THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

While this Psalm undoubtedly has some historic basis in the biography of David, it is most clear that like the 22nd Psalm (The Psalm of the Cross), the primary focus is Messianic with the sufferings of Christ particularly coming into view. This study will extract the key aspects of the Psalm which reveal the passion of the Lord, all of which is corroborated by the testimony of the New Testament.

THE TEARS OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God (v3).

When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach (v 10).

The shortest text of Scripture reminds us that throughout our Saviour’s earthly journey he wept (John 11:35). Furthermore Hebrews 5:7 teaches us that He “offered up strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death”. As He faced the death of others, as he encountered human hatred, the enormity of suffering and the weight of our sin He wept as the man of sorrows.

THE ALIENATION OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children (v8)

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. (v20)

Loneliness is never an easy burden to bear. Early in ministry Jesus was misunderstood by His mother (John 4:4), while later it is noted that His earthly brothers did not believe on Him. This was nothing, however, to the horrors of Gethsemane when the disciples forsook Him, Judas betrayed Him and Peter denied Him. As Isaiah recorded, He trode the winepress alone (Isaiah 63:3). Christ for us endured a lifetime of insults and rejection.

THE DEVOTION OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up;and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. (v 9)

After Christ overturned the tables in the temple and drove out the money changers this text from the Psalms is referred to (John 2:17). Christ had a zeal for God’s House and for the temple made of living stones as the New Testament age was dawning. This was why He died. His zeal would take Him to the cross and to death as He laid down His life in obedience to His Father. He was eaten up and devoured by His devotion to the place where suffered the reproaches of the Jews and the Romans as He was taken from the Judgement Hall to Calvary.

Christ is greatest example of dedication and devotion in the history of the world. He is truly the greatest role model who ever lived of obedience and service.

THE AGONY OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (v21)

These words were fulfilled on the cross as our Saviour, as He was presented with this traditional pain relieving substance (Matthew 27:34). This was linked to suffering, yet He would not drink indicating that He was willing to embrace the suffering. The physical torment of crucifixion is more than we ever envisage or imagine.

Having tasted the mixture, Jesus refused to drink it, no doubt because He wanted to endure with full consiousness all the pain that was in store for Him, in order to be our perfect Substitute.

William Hendriksen

This suffering was more than physical, it was spiritual as He became our substitute, atoning for the remission of our sins. He is more than an example – He is our Saviour.

THE PRAYER OF THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me (v1-2

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up,
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies (13-18)

But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. (v29-20)

Throughout our Lord’s ministry He prayed, often going alone into the night to fellowship with His Father. In Gethsemane, likewise, He prayed with His human nature recoiling at the prospect of the cup of wrath with which He was presented while He exercised total submission knowing there was no other way; “as thou wilt”. On Calvary also He prayed for the forgiveness of His persecutors, in conveying the darkness of soul he experienced and in commending His soul finally to His Father. The dark waters into which He sank were unimaginable as He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night which the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

THE PEOPLE FOR THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. (v32-33)

The Saviour died for humble that they would find peace on confession of their sin. He laid down His life so that the poor in spirit might receive the everlasting riches of grace. He took the weight of our sin so that the prisoner might be set free because He that hath the Son has everlasting life.

Many of the ideas in this particular verse are echoed by our Saviour in HIs sermon on the mount.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:3-4)

Charles Wesley’s lines about Christ breaking the power of cancelled sin are so insightful. The blood of Christ not only cancels the guilt of our sin but He also breaks its power over the individual. Lives are being ruined today by the power of sin, by the manner in which in it is rampaging roughshod over lives. Thank God today for the power of the cross.

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me

THE TRIUMPH BY THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR

Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein. (v34-36)

Christ’s cries on the cross were answered. God brought His Son from the darkness of death to the glory of resurrection.

HIs life is the only hope for the world and universe. Paul wrote that the whole creation is groaning with pain awaiting the last great day when the Christian will be resurrected Romans 8:18-25). This will usher in the New Heaven and New Earth of which Peter speaks (2nd Peter 3:13).

As a consequence the meek will inherit the earth as creation returns to the original plan devised by our benevolent Creator (Matthew 5:5).

The world looks for hope and for peace through international diplomacy, through philosophical ideologies and through environmental strategies. None of these deal with the sin question, the ultimate problem facing the world. The world is on a destruction course not because of climate change but because of sin. The cataclysm is not global warming but the wrath of God. Only Christ provides hope because His sacrifice and resurrection is the only basis for optimism.

What a precious Psalm it is! It begins with the cry of the One who bore our sin in HIs body, who suffered for our sake. It ends with the glorified results of His atoning work.

A.C. Gaebelein