Psalm 22 – Dissecting the Messianic prophecy of Jesus

Now, let’s have a look at how Psalm 22 connects to Jesus / to Yeshua.

The most obvious connection is the very first verse of the psalm:

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Psalm 22.1

Jesus words from the cross, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Why did Jesus use those words?

One point you could make is that, when Jesus said those words, He was immediately connecting what was happening on the cross to Psalm 22.

Anyone who knew Psalm 22, would say: ‘that what’s happening now, what I’m seeing now‘.

Jesus on the cross has something to do with what was prophesied in Psalm 22.

It is also a message to us that there is a connection between what was happening on the cross, of Jesus saying these words, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? and this psalm.

Unbelievers, an Asher Norman says this is a cry of despair because Jesus’ mission has gone wrong, and now He finds Himself on a Roman cross and He is about to die; and He is asking God: ‘Why did God allow this to happen?‘

That can’t be the case because Jesus knew all along that He was going to die. Even when you look at the prayer which is offered Him by Simeon in the Temple when Joseph and Miriam (Mary) bring to Him, as a child, as a baby, there is an implication that He’s going to suffer, that He is going to bring suffering to His mother, that her soul would be pierced by what she sees, and that He is going to come for the rising and fall of many. A prophecy of what would happen at the cross.

³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against ³⁵ (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2.34-35

Jesus Himself began to show to his disciples in Matthew 16 that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and raised again raised on the third day. Jesus foresaw this and told the disciples after Peter just told him that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. To which He said: ‘Yeah, I am but this is what the Messiah is going to do, I’m going to suffer, I’m going to die. I’m going to be put to death, and I’m going to rise again on the third day’.

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

¹⁴ So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16.13-16

²⁰ Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Matthew 16.13-21

In John chapter 12, just before the crucifixion, Jesus speaks to the crowd and, in verse 30 of John chapter 12, He says,

²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

²⁹ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” ³³ This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

John 12:28–33

Something is going to happen. Jesus is going to be lifted up from the earth and, as He is lifted up from the earth, He is going to cause the ruler of this world, that is Satan, to be cast out. And He says that this signifies the death by which He was going to die.

It caused some consternation for the people who were hearing Him and they then say to Jesus:

³⁴ The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

John 12.34

Who then, is this Messiah who is going to die?

Yet, if you look in the scriptures, especially in Isaiah 53, it tells you that the Messiah has to die in order to redeem us.

The famous scripture in Isaiah 53

So, Isaiah 53 makes it very clear that this One who is the Messiah is going to die, and that, in dying, He is going to bear the sins of the world as part of the programme.

When Jesus was on the cross, He wasn’t saying, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? because He was suffering and about to die, He knew that was the programme.

But if you put it all together, there are at least nine (9) prophecies fulfilled by Jesus on the cross from Psalm 22.

First fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

We’ve already mentioned it. The words

‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

Psalm 22.1

A scripture fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 27 verse 46

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Matthew 27.46

As Jesus felt forsaken, as He hung on the cross and suffered the wrath of God against sin and died as a sinner’s substitute because the sin of the world was placed upon the Lord Jesus.

In two 2 Corinthians chapter 5.21 it says,

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5.21

He who knew no sin became sin, or became the sin offering that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So, Jesus became the sin offering that we might become the righteousness of God in Him

Galatians 3 verse 13 says that Jesus became a curse and suffered under the curse of the Father while bearing our sin that we might be freed from the curse and given the blessing of eternal life through the Holy Spirit.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

Galatians 3.13

When I say that ‘Jesus became a curse’, that’s what Paul says. He doesn’t mean that ‘Jesus was accursed’ but that the curse of the sin, the curse of the law, was placed upon Jesus at that moment, and that He bore the problem that we don’t keep the law – the problem of sin – upon Himself that we might be relieved from the curse and receive the righteousness of God in Him.

I’ve heard some people say that Jesus became evil at that point. That is not possible.

Jesus is good, He is perfect, He is without sin. But, at that point, the sin of the world was placed upon Him and He became the substitute offering that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The second fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy says

But I am a worm תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ], and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

Psalm 22.6

This is an amazing prophecy. And you have to go to the Hebrew text to understand it. The Hebrew word translated as ‘worm’ in our Bible is ‘Tola‘ [ṯôlaʿaṯ] which is the name of a very specific worm in Israel. It was a worm that would be first dried out and then crushed in order to extract a red dye from it.

This Hebrew word is used 42 times in the Old Testament but only eight times is it translated as a ‘worm’. The other times, it’s translated as scarlet or crimson referring to the crimson dye used in rituals of sacrifice in the Old Testament.

One of these references is the scarlet thread used in the Tabernacle in Exodus chapter 26. The word תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ] is also used in the ritual for the cleansing of the leper.

then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ], and hyssop.

Leviticus 14.4

In Leviticus chapter 14 verse 4 it speaks of crimson or scarlet.

The Bible uses the same word תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ] in the ritual for the red heifer which is used as a sacrifice to purify the Chief Priest.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. ³ You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him; ⁴ and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ], and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.

Numbers 19.1-6

The word is used, most significantly in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 where it says,

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ],
They shall be as wool.

Isaiah 1.18

though your sins are a Scarlet they should be as white as snow it uses this word to alert

Therefore, the ‘worm’ idea goes beyond what we might think of a nasty, wriggly, little worm. It is speaking about something which produces this red substance which then becomes used in the dye which is used for ritual sacrifice in the Levitical system.

And Jesus the Messiah was ‘dried out’ in intense suffering, was crushed like a worm under the wrath of God, in order to extract the precious blood from Him. His blood, which we applied to men as a dye to cover our sin.

So, the worm תוֹלַ֣עַת [ṯôlaʿaṯ] is not just a wiggly worm, it is speaking about something which is used in sacrifice.

Okay, we’ll go through the next quickly.

Third fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

Fourth fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

⁹ But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.

Psalm 22.9-10

Jesus the Messiah is the only person in history who would say this rightfully. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit In the womb of Miriam (Mary). He was born a sinless child, always righteous, always perfect, always trusting in God the Father, in perfect obedience from His mother’s womb.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Psalm 22.9-10

We are told that we are conceived in sin and we insert a sinful human nature. Jesus didn’t because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was without sin from his mother’s womb. So, the only person who can actually say this word is Jesus.

Another sign (fifth) that Psalm 22 is a Messianic prophecy is

¹¹ Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
¹³ They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.

Psalm 22.11-13

The strong balls of Bashan are spoken of here because of their reputation in the psalmist days as being the strongest fiercest bulls.

It speaks of the Roman soldiers who crucified Him, who showed Him no mercy, to their victims, but gouged at Him with with their ‘horns’, and like wild beasts, they brutally tortured Jesus and their victims.

Psalm 22 here speaks of Jesus saying:

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.

Psalm 22.15

Jesus experienced intense pain on the cross, and He experienced intense thirst.

John 19 says,

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”

John 19.28

“I thirst” was one of the cries from the cross.

Interestingly, they then give Jesus some vinegar and one commentator says drinking that vinegar would have loosed his tongue so he could then shout out with a loud voice

²⁹ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. ³⁰ So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

John 19.29-30

“It is finished” was the next thing Jesus says from the cross.

Sixth fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;

Psalm 22.16

Dogs was a common Jewish expression of insult when talking about gentiles. The heathen gentiles would be surrounding the Messiah during His sufferings as the Roman soldiers drove the nails into Him and stood around, and mocked Him as He was crucified.

⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

⁴⁴ Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Matthew 27.43-44

As His hands and His feet were pierced through the cross by the nails from the Roman soldiers we read the

¹⁷ I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.

Psalm 22.17-18

Seventh fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy

³¹ Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. ³⁶ For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

John 19.31-37

Not a bone of His was broken, but His body was broken.

It says that Pilate and the Chief Priest wanted the bodies to be taken down because it was Passover, So they went to break the legs of the crucifixion victims which would have stopped them breathing. And, when they came to Jesus they found that He was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. And John tells us this was the fulfilment of the Word in Exodus chapter 12 not one of his bones shall be broken.

Exodus 12.46 describes the Passover Lamb and says that not one of his bones should be broken.

Passover Regulations

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. ⁴⁴ But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. ⁴⁵ A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. ⁴⁶ In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. ⁴⁹ One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

Exodus 12.43-49

And so it happens that Jesus fulfils it.

Finally, the eighth fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

So, remarkably, this psalm prophesies the fulfilment or what the Gospels witness. But it doesn’t end there.

Halfway through the psalm, you have David crying out to the Lord. And then, you have the second part of the psalm which speaks of the future glories of the coming Kingdom.

¹⁹ But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
²⁰ Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
²¹ Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!

You have answered Me.

Psalm 22.19-23

The psalm doesn’t end with humiliation and suffering but with the triumphant vision of the ends of the earth turning to the Lord.

Now, clearly neither David nor any figure found in the Old Testament could claim that his own sufferings have led to the events described in the latter part of the psalm. It points to a day when the Lord will be worshiped by people from all nations and the Lord will have dominion over the nations.

All of those things apply to what has happened since Jesus came. Jesus already has those from all the nations of the earth who believe in Him and worship God through Him.

We have got quite a lot of people from different nations here who worship the Lord and you go right around the world you have people all over the earth who believe in Jesus.

The New Testament also says that this same Jesus will return, this time as King of kings, not as a suffering servant, to rule over the nations.

Therefore, you’ve got a number of fulfilments in the latter part of the psalm which relate to what happened after Jesus rose from the dead because, of course, as we read in Matthew, He didn’t stay in the tomb.

On the third day He rose again and the disciples were given the message that Jesus is risen and then told to go and take this message into all the world, and preach the Gospel.

Ninth fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

You have the fact that Psalm 22 verse 22 has been fulfilled:

²² I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!

Psalm 22.19-23

After the Messiah has been brought down to the dust of death, He was raised from the dead. He appeared to His Jewish brethren, the apostles, after His resurrection. He declared the triumph of God over the works of Satan in the midst of the great congregation.

And we do that here as we praise God at Your feet before the mighty Risen Lord.

What are we doing? We are praising God because Jesus is risen from the dead, and He has defeated the works of Satan, and He is alive today.

It goes on,

Tenth fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.

Psalm 22.27

The fact is that, as we look around, we see people from the ends of the world with representatives from all nations who believe in Jesus, who remember His death, His resurrection, and believe in Him for the remission of sins. The fact is that all the families of the earth will worship Him.

Revelation chapter 5 where you have the great vision of Heaven

John sees the Lord and he says of the Lord

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
¹⁰ And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5.9-10

This is a wonderful fulfilment in the body of Messiah and in the future coming of the Lord when the Lord will return in power and great glory and rule over the nations.

It says,

For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.

Psalm 22.28

We’re seeing this happen in part with the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the fellowships of believers throughout the Earth, which we call ‘the church’.

But these scriptures, these prophecies will have a more literal fulfilment when Jesus the Messiah returns at His Second Coming. They will be completely fulfilled when Jesus returns in power and glory and takes dominion over all people’s languages and nations.

According to Daniel chapter 7 verse 14

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7.14

and Revelation 11.15

“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Revelation 11.15

Praise the Lord! I’m looking forward to that seeing Jesus reign on the earth. I think we’ve already sung that, haven’t we? Something about ‘He shall reign over all the earth…’

It’s going to happen; Jesus is going to come back again in power and great glory and reign over the earth. It’s written right there in the Hebrew scriptures; it’s written there in the New Testament. It’s going to happen.

Finally, the eleventh fulfilment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy

The psalmist says that

³⁰ A posterity shall serve Him.

Psalm 22.30-31

People all over the world will tell of his greatness and glory.

The last verse of the psalm says,

³⁰ A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
³¹ They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.

Psalm 22.30-31

Think how amazing it is that here we are, two thousand years later, how many generations is that? I don’t know. How many generations is it that we’re believing the same thing as the apostles preached on the day of Pentecost, which has gone into all the world, and has brought people from all nations to believe in Jesus?

Why does this happen? Because it’s the truth. Because Jesus really did die and rise from the dead. Jesus really is alive, He really is the saviour.

And there are multitudes of people who believe this and are telling it from one person to another, from one generation to another; so that the message goes into all the world as Jesus said it should when He gave His last word to the disciples,

¹⁸ … “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28.18-20

I think we are at the end of the age, the time before Jesus returns. And Jesus is with us, and everything He said has happened. Everything that the Bible said about Jesus and His First Coming happened.

What He said would happen, that the Word (Gospel) would go out into all the world and people would come to faith In Jesus has also happened. And it has happened because it is true.

The things that haven’t happened yet will happen too.

If what has been prophesied has happened, what is prophesied and has not yet happened, will also happen.

Praise the Lord! And for that reason, we can have tremendous confidence and hope, and faith even in the midst of this tragic world with all its sin and corruption, because we know that Jesus is the answer.

He has paid the price for the sin of the world, He has taken the punishment that we deserve at the cross. He is risen from the dead, He is alive today. He ever lives to make intercession for you and me. He knows you, He loves you, and He is able to redeem us to God so that we can have a glorious future in his eternal Kingdom.

We can therefore look forward to His coming again and to being with Him, being with Him for all eternity.

The remarkable fact is that it is all in this book. It is all written down.

These words of the prophets are not just general prophetic words about a good man coming and doing some nice things. They are very specific. Jesus fulfilled the very specific prophecies which you have in the scriptures.

So, you should believe in Him and the Jewish people especially should believe in Him because it is all in their Word too, in their scriptures.

If you are Jewish, believe in Jesus! If you are not Jewish, believe in Jesus! And tell the people whether Jewish or Gentile that Yeshua Jesus is the Messiah.

He is the One who died for us, rose from the dead, and is coming again soon in power and glory, amen.