"All this was done that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet"
Matthew 1:22
It's interesting to me that sometimes what gets me thinking, when I read the Bible, is something small, like a word or a verse. I pause at a word or phrase that intrigues me, and maybe look it up in another translation, maybe even a dictionary, to give me a little more insight.
Other times, I can read a few chapters, and feel an overall sense of "hmmm...." about the whole reading. Sometimes it's about studying a leaf. Sometimes, it's a tree. Today, I feel like I'm learning something from the whole cluster of trees...
My reading today in my "Yes-You-Can-Read-The-Whole-Bible-In-A-Year-If-You'll-Only-Stick-To-This-Schedule" Schedule had me in Psalms. More than any other book, the Book of Psalms can give us that feeling of "I've read this dozens of times; why have I never noticed this before?" They are so familiar, and yet there's so much more to them than meets the eye.
I read Psalm 22 today, and was struck by how many of the verses were prophetic. It starts off with, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" They are David's words, but of course, they were also spoken by Jesus, as He hung on the cross. As I read this Psalm today, many of the verses prophesied what Jesus went through, and how He felt.
Verse 2 ~ O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
and in the night season, I am not silent.
Jesus cried out to His Father "in the ninth hour" which is 3 o'clock; the daytime. But the previous night, He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and begged His Father, being in agony and praying earnestly, "If it is Your will, take this cup away from Me." As David had, Jesus cried to His Father in the daytime, and in the nighttime.
V 3-5 ~ But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in You, and You delivered them.
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
David's words in the previous verse had been about the pain of God's silence. These verses are about trusting in Him even when He's silent, based on His past faithfulness. Jesus trusted in His Father, and knew He would be delivered.
V 7-8 ~ "All those who see Me ridicule Me...
"He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him!
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"
David said these words because he himself had been mocked. As Jesus hung on the cross, the chief priests, scribes and elders fulfilled the prophecy in Matthew 27, saying, "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
V 9-10 ~ You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made me trust while on My mother's breasts.
From My mother's womb, You have been My God.
All of us can say that we have been His since before we were born; but we cannot say that He was ours. None of us had the intelligence to claim trust of God right out of the womb. For David, these words are symbolic of how long he had trusted God. But Jesus and His Father are One. That has never not been so.
V 14 ~ I am poured out like water
For David, this was figurative speech. For Jesus, it was literal, as John 19 tells us: "one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."
V 16-17 ~ They pierced My hands and My feet...
They look and stare at Me.
I wonder if David was just writing as the Spirit led, and not understanding what it meant, and the ultimate purpose of the words? Or was he really feeling these things, and choosing illustrative words as a poet would?
V 18 ~ They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots
For David, again, this was figurative. Imagine the callous, uncaring attitude of someone taking your clothes, when you are helpless and hurting, as David was when he wrote this Psalm. Now picturing it actually happening to Jesus, as He died for the sins of these very soldiers... John 19:23-24 ~ "Then the soldiers... took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.' They said this that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Therefore the soldiers did these things." It is one thing for Jesus to fulfill prophecy. It is entirely another for unbelieving, nameless participants to do so.
The rest of the Psalm is praises to God, such as "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations." It is David writing, but as I read this Psalm through the filter of Jesus, I can hear Him praising His Father in heaven. And the words are prophetic not only because they are true, but because they have lasted ~ as His Word does ~ and they wait for us to speak them, too. They are there for us to praise Him, acknowledge His sovereignty and mercy, because the words are the writing of the Holy Spirit, for David... for Jesus... and for us.
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