Bible study: Why Have You Forsaken Me?

(Psalm 22)
Part One: The Messiah’s Suffering. The Messiah’s Plea.
“1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? My groaning does nothing to save me. 2 My God, I call
out by day, but you do not answer. I call out by night, but there is no relief for me.”

1) Have you ever had an experience like David relates here? How did you react?

2) Notice the title of this section. This is a psalm by David, how can this be titled “the Messiah’s
plea?

3) Why did God the Father seem not to be answering the prayer of his Son?

4) What lesson is there in that for us?

God’s Help in the Past

“3 Yet you are seated as the Holy One, praised by Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted. They trusted and
you delivered them. 5 They cried out to you, and they were rescued. They trusted in you, and they were
not disappointed.”

5) For David, what comfort and confidence do these words express?

6) For Jesus, what encouragement did that give him?

7) For you, why is remembering God’s track record important?

God’s Present Absence

“6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock
me. They sneer. They shake their heads. 8 They say, ‘Trust in the Lord.’ ‘Let the Lord deliver him. Let
him rescue him, if he delights in him.’”

8) This section makes it obvious that David is speaking about an event that surpasses David’s
personal experience. How does the New Testament help fill in what event David is describing?

9) Is the logic of the jeering mob correct?

The Mutual Love of Father and Son

“9 But you are the one who brought me out of the belly. You made me trust when I was at my mother’s
breasts. 10 I was cast on you from the womb. From the belly of my mother you have been my God. 11 Do
not be distant from me, for distress is near, and there is no one to help.”

10) Cite examples from the Gospel that illustrates Jesus’ reason to trust in his Father, despite the
evidence?

11) Notice how troubled questions (verses 1,2,6-8) and expressions of confidence answer those
questions (verses 3-5,9,10). What is Jesus’ concluding confidence (verse 11)?

12) What message does this section have for us?

13)
The Power of His Enemies
“12 Many bulls surround me. Strong bulls from Bashan encircle me. 13 Enemies open their mouths wide
against me, like a lion that tears its prey and roars. 14 Like water I am poured out. All my bones are
pulled apart. My heart has become like wax. It has melted in the middle of my chest. 15 My strength is
dried up like broken pottery, and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of
death. 16 For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evil men has encircled me. They have pierced [e] my
hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my
garments among them. For my clothing they cast lots.”

13) When we think of the events that took place on Good Friday, what is evident in David’s
description of this event?

14) What does this teach us about verbal inspiration of the Bible?

The Greater Power of God

“19 But you, O Lord, do not be distant. O my Strength, come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver my life from
the sword, my only life from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion. From the
horns of the wild oxen you have answered me.”

15) Notice how the names of the enemies given earlier are repeated in reverse order. What
expression of faith does this relate?

16) Comment on this statement: God gave David a glimpse of what the promise of the Messiah
meant to the Messiah.

17) Why is it important to remember that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of David?

16)
17)
18)
19) Part Two: The Messiah’s Glory. The Messiah’s Vow.
1 “22 I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will praise you. 23 You
who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Stand in awe of him, all you
descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted. He has not
hidden his face from him, but when he cried out to him, he heard. 25 You are the source of my praise in
the great congregation. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear him.”
18) What shift of tone do you see beginning with verse 22?

19) How is this an answer to verse 1?

20) How does the New Testament reinforce the promised result?

The Glory of Messiah’s Kingdom

“26 The poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise the Lord—may he live in your
hearts forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of
the nations will bow down before you. 28 For the kingdom belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the
nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will eat and bow down. All who go down to the dust will kneel before
him—those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Descendants will serve him. For generations people
will be told about the Lord. 31 They will come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet to be
born—because he has done it.”

21) How does this ending of the psalm reinforce the hope that we have as Christians?

22) Why do you think that this psalm is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament?

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