January 22, 2017: Day 22 – Psalm 22

For this Psalm you have to turn to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 27 and you will find some very close parallel verses.  Now, we know that Psalm 22 came before Matthew was ever written and hundreds of years before Jesus walked upon the earth.  But when you read that chapter you can absolutely tell that Jesus lived his life in such a way that it reflected what the psalmist was going through.  Let’s look at some of the Scriptures which are parallel.  

Starting from the very first verse we read the words: “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”  These are the very same words that Jesus said on the cross in vs.46.  When you look at vs. 6 you read about people who mocked him and say why isn’t he able to to be rescued from the Lord, the one whom he says is looking out for him.  Just about the same words which we hear in vs.42 where the people mock Jesus and say: “He saved others why can’t he save himself?”  

If you look at vs.18 you read about the enemies of the psalmist casting lots for his clothing and dividing his clothing among them.  We read the same thing in vs.35 of chapter 27 in Matthew where the soldiers who had crucified him cast lots for his clothing.  There are incredible parallels between this psalm of David and our Savior’s crucifixion.  I guess the only difference is that the Psalmist praises God for saving him from his enemies.  Our Savior, however, was crucified and died on the cross.  But that was what we needed in order for our sins to be forgiven.  Great parallels.