Throughout this process of grief, I’ve felt a tug on my heart to read Psalm 22. The first time I read it, I had zero context to support the deep meaning behind the chapter, but I’m glad I didn’t. I remember coming across so many verses and crying because it seemed to resonate fully with my soul. Which, how cool is that, that the word of God is honest about deep pain and sorrow. The chapter is very long, so here are a few verses that stood out to me.
God, my God!
Why have you abandoned me now?
Why do you remain distant from me, refusing to answer my tearful cries in the day and my desperate cries for your help at night?
I can’t stop sobbing.
Where are you my God?
22:1-2 TPT
Now I’m completely exhausted; I’m spent. Every joint of my body has been pulled apart. My courage has vanished and my inward parts have melted away.
Psalms 22:14 TPT
Lord, my God, please don’t stay far away. For you are my only might and strength. Won’t you come quickly to my rescue?
Psalms 22:19 TPT
Give me back my life. Save me from this violent death. Save my precious one and only from the power of these demons!
Psalms 22:20 TPT
Psalms 22 was so good that I felt myself having to go back to read it again. It was then that I reread the title in the Passion Translation: Psalm 22 A Prophetic Portrait of the Cross. In my footnotes it says: “Twenty-three prophecies from this Psalm were fulfilled when Jesus was on the cross.” Psalm 22 was meant to be an accurate depiction of what Jesus felt on the cross and the time leading up to it. Meaning, that every single verse that I resonated with, Jesus felt as well. Think about it. How crazy is that. I think a lot of times we think about Jesus being that big guy up in the sky. But what we don’t realize is that he experienced pain and suffering just like us. Psalm 22 is like taking a private view into the thoughts and feelings of Jesus. I am so thankful for it.