Psalm 22:12-18 – The Suffering of the Cross
In these verses there is a graphic description of the physical suffering of the cross. In the first verse we have that which added immeasurably to the sufferings of Christ – the sense of divine forsakenness as he bore the wrath of God on sin – but death by crucifixion was an unspeakable torment and the psalm gives an insight into the physical and mental anguish the sufferer went through. For any ordinary person crucifixion was a terrible way to die, but this psalm is looking forward to what God’s Messiah would endure for his people.
There are a number of things that contributed to the suffering of crucifixion that are highlighted here:
‘I am poured out like water’. Christ had been emptied physically – imagine the sweat and blood that came through the flogging and the hanging on the cross.
‘All may bones are out of joint’. As he hung on the cross, with the whole weight of the body on his pierced hands, all the bones would be wrenched out of joint.
‘My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels’. Not only the extreme bodily anguish, but also the mental anguish, not knowing how long the pain would last.
‘My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth’. To be deprived of water creates an extremely strong craving which is unbearably uncomfortable. Such was the craving of the Lord that it caused him to cry out, ‘I thirst’ John 19:28. The only thing offered him was vinegar!
‘Dogs have surrounded me’ In his agony, the Saviour had to endure the unending taunts of wicked men who mocked at his distress.
‘They have pierced my hands and feet’. This is a remarkable prophecy when it is remembered that crucifixion did not become a practice until hundreds of years after this was written.
‘I can count all my bones’. Such was the ill-treatment he suffered, that he was merely a skeletal figure as he hung on the cross.
The final indignity was the dividing his clothing amongst the soldiers. As one commentator puts it, ‘Christ gave all to redeem us: He humbled himself entirely, he gave his life, he died a humiliating death, his body hung unclothed in front of the derisive mob.
What a Saviour!
Prayer Points
- Pray for a greater understanding of Calvary.
- Pray for a firmer commitment to Christ.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.