Summer in the Psalms | Psalm 22 | Part 2

Romans didn't understand the priesthood. They didn't understand what they were dealing with. So they said, hey, let's not tear it. This is expensive fabric. Let's just roll some dice to see who gets it.

And what they did not realize is they has just they have just witnessed a high priest stepping out of priesthood as a sacrifice. Well, good morning, church. Good morning. Everybody doing good? Have a good fourth of July weekend so far?

Yeah. Did you watch a bunch of stuff blow up last night? Yeah. Just loud noises. Yeah.

That was great. Hey. Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate that. Guys, this morning, we're gonna continue our study of Psalm chapter 22.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

So you're gonna go ahead and turn in your scripture there. But I wanna I wanna reiterate what, Wendy and Jen said, that, VBS being this week, it is a vision thing for us. It's not just something that we host for fun and just because everybody does during the summer. No, the mission here is to see the lost saved, the saved disciple, and the disciple discipling others. That all happens this week.

I believe we're going to see salvations, this week, amen. And so be praying with us and, it's interesting how this, study has, fallen the way it has, today and you'll see later on what I'm talking about. Again, turn to Psalms chapter 22. Last week, we got all the way to around verse 12, and we're gonna dive into verse 12, this week. And, in in greater depth, I do wanna warn you, I am going to go, substantially deeper into text than I normally do on a Sunday morning, so stay with me.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

I wanna give you that warning because a lot of times, it's easy, to be distracted by these things. Right? It's easy to get distracted, by thoughts and, what we're doing for lunch and, and all these different things. Can I tell you, let's stay focused on the word today because I believe the word, wants to speak to us, every week, but especially today, there's some deeper concepts that I wanna take us into, and I believe you're ready or you wouldn't be here? Amen.

Let's take a look at Psalms chapter 22. We're gonna start in verse 12. Just to kind of reiterate where we were last week. We, we started in verse one, where Jesus, paraphrases and and repeats what is actually in Psalm chapter 22 on the cross where he says, father, my god, my god, why have you forsaken me? And, and we see that Jesus is actually quoting Psalm 22.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention Psalms 22 · chapter mention

There's another picture where, the writer King David of Psalm 22 says that at the point of sacrifice, he is lower than a worm. But in the Hebrew, that term is actually not just any general worm, it's actually the crimson worm. And so we went into great detail last week that there are all of these wonderful details in Psalm 22 that are not just messianic in nature, they're prophetic in nature, and they paint a very clear picture of a event that is to take place over one thousand years after the writing of Psalm 22. Remember, this is in the life of King David. King David, and and and he's writing with great specificity about things that are gonna happen to Christ on the cross.

And and even cooler point is this, is that he is writing with specificity about a punishment called the crucifixion that is not going to be created or invented for another eight hundred years. It's very cool details there. And so we're gonna pick up in chapter 22 verse 12 today where there's another interesting fact, little detail that if we don't dig in a little deeper, we're gonna miss it. Psalm chapter 22 starting in verse 12. It says, many bulls surround me.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

The strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Anytime the scripture mentions something twice, we gotta take a look at it. But anytime it gives a proper noun, we wanna take another look at it, right? So there's a double focus here. It says bulls twice and it gives more specificity as to what kind of bulls, the bulls of Bichon.

Now to understand this, first, you have to understand the location of where Bashan actually is. In current day, Bashan is in southern part of Syria, the northern piece of Jordan. Well, why is that relevant? Because if you go back into the scripture, you find that this is the land of the Canaanites. The Canaanites were, a constant thorn in the side of the Israelites.

They were problematic and, boy, they were just troublemakers. And what's really interesting is that they were also idol worshipers. They worshiped a god by the name of Baal, b a a l. You can read about this, where Elijah called down fire on prophets of Baal. You can read this about the, the Asherah Pole Forest, which was the idol forest that was created for the worship of these gods.

The interesting thing about David as he's writing in Psalm 22 verse 12, he says, many bulls surround me, the bulls of Bashan encircle me. We don't have any text in scripture that say that there were any livestock on the hill with Jesus while he was being, crucified. So we know that the imagery here is not actual bulls, this is something else. If you go and you study Bashan, what you will find is is it is ground zero to demonic worship. Bashan is a, well known capital of demonic and idol worship of its day, and it was a special area to worship Baal, which was actually symbolized by bulls and ox, which is an interesting thing.

Psalms 22:12

So when Jesus speaks about the mighty bulls of Bashan, he's actually speaking about powerful demonic forces at work in the moments leading up to his death. If you were to see in the spirit Christ on the cross, the enemy thought this was their greatest victory. Remember, they had been searching for the Messiah for generations by trying to destroy the firstborn of the Israelites, right, both with Moses, right, and then with Herod when Christ was born, and they finally had someone who met the criteria of the Messiah, and they got him nailed to a cross. Things are lookin' good to the demons. Things are looking up because the one who had absolute authority over them now has been crucified.

And what's interesting is Jesus said these bulls surround him, they encircle him, and where these demonic entities were drawing near to celebrate the death of Christ, Christ was actually luring them in for a front row seat for the greatest victory spiritually the world has ever known. Ain't that incredible? So we always gotta pay attention to the details. Let's jump to verse 13. It says, Roaring lions that tear their prey open, they open their mouths wide against me.

This is talking about angry religious zealots. There were people who, knew the law. They were called Pharisees and Sadducees, right? They were, people of the time who understood the law. They understood, the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible.

But they did not receive Christ as the Messiah. And so they were the ones who actually put Jesus on the cross. They're the ones who paid Judas to betray Jesus. And so it's an interesting thing, and can I just say this? Religious zealots are still running their mouths today, and they're just as effective and just as nasty today as they were then.

Let me also say this. Not every church, is supposed to be the same. You see, when we were a kid, there was a song, Jesus loves little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they're all precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. Do you guys ever sing that, right?

That in a very unique way is talking about the differences and how God made a wonderful palette of creativity in his humanity. And can I tell you this? The palette of which our worship is displayed is just as unique. And so when you, see a church that doesn't worship the way that you prefer or that you desire, can I tell you celebrate that church anyway? Because not every church is made to appeal to you.

Can I just can we put it out that way? If every church appealed to you, there would be a lot of fish that would never be caught. And so every church has gotta have a little bit different appeal. It's gotta have a little bit different flare. It's It's gotta have a little bit different spice.

And so we should celebrate. Now, again, we're not talking about celebrating cults. It's gotta be a Bible believing church. If they believe that Jesus is the son of the living God who was crucified, who died on the cross and rose again, right, these are tenets that are unshakable, but as long as they're inside those unshakable tenets of our faith, and and they may not raise their hands, right, you may not hear people speaking in tongues, they they might not have altar service. You listen, can I tell you, if they love Jesus, keep going?

Keep going. Keep charging. Win and the lost. Amen. We should celebrate.

And, see, here's what's tricky about religious people. Now notice I didn't say relationship based people. Because we're not called to be religious people. As a matter of fact, the only time that Jesus talks about religion is in a negative manner. He starts laying the smack down on these people who are making it about law.

You see, religious zealots will always come after you because they understand that if they challenge you in the right way, you'll give up. And they're being used by the wicked one. And see, they did the same thing about Jesus. They went in on Jesus thinking that if they went at him in a certain way, he would give up. But he persevered even in the face of death.

He persevered. Amen. Are you grateful Jesus kept pushing through today? Praise God. But just be just be aware.

Listen, you don't have to go any further than Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all that. You're gonna see people running their mouth. There are people who talk about Hope City, pastor Josh. Listen, listen, listen. I don't worry about them any more than I worry about a fruit fly.

Listen, they can be annoying, but they they don't steer my day. They don't direct how I move. And and so, guys, let's stay focused on the fact that it takes all kinds of churches to catch all kinds of fish. Amen? And let's celebrate other churches, right?

All right, so let's go. Verse 14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. It's melted within me.

One of the interesting things is we see in the telling of the gospel is that, toward the end to see if Jesus had actually been deceased, they drove a spear into his heart and from that opening in his chest, water poured out. It's it's actually a point where the blood and water separate. It happens postmortem. And, and so Jesus is saying, in that story in the gospel that he was actually dead. In verse 14 of of Psalm chapter 22, he's he's saying there's a time where they're gonna pierce me and water is going to pour out.

Psalms 22 · chapter mention

It's very cool, prophetic picture. This is all my bones are out of joint, which is unique because in all of the damage Jesus took, there was not a single broken bone in his body, which actually was prophesied previous even before Psalm 22. Very cool stuff to pay attention to. His bones were out of joint, but they weren't broken because Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about his life. And so, let's keep moving.

Verse 15. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death. So potsherd, not a not a interesting, not a term we hear that often. It's an interesting term, but it's it's not part of our vernacular.

Pottshirt is this. It is a piece of a busted pot. Back in those days, they would make pots out of clay and then they would bake them. If you know anything about, making pottery, it's got a lot of moisture so you can mold it and and shape it. And then they take it and they put it in a oven, and that oven takes all the moisture out, preventing that pot from ever being molded again.

So if any pressure's applied after the drying process, there's a breaking that takes place. Those pieces of a dried pot are called pot sherds, specifically pieces of pots that have been unearthed in archeological digs. So if a civilization was to, try to rebuild, I don't know, in in in Middle America, you might find pots from Cherokee natives and, and some of our more indigenous tribes here in America. You would pull these pieces of pots out and you'd say, Oh, this is a potsherd of this tribe, right? Jesus, is talked about here in Psalm 22 about his mouth being so dry.

Watch this. His mouth is so dry that it's like it's been baked out of all moisture and then buried in dry dust. He's saying my this the David's writing about a time of specificity where Jesus's mouth is going to be so dry. And then you can go and read about this in the book of Matthew in great detail where Jesus's mouth was so dry. It's interesting, but there's a second level to this.

The second level actually is talked about in John chapter seven, verse thirty seven and thirty eight, and I believe the verse will come up on your screen. It says, let anyone who thirst come to me. Let the one who believes in me drink. Remember when Jesus was on the cross, he had taken the sin of the world upon his shoulders. Sin has a decaying and drying property.

You see, sin removes the best, of intentions from us and it sets us in a position of, of being separated from God's best. Well, it's interesting that Jesus talks about himself being the water. But then the Holy Spirit's also talked about being the water. Right? The word of god has talked about the water.

The washing of the water of our right of the word, the renewing of our minds. Over and over and over, the things of God are called water, why? Because there is a spiritual dryness that can take place in our life if we walk away from the basics of our faith. You see, you can be saved and not be spiritually hydrated. And why is it that I point that out to you?

Well, it's because people will bend this truth and make you think that because you're going through a dry season that somehow God's given up on you. Can I tell you, God doesn't give up? He's a tenacious and a loving God. He does not give up on you. The truth is is somewhere along the way, you might have given up on some habits that keep you spiritually hydrated.

And you need to go back to the source, the word of God, the worship of God, the presence of God to rehydrate your spirit So that way there's a fullness of life. So you may be here and say, hey, I can relate to that pot shirt business. Right? I'm going through a dry season. Can I I've been there?

Can I tell you there are days I wake up and I don't feel like pastor Josh? I don't feel like, the guy I hear on the podcast. I just I I feel dry. I feel disconnected. And it's in those moments that if I'm not careful, I will let that dryness drive me further into the desert and wilderness away from God's presence.

But if wisdom has its work, then I will drive back into the hydration and the love of God, right, to find a a fulfillment. That's where Jesus told the woman at the well. He said, sweetheart, if you drink from me, that's Josh Eads, by the way. He says, if you drink from me, he said, you'll never thirst again. There's a hydration that will take place from God that will satisfy you in the way a physical drink of water never could.

And so this beautiful picture in Psalm 22 is not just the physical dryness of mouth, but it's a spiritual dryness taking place because he took on the sin of the world. It's a beautiful picture there. Verse 16. Dogs surround me. A pack of villains encircles me.

They pierce my hands and my feet. Again, Psalm 22 is written, roughly eight hundred years before the crucifixion was created. The Romans, designed torture devices. They they were very good at being bad. They were professionals at killing people, and they had to be able to do it en masse.

Because when they would conquer a territory, a lot of times, they would take, people who were problematic by the hundreds and publicly execute them. And the crucifixion was known to be one of the most grotesque and inhumane deaths. And it was to strike fear into the hearts of other people so that they didn't try to, cause any insurrection against the Romans. Well, if you know much about the crucifixion, that in and of itself, you would be tied to a tree unless the Romans had a reason to finish you quickly. If they wanted to bring you to an end, whether they wanted to hush you politically or whether they wanted to make a extra point out of your death, they wouldn't tie you to a tree.

They would nail you to a tree, to the cross. As a matter of fact, documentation wise, Jesus is the only documented nailing to the cross that we have actually happening. We do see writings where it was threatened, but it's the only time we see someone nailed to a cross that's documented. It's a rare and a very vicious death. Now, for those of you who, may not have studied the crucifixion, let me just give you some some insights here.

A lot of times when you see paintings, of Jesus in the upper room revealing himself to Doubting Thomas or or maybe it's just a beautiful picture of a glorified Jesus, he's holding his hands up and the nails are here in his palms. And then on the top of his feet, just above his toes, between his toes and his ankles. This is not accurate. Research, will show that, the human body cannot sustain its own weight based on being pierced in the palms of the hands. They might have gotten Jesus on the cross that way, but the minute they elevated that cross, the weight of his body would have torn that nail between his fingers, and he would have fallen off the cross.

Again, the Romans being really good at this, they understood the weight of a human body. And so in actuality, Jesus would not have holes in the palms of his hands. He would actually have holes here between the two bones in his wrist. This was twofold. It wasn't just to hold the weight of the body.

It was also so that major arteries and veins would be punctured, expediting the death. This was extra torturous, and it was it led to such ultimate dehydration going back to verse 15. So that all of this is playing together, and again, written a thousand years before this took place. Another thing is is he would not be pierced between his toes and his ankle. He would actually be pierced at the ankle joint.

And and and Dusty and I were talking about this between service, and she pointed out a great fact that toward the end, the crucifixion, you really died by asphyxiation. Because you you the weight of your body would would begin to collapse, and you wouldn't be able to breathe. And so you would have to pull up based on the nails in your hands and feet to breathe. And then, and finally, you just wouldn't have the strength under the pain anymore, and you would just stop breathing and fade to black. It's a horrific way to go.

But in verse 16, David writes, a thousand years before it happened, they pierce my hands and my feet. It's incredible detail. Verse 17. All of my bones are on display. People stare and gloat over me.

We do know that people came by the droves to watch this crucifixion. This was public humiliation, and this was a trial of of of great proportion. You remember they chose Barabbas instead of Jesus. The the Romans didn't want anything to do with crucifying Jesus. They they were trying to wash their hands of it.

We can't. Based on our laws, this dude's innocent. They said, so let's do this. Bring out a real murderer, and we're gonna crucify one of these people. You tell us which one you want us to crucify.

And they chose to set a murderer free. Frank, can I tell you there's a picture of grace in that? Because God chooses to set us free in our sense for him to take our punishment still today. Amen? Is that a cool picture?

Alright, let's keep going. It says, all their bones are on display. A prophetic writing in the Old Testament, says that Jesus was, unrecognizable for his humanity. And let me explain what that is. That means that while he was walking to the cross, there was a there was a place to where he got in such bad condition.

There was so much blood and and and and again, I I hate to paint such dark pictures, but it's it's it's imperative that we understand the price that was paid for us. Jesus was carrying the cross and was collapsing. And and as he made his way closer to the cross, the blood and the the the carnage of his back, the crown of thorns, the beatings, was putting his body in such a state that people would look and go, is that even a human? Is that even possible that he's in, is that really Jesus? And why that's important is because this verse 17 gives us a little little detail there and it says this, all my bones are on display.

We know that one of the punishments, that was actually, one of the most grotesque punishments was 39 lashes from the Roman Empire. And they used what's called a cat of nine tails. It was a whip that had pieces of busted, pottery, glass, metal, anything that they could find that was sharp and jagged, and they would nail it through these little pieces of leather. So when they would whip, it would stick into the body and they would have to literally rip it off. There are pictures of the Roman guard having to put their feet against people to rip these straps off of their back.

And every time they would pull one of these straps off of their back, it would pull off chunks of meat to the point to where the very rib cage and spine of Christ was exposed. And this verse 17 says, all my bones are on display. And people are just staring and they're gloating. Friend, there was a great price paid for us. Verse 18.

This is really cool. You guys get a kick out of this. Verse 18. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. Now, there's there's a lot going on in this statement, so so so stay with me.

In verse 18, a lot going on here. There's two different categories of clothing. There's those, that have been divided, but yet there's one specific garment that they're shooting dice for. That's not actually what's going on. They were casting lots, but it's equivalent to what we have of shooting dice.

And it was a game of chance to see who would get this specific garment. So we have two different categories. We have, this clothing that they were basically, taking apart at the seam and just giving pieces out. But there was this one garment that had to be of some specific value, and there had to be a purpose for why this garment was treating treated different than the other garments. And so, in my studying of Psalm 22, I did a deep dive trying to figure out, okay, this is talked about in every book of the gospel.

If it's in every book of the gospel and it was prophesied a thousand years before it happened, how many know we should dig into that just a little, Figure out what's going on there. Matthew chapter 27 verse 35 says, then they crucified him and divided his garments. K? So literally divided his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots.

Matthew 27:35

Again, there's that division. There's two different kinds of clothing going on here. Now the ones that they would separate, a lot of times, when you research this, you will figure out that, it was all about the Roman centurions and the Roman guard enriching themselves. So when someone was being punished, Rome didn't care what happened to the clothes. If it was gold or a weapon, they would take it for the actual empire.

But if it was the clothing, they didn't care. They had no value in that. So these Roman guards would try to enrich themselves in finer fabrics from people that they were punishing and crucifying. What's interesting is the detail that we find in the book of Exodus, the second book of the bible. And let me tell you what's going on here.

God is establishing how to come into his presence for those who are, who were in slavery in Egypt and are now in the wilderness. God is laying out how to approach his throne, and he's giving clothing ideas and desires to, Moses on how to clothe a high priest. Exodus chapter 28 verse 32. It says, It shall have in it an opening for the head with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment that it may not be torn. Wait a second.

Exodus 28:32

Okay. This is interesting. Remember, we just talked about verse 18. There are some that will be divided, and then this one garment is not going to be torn. It's not gonna be divided.

There's something specific. So here's what's really cool about this. What's really cool about this is that in this time, if you were a Jew, there were certain laws that had to be kept, according to the Torah. The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. Exodus is full of these laws.

One of the laws is that a priest must wear a garment that is seamless. Because when approaching God, there could be no division. So it was a picture in the garment of the high priest that when he would approach God, that there was no division, not just in his heart, but there was no division even in his garment. So they would literally custom make the garments of the high priest. They would have him stand there and they would measure and they'd go back to the loom and they would put these garments together in such a way that when you would step back, you would say, that is a phenomenal piece of clothing.

Because it was knit together solidly of very fine fabrics. Now watch this. There are clothes that they took off of Jesus that they just tore at the seams. And they just separated it. There's two guards.

Okay? There's there's some nice linen. Let's just Here, take it at the seams. That way we are take it home. Our wives may able to use it.

We could sell it. Right? But there's this one garment. There's no seams to tear at. There's a seamless garment.

And they said, how are we gonna determine who gets this? We can't tear it. It's too valuable. There's no seams that we can split to separate this. I know how we'll do it.

Clickety clack, clickety clack. They're gonna roll the dice to see who gets this garment. Now, this is where it gets fun. In the scripture, Jesus, let me just show it to you. Hebrews chapter nine verse eleven and twelve.

It says, but when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here. Remember, this is Hebrews, New Testament. This is post resurrection. So how many of you are grateful that this is the good things that are now already here? Praise God.

It says he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands. That is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. Jump to verse 19. Hebrews chapter six verse 19 through 20.

It says we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where our forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf. He has become our high priest forever. Here's the picture, watch this. Walking to the cross.

Nobody noticed he was in his priestly garments, soaked in blood, barely getting to the cross. And as they begin to prepare the cross, they begin to strip him naked. And they get to this one and it won't tear because it's solid, so they get like a big, they just gotta take it off of him. And they throw it on the ground and they nail him to the cross, and then they go over and they start dividing the the the garments, and they get to this one garment and they go, wait a second, this one's different. You see, Romans didn't understand the priesthood.

They didn't understand what they were dealing with. So they said, Hey, let's not tear it. This is expensive fabric. Let's just roll some dice to see who gets it. And what they did not realize is they has just They have just witnessed a high priest stepping out of priesthood as a sacrifice.

A priest who put his self on the altar. Do you see it? So Jesus is on the cross. Romans casting lots, not even realizing what had just happened in front of them. But can you imagine for the Jewish passerby what was happening?

Wait a second. That that garment looks familiar. I've seen Caiaphas wearing something like that. I've seen our priests wearing things like that. On the most high and holy day, they would wear something like that.

As a matter of fact, there's a priest across town right now because it's Passover. They're wearing this stuff this week. Man, I've seen something like that. Here's where the rubber meets the road for you and I. The scripture says that a priest did not carry the priesthood without the garment.

Had Jesus wore a different shirt, the efficacy of the cross would have been null and void. He was perfect even down to the shred of cloth on his back. Why does that matter for you and I today? Because the scripture says, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Oh, if you'd understood that, you'd have shouted.

Let me let me let me paraphrase this. First to the 12 tribes and then everybody can get some of this goodness. It's for whosoever should call on the name of the Lord. And the scripture, look at this, look at this, look at this, look at this, look at this. This is incredible.

It says this, it says he's our forerunner. Oh. Don't miss that. Praise God. What does that mean?

We could not come before the presence of God because of our sin. And this is Jesus, he was our forerunner. He showed us that now we don't have to sacrifice bulls and goats, because there's been a perfect sacrifice. Now we can come boldly before the throne of grace whereby we may find mercy in our time of need. Glory to God.

Oh, hallelujah. And I love that it says, He has entered on our behalf. Glory to God. Sins you hadn't even committed yet were on his back. Did you hear what I said?

Mistakes you gonna make this afternoon. We're with him in that moment. Praise God. He has become our high priest forever. This is powerful stuff Because this writing, it takes place.

Verse 18, they divide my clothes. Among them, they cast lots from my garment. At first, you read it, you go, wow, that was a tough situation. But then you start digging into this, and you realize there was the marking king of the Jews on top of the cross. They were trying to mock him, but he wasn't just king, he was priest.

And what was powerful about a priest is that the priest made sacrifice for the atonement of those who had made mistakes. And so Jesus says, the priest had to be perfect, and I'm no longer perfect because I've taken the sin of the world on my shoulder. So he The Romans assist him, thinking they're embarrassing him, and they were being his armor bearers in the moment. They took his priestly garment off of him. And where a priest would take the sacrifice and lay it on the altar, Jesus said, I lay myself on the altar.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Yes, yes, yes. Glory to his name. Let's go, I gotta hurry, I gotta hurry, I gotta hurry. Psalms 22 verse 22.

Psalms 22:22

I will declare your name to my people in the assembly. I will praise you. Verse 23. You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel. Verse 23 is a picture of God's heart that the 12 tribes of Israel would return to him someday. He's saying if you fear the Lord, praise him. Live like it. All you descendants of Jacob, remember this Jacob had 12 sons, they're the heads of the 12 tribes, right?

He says, you 12 tribes honor him, revere him all you descendants of Israel. He's calling for all the Jews to recognize him as the Messiah. Can I tell you the scripture says that the stone the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone? They didn't realize they were crucifying the Lord of glory. Let's keep going, let's keep going.

Verse 24. For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help. Boy, there's a lot going on here. Stay with me.

Verse 24. For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He. Who's he? God.

God has not despised or scorned the suffering of Jesus. God has not hidden his face from Jesus, but listened to his cry for help. Let me tell you why that's so powerful. Because Jesus was our forerunner. We just said it.

You see, if you don't study these verses with clarity and depth, you'll miss the character of a father. And here all of these tragedies are taking place throughout Psalm 22 And in the middle of it, you get a picture of a father's heart. God didn't despise him for taking the sin of the world. Frank, can I tell you this? God doesn't despise you for your mistakes.

As a matter of fact, he's attentive to your cries for help. Jesus was that forerunner that took all that sin. There will never be watch this. There will never be a human that will carry more sin than Jesus did in that moment. And the scripture says not only was he not despised or scorned, God didn't hide his face and he listened for his cry for help.

Verse 25, from you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly. Before those who fear you, I will fulfill my vows. Verse 26, The poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise him. May your hearts live forever.

Verse 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 him. This is a prophetic proclamation of the day when the Jews will acknowledge him as the Messiah. There's a day coming that everybody will acknowledge him. Verse 28, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

Verse 29, all the rich of the earth will feast and worship. All who go down to the dust will kneel before him. Those who cannot keep themselves alive. I mentioned this in passing a little bit last week, but is there anyone here who can keep yourself alive forever? Okay.

So this verse applies to us, right? All of us. We can't keep ourselves alive here. It says we will kneel before him. In Philippians chapter two starting in verse six, I'm gonna read these passages to you.

This is interesting. It says, who being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. This is a picture of Jesus stepping out of the throne room of heaven to come be a human on earth, right? It says, and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

And there's an exclamation point there, like, this is unbelievable that Jesus would die that way. This is You you you put a God to the nastiest depth designed for a human. It says, therefore, God exalted him to be the highest place. It says, and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of at the name of Jesus Christ. Every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.

Verse 30. Posterity will serve him. I love that it doesn't say posterity might serve him. Posterity will serve him. Future generations will be told about the Lord.

Why is that such a powerful verse? Because you may have children who are wayward. You may have children who have not acknowledged Christ as their Lord and savior. That's a hard place to be as a parent. But can I tell you, you can stand on the promise of Psalm 22 verse 30?

Psalms 22:30

You need to just remind God that he promised your posterity will serve him. Stand on the promises of the scripture. Amen? And then it says future generations will be told about the Lord. Let me tell you how cool God's timing is.

It's not just cool that a thousand years before the life of Jesus is written about in Psalm 22. It's even cool that, I wasn't able to get all this in last week so that this week, I'm teaching on the future generations, and we're about to launch VBS tomorrow. You know how cool that is? You see, starting tomorrow, for four nights, we are going to tell future generations about the Lord. And it's a powerful thing because it not only is prophetic, it shows a picture of God's heart.

It's the continuation of our faith. Wendy and I and, Troy and Julie, we, we're blessed. We get to sit in on the celebration meals when you, become a member at Hope City, which I hope eventually all of you will, if it's the right place. If God's not calling you here, don't do it. But if he's calling you here, come on, let's go.

But when you go through our discover hope classes, toward the end, we have what's called a celebration meal. It's where we celebrate you becoming part of the church. And it's just us saying that we we've come into agreement on what we believe, and we're gonna serve alongside each other for kingdom purposes. Right? Well, what's interesting is in those celebration meals, people share their testimony.

And the testimonies that we hear, I would say probably 10 to 15% of them, have something, that acknowledges Vacation Bible School as either the place of salvation for them or playing a major part in the development of them spiritually. Well, we have as of this morning, we had a 114 kids signed up for VBS, over 90 volunteers, and all of that falls under the answer and the response to a prophetic utterance over three thousand years ago. Do you see it? Why is that powerful? Because not only was Jesus the high priest on the cross, he continues to be the high priest today.

Not only would future generations hear after the cross, future generations are still hearing about Jesus on the cross. Not only was there power displayed in Acts chapter two for those who accepted Jesus, there's still power on display for those who accept Jesus. Can I tell you, this all brings me to the last verse that we're gonna study in Psalm 22? It's this, verse 31. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn.

And here's what they're gonna proclaim. He has done it. Yeah. Done what? Yeah.

It. Yeah. But what is it? It's whatever you need him to do. Because you see the scripture says, seek first the kingdom of righteousness.

Right? So we get right through him, but then all these things are added to it. He's done it. So here in just a minute, we're gonna open the altars for prayer. And and and and and and here's what I want you to see.

Not only when he was on the cross, not only did Jesus say it is finished, He is still speaking into our lives saying, don't worry. It's finished. And so when we proclaim his goodness, what we're saying is, hey, don't worry about it. He's done it. We're talking about our current problems as if they've already been solved.

He's done it. So if you're here and maybe you're struggling in your marriage, he's done it. If you're here and maybe you need healing, a physical healing in your body, praise God, he's done it. You see, the cross was so powerful that it was a once and for all work. And not just once and for all people, once and for all issues.

It slapped the hand of the enemy with such efficacy that the devil no longer has a sting that can approach God's people. So you and I now can stand in great faith with great expectation and say he's done it. Maybe you're hearing you got a financial need. Can I tell you, he's Jehovah Jireh, the God of provision? He's done it.

Not only has he done it, he's still doing it. There is no miracle in scripture that God has given up on. There is no work he cannot accomplish. He's still 100% God today, and he can meet your needs. Would you stand to your feet?

I just wanna pray over us today. And as my prayer team comes forward, as soon as I dismiss service, if you need prayer for anything, I just invite you, man, just to come down and pray with us. You see, we're we're kinda shifting up the way we do things And that we're we're we're we're going back to the simplicity of the gospel. We're going back to a place, to where the altar has great power and authority in the life of a believer. If it was as powerful to Jesus that he would lay himself at an altar, sometimes we gotta take ourself to an altar.

The altar has a fix. Jesus will meet us there. So the prayer teams across the front, if you have any need at all, as soon as I release service, man, come down. Let us pray with you. For the rest of us, I have two things I need your help with.

Number one, I need you praying for this week. We are gonna impact hundreds of lives this week. You see, what's interesting is so far, and I know there's even more that signed up this morning, we had a 114 at 05:07 this morning. A 114 kids, fifth grade and below, that are going to be here. Well, there's a really good chance that each of those kids have at least a parent.

Would you agree? It's funny how that works. So that takes a 114, makes it 228. Well, and then they have neighbors and, gosh, on every direction. You see how the math can start getting out of hand.

You see, salvation is infectious. That God lights a match, but the flame and the light affects all around it. And so this is how I need you to pray this week. Pray that salvation would find the lost. Remember, the Bible says that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.

We're going on a hunting expedition for the lost this week. That's what vacation bible school is. We're gonna find them. We're gonna share with them the goodness of Jesus. We're gonna tell them, the Wonder Junction.

We're sharing with them the wonder of Jesus this week. The second thing I want you to pray is that if you personally have lost the wonder of Jesus, You say, well, preacher, what's that look like? Well, it looks like you start looking at boxes to check. Well, I attended church this week. Yep.

Okay. I I had worship music in the CD player. People still listen to CDs? I don't know. I I I I I read my self help book.

I I I read a verse this morning. Okay. It is so easy to lose the wonder of Jesus. 100% man, 100% God, 100% focused on saving me. Think about that.

A heat seeking missile sent from heaven to bless me, to bless you. Let's pray for each other that we never lose the wonder of who Jesus really is because he's wonderful. He's magnificent. He's beautiful. Perfect in all his ways.

The King of glory. The high priest forever. He's wonderful. So pray with us this week, those two things. And then if you need prayer for anything specific, I just wanna invite you down to pray as soon as service is released.

Amen? Come on, let's pray. Father, we love you. I just wanna say thanks. Thank you for Psalm 22.

What a treasure it is. What a treasure it is. Your word is a lamp to our feet and a light and to our path. Father, there are times we can't see. We need a lamp.

There are times we don't know where we're going. We need a light. And your word is so faithful that it can light up not just where we are, but it can tell us where we need to go. And I thank you for that. Thank you that when we rightly divide it, it gives us life.

It rehydrates us spiritually. Thank you for Jesus. Jesus, we just worship you. We praise you. We thank you.

Everything we read today is so just It's rough. The things you went through, just thank you. Like, our words are inadequate, but just thanks. Because if it wasn't for you, there'd be no hope today. But because of you, our forerunner, our high priest, not just for Psalm 22, but forever, there's an eternal hope.

And I wanna say thank you for that. So bless us and keep us. Be gracious to us and show us your favor. Make your face shine upon us, and give us peace. Both now and forevermore cover us with the blood of Jesus from the top of our head to the soles of our feet.

I thank you that no weapon formed against us will prosper. And I just rebuke the spirit of fear right now in Jesus' name. Holy Spirit, would you go and stir the hearts of those who need prayer and just make them uncomfortable until they come for prayer? Just take away their comfort. Just snatch a little piece from them until they come get prayer.

Because father, if one could put a thousand to flight, two could put 10,000 to flight. And there are people in here who have 10,000 level problems. So help them to have the faith, just that mustard seed faith to step out to come down for prayer. We'll give you praise for that. Bring us back next week with more of your wisdom and more of your word locked away in our heart, and we'll give you glory for that.

It's in the mighty and the beautiful and the precious, the powerful and the capable name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. And amen. God bless you, we love you. The altars are open.