Psalm 22 “Jesus Delivers in Suffering”
Community Group Questions
1. Have you ever been caught in the rut of just “crying out” during suffering?
2. Have you had an experience in life in which suffering led to a blessing?
3. Have you ever had someone ridicule you because of your faith?
4. Have you ever had a situation in which you felt that the hand of God drastically changed things?
5. Do you take the time and praise Him for what He has done in your life?
Sermon
As a pastor many times I feel very inadequate when people are experiencing suffering because I really have come to the conclusion that I can be there but there is nothing that I can say or do that will stop the suffering the individual is going through. Through the study of this Psalm it has become clear to me that when we observe the suffering of Jesus and the anguish that He went through not only does He know how suffering feels to the fullest extent but this Psalm teaches us that at the end of the day…during suffering all that you really have is the Lord…it really is about your relationship with Him and even at the lowest time when it seems that He has abandoned you…He is ultimately there to provide deliverance but the deliverance may not look the way you think it should.
Written over 1000 years before Christ “Typico-prophetic Messianic Psalm” = Psalmist uses language to describe his personal experience, but the language goes beyond his experience , and becomes historically true only in the Lord. (Dr. Allen Ross)
In many senses this Psalm coupled with Christ’s sufferings on the cross typifies every Christians sufferings.
-We cry out. The common response to suffering
Vrs 1-2 “Why does Jesus say this” because that in a nutshell is what suffering feels like and Jesus felt it because of our sin.
Suffering feels like we have been abandoned, feels like there is no way our, feels like we want to go back in time, feels like we want someone to say it is going to be alright, etc.
Is there a way out of this?
Jesus is appropriating the entire Psalm to Himself. This means He will never abandon us because He abandoned Christ in our place.
-We see how God worked in the past. 3-5 I see what you are capable of. It is an act of trust to say to the Father I believe you have what is best in mind for me. It is important for us as Christians to look at the faith of those before us.
It is a great comfort and help to learn and be encouraged by those that God delivered from certain suffering.
Whether it was suffering due to personal sin like Chuck Colson who was incarcerated in 1974 for covering up the Watergate burglary, then went on to become a Christian and start a worldwide ministry in 113 different nations called Prison Fellowship to help rehabilitate prisoners and lead them to Jesus. Not only that but author over a dozen books and a radio teacher. God used his high profile sinful decision to bring Him to Himself and then go to use Him for His glory.
Or random suffering because we live in sin wrought world and suffering happens like Charlotte Elliot who was confined to bed for 50 years with a debilitating disease the doctors could not figure out. Wrote “Just as I am”
-We are ridiculed for trusting Him. How some will react to us when we trust the Lord in suffering
Verses 6-8 What people say to those who suffer that trust the Lord. As a Christian when you suffer it sometimes becomes and opportunity for the unbelieving to mock your faith. We see that in Job when his wife tells him to curse God. We see that in Jesus’ crucifixion
When we are mocked it makes us angry at those who mock but there is a temptation to be angry with God because He has not delivered.
-We realize He is with us. God is there in the suffering. Verses 9-11 Jesus is the example of that. I know Jesus is with me when I suffer because of this next passage
-We look at Jesus’ suffering. Verses 12-18 Suffering can get ugly. Jesus suffering for sins (ultimately sin separates)
We go it alone with the Lord when we suffer. If your relationship with the Lord is not solid it will not go well. Others can not have faith for you. When sin is present there will always be suffering and that was what Jesus was suffering for.
As ugly as it can get God can use it in your life.
Somerset Maugham, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor at St Peter's Church in London. One day a young priest discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless, the man invested his meager savings in a tiny tobacco shop, where he prospered, bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of tobacco stores worth several hundred thousand dollars. One day the man's banker said, "You've done well for an illiterate, but where would you be if you could read and write?" "Well," replied the man, "I'd be janitor of St. Peter's Church in Neville Square."
Helen Keller said "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. How?
-We pray through it. Petition Verses 19-21 (keeping focus) Remember it is all about your relationship with the Lord that will see you through.
-We praise Jesus for deliverance. Allow the situation to result in praise.
The overlying theme of this praise is to make it known to others what the Lord has done. David shared with the congregation what the Lord did for him. Verses 22-31 (Read and comment)
Maybe you have not been delivered from suffering yet and you don’t feel like praising Him. You still have a deliverance to praise Him for and tell others about…salvation the GOSPEL
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