Psalm 22

Father God, we thank you for your goodness.

Father, we thank you for your faithfulness.

Father, we slowly do learn to trust you, Father.

Father, we thank you for all that you do for us and all that you are.

Father, we thank you that we can learn who you are.

Father, we're thankful. Amen.

Amen.

When I was young, I was a pastor's kid.

It didn't mean much to me at the time.

I mean, nothing when you're a kid really means that much to you.

What it meant for me was that I got shepherded all over the place all the time.

You know, my parents had places to go, things to do.

Because my dad was a pastor, he was at every event possible.

I mean, from the beginning to the end, every event.

And so we were shepherded, event to event to event.

And sometimes that was a great thing.

Like when we got to go to baptisms.

We didn't have a fancy baptismal tank or a font or anything like that.

It was a bit like this.

We had to make do.

But since we were in a tropical country, we could improvise.

We could go to beaches.

We didn't know anybody with pools, so we had to really improvise.

We could go to beaches, but more often than not, we would go scouting for rivers,

which were usually closer to where we were.

One of my favorite places to go ever was this river.

It was running down a mountainside.

And every few feet of drop, there would be another big pool.

Just a big rocky pool, sort of 30 feet across.

And it would just be pool after pool after pool after pool.

And so you would just, if you weren't going there to baptize somebody,

you would just go and you would look around and you'd find the best pool

and the best place to have your picnic, because of course there's always a picnic.

And you would set up.

And we would always have a great time, because as soon as the baptizing was done,

as soon as the picnic was done, then my mom and dad would say,

all right, see you later.

And we would go and explore whatever pools there were.

We would make dams.

We would go running up and down the hill.

And it was always a really great thing.

But more often than baptisms,

my dad being a pastor meant that we were at every single weekly service.

For better or worse, we were almost there from the beginning into the end every time.

The first people to arrive, the last people to leave.

Our church started sort of just after lunch, early afternoon.

So when everything had ended,

my brothers and I were always just clamoring to get home

so we could snatch that last bit of sunshine before we had to go in for dinner.

But no, we were always there early for Sunday school,

just waiting for kids to show up,

trying not to look bored,

because, I mean, mom always gives you chores when you look bored, right?

And then we were always there late as well.

Again, trying not to look bored, because there's always chores.

And if there were no chores,

we would throw paper airplanes into the ceiling fans,

which, if you're a kid, no, they're all gone now.

I can say it.

It's a great way to get your parents so annoyed they'll take you home,

throw a ceiling fan, throw paper airplanes in the ceiling fan.

But more often than not, there were always chores,

so we would have to go hide in the building somewhere

and pretend to be whatever characters we were reading about

or seeing on the flannel graph that day in Sunday school.

For me, David was always one of those characters that stood out.

For a kid, he was maybe about as close to a pirate as he got in the Bible.

You know, he killed giants, he won wars,

all his friends were mighty men of valor.

I mean, he was a king.

It was pretty awesome.

So you had all those elements covered if you were going to play King David,

which was awesome.

And yet, somehow he was still a man after God's heart,

which, as a little Christian boy in church, was also awesome.

So when we were old enough to actually read the Bible for ourselves,

my brothers and I started noticing something about David.

And that is that he was not just a man after God's own heart,

but he was also bloody, adulterous,

and just a broken, hard man.

But, I mean, God tells David he can't build the temple

because he's shed so much blood.

I mean, it's a big thing.

You know, he killed 200 men for his first wife,

and for his last wife he had his best friend killed,

or one of his best friends killed.

So how is it that we reconcile these two characteristics,

man after God's own heart,

and bloody man too bloody to build the temple?

David's Psalms, I think, like Psalm 22,

which was read just a couple of minutes ago,

gives us a good idea of how it might be.

Like Brian mentioned last week,

it's all about the character of God.

David clung to God through a very long period of time

and learned who he is.

He learned what God is like,

how he responds to his people.

David spent years watching God work through his life

for his own purposes,

and a psalm like Psalm 22 comes out of that process.

So, what in David's life would allow him to be both

a man after God's own heart

and too bloody to build the temple?

Like I said, I'm sure there isn't just one answer,

but we can find at least one answer here.

So, let's take the psalm apart a little bit,

shake it around, see what pops out.

In the first reading, you may have felt a shift

halfway through the psalm.

That second part of the psalm is one long hymn of praise

for who God is and what he will do.

But that first part of the psalm

is all observations that David's making.

And he alternates between observations of his own situation

and observations of what God is doing

and who God is.

So, if you have your Bible,

open it up to Psalm 22.

If you're missing your Bible,

there's a couple up here that you can use for today,

and if you don't have one at home,

just take it home with you.

So, Psalm 22, verse 1.

Psalms 22:1

So, this is David looking at his own situation.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me

from the words of my groanings?

Oh, my God, I cry by day,

but you do not answer.

And by night, but I find no rest.

Now switching to God.

Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted.

They trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued.

In you they trusted,

and were not put to shame.

Back to observation of David.

But I am a worm, and not a man,

scorned by mankind,

and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me.

They make mouths at me.

They wag their heads.

We trust in the Lord.

Let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him,

for he delights in him.

Yet you, God,

are he who took me from the womb.

You made me trust in you

at my mother's breast.

On you was I cast from my birth,

and from my mother's womb

you have been my God.

Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help me.

Many bulls encompass me,

strong bulls of Bashan surround me.

They open wide their mouths at me,

like ravening and roaring lions.

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax.

It is melted within my breast.

My strength is dried up like pot shards,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws.

You lay me in the dust of the earth.

For dogs encompass me.

A company of evildoers circles me.

They have pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones.

They stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them,

and from my clothing they cast lots.

Now observation of God again.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off.

O you, my help, come quickly to my aid.

Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog.

Save me from the mouth of the lion.

You have rescued me

from the horns of the wild oxen.

And on David goes into a song of praise.

So, he starts off saying,

I'm forsaken,

but my father's trusted.

But I'm not like them.

I'm like a worm.

I'm not even worth anything.

But then again,

God was with him from the very start.

But today he's surrounded.

They're even stripping him of his clothes

before he's dead.

And then God arrives and victorious.

So, David is clearly wrestling with himself

and with God throughout this entire passage.

David feels small in the face of his,

in his troubles,

the people tormenting him.

He feels like he's surrounded by enemies

and abandoned by God.

David is so overwhelmed

by the people he's referring to,

they're already counting him dead.

Now, I've been lucky enough

to avoid situations like this in my life.

like the one that David is describing.

I've never been counted dead.

I don't think I've ever been so hated

that I would say that mankind hates me.

But it's hard not to relate on some level

to what David is saying.

You know, I think I've definitely felt

at various times in my life

that at least all the people around me

seem to dislike me,

even if the entire mankind doesn't hate me.

And certainly I've had sleepless nights.

I mean, this is a fairly common thing.

Like David is talking about,

sleepless nights.

I mean, I'm a night person.

My body will stay up as long as I'll push it.

I mean, it's the opposite.

I can't get up in the morning in the same way,

but I can stay up as long as I want.

I can always fall asleep in the morning,

but I'll always stay up at night.

I'm also a worrier.

So it almost doesn't matter what it is,

whether it's a conversation I'm supposed to have

the next day,

or an exam,

or a presentation to do,

or some other public speaking event.

I don't know.

It makes me nervous.

But it almost doesn't matter.

For me,

I'll just toss it back and forth in my head

for a couple hours at a time.

Now, at my best times,

I will specifically bring whatever it is

that's bothering me to God.

I'll say,

God, there's this big thing in my life,

whatever it is.

What are you going to do about it?

Please talk to me.

Now, I'm not one of these people.

I know plenty of them,

but I'm not one of these people

who hears really specifically

in my times of need, usually.

I'm not a great listener yet.

And it sounds as though David,

in whatever he's going through,

is in that same position.

He's not hearing God.

And here's where David shows

that he knows something

of the character of God.

As David recites all the articles

of his desperation,

I'm poured out like water.

The dogs encompass me.

I'm despised by people.

He starts to recite evidence

that God is also faithful.

It's like he's saying,

well, I don't see God in this situation.

But then again,

God was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

when they needed him.

He's saying something like,

well, I'm completely despised

by the people around me.

But on the other hand,

I've seen God in my life

from the very, very start.

David's faith in God

is based on his knowledge of God.

And in turn,

his knowledge of God

is based on his experience with God.

Which is, of course,

built on the faith

that he's placed in God

in the first place,

like one big cycle.

When Christians describe themselves,

they often use these same words.

They say,

maybe you say this all the time too,

I have a personal relationship

in Jesus.

Or,

I put my faith in God.

And these two ideas

are deeply entwined.

We learn about God,

we learn who God is

through life with him.

And in turn,

we trust him more.

And we learn that God is faithful

by trusting him

in hard situations.

We learn that God is good

by trusting him

to be good to us.

We learn that God is merciful

by repenting

and being forgiven.

Now, in David's case,

his faith is based on knowing

that God is faithful.

If you read the books

of 1 and 2 Samuel,

you'll see plenty of situations

where David has a hard situation,

he trusts in God,

and when he trusts in God,

God comes through for him.

David learns this very

hands-on way

that God is faithful.

Late in David's life,

David decides to take a census.

And he decides to take a census

specifically to find out

how many fighting men

there are in Israel.

And I'm not really sure

what laws he was breaking,

but absolutely everybody

around him,

including his very hard

commander of his army,

said,

look, David,

this is a bad idea.

This is not going to go well

for you.

And he does it anyway.

So David knew on some level

that he was sinning.

And yet somehow,

he decides to do it.

So he takes the census,

and God sends him

his prophet.

And I'll read very briefly

from 2 Samuel 24.

You don't need to turn there.

I've got it open already.

But David's heart struck him

after he had numbered the people.

And David said to the Lord,

I have sinned greatly

in what I have done.

But now, O Lord,

please take away

the iniquity of your servant,

for I have done very foolishly.

And when David arose

in the morning,

the word of the Lord

came to the prophet Gad,

David's seer, saying,

Go and say to David,

Thus says the Lord,

Three things I offer you.

Choose one of them,

that I may do it to you.

So Gad came to David

and told him and said to him,

Shall three years of famine

come to you and your land?

Or will you flee three months

before the foes

while they pursue you?

Or shall there be three days

of pestilence in your land?

Not a good scenario.

Now consider and decide

what answer I shall give

to him who sent me.

And David said to Gad,

and here it is,

I am in great distress.

Let us fall into the hand

of the Lord.

For his mercy is great,

but let me not fall

into the hand of man.

David knew that even

when he sinned,

he could trust the Lord,

who had always been good

and merciful and faithful,

to continue being good

and merciful and faithful.

Even when God was angry,

even when God was punishing sin,

David trusted that God

would be who he is.

God would continue

to show mercy.

God would continue

to show mercy

to the repentant.

In the case of David

taking the census,

God cuts short

the punishment.

And as far as we can tell

from the text,

it's exactly because

David was repentant.

All through his life,

David came to God

immediately and repented.

And this forms rather

a vivid example

of why David might be

a man after God's heart.

Because it wasn't

because he didn't sin,

because clearly he did.

David was a man

after God's heart

because he knew

who God is.

and because he learned

who God is.

Not to trust in God,

just in the knowledge

of God, excuse me.

Not just to trust

in the knowledge of God,

but trust in knowledge

of who he is

gained through experience.

Now I'll admit

something to you.

Up until now,

what I've told you

is very simple.

It's very ideal, maybe.

And maybe at its worst,

what I've said

is a little bit glib.

Because when you start

your Christian journey,

you say you have

just a little bit of faith

and you put it in Jesus

and he rewards that faith.

He forgives you.

Fantastic gift of God.

And as life goes on,

you learn to trust him more.

And as you trust him more

and put your trust in him,

he continues to be there for you.

And you continue

to gain more trust

and the cycle goes on

until presumably

you're a super Christian

and everything is good.

Same thing with mercy.

You learn to repent

and as you repent,

you learn that God forgives

and eventually repentance

will become second nature to you.

Now the problem

that I kept coming back to

as I read this chapter

over and over again this week

was that,

and maybe I'm a little bit jaded,

I don't know,

but as I read this chapter

over and over again,

I keep thinking to myself

that I have learned

over life,

that even a short life,

that the more you trust someone,

the more likely you are

to get seriously hurt.

And sometimes,

I'll face it,

I'll tell you right now,

I feel that way with God too,

that as if I trust God more,

there's more room

for disappointment.

When I was young,

I deeply trusted my parents

to shepherd me from event to event.

And I trusted them

to do it safely.

But eventually,

people always learn

that their parents

can't be completely trusted

with everything.

Some people learn it

long before they even

have solid memories

of their parents.

One of the times

that we were at this

tropical paradise river

with all the,

you know,

all the terraced pools,

we had finished

whatever we were doing

that day,

and my brother

and his friend

decided to run up

the path a little ways

to one of the higher pools,

the pools that were

further up.

And as they were coming back,

they were relayed

by a couple of guys

at knife point.

And for five or ten minutes,

they held my brother

and his friend there

and discussed

what to do with them.

And just before

they decided to rape

and probably worse,

my brother and his friend,

they said,

we should probably get going.

So they took their watches

and whatever else

they had and ran.

My parents

were not there.

Numerous times

I've learned

that I can't trust

my parents for everything.

Now you probably noticed too

that this psalm

is familiar somehow.

You may have heard

some of these words before

if you didn't know

exactly where

you've heard them

at another time.

As well as being

a psalm of David,

Psalm 22

is also

an uncanny prophecy

of Jesus' death

on the cross.

And frankly,

if we're talking

about what trust

in God looks like,

Jesus is not

the first example

I want to jump to.

Psalm 22

is not the first place

that I want to look.

And the reason

that I don't want

to jump straight to Jesus

is because

Jesus trusted in God

and he died.

So David trusted in God

and lived a long life.

He trusted over and over again

and was rewarded

over and over again.

Jesus was the very heart

of God

in human flesh,

not just after the heart

of God.

And he died

an early

and violent death.

So how do we reconcile

this?

A man after God's own heart

lives a long life

and the very

son of God

lives a short

violent life,

dies a short

violent death.

And what it looks like

to me is

two men trusting God.

One lives,

one dies.

Two men trusting God,

one is saved

and one is lost.

And if maybe that sounds

a little bit fishy to you,

it's because it is.

Because there's more

to it than that,

isn't there?

Jesus' death

meant something.

Jesus' death

had a deeper purpose.

So let's take a quick look

at what the two of them

said during their lifetimes,

Jesus and David.

So here's what David said.

This is what we just read.

Psalm 22,

Psalms 22:3

verse 3.

Yet you,

God,

are holy

and throned

on the praises

of Israel.

Right?

And here is what Jesus said.

This is Matthew 26.

Again,

I have it open already.

I'll read it for you.

Matthew 26,

Matthew 26:39

verse 39.

And going a little further

into the garden

of Gethsemane,

he fell on his face

and prayed,

saying,

My father,

if it is possible,

let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless,

not as I will,

but as you will.

And again,

a second time,

he went away

and prayed,

My father,

if this cannot pass from me

unless I drink it,

your will be done.

Both Jesus and David

knew God's character.

They both

recognized

who God is.

They both

knew what he was like.

They recognized

that God is not only faithful,

that God is not only

merciful,

but God is also

sovereign.

Part of what that means

is that God

is for his own glory.

He's not for

our comfort.

He's not for

our safety.

He is for his own glory.

He forgives

and he saves us

for his own glory.

We live

for his glory.

We live

so that

he will be praised,

not so that

we will be praised.

The entire

second half

of the Psalm 22

that we read earlier

is all about

praising God

for his glory.

Now,

God's sovereignty

puts an entirely

different spin,

a different light

on the question

that we had earlier.

What it means

to be a man

after God's own heart

is no longer

just about

putting faith

in a faithful God

in hard situations,

although,

of course,

we need to

bring our trouble

to God

in very specific

prayers sometimes.

Do you need

a car

to get to work?

We should pray

for that

and expect

God to do something.

Are you being

pestered at work,

mocked for your faith,

perhaps worse

than pestered?

We need to pray

about that.

God responds.

But

it's no longer

just about

trusting in the

mercy of God

and the goodness

of God.

It's also about

recognizing the

kingship of God,

which both

David and

Jesus did.

It's about

recognizing the

kingship of God

to the point

that his glory

becomes as important

to us

as it is to him.

It's about

trusting God's

faithfulness

to the point

that we can

not only say,

God, I need

your help

and expect him

to be there,

but getting to

the point

that our

faithfulness

also says,

not my will,

but your will

be done.

Now,

these words

are hard to say

and I recognize

that,

your will

be done,

not mine,

but whatever

faith you came

in with this

morning,

that's where

we start.

Probably most

of us aren't

at the place

where we can

say,

not my will,

but your will

be done

in every

situation.

But here's

a question,

can you trust

him for food

this week?

Can you trust

him for a job

for the rest

of the month?

Can you trust

him to forgive

you for being

snappy with

your neighbor

or your

roommate or

your wife or

husband this

morning?

That's where

we begin.

That's how we

get to know

God,

by trusting

him in his

faithfulness for

the things in

daily life,

for trusting

him for

forgiveness for

small things.

Eventually,

the larger

things come,

and ultimately

trusting him

in his

sovereignty,

that his

faithfulness will

be ultimately

for his

glory.

Now, if you

came this

morning and

you're thinking,

well, I don't

think I have

enough faith to

say, not

your will be

done, but

my, not my

will, but your

will be done,

you can start.

You can start

with what you

came.

If that means

that you have

enough to say,

okay, Jesus, I

have enough

faith in God

to start a

relationship, to

start putting my

trust in you,

that's enough.

So let's pray.

Father God, we

thank you that you

are faithful.

We thank you that

you are merciful.

And Father, we

thank you that in

whatever capacity

we have faith at

this moment, we

can trust you.

And Father, we

can trust that we

are not the

center of the

universe and

that you are.

We can trust

that you are

sovereign and

that we don't

have to worry

about it.

Father God, we

would like to

start today

putting our

trust in you.

Father, with

whatever we

have, we

have to start

putting our

trust in you.

And Father, we

thank you that

you sent Jesus

to make a way

to do that.

That we can

trust you for

forgiveness.

Father, we

thank you.

And we thank you

for Jesus.

And in his name,

amen.