Series: Psalms
Title: The Cry of all Cries
Text: Psalm 22: 1
Date: April 5, 2015
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
As we prepare to come to our Lord’s Table to remember our victorious Redeemer, let’s once again return to this most sacred of Psalm’s, Psalm 22. Our subject is “The Cry of all Cries.”
Psalm 22: 1: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matthew and Mark tell us as Christ hung on the cross, “from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Mat 27: 45-46; Mar 15: 33-34)
How solemn, how amazing are these words! Each word in this cry of the Redeemer is full of the glory of God revealed in Christ Jesus. For our divisions, we will look at each word.
MY GOD, MY GOD
The first two words, which Christ repeated, are of utmost importance, “My God, my God.”
How this loud cry must have shaken his enemies and delighted his saints! When all was dark, when it appeared the enemy had triumphed, by the loud cry of these two words, our Savior declared his unwavering faith and obedience to God his Father. He never ceased believing God, even on the cruel cross. He said, “All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” (Ps 22: 7-10)
This was not a cry of disobedience. By this cry our Savior declared his faith, his fidelity, to God as his righteous, humble servant, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Php 2:6-8)
In Philippians 2: 14, he commands his believing children to “do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.” (Php 2: 14-16) We can be sure that the Word of Life himself, the Light himself, did “all things without murmurings and disputings.” When our Redeemer hung upon the cross, he gave that crooked, perverse nation of bystanders no reason to blaspheme God.
Also, this cry shows us his obedience as the last Adam, serving God as the Head and Representative of his people. Brethren, when we behold our Savior crying, “My God, my God”, it ought to fill our hearts with rejoicing. By God’s gift and grace, you may be strong in faith in Christ. But even at the slightest suffering, you and I are so full of unbelief. Yet, from his cradle to his dying moment, Christ was one uninterrupted flow of holy love and obedience.
The reason this is so important to you and I who believe is because it is by the faith of Christ that Christ himself justified his people from our sins on the cross. In Galatians 2: 16, God used the apostle Paul to state the truth that is it by the faith of Christ that we are justified, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” The next verse establishes the fact, “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ…” (Ga 2:16-17)
It is not our faith in Christ that justifies us. But the reason we are given faith is because Christ justified us. Faith is merely the gift of God through which we receive justification already accomplished by Christ. “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Rom 5: 19)
Be sure to get this. Instead of exercising his own power as the Godhead to destroy his enemies, Christ took the shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness. So representing his people, he allowed them to nail him to the cross but he never allowed them to make him cease looking to his Father and his God.
Now, as he effectually draws his own, he makes us willing to “cast all our care into his hand for he careth for us.” Take the shield of faith in Christ and the breastplate of his righteousness and you will quench all the fiery darts of Satan. (1 Pet 5: 7-9; Eph 6: 14-16)
So we see in the very depths of his darkest, most bitter suffering, the very height and climax of our Redeemer’s faith and obedience. He cried, “My God, My God.”
WHY
The next word is “why.” “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
‘Why’ did God forsake Christ? One, it was because before the world was made, God the Father chose his Son to give him all preeminence in the salvation of his people. God said, “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.” Then God declares it is by washing his people from our sins by the cross that Christ shall receive this preeminence, “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” (Isa 52:13-15)
Brethren, even more than our salvation, the purpose of the cross is to glorify God in his Son. “He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Col 1: 18)
‘Why’ did God forsake Christ? Two, it is because he entered covenant with God to do this work by himself. He is the One who agreed to do the work, “Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.” (Ps 89: 19) The whole work of honoring and magnifying the law was on Christ’s shoulder, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Is 9: 6) “He by himself purged our sins.” (Heb 1: 3)
‘Why’ did God forsake Christ? Three, Christ declares the reason why in this Psalm, “But thou art holy…But I am a worm, and no man.” (Ps 22: 3, 6) Christ came to manifest the righteousness of God. (Rom 3: 25-26) He came to declare God just by exacting the demands of the divine justice upon himself in place of chosen sinners. And Christ came to declare God the Justifier of all who believe for “it is God that justifieth; it is Christ that died.” (Rom 8: 33-34
Now, God is the just Judge of heaven and earth. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18: 25) In his law, God commanded all judges to judge after the manner in which God himself judges. He said in his law, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” (2 Sam 23: 3) “They shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow…” (Deut 16: 18-20) “They shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.” (Deut 25: 1) “Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.” (Ex 23: 6) “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.” (1 Ki 8: 32) “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.” (Pro 17: 15) “These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them. Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.” (Pro 24: 23-26) God said, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil…which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” (Is 5: 20-24) So we see that God in strict judgment only imputes righteousness to them who are indeed righteous and God only condemns those who indeed are deserving of condemnation.
But Christ Jesus knew no sin. So in order to take our place, Christ who knew no sin, had to be made sin. Therefore, having manifest himself to be the spotless, holy, Lamb of God, “he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor 5: 21) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Is 53: 6) Christ Jesus "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." (I Peter 2: 24.)
When we were made sin by Adam, what did sin do to us? “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Is 59: 2) So when Christ was made sin in order to pay what his people owed, God justly imputed the sin of his elect to Christ and separated himself, hiding his face from Christ. That is the righteousness of God that our Savior declares in this Psalm, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent…But thou art holy…But I am a worm, and no man.”
Brethren, satan would have us stop short of the word of God or go beyond what God’s word clearly declares. It may beyond our comprehension how the holy, harmless Lord Jesus could be truly made sin but we are not to stop short or go beyond what is revealed, we are to believe the word of God. Since God is righteous and since Christ came to declare God’s righteousness, Christ had to be made sin before God would justly make him a curse in our place. God give us grace to simply believe your word.
HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME
Let’s take the rest of the word together, “My God, my God, Why HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?”
“Hast” is past tense. It means this work is done. It was done once. It is never to be done again. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us:…their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Heb 10:10-18)
Never, never take away from Christ’s offering by declaring Christ a failure. That is what men do when they say Christ died for all man and wants to save all men. Christ made one offering. He bore our sin once. And he put away our sin. All for whom he died are reconciled and must be called to faith in Christ because the same justice of God demands it. Satisfaction has been made for all those for whom Christ died. Nor ever attempt to add anything to Christ’s work. Nothing can be taken from it, nothing can be added to it. The work of redemption is accomplished!
Then consider these words “thou” and “forsaken me.” From eternity, Christ was the delight of his Father. Over thirty years, as he walked this earth, Christ had his Father's presence and love and approval in all things. But for six hours now, the Father had hidden his countenance from the Lord Jesus. In the last three hours, darkness covered the earth.
The hiding of the sun typified God forsaking Christ. As the darkening of the one was a new thing in the history of the world, so was the other. The eclipse of the s.u.n was not a temporary fog, not just clouds in the way, it was real separation of light so that there was only darkness.
Likewise, it was real when Christ bore our sin; it was real when God withdrew the light of his countenance from Christ on the cross; Christ was really made a curse for us; and it was the real fury of God’s justice that Christ suffered on the tree. The pain of crucifixion, the forsaking of friends, the reproach of enemies, even the assaults of devils was nothing compared to God his Father forsaking him.
Imagine, neither God the Father, nor God the Spirit, appeared to help our Savior! It is incomprehensible for us. Our Savior had the Spirit without measure. He knew the full, perfect comfort of his Father's face all his days. So for him to be left alone in that horror and darkness, separated from the glory of God’s presence, was indeed the second death we deserved. God describes that living, eternal death which we owed to justice as being “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” (2 Thess 1: 9) When our Savior laid down his physical life, it was the exclamation point, declaring that Christ had accomplished and conquered the second death for his people.
HE WAS HEARD
We cannot stop there. Christ says in verses 22-24 that he was heard, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.”
Christ was heard by God the Father in that he feared and believed God. (Heb 5: 7) Now, God being eternally satisfied toward all for whom Christ died, raised Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King and God raised all his people in him.
Believer, we are reconciled, redeemed from the curse of the law, holy and Righteous in Christ, accepted of God in the beloved! Since Christ was forsaken, satisfied justice, and purged his people of our sins, now he calls each one saying, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” (Heb 13: 5) “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever:” (Ps 37: 28)
God was far from helping Christ so that he “tread the winepress alone and of the people there was none to help” but having pleased the Father, he says to you believer, “I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off.” (Is 46: 13)
Through this gospel, Christ is singing praises to God in the midst of his church—calling out his people as our Prophet, he paid his vows as he promised in covenant when he paid it all for his people and now he everlives to make intercession for us, as our High Priest. And Christ is ruling his people in all nations as our King. (Read Ps 22: 25-28)
So he promises all his people shall be quickened and called to glory in his righteousness, “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” (Ps 22: 30-31)
By his grace, you and I who believer are his seed. By his grace, we come together as his church declaring his righteousness. Is there any among us that are those “people that shall be born again of his Spirit by his grace?” This is our message—“he hath done this”—IT IS FINISHED!
Amen!