READ Psalm 22:9–18. 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me; a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
THE HEART OF JESUS. This psalm of David poses a puzzle. The speaker’s hands and feet are pierced (verse 16), his bony frame exposed (verse 17) as he experiences fatal dehydration (verse 15). This is not describing illness or persecution but rather an execution. Nothing like this ever happened to David, and the usual cries for justice are absent. It’s as if this were a punishment that, though not deserved, must be submitted to. Jesus understood this psalm to be about his death (Matthew 27:46). Here, then, we have something remarkable—a look into the horror and agony of his heart, described by Jesus himself. Reading the psalm is like standing on holy ground.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for disclosure of what Jesus went through for me. “O wondrous love! to bleed and die, to bear the cross and shame; That guilty sinners, such as I, might plead Thy gracious name.”15 Amen.