I have to say, this is one of my personal favorites. The emotive way in which David speaks puts me in alll of my feelings! I love the book of Psalms because contrary to what people think, it becomes obvious that we serve an emotionally intelligent and available God.
Such a wide array of emotions being shown, personally helps me to feel much more connected to God, considering that most of these songs and poems were addressed to Him. Speaking of songs, all chapters of the book of Psalms were written as poems and songs, which in itself, portrays the artistic expression of God. But anyway, we’re here to talk about Jesus!
In this book there are so many places where parallels can be drawn between Jesus and David. When David would ask questions such as, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?’ he was being chased down by Saul.
I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus when He was being wrongfully accused of sins he didn’t commit, because much like Jesus, David was absolutely innocent. David points to Jesus in his approach to this situation because he echoes Jesus’ famous words “Eloi eloi l’ama sabakthni?’, which translates in meaning to exactly what David said in Psalm 22:1. The sheer humanity of these two statements strike me in a unique way. There’s nothing else that screams humanity, more than feeling forsaken by our Heavenly Father when things get rough. In this way we see Jesus showing us that He understood David’s plight, and in turn that of the rest of the human race.
Speaking of feeling forsaken by God, David expressed how much He prayed and still was not comforted (Psalms 77:2) which is also very much reminiscent of Jesus. Now I don’t know about you, but I feel absolutely seen. How many times have you been in a tough situation and felt like your feelings were against you and God’s word was all you had to hold onto?
I mean, think about the fact that Jesus absolutely knew this was going to happen; He prayed even before the accusations from Pontius Pilate unfolded. Yet when He was on the cross, He didn’t feel particularly insulated by God’s comfort in that particular moment.
I love David for the same reason that I love Jesus. They never denied their feelings to God for fear that He mightn’t be able to handle them. They are two people who have proven the robustness of God as a loving Father who can handle every emotion that His children might be experiencing. David admitting that he was not comforted immediately, despite his prayers, screams Jesus to me, and is proof that He meant it when He said He became flesh. He didn’t mean just physically, but emotionally too, taking on all of our weaknesses.
David speaks on his enemies surrounding him like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closing in on him. He laments that they have pierced his hands and feet. His enemies stare at him and gloat. They divide his garments among themselves and throw dice for his clothing.
This sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it?
Throwing dice for David’s clothing is something that David feared, due to the disgrace associated with it. As David is being chased down for his life, if anyone got a hold of his clothing, it would be their trophy of victory over him. Jesus found Himself in a similar situation, except the prophecy was actually fulfilled in this instant. Jesus’ clothes were indeed gambled for. He was stripped of his physical robes as well as His robes of righteousness, so that all who would believe in Him would be completely clothed.
Lastly, I believe one of the most beautiful ways that Jesus revealed Himself in this book, is when David prophesied about the work Jesus was set to do on the cross.
David declared
“Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave. But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave. ”
Jesus absolutely snatched us all from the power of the grave, how uncanny!
How is it that David was so aware of a Savior to come, yet completely ignorant of the fact that he was echoing most of that which encompassed that Savious? He was facing some of the most trying times of his life when most of these Psalms were written. Not only does this show that we serve a God who never wastes our hardships, we see that we do indeed have a Savior who is not ignorant of our pain. It very much portrays a God that is present not just at the beginning or at the end, but walks with you and I in the middle.