There is a reading of Psalm 22 as it pertains to Jesus' cry of forsakenness on the cross that is much more like Satan's exegesis than faithful, Biblical exegesis. Very basically and briefly, the argument goes something like this:
Even though Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 from the cross ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46), He really had the whole Psalm in view. So He really meant Psalm 22:24: "For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him."
(If you are concerned about the Trinity being broken apart in the forsakenness of Jesus on the cross, see
this and
this).
Let's consider the problems with this kind of exegesis.
1. Jesus Didn't Quote Psalm 22:24 On The Cross
First, let's just state the obvious. As much as some may wish that Jesus quoted Psalm 22:24 on the cross, He didn't. He didn't quote Psalm 22:24. He quoted Psalm 22:1. And Psalm 22:1 clearly demonstrates that Jesus was truly and objectively forsaken by God. This is how faithful interpreters of God's Word have understood this cry throughout the centuries. Consider:
John Calvin:
As our Savior Jesus Christ, when hanging on the cross, and when ready to yield up his soul into the hands of God his Father, made use of these very words, (Matthew 27:46,) we must consider how these two things can agree, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and that yet he was so penetrated with grief, seized with so great mental trouble, as to cry out that God his Father had forsaken him. The apparent contradiction between these two statements has constrained many interpreters to have recourse to evasions for fear of charging Christ with blame in this matter. 501 Accordingly, they have said that Christ made this complaint rather according to the opinion of the common people, who witnessed his sufferings, than from any feeling which he had of being deserted by his father. But they have not considered that they greatly lessen the benefit of our redemption, in imagining that Christ was altogether exempted from the terrors which the judgment of God strikes into sinners. It was a groundless fear to be afraid of making Christ subject to so great sorrow, lest they should diminish his glory. As Peter, in Acts 2:24, clearly testifies that “it was not possible that he should be holden of the pains of death,” it follows that he was not altogether exempted from them. And as he became our representative, and took upon him our sins, it was certainly necessary that he should appear before the judgment-seat of God as a sinner. From this proceeded the terror and dread which constrained him to pray for deliverance from death; not that it was so grievous to him merely to depart from this life; but because there was before his eyes the curse of God, to which all who are sinners are exposed. Now, if during his first conflict “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood,” and he needed an angel to comfort him, (Luke 22:43,) it is not wonderful if, in his last sufferings on the cross, he uttered a complaint which indicated the deepest sorrow. By the way, it should be marked, that Christ, although subject to human passions and affections, never fell into sin through the weakness of the flesh; for the perfection of his nature preserved him from all excess. He could therefore overcome all the temptations with which Satan assailed him, without receiving any wound in the conflict which might afterwards constrain him to halt. In short, there is no doubt that Christ, in uttering this exclamation upon the cross, manifestly showed, that although David here bewails his own distresses, this psalm was composed under the influence of the Spirit of prophecy concerning David’s King and Lord. (
Commentary on Psalm 22:1)
Martin Luther:
So then, gaze at the heavenly picture of Christ, who descended into hell [I Pet. 3:19] for your sake and was forsaken by God as one eternally damned when he spoke the words on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" — "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" [Matt. 27:46]. In that picture your hell is defeated and your uncertain election is made sure. (Martin Luther, Luther's Works, Vol. 42, Eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969), 105.)
Wilhelmus à Brakel:
Christ did indeed suffer eternal damnation, for eternal damnation, death, & pain consist in total separation from God, in the total manifestation of divine wrath, & all of this for such a duration until the punishment upon sin was perfectly & satisfactorily born." (The Christian's Reasonable Service, 1.591)
Herman Bavinck:
In the cry of Jesus we are dealing not with a subjective but with an objective God-forsakenness: He did not feel alone but had in fact been forsaken by God. His feeling was not an illusion, not based on a false view of his situation, but corresponded with reality. (
Reformed Dogmatics: Sin and Salvation in Christ, Vol. 3, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006, 389)
Petrus Van Mastricht:
What he suffered; not some light affliction, but the greatest of all evils, the highest affliction of all, death, and not only one kind of death, not only natural death, which we sometimes read is sought and desired by men, because it brings them deliverance from pressing evils, and an entrance into a better life (2 Cor. 5:1-2; Phil. 1:23); but in addition spiritual death, wherein deserted by God, exceeding sorrowful, even to death, he walked in darkness and saw no light (Isa. 50:10) . . . God stopping his ears to all his [Christ's] supplications, turning his face away from him (Theoretical-Practical Theology, Redemption in Christ, Vol. 4, 2023, pages 430, 436).
Matthew Henry:
Yet God forsook him, was far from helping him, and did not hear him, and it was this that he complained of more than all his sufferings. God delivered him into the hands of his enemies; it was by his determinate counsel that he was crucified and slain, and he did not give in sensible comforts. But, Christ having made himself sin for us, in conformity thereunto the Father laid him under the present impressions of his wrath and displeasure against sin. It pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief, Isa. 53:10. (Commentary on Psalm 22:1)
Charles Spurgeon:
Verse 1. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This was the startling cry of Golgotha: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani. The Jews mocked, but the angels adored when Jesus cried this exceeding bitter cry. Nailed to the tree we behold our great Redeemer in extremities, and what see we? Having ears to hear let us hear, and having eyes to see let us see! Let us gaze with holy wonder, and mark the flashes of light amid the awful darkness of that midday-midnight. First, our Lord's faith beams forth and deserves our reverent imitation; he keeps his hold upon his God with both hands and cries twice, "My God, my God!" The spirit of adoption was strong within the suffering Son of Man, and he felt no doubt about his interest in his God. Oh that we could imitate this cleaving to an afflicting God! Nor does the sufferer distrust the power of God to sustain him, for the title used —"El"—signifies strength, and is the name of the Mighty God. He knows the Lord to be the all-sufficient support and succour of his spirit, and therefore appeals to him in the agony of grief, but not in the misery of doubt. He would fain know why he is left, he raises that question and repeats it, but neither the power nor the faithfulness of God does he mistrust. What an enquiry is this before us! "Why hast thou forsaken me?" We must lay the emphasis on every word of this saddest of all utterances. "Why?" what is the great cause of such a strange fact as for God to leave his own Son at such a time and in such a plight? There was no cause in him, why then was he deserted? "Hast:" it is done, and the Saviour is feeling its dread effect as he asks the question; it is surely true, but how mysterious! It was no threatening of forsaking which made the great Surety cry aloud, he endured that forsaking in very deed. "Thou:" I can understand why traitorous Judas and timid Peter should be gone, but thou, my God, my faithful friend, how canst thou leave me? This is worst of all, yea, worse than all put together. Hell itself has for its fiercest flame the separation of the soul from God. "Forsaken:" if thou hadst chastened I might bear it, for thy face would shine; but to forsake me utterly, ah! why is this? "Me:" thine innocent, obedient, suffering Son, why leavest thou me to perish? A sight of self seen by penitence, and of Jesus on the cross seen by faith will best expound this question. Jesus is forsaken because our sins had separated between us and our God. (Treasury Of David On Psalm 22:1)
John Gill:
he was now deprived of the gracious presence of God, of the manifestations of his love to his human soul, and had a sense of divine wrath, not for his own sins, but for the sins of his people, and was for a while destitute of help and comfort; all which were necessary in order to make satisfaction for sin: for as he had the sins of his people imputed to him, he must bear the whole punishment of them, which is twofold the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense; the former lies in a deprivation of the divine presence, and the latter in a sense of divine wrath, and both Christ sustained as the surety of his people. (Commentary on Psalm 22:1)
Keil and Delitzsch:
The forsakenness of the Crucified One, however, is unique; and may not be judged by the standard of David or of any other sufferers who thus complain when passing through trial. That which is common to all is here, as there, this, viz., that behind the wrath that is felt, is hidden the love of God, which faith holds fast; and that he who thus complains even on account of it, is, considered in itself, not a subject of wrath, because in the midst of the feeling of wrath he keeps up his communion with God. The Crucified One is to His latest breath the Holy One of God; and the reconciliation for which He now offers himself is God's own eternal purpose of mercy, which is now being realised in the fulness of times. But inasmuch as He places himself under the judgment of God with the sin of His people and of the whole human race, He cannot be spared from experiencing God's wrath against sinful humanity as though He were himself guilty. And out of the infinite depth of this experience of wrath, which in His case rests on no mere appearance, but the sternest reality . . . . (Commentary On Psalm 22)
W. S. Plumer:
Christ was innocent and holy, kept the law and perfectly pleased His Father, yet when He took the place of sinners, assumed their guilt and bore their punishment, then the wicked of earth and hell were let loose upon Him, His friends hid as it were their faces from Him, and even His Father left Him without succor from the tormentors, and worse than all without His own comfortable presence. He felt the dreadful sting of sin, the sword of justice, the fire of wrath . . . Christ knew that he was the substitute for sinners and that he was suffering for others. But his human nature was ready to sink under the load of our sins, and under the hidings of his Father's face . . . . (Psalms, (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2016), 291-292).
Derek Kidner:
Our Lord's cry of dereliction told, it would seem, of an objective reality, namely the punitive separation He accepted in our place, "having become a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). (Psalms 1-72: An Introduction And Commentary, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 106).
Iain Duguid:
How could God's only begotten Son be forsaken by the Father? We stand on the threshold of the deepest of mysteries. We cannot say that the eternal fellowship of the Trinity was broken at Calvary - God cannot change. And the blessed communion of the three in one cannot be interrupted for a second. But it remains true that it is God who is forsaken by God here - God in the flesh Who was forsaken. Precisely in the confines of His flesh as a man - that's how Jesus bore this forsakenness . . . God was still His God. He would still cling to God, the very God Who was rejecting Him . . . He was heard and that hearing was vindicated in Jesus' resurrection from the dead. You have to be careful to do justice to both sides of the mystery here as they are contained in this Psalm. Jesus was truly forsaken - He was under the wrath of God in a very objective, very real experience for Him. There was no heavenly dove descending on the cross. There was no light from heaven and voice from the Father: "This is my Son in Whom I love!" on that dark day. There was only darkness. The Father's face truly was turned away from His Son in His humanity. And He suffered the absence of God to the utmost degree . . . Jesus could not see God's love with His eyes. (
Abandoned By God)
2. You Should Never Use Scripture To Contradict Scripture
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, the devil used God's Word to contradict other parts of God's Word in order to tempt Jesus:
If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you," and "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." (Matthew 4:6)
Here, the devil used God's Word to contradict God's Word, ripping Scripture out of context and misapplying it. On Matthew 4:6 and Satan's misuse of Scripture, D. A. Carson writes about how Jesus responded:
We see, then, something of Jesus' handling of Scripture. His "also" shows he would not allow any interpretation that generates what he knew would contradict another passage. (Emphasis mine) (Matthew And Mark, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zonderva, 2010, 142)).
In a similar way, using Psalm 22:24 to contradict Psalm 22:1 is a satanic exegetical move in which one Scripture is used to contradict others, and the Bible is misapplied. And even worse, it's misapplied in order to contradict the heart of the Gospel - the forsakenness of Christ. You should never do this.
The following interpreters show us a much more excellent way:
R. T. France writes:
The words are, of course, a quotation of the first verse of Psalm 22, a psalm which moves from despairing appeal to triumphant faith, and the Christian reader can, with hindsight, see the appropriateness of this total message. But it is illegitimate to interpret Jesus' words as referring to the part of the psalm which he did NOT echo. As throughout the crucifixion scene, it is the suffering of the righteous man in Psalm 22, not his subsequent vindication, which is alluded to. (Matthew (Tyndale Commentaries))
Leon Morris, D. A. Carson, and Craig Blomberg are helpful on this point as well:
Speaking loudly as He did, Jesus evidently meant the words to be heard. There is no great difficulty in translating Jesus’ words (as Matthew did for his non-Hebrew-speaking readers): My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But understanding what they mean is a much more difficult problem. For some modern readers the words are so shocking and so different from anything Jesus said throughout His ministry that they feel it is impossible to accept them. One way of doing this is to point out that the Psalm that begins in this way goes on to praise God for deliverance as the Psalmist says, "From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me . . . in the midst of the congregation I will praise you" (vv. 21-22). The suggestion is made accordingly that in his hour of need Jesus was reciting a psalm that brings comfort and that we are to understand from the words quoted that he went through the whole psalm. To this it may well be retorted that if this was the case almost any other verse in the whole psalm would convey the meaning better than those Jesus actually quotes. But in any case it is perilous to argue from the use of one verse that Jesus was quoting the whole psalm . . . . (The Gospel According to Matthew (Pillar New Testament Commentary)) Leon Morris)
A large number of commentators have interpreted the cry against the background of the whole of Psalm 22, which begins with this sense of desolation but ends with the triumphant vindication of the righteous sufferer. The chief difficulty is that though OT texts are frequently cited with their full contexts in mind, they are never cited in such a way that the OT context effectively annuls what the text itself affirms (Bonnard). If the context of Psalm 22 is carried along with the actual reference to Psalm 22:1, the reader of the gospel is to understand that the vindication comes with the resurrection in Matthew 28, not that Jesus' cry reflects full confidence instead of black despair. (Matthew and Mark (Expositor's Bible Commentary)), D. A. Carson)
Just as Jesus would have learned to pray and sing many of the psalms in his private and corporate devotional life, so also it is natural for him to quote one here in a situation so parallel to that of his kingly ancestor. What is more controversial is the question of whether Jesus, in uttering this cry of dereliction (or Matthew in recording it), was thereby alluding to the entire psalm, following the common rabbinic practice of citing just the beginning of a given text when a larger, entire passage was in view. This would enable one to interpret Jesus' words as anticipating the same victory described in 27:19-31 even as he uttered his cry of abandonment . . . However, neither Jesus nor Matthew seems to have employed this technique elsewhere, and nothing in the immediate context of Matt. 27 suggests it (though of course elsewhere repeatedly predicted his resurrection, which in fact does occur). So it is probably safer not to assume that Jesus' cry abandonment was simultaneously a cry of faith. Jesus really did sense the absence of his Father, and this is precisely the moment when we should expect him, in his humanity, to be least confident of his future . . . Readers of the Gospels who cannot accept this concept probably reflect an unwitting Docetism - the heresy that Christ was not fully human. Indeed, if one wants to do more with Matt. 27:46 than hear a cry of dereliction, one is better off looking to other uses of Ps. 22:27-31 in the Gospels as a sign of God's judgment . . . Throughout church history, Jesus' cry of dereliction has been identified as the moment of divine abandonment. Jesus, who died to atone vicariously for the sins of humanity, recognized at this point in his suffering that he no longer was experiencing the communion with his heavenly Father that had characterized his life . . . Jesus, as the sin-bearing sacrifice, must endure the temporary abandonment of the Father. (Commentary On The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament, On Matthew 27:46, Craig Blomberg)
You should never use one portion of the Word of God to contradict another portion of the Word of God. When you do this, you are essentially taking away from the Word of God:
Revelation 22:18-19: I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Using Psalm 22:24 to deny Psalm 22:1 is also satanic because it strikes at the heart of the Gospel. If Jesus was not forsaken on that cross, then we will all be forsaken in hell forever and there is no hope of salvation for anyone. We need the true, objective forsakenness of Jesus on the cross! It's the heart of the Gospel! No hope without it! As the United Reformed Churches in North America state in their Lord's Supper liturgy:
He was once forsaken by God that we might forever be accepted by Him. (“Celebration of the Lord’s Supper, Form 2” in Liturgical Forms and Prayers of the United Reformed Churches in North America)
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
3. Psalm 22:24 Is About The Resurrection Of Jesus
Psalm 22:24: For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
This verse and the victorious end of Psalm 22 does not mean Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross or that the Father didn't turn His face away from Jesus while He was bearing the wrath and curse of God on the cross. It means God raised Him from the dead! It is clear that there is a movement from rejection and forsakenness to acceptance, salvation, and victory in Psalm 22. But that doesn't mean that Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross. It means He was forsaken and died, and then God raised Him from the dead. Many faithful interpreters understand the movement of Psalm 22 this way:
John Calvin commenting on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:11-12:
He is not ashamed to call them brethren. This passage is taken from Psalm 22:22. That Christ is the speaker there, or David in his name, the evangelists do especially testify, for they quote from it many verses, such as the following, — “They parted my garments,” — “They gave gall for my meat,” — “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And further, the other parts of the chapter prove the same; for we may see in the history of the passion a delineation of what is there related. The end of the Psalm, which speaks of the calling of the Gentiles, can be applied to none but to Christ alone, “Turn to the Lord shall all the ends of the world; adore before him shall all the families of the nations,” — “The Lord’s is the kingdom, and he will reign over the nations.” These things are found accomplished only in Christ, who enlarged the kingdom of God not over a small space, as David did, but extended it over the whole world; it was before confined as it were within narrow limits. There is, then, no doubt but that his voice is what is referred to in this passage; and appropriately and suitably does he say that he is not ashamed; for how great is the distance between us and him? Much, then, does he let down himself, when he dignifies us with the name of brethren; for we are unworthy that he should deem us his servants. And this so great an honor conferred on us is amplified by this circumstance — Christ does not speak here as a mortal man while in the form of a servant, but when elevated after the resurrection into immortal glory. (Commentary On Hebrews)
John Gill:
for though he forsook him for a while, and in a little wrath hid his face from him for a moment, that he might bear the whole curse of the law for us; yet he returned again, and did not hide his face from him for even; but when he cried unto him, he heard; cried not only on account of his crucifiers, that God would forgive them; but on account of himself, that he would not be afar off from him; that he would take his spirit or soul into his hands, into which he committed it; that he would deliver him from the power of death and the grave, and loose their bands; in all which he was heard, Hebrews 5:7. (Commentary On Psalm 22:24)
Matthew Henry:
The same that began the psalm complaining, who was no other than Christ in his humiliation, ends it here triumphing, and it can be no other than Christ in his exaltation. And, as the first words of the complaint were used by Christ himself upon the cross, so the first words of the triumph are expressly applied to him (Heb. 2:12) and are made his own words: I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. The certain prospect which Christ had of the joy set before him not only gave him a satisfactory answer to his prayers, but turned his complaints into praises; he saw of the travail of his soul, and was well satisfied . . . (Commentary On Psalm 22:22-31)
Charles Spurgeon:
Before us we have a description both of the darkness and of the glory of the cross, the sufferings of Christ and the glory which shall follow. (Treasury Of David On Psalm 22)
Keil and Delitzsch:
On the other hand, the first portion exactly coincides with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and the second with the results that have sprung from His resurrection. (Commentary On Psalm 22)
W. S. Plumer:
Piscator: "This Psalm is prophetical. For it contains a prophecy of the sufferings and death of Christ, as also of his resurrection and spiritual kingdom . . ." . . . [On Psalm 22:24]: Every step in Christ's exaltation fills the hearts of the pious with joy and praise. His success is the pledge of their victory. His resurrection makes sure the redemption of their bodies. (Psalms, (Carlisle, PA: The Banner Of Truth Trust, 2016), 290, 300).
Bruce Waltke:
David’s passion and deliverance are a type of Christ’s death and resurrection . . . While hanging on the cross, Jesus employed the psalm’s opening cry of abandonment (22:1; Matt 27:46), and the writer of Hebrews identifies the antecedent of “I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you” (22:22) as Jesus (Heb 2:12). The section on praise contains soul-stirring prophecies. This remarkable psalm of Christ’s death and resurrection enjoins the whole Church and all nations to worship the living, triune God. (Commentary On Psalm 22)
John Collins:
However, in view of its prominent place in the crucifixion story, Christian readers have found in it a description of the sufferings of Jesus . . . Matthew presents Jesus as a thoroughly good and faithful person who is brutally and unjustly executed, and mocked by those who should have supported him. But this portrayal of Jesus in light of Psalm 22 allows Christ followers as well to expect some kind of vindication, as vv. 22-31 describe; and they are not disappointed as they read the resurrection account. (ESV Study Bible Notes)
Christopher Ash commenting on Psalm 22:22-24:
This magnificent suffering King is not ashamed to call the people he has redeemed his brothers (cf. Heb. 2:12), and this is exactly what he does after his resurrection . . . The risen Lord stands in the midst of the congregation (his church) leading our praise to the Father for his resurrection . . . The risen Lord summons his people, defined as those who fear the LORD, to join in his praise of the Father . . . The burden of our praise is that our sin-bearing Lord, afflicted by our sins, has been heard when he cried with "loud cries and tears" (Heb. 5:7). Let by Christ, we praise the Father that the atoning sacrifice of Christ has been accepted and Christ has been raised from death to demonstrate to us this wonderful assurance . . . Putting the two parts of Psalm 22 together presses home to us that it is only the gospel of the cross and resurrection that brings the kingdom and blessing of God to the world. We cannot have the blessing without the resurrection, and we cannot have the blessing without the cross. As we meditate on the extraordinary scope and wonder of the blessings (esp. in 22:27-31), we are strengthened in our resolve to keep the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ right at the center of our message and of our corporate worship and devotion. (The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024, 259-260, 263)).
George Guthrie on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:
Given the original context of Ps. 22:22, and the numerous points of contact that its chapter has with the passion of Jesus, the author of Hebrews certainly understood the verse to have been part of a direct verbal prophecy explicitly fulfilled in the person of Christ. Numerous details, in which Jesus' suffering parallels that of this righteous sufferer in the psalm, point to a striking relationship between the OT passage and Jesus' experience . . . As the turning point in the psalm, 22:22 offers a strong note of victory coming out of suffering, and this accords with the vindication of Christ through resurrection and exaltation. (Commentary On The New Testament Use Of The Old, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007, 949))
Kent Hughes on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:
Thus Christ prophetically agonizes throughout the crucifixion, interspersing his agony with prayers. But in Psalm 22:22 - as the crucifixion is over and he is resurrected and exalted - Jesus cries triumphantly to God his Father . . . . (Hebrews: An Anchor For The Soul (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015, 73)).
Richard Philips on the use of Psalm 22:22 in Hebrews 2:12:
As was his custom, the writer of Hebrews proves this point with Old Testament citations. The first is from Psalm 22, which so accurately anticipates Jesus' death on the cross. These words come after the suffering, when the psalmist was sure of deliverance, just as Jesus praised God after his resurrection from the dead: "I will tell of your name t my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise" (Heb. 2:12). (Hebrews (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006, 73-74)).
James Hamilton Jr. on Psalm 22:
David speaks of his sin resulting in him being forsaken by God as his enemies triumph over him, strip him of his clothing, which they take for themselves, and leave him naked in the dust. That is not, however, the end end of the story, as David continues to call on the Lord and experiences deliverance. As a result he praises God in the congregation of his brothers, anticipating the blessing of all nations in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. This pattern Jesus fulfills: he took the sins of his people, and as he died on the cross he was forsaken by the Father. The seed of the serpent enacted the words of Ps 22, sometimes even taunting Jesus with them as he died. Jesus was stripped naked. His clothing was plundered. He was laid in the dust of death. But he rose. He recounts God's name in the great congregation. He turns the nations from the ends of the earth to the worship of Yahweh. And his righteousness has been declared to successive generations. God has worked salvation in Christ. (Psalms: Evangelical Biblical Theological Commentary, Vol. 1. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021, 292)).
Iain Duguid preaching on Psalm 22:
Jesus was heard. Precisely because of His faithful perseverance in choosing to trust in God, He was heard and that hearing was vindicated in Jesus's resurrection from the dead. (Abandoned By God)
Conclusion
So, the next time someone tells you that Jesus wasn't forsaken on the cross because Psalm 22:24 says so, kindly, gently, and with as much love as you can (like when Jesus said these words to Peter) say: "Get behind me Satan. That is a satanic reading of Psalm 22."
We Must Get The Cross Right
