Easter will be here in a few weeks and we'll be celebrating the Passion Week that leads up to it. This is a week that began with Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the offer to be the King of the Jews, but a week that ended with their taking his body down from a cross and hastily consigning it to a tomb. By Saturday, Christ had taken his place among the ranks of the dead. Why did the week end that way? Why is that a week that we'll be commemorating in just a couple weeks? Why really is the question, so it is the very question with which Psalm 22 begins. This is one of the key Messianic Psalms in the scriptures with detailed prophecies about the events that would transpire during that week. And so for the next few weeks, I'd like us to revisit this classic Psalm to examine not only the question it poses, but also that answer that it provides for us. Before we actually look at the scriptures, would you join me for a word of prayer? Let's pray. Our Father, we ask your illumination now as we study your word. Give us eyes to see and to process the truth that we encounter. and the ability to appreciate it and that it would be applied in our own hearts and lives. And we ask this in Christ's name. Amen. We do not know the circumstances in his life that led to David's composition of this particular psalm. We do know that he experienced many dark times and trials in his life. There were times when family and friends forsook him or even sought to kill him. His own son Absalom tried a coup. And so it is that in this psalm we do encounter the fact of David's suffering. Now God in his sovereignty allowed David to suffer and experience these things and then skillfully guided David in the composition of this psalm so that in his capacity as the founder of the dynasty from which ultimately the Messiah himself would come, well David's experience would foreshadow that of the Messiah. In other words, what would be true of David to a lesser degree would be true of the Messiah to a much greater degree and to a far more significant degree. What would be true of David only poetically, metaphorically, or as hyperbole, would turn out to be true of Christ quite literally. These are literal prophecies given to us in the Old Testament, prophecies to be literally interpreted, and that would be literally fulfilled. And in this regard then, there were two key aspects to Christ's suffering. We begin by observing that the psalm starts by stressing how he suffered because he was forsaken by God. Notice, for example, the first two verses. The psalm begins with the cry, 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. Now, the opening words of this psalm you would, of course, no doubt recognize as the very words that Christ spoke as he hung upon the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And in verse two, he speaks of the phenomenon of crying out to God day and night. That means, in other words, that continuously he was crying out to the Lord for deliverance, yet apparently, all in vain, the Lord does not seem to be listening. When he references the fact that he cries not only by day but by night, the concept of night that he introduces here is quite suggestive. It suggests to our mind a couple things. First of all, our mind goes back to that night before his actual crucifixion there in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember Luke chapter 22 verses 41 through 43 tell us that during the process of that night, he kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. But alas, it was not God's will to let that cup pass from him. But when he speaks of night, our mind goes not only to that preceding night when he prayed in great agony to the Lord, but also to the very afternoon of his crucifixion, during the three hours preceding the time when Christ would utter those words, why hast thou forsaken me? During those preceding three hours, the sky was dark. It was night at daytime. This is interesting because it is literally the exact reverse of what will happen when Christ comes again into this world. In Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 6, the prophet Zechariah says that when Jesus comes again, that day will be a unique day in human history. unlike any day that has ever before transpired. The prophet tells us that we will experience a phenomenon that is known and understood only by the Lord. It cannot be explained by the normal laws of nature that God has put in place. No scientist will ever be able to explain it by any scientific means. Some miraculous, inexplicable event will occur. For Zechariah says that on that day when Christ comes, he says, quote, there shall be neither day nor night, but it shall come to pass that at evening it shall be light. And so light when it is night. But here, as Christ hangs on the cross, while the forsaken one hangs there on the cross, it is exactly the opposite. It is night at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. And so he cries day and night. And yet another observation we could make here, verse 1 refers to his agonizing cries for help as words of roaring. A term roaring, well, that's the sound that a lion makes. This Hebrew term is used to describe the sound that a lion makes. For example, in Isaiah 529, the prophet characterizes Assyria as a lion that attacks Israel. And the prophet says, their roaring shall be like a lion. Yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. But here, it is the Messiah who roars. It is the lion of the tribe of Judah who roars from the cross. But this is not the roar of a lion who has captured his prey. It is, ironically, the roar of a lion who himself has become the prey. We continue on verses three through five. Notice what David goes on to write in verses three through five. He says, but thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted in thou that's delivered them. They cried unto thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. And so we find that here, The Messiah is forsaken by God, and it's all the more astounding that it should be so, more painful that it would be so, in light of the fact that God had never before abandoned any of his people. Why? He says, our fathers, our ancestors, they trusted, they cried, and you answered, you delivered them. They trusted in you, and they weren't confounded. God had a long history of responding to calls for help from those who had trusted in Him. While non-trusted in God more than Christ, why then should it be different for Him? And so the first five verses of this stanza stress that He suffers because He is forsaken by God. But as we continue the remaining verses of this stanza, the next five verses, we find that his suffering is compounded by the fact that he is rejected and reviled by man. Notice what he goes on to write in verses six through eight, verses six through eight. He says, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised of the people. 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. And so we see here in verse six, how he says that the Messiah is a reproach of men and despised of the people. I'm reminded of Isaiah 53.3 that says he is despised and rejected of men. He was despised and we esteemed him not. And moreover, you'll note that here in verse six, we are told that he is a reproach. men. I want that word men here. It is a Hebrew term that in particular characterizes mankind as the descendants of Adam. It is a term that ties us all back to Adam and that we are what he was. Now, what was Adam? Well, the very name Adam literally means dirt. He's the ground because Adam was taken from the dirt. And that's what the name Adam means. That's why he was named Adam. That means dirt. Because he came from the dust. So here is an incredible irony. We, we are but dust. He is the king of kings. And yet he is reviled by mere mortals. In verses seven and eight, it goes on to portray the shaking of the head as they mock him as the one who trusted in God. And we see, of course, the fulfillment of this recorded by Matthew in his gospel. Matthew 27, verses 39 through 43 tell us that, and they that pass by reviled him, wagging their heads. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he trusted in God, let him deliver him. Maybe you will have him. And thus, in their ignorance and their spiritual blindness, they fulfill this very prophecy. Indeed, they speak the very words of this Psalm. So as Peter said in Acts chapter 3 verse 17 to the very Jewish leaders, he said, Brethren, I want that through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. So he points out that, yes, they were ignorant. They didn't even realize that in saying these very words and performing these very actions, they were fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22. But the stanza continues on to verses 9 through 10. Notice what he writes in verses 9 through 10. 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. And so we're reminded again that not only is he reviled and despised by men, but this despite the fact that he is one who had always trusted in God. So then why did they revile him? Well, it certainly wasn't because he had ever done anything that was wrong. To the contrary, he had been faithful to the Lord literally from the very beginning of his life. In the prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Messiah, in Isaiah 49, portrays the Messiah saying, that the Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name, and said unto me, thou art my servant, in whom I will be glorified. From the very point of conception, here was a human being. who was faithful, righteous, pure. Now, he was indeed God's servant, and this one who trusted in God had this special relationship with God in a twofold manner. First of all, of course, being Jewish, Christ was a member of the covenant people. Simply by virtue of being born into the Jewish race, Christ was born into a covenant relationship with God. So when he says, thou art my God, well, God is his God by virtue of the fact that he's Jewish. And he has a covenant relationship with the Lord. A Sinai covenant binds him to the Lord. But it is far more so that the Lord is his God by virtue of the fact that he is, of course, the sinless son of God. And so he was rightly related to God literally from conception. We, on the other hand, of course, we all come into this world with a sin nature and bearing the guilt of original sin. Thus, we all start out in this world out of sorts with God and there has to be that specific time, place, circumstance when we trust in the Lord for salvation and our relationship to Him is restored. As you know, I always ask you, when was that time, that place, that circumstance? Is there any ambiguity in your mind or do you know when decisively you've trusted in the Lord? But for Christ, there never had to be such a time, place, or circumstance. He had no sin nature. He had no imputed guilt. Literally from conception, he was rightly related to God. He didn't need to get saved. And thus, thus it is that even in the midst of these circumstances, even while feeling absolutely and totally abandoned by God, he does not abandon his relationship to God. Even if God has forsaken him, he will not forsake God. Unless you observe that he begins this stanza of the psalm in verse one by addressing the Lord as my God, And you'll note that he concludes this stanza there in verse 10 by still affirming, thou art my God. So perhaps if he had done something wrong, he could understand their rejection and absolute hatred of him, their vitriol against him. but he had literally done nothing wrong, never said anything wrong. That's why he issues the challenge in John 8, 46 to the Jews, which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? That's why he says in John 10, 32, many good works have I shown you from my father. for which of those works do you stone me?" They couldn't be stoning him for any bad thing he had done, they were literally stoning him for the good that he had done and the truth that he had spoken. And so in summary, in verses 1-5 we find that among those who trust in God, the one who supremely trusts in the Lord is the only one forsaken by Him. And what we find presented to us in verses six through 10 is that among men, he is the only sinless one. Yet he is the one who is rejected. He is the one who's reviled by his fellow human beings. And so he suffers being rejected by man and God. But let us return to consider the question posed at the beginning of the Psalm, why? Why would God forsake the Messiah? What is the reason for his suffering? Well, the answer is, it's only implied here, but what is here implicit is made explicit to us in the broader revelation of Scripture. And the answer is twofold. First, God forsook him precisely so that he would not have to forsake any others who trust in him. That is, Christ is our substitute. God forsakes Christ so that he does not have to forsake you and me. And secondly, in order to be a substitute, he must be sinless. If he had sin of his own, then he would have been suffering for his own sins and his own wrongs. But as the sinless one, he comes to bear your sins and mine. And so then, in his capacity as this sinless substitute, how does he bear our sins? What does he do? Well, first, he takes our sin and our depravity upon himself. In this regard, notice again the wording in the first half of verse six. In verse six, Jesus says here, but I am a worm and no man. Jesus characterizes himself as a worm, not a human being. In the biblical era, worms were not only insignificant little creatures, they were viewed as agents of decay and corruption. When a corpse was laid in the grave, worms would feed upon the carcass. Thus, worms come to represent decay and corruption. And so, for example, Job, anticipating his own death, says in Job 17, 14, I have said to corruption, thou art my father, And to the worm, thou art my mother. And you'll see how he parallels corruption and the worm, parallel terms. Corruption's my father, the worm is my mother. Saying the same thing in two different ways. And so in a metaphorical sense, these worms represent spiritual corruption and decay. They represent human depravity. And thus note the words of Job's friend as well. Look at Job 25, Job 25, when we find Job's friend also referring to the concept of a worm as representing this corruption, this spiritual corruption and human depravity. Job 25, verses four through six, verses four through six in Job 25. He says, how then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and it shineth not. Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight, how much less man, that is, notice, a worm, and the son of man, which is a worm. He talks about, in verse four, the fact that men cannot be right with God, because we are all unclean. All who are born of a woman, all human beings, we're all unclean, we're all depraved, we're all sinners. We have no standing before a holy God. And in describing our sinfulness, our depravity, and our fallenness, then, Bildad sums up by saying, we are but worms. We are but worms. We are maggots. Now God had originally created man in his image to be holy, righteous, and pure. But when Adam sinned, he corrupted the human race. For sin corrupts and distorts our humanity. It makes an absolute mockery of our humanity so that we are no longer men, but only worms. And so in this regard, I want you to notice the words of Jesus in Mark chapter nine, Mark chapter nine, verses 43 through 48. Mark chapter nine, verses 43 through 48. A passage that has often been misunderstood and misinterpreted by many because they have attempted to do so without the Old Testament background. In Mark chapter 9 verses 43 through 48, Mark 9, 43 through 48, Jesus speaking says, if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. For it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell and to the fire that never shall be quenched where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off, for it is better for thee to enter hot into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Christ here, a strong warning about the necessity of ridding yourself of anything in your life that would be a stumbling block or an obstacle to you accepting the gospel in your life. The most important thing is the salvation of your soul. Do whatever you must. Be willing to part whatever you must if it is an obstacle to your salvation. For if you do not get saved, he says your destiny is Gehenna, hell fire, a place of everlasting fire, a fire he says that will never be quenched. And not only is your destiny to be in a fire that will never be quenched, but also He says, there is this worm that dieth not. Worm that dieth not. Now when Christ here speaks of worms, some have misunderstood the reference to worms here, and thought perhaps Christ is describing literal worms, as if in hell, you'll go to hell and there'll be worms crawling all over you. But that entirely misses the point and is, as I said, an interpretation that neglects the broader teaching of scripture in the Old Testament background. The idea that Christ here envisions literal worms feeding on the lost for eternity is wrong for three key reasons. First of all, in eternity, the lost will be resurrected before throwing into hell. So they will be thrown into hell bodily, and that body will never give way to physical decay or corruption. So worms are not going to be feeding on their bodies in hell the way worms feed on a corpse in the ground that's been buried. Their bodies will never give way in hell. Their bodies will never be annihilated in hell. They will burn forever without being consumed by the fire or giving way to any kind of decay. So these are not literal worms feeding on corpses. These are resurrected beings whose bodies will never again die. Number two. They're not literal worms because you observe the term here, worm, is in the singular. He speaks of worm, not worms. Worm, singular. Number three, observe the possessive. Their worm. It is their worm. So then what is Christ speaking of here when he speaks of their worm that never dies? He's talking about their bodies and their inherent depravity. for eternity. He is saying they will remain nothing but corrupt, depraved, twisted, distorted beings. Their true humanity never restored. No hope of having their true humanity and the image of God ever restored to them. They are broken people beyond repair. And they will be that forever, that worm, that corruption will never die, that corrupt body will never cease to exist, as the flame will never be quenched, so correspondingly the body that has been tossed into that flame will never be consumed by the flame, it will never decay, it will never go away, it will remain forever and ever and ever and ever as a corrupt, depraved human being. They will never cease to be worms. They will never become true men. Likewise, let me draw your attention to Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 and verse 14, where once again, we find the Lord using this metaphor of the worm. Again, he's not referring to literal worm, he's speaking here metaphorically. Isaiah 41 and verse 14, God speaking to the Jewish people says, fear not thou worm, Jacob, and your men of Israel. I will help thee, says the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. You see, the Jewish nation here is addressed as a worm. In other words, they are viewed as weak and vile and corrupt. But God says, fear not. I will save you. I will redeem you. I will restore your humanity. And how? How would he do so? Well, we find the answer in Psalm 22. It is because Christ would become the worm in their place. He bears their weakness, their corruption, their depravity, and thus He becomes the worm that we might become men. He becomes the worm that our true humanity might be restored. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5.21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3.18, Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. And then it's regarded in Isaiah 41, you'll jump down to verse 17. Notice what he says in verse 17 of Isaiah 41. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. Note that God here speaks of hearing them when they cry out to him. And God says, I will not forsake them. Note that word forsake. It's the very same term used in Psalm 22 verse 1 when Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And thus God forsakes His own Son so that He will not have to forsake His people. The promise is, I will never leave thee. I will never forsake thee. And it's very strong, actually. When that promise is quoted in the New Testament, the Greek there is very emphatic. It's literally like, I will not, I will not leave you, and I will not, will not, will not forsake you. Jesus was forsaken in our place. Now, as a consequence of taking our sin and depravity upon himself, then of course he bears the penalty of sin, which is death. Romans 3.23 reminds us that the wages of sin is death. We know that in Genesis 2.17, God tells Adam, if you eat the fruit, you will surely die that very day. Now physically, Adam lived for 930 years. So how is it that God said he would die on the very same day that he ate the fruit? Well, the answer is he died spiritually. Death involves dissolving, coming apart, being separated. In physical death, the soul is separated from the body. The union of our soul and body is dissolved. We literally come apart. We break down. And similarly then, in spiritual death, we are separated from God and from the life of God. and our relationship to him is broken. As Isaiah 59 too says, your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. And that's ultimately what Psalm 22 is describing here in these first 10 verses, that God has forsaken Christ. The relationship is broken. He turns his back on his own son as he bears not only our sin, but the penalty for that sin. spiritual death, alienation from God. Well then, return our attention back to Adam. Though Adam did die spiritually that very day that he ate the fruit, something else also happened that very day. That process of breaking down, of coming apart, of disintegrating, of decay into corruption, that began to be felt even then in his physical body. And though it would take 930 years, eventually, eventually his body would succumb to the corruption. His soul would depart from his body, and he would literally, thereby, come apart. And then his corpse would decay in the grave. And so, correspondingly, Christ, in bearing the penalty of our sin, must die physically. He will know the depth of physical pain that complements the depth of his spiritual pain. The pain of spiritual death and alienation from God would be paralleled and complemented in the physical realm as in his body. He experiences, he experiences that breakdown of his body and its loss of life. This is what the psalmist goes on to describe in the next stanza, the next 10 verses. So returning attention to Psalm 22, look for example in Psalm 22 as he continues in verse 11. Psalm 22 in verse 11. He says, Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. None to help. He told us in verse 1 that God would not help him. Well now here he expands and tells us that no one else will help him either, not even his friends. Recall Judas Iscariot, his own disciple, betrayed him, thus fulfilling the prophecy of yet another psalm, Psalm 41, verse 9, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. And his other disciples as well. They forsook him that night there in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26, 56 tells us, then all the disciples forsook him. and fled. And so then what happened next with none to help? Well, verses 12 through 13, we find he falls to the hands of his enemies. Verses 12 through 13, he says, many bulls have compassed me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. Here he characterizes his enemies as wild animals that are beset against him. He speaks of the bulls that are surrounding him. Now, bulls represent brute strength and power, and they use it against him and brutalize him. He speaks here also of lions. Lions would represent authority and power. And yet, here are authorities who abuse their power. They break the law in the process of condemning him. The whole trial was illegal. It was a kangaroo court. And thus, bulls and lions beset him. And we continue in verse 14. Verse 14, he says, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. He says, I am poured out like water. What he means here is that he has no physical strength left. His vitality is gone. It cannot be recovered. Once water is poured out on the ground, you can't get it back into the cup. So likewise, Christ's health is gone beyond any hope of recovery. He is a goner. It is only a matter of time, but the wounds are fatal. No doctor, if they could remove him from the cross at this point, no doctor could heal him. He says his bones are out of joint. In crucifying him, they would have pulled and yanked those bones out of joint. And in trying to pull himself up in order to gasp breath, he might have pulled and yanked on his shoulders, yanking them more out of joint. And then here at the last part of verse 14, he says, my heart is like wax. In other words, what he means is my heart is failing. This is a dying man. Physically dying. In verse 15, verse 15 he says, My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleave it to my jaws, for thou hast brought me into the dust of death. And so his tongue cleaves to his jaws, representing the idea of extreme thirst. And we are reminded, as John 19, 28 tells us, that while he is hanging upon the cross, Jesus cried out, I thirst! He says he's down into the dust of death, meaning he cannot breathe. He cannot get enough fresh air. He is dying of asphyxiation. Thus the expression means that he is literally knocking on death's door. He continues in verse 16, verse 16 to tell us this, that, Dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. He speaks here of the dogs that surround him. The term here would refer to wild dogs, scavengers, and these are unclean animals. I think here of the Romans who were considered unclean in their capacity as Gentiles. They're the ones who did the dirty work of actually beating and crucifying Christ. And he speaks here of how this assembly, this band of the wicked have enclosed him. Matthew speaks of this in Matthew 27, verses 27 through 30. Then we're told, then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying, hey, oh, king of the Jews, and they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." And then the latter part of verse 16 here, he says, they pierced my hands and my feet, a direct reference to death by means of crucifixion. And this is an incredible prophecy, but David writes a full 1,000 years before the time of Christ, long before the Roman Empire came to power. Yet death by means of crucifixion was invented by the Romans. Crucifixion wasn't even known or practiced in the days of David. And this is not the only Old Testament text to speak of this phenomenon. For example, in Zechariah 12, verse 10, speaks of what will happen when Jesus comes again into this world and how the Jewish people will respond when he comes. And in this regard, in Zechariah 12, 10, he says, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as one mourning for his only son. When Jesus comes again, they'll look upon him and they will know that he is the one who has been pierced. And they will see yet the wounds and the marks of crucifixion. And they'll know Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Continuing on in verse 17, he says, I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. In other words, his skeleton protrudes at points. They had stripped his clothing so his skeletal frame was visible. What's more, they'd beat him so badly, perhaps they had ripped away pieces of flesh that left exposed bone. And he says, they look and stare upon me. This is a reference to the bystanders who just look and gawk at him. So not only is he suffering, but publicly so, and in the most humiliating of ways. as he hangs unclothed on a cross before the whole world. He is an object of humiliation and scorn. Matthew 27, 36, speaking of the Roman soldier says that sitting down, they watched him there. While Luke 23, 34 speaks of the response of the rest of the people, and it tells us that the people stood beholding. And so, as the psalm says, they looked and stared upon him. Continuing verse 18, in verse 18 he says, they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. Thus the soldiers who crucified him gambled for his garments. And John, of course, records the fulfillment of this prophecy. Chapter 19, verses 23 through 24, we're told, Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier a part, and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be. that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. And then we find the psalmist concludes this portion of the poem with yet another cry from the suffering Christ in verses 19-21. Look at verses 19-21. Be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength, hasty to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling, from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth. Unless you observe if you're reading carefully that this stanza concludes as it began. In verse 11, for in verse 11 where the stanza begins, he pleads with the Lord, be not far from me. And in verse 19 he repeats the agonizing cry, be not thou far from me. Moreover, he begins this stanza by characterizing his enemies we have seen as ferocious beasts, bulls, Lions and dogs. Now we see that he concludes this stanza with a request to be delivered from these beasts. Albeit, you observe, if you're reading carefully, that he reverses the order. For first, it was bulls, lions, and dogs. But now here, it is dogs, lions, and bulls, or unicorn, the King James translation says. but it refers to a bull or a wild ox. Now this reversal in order may be more than coincidental. It may be the psalmist way of foreshadowing yet a greater reversal. A reversal of the entire circumstances under which the Messiah is suffering so greatly. What would such a reversal involve? And how could it take place? Well, those are the questions we'll seek to answer next week as we'll examine the third and final stanza of the psalm. But for now, let us summarize what we have seen, that the Messiah is our sinless substitute. As such, he takes our sin and depravity upon himself. He becomes the worm. And consequently, he therefore takes the penalty of our sin and corruption upon himself. This involves suffering spiritual death as he is forsaken by the heavenly father, but it also involves a very painful, agonizing physical death as he is beaten, brutally beaten and crucified. I'd like to conclude this morning by reviewing these first 21 verses of the Psalm, but this time utilizing my own translation that I've made that helped to highlight some of the observations we've made here today. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you far from saving me and from the words of my roaring? My God, I call out by day, but you do not answer. By night, but I have no rest. You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted. They trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and they escaped. In you they trusted and were not disgraced. But as for me, I am a worm and not a man, scorned by humanity and despised by people. All who see me mock me. They sneer. They shake their heads. He relied on Jehovah. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him since he delights in him. But you yourself drew me from the womb. You gave me trust upon my mother's breasts. Upon you was I cast from the uterus, from the womb of my mother. You have been my God. For dogs surround me, an evil pack encircles me. They pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They stare and gawk at me. They distribute my garments among themselves, and for my clothes they cast lots. But as for you, Jehovah, do not be far away. My strength, hurry and help me. Rescue my life from the sword, my only self from the hand of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of wild oxen. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for this time that we've had in the Word this morning, reviewing this classic, vital, messianic psalm that points us to the events of Passion Week, the events we'll soon be celebrating in the coming weeks. Lord, give us anew a fresh appreciation of all that Christ has done, all that he became upon the cross for us. that our humanity might be restored and our relationship to you reconciled. May we never lose the wonder of it all. This we ask in the name of our Christ who suffered so. Amen.