26 details the immediate outcome for the saved
29:59
and it focuses on satisfaction. The meek shall eat and be
30:02
satisfied. The spiritually poor, the humble
30:05
and lowly find a complete feast in Jesus, satisfying their
30:09
hearts with spiritual dainties. The promise is clear.
30:12
The provisions of grace are not wasted.
30:14
They shall eat and be satisfied. Though they may keep a fast from
30:17
worldly comfort for a while, their Thanksgiving days must
30:20
inevitably come. And the result for those who
30:22
seek him is perpetual life. They shall praise the Lord that
30:25
seek Him. Your heart shall live forever.
30:27
Their spirits won't fail through trial.
30:29
They receive the promise of perpetual life.
30:32
If His dying words are so assuring, think about the
30:35
consolidation we find, knowing He ever lives to make
30:38
intercession for us. The eternal nature of the life
30:40
secured by the finished work is the reward of the suffering.
30:45
Verse 27 then turns the gaze outward, capturing Messiah's
30:48
missionary spirit and the universal spread of the blessing
30:50
that was secured by his death. All the ends of the world shall
30:53
remember and turn unto the Lord. The blessing is destined to
30:57
spread from the inner circle of the present church.
30:59
Until the remotest parts of the earth are reached, false worship
31:02
will cease, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship
31:05
before thee. This global hope, this universal
31:08
submission was the necessary reward for Jesus is unparalleled
31:12
suffering. And the source material also
31:13
breaks down a clear three-step process of conversion found in
31:17
that verse, showing the path from darkness to light.
31:20
Yes, there's a clear order of grace there.
31:23
First, they shall remember this is reflection, like the prodigal
31:27
son coming to his senses, considering his spiritual
31:30
poverty. Second, they shall turn unto
31:33
Jehovah. This is repentance, giving up
31:35
idols and false paths. And 3rd, they shall worship.
31:39
This is the culmination, holy service, adoration and
31:42
submission to the God of our salvation.
31:44
And the certainty of this triumph across the nations is
31:47
rooted in verse 28, which is a foundational truth.
31:50
For the Kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the
31:53
nations. The Redeemer, even in death,
31:56
rejoiced that his Father's interests would prosper through
31:59
his pains. Because God reigns supreme in
32:01
creation and Providence, He has set up a Kingdom of grace, and
32:05
by the conquering accomplishment of the cross, that Kingdom will
32:08
grow until all people own its way.
32:10
It's a declaration of divine sovereignty over all earthly
32:12
affairs. Verse 29 Make sure that
32:14
redeeming grace is available to people of all estates, the high
32:17
and the low, the rich and the poor.
32:19
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship the rich
32:23
and great. Those who are worldly,
32:25
prosperous, or spiritually content in themselves, they are
32:28
not excluded. They shall taste redeeming grace
32:31
and bow down and worship. And conversely, those that go
32:34
down to the dust shall bow before him.
32:36
And who are those going down to the dust, according to Spurgeon?
32:39
They are the poor and mean of mankind, those unable to support
32:42
themselves or those who are quivering on the brink of the
32:44
grave. Even the dead, when they're
32:46
quickened by the Son of Man's voice, must bow the knee to King
32:49
Messiah. Rich and poor are invited to the
32:52
Feast of Satisfaction, which shows that the scope of Christ's
32:55
finished work knows no earthly bounds.
32:57
And following that grand invitation is a final, solid
33:00
doctrine that guards against human self-confidence.
33:03
None can keep alive his own soul.
33:06
This is the unavoidable truth that comes with the gospel
33:09
invitation. There is no salvation outside of
33:12
Christ. Life must be held as Christ's
33:14
gift, or eternal death is the result.
33:17
This doctrine, the absolute necessity of depending on the
33:20
surety, must be proclaimed to break all human self-confidence,
33:24
making sure that salvation is rightly ascribed only to
33:27
sovereign grace. Moving into the final verses, we
33:30
look at the legacy of the cross extending across successive
33:33
generations. Verse 30 looks to posterity.
33:36
A seed shall serve him. The Kingdom of truth will never
33:39
fail. As one generation of Saints
33:42
rests, another will arise to perpetuate worship.
33:45
The true Apostolic succession is safe, secured by God's promise.
33:49
And the succession of the Saints, the faithful, is what
33:51
defines the ages into God's view, overriding the history of
33:54
the wicked. It shall be accounted to the
33:56
Lord for a generation. God reckons the ages by the
33:59
succession of the faithful, those who serve him.
34:02
His family registers for the children only.
34:04
Generations of sinners don't enter the genealogy of the
34:06
skies. The ongoing worship and service
34:09
of the Saints is the true measuring stick of history.
34:11
And finally, verse 31 summarizes the sovereign effectiveness of
34:15
Christ's work ensuring the result.
34:18
They shall come. Sovereign grace ensures the
34:21
blood bought ones are brought out.
34:22
Nothing will forth the divine purpose.
34:25
The Chosen will come to life, to faith, to pardon, and ultimately
34:29
to heaven. And what is the eternal
34:31
declaration of this new successive generation?
34:34
They shall declare His righteousness unto a people that
34:36
shall be born. They will testify from their own
34:39
knowledge, making clear the righteousness of God the Holy
34:41
Ghost, and especially the righteousness of God the Son,
34:44
The surety, The burden of their story will be that He hath done
34:48
this, or it is finished. The expiring victorious words of
34:51
the Lord Jesus, and the last words of this astonishing Psalm.
34:54
So this deep dive into Psalm 22 guided by Spurgeon, it really
34:58
provides an incredible arc. It goes from the lowest point of
35:02
abject suffering, the worm despised by men and utterly
35:05
forsaken by God, all the way to the highest point of universal
35:08
dominion as the King and governor among the nations.
35:11
It just showcases the absolute necessity of Christ
35:14
substitutionary abandonment for the flourishing of His Kingdom
35:17
among all peoples. The darkness of the cross was
35:19
required for the light of grace to shine everywhere.
35:23
And the source explicitly states that Christ suffered a species
35:27
of suffering that never at any other time was felt in this
35:29
world and never will be again. The vengeance of the Almighty
35:32
upon His child. His heart was described as
35:35
melting like wax under that unique, unparalleled wrath.
35:38
So knowing that the Son of God Himself endured the absolute
35:41
horror of separation from the Father to satisfy divine
35:44
justice, consider the ultimate assurance for those who trust in
35:47
His finished work. You are eternally secured from
35:50
ever facing that wrath, covered completely by the righteousness
35:53
He declared, and secured through His obedience.
35:55
That truth ought to cause every heart to live forever.
35:57
A compelling reason to keep turning to the scripture.
36:01
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the source
36:04
material. We look forward to our next
36:06
exploration.