1078. The Power of the Resurrection

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones reviewing a study series entitled, Looking Under Jesus, which is a study of Christ in the Old Testament. Today's message will be preached by Dr. Jason Ormiston of the Bob Jones University Seminary. We invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to Psalm 22.

Psalm 22. We have an opportunity together to look at Christ in the Old Testament, and I hope you've been enjoying the series as much as I have. I'm really pumped today because I look over to my right, and there's usually a clock that's ticking down and it's not moving. That may make you a little concerned. Don't worry. I will honor your time and make sure you're out on time.

But that's so nice not to have that looking at me. I'm programmed to teach for 50 minutes, you know, and sometimes my sermons go that long. But not this one.

Okay. I want to encourage you to consider with me a message that I'm entitling, The Power of the Resurrection. And The Power of the Resurrection is going to come from a place that may not seem usual to you, and that place is Psalm chapter 22. So Psalm chapter 22, as we consider this text, I want to subtitle this, A Look into the Mind of Christ. So Psalm 22, A Look into the Mind of Christ. A window into the mind of Christ, trying to understand who He is and what He was thinking.

You know, Tuesday of last week, we were in Bible conference together. And during Bible conference, something happened on the other side of the world, in the air. Co-pilot Andreas Lupitz made the fatal decision to lock out the pilot and to take the plane, German wings Airbus A320, right into the French Alps, taking the lives of over 150 souls. The international community wondered, what happened? Is this an act of terrorism? What's going on in Andreas' mind?

What would cause him to think this way and do this deed? Well, they were on a search for that black box, so that they could get some sort of an indication of what was going on, and they did find it. And yet, to their dismay, it didn't help them out very much, because all they heard would be the normal banter that would go on between a pilot and a co-pilot as they take off. And then the pilot made some comment about, I'm going to go and I'll be back in just a minute. And then you hear the locking of the door, and then silence with his eight-minute descent right into the Alps. We didn't hear anything. Well, actually, you did hear some things. You heard the pilot banging on the door, identifying himself, saying, let me in, what are you doing?

You heard the cries of 148 others screaming, what's going on? But nothing indicated that there was anything wrong with Andreas. He had this steady breathing going on. I bring that up to you because I wonder what was going on in his mind.

And I know, as you've read reports, there's this idea that perhaps he was struggling with depression and had these other things going on. But I want to look at a psalm that will serve as our black box, as it were, into the mind of Christ. Now, recordings in planes only tell us what we hear audibly, but this psalm will help us understand what's going on in the mind of Christ.

And this is, I hope, going to be an exciting journey for you as it has been for me. Now, you might say, why do we need to know what's going on in the mind of Christ? Jesus Christ himself told us seven statements on the cross.

And you are right. If you remember, this Tuesday, Dr. Pettit challenged us to slow down and carve out some time to think about the passion and to think about Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection. And if you did that, you noted seven statements made by Christ throughout the gospels. His first statement was, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. His second statement, he turns to the criminal on the cross, and he says, today you will be with me in paradise. His third statement, he looks down at John. John, behold your mother.

Mother, behold your son, thinking of others. And then we're introduced to the statement, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then he cries out, I thirst. And then he says, it is finished. And finally, he says, into thy hands I commit my spirit.

So we know that, so why do I need to go and try to figure out what's going on in his mind? I think it's the only real explanation for the content that we find in front of us in Psalm chapter 22. Unless you think I'm taking too many liberties, I want to challenge you with this thought as you're gazing your eyes down to Psalm 22. Acts 2 29 through 31, Peter makes this statement. He says, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, did you get that, being a prophet, David? That of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Quoting from Psalm 16 11. And I'm going to suggest to you that what we find here in Psalm 22 is a window into the mind of Christ. It's showing us the power of the resurrection.

First thing we need to note is the subtitle. It says a Psalm of David. So the author here is David, and it's coming in a book that includes Israel's hymnal or journal, 150 songs. You can divide those songs into five different books.

They neatly go alongside of the Pentateuch. Where this first book, book 1 through 41, is dealing with man. And we learn within that book, there are songs that go together. Like, I would argue with you that Psalm 1 and 2 go together as an introduction, and find also here, Psalm 22, 23, and 24 going together, all talking about Jesus Christ as our shepherd. And you see this in Psalm 22, the good shepherd dying for the sheep, 23 you're familiar with, the great shepherd caring for the sheep, and 24, the chief shepherd coming for his sheep.

The king is coming. And as we look at this Psalm, we're introduced to a passage that doesn't quite make sense if we know the life of David, because nothing in this Psalm can be matched to an event that took place in his life. I'm talking about the time when he was a shepherd boy and he would write songs, or the time when he was running from King Saul, or the time when he was running from his son Absalom. The content in here, in this Psalm, it just doesn't match.

Now, I'm not saying it didn't happen for David. He felt these ways. He felt these ways deeply. But I want to introduce you to the power of the Spirit of God inspiring an author to give us a window into the mind of Christ. And so primarily, as we look at the Psalm, I want us to think of it as Christ on the cross, and what he was thinking, and how he responded. And it will, I hope, encourage us in our walk with him.

Because I see here a portrait of Christ. And the reason why I say that is if we look in the Psalm, which we will do together, we're going to find that in verse 1, and verse 8, verse 16 and 18, all have references to what can be found in the New Testament. Direct quotes from what happened to Jesus or what Jesus said. So clearly, this Psalm is prophetic in talking about the Resurrection. Over seven references to this Psalm are made in the New Testament. And one of the strongest reference, which I will demonstrate, is in Psalm 22, verse 22.

It's quoted in Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 12, which is in the context of the Resurrection. Now, I hope I haven't lost you, because it's so important for us to understand the structure. So to be very clear, let me give you this basic outline that we're going to look at and consider.

And our time together, now that the clock, by the way, is working, so now you're really OK, our time together is going to be spent really focused in on this primary, this first point. This first point is in reference to the prayer of the suffering sovereign. And I'm going to show you how his prayer is answered and it turns into jubilation or praise, the praise of a victorious king. That's how you could divide this Psalm, verses 1 through 21 and verses 22 through 31. Notice this division for yourself, not even just looking at the verses, but look at these three prayers. If you look down in your Bible and you look at verse 1, you'll see a reference here to this phrase, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me?

You see that? Now notice in verse 11 the same phrase, be not far from me. And now notice in verse 19, be, but be not far from me. And I think it's framed here, three prayers. And then we have this twofold praise. And these twofold praise is they come in verse 22, a call to praise from God's people, the children of Israel, and then in verse 27, a call for the nations to join in and give him praise. And why did the world happen between these prayers of lament and these praises of declaration of God's greatness? I think the turning point is really found in verse 21, the last part. Notice what it says, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. Now don't get thrown by the reference to unicorns here.

OK, it's wild oxen. But thou hast heard me, something happened in Christ's heart and life. He knew God heard him, and it turned his heart into praise.

And so I want to encourage you, if you're taking notes, to consider first the prayer of the sovereign, the suffering sovereign. Consider these things and relate with how Christ sees you and knows you. I want you to see, first of all, Christ understands rejection.

He understands rejection. Look down at your Bible in verse 1. It says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? The word here for forsaken has this concept of being left behind, let go, deserted. Why, God, have you deserted me? This is the ultimate desertion. This is God turning his back on God.

It's an amazing concept. And I want you to think now, the mind of Christ, now we're in this black box. We're listening to what Christ is saying and how he thinks. And he is just really bothered by the fact that he feels forsaken. He says, you're forsaken even the words of my roaring.

The roaring here can be external as that which was done and demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane. We don't have any account of Jesus roaring from the cross. We hear him saying with a loud voice, into thy hands I commit my spirit, demonstrating that he remained in control the entire time he was on the cross.

He didn't just out of complete weakness say I can't do this anymore. But what we find here is that he's just bothered because he's crying out and he doesn't sense God is listening. Notice verse 2, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not in the night season and am not silent. What is this saying? Well, it's a perfect picture of what happened on the cross.

It was bright out and then the sixth hour came and it was dark, dark as night. And Jesus still roaring within himself, calling out my God, my God, why have you forsaken me at the end of the ninth hour, not understanding what's going on in the sense of his humanity wanting to be out in his deity perfectly submissive to what God was doing. But I want you to get this. Jesus Christ understands rejection from God. And how does he respond? Well, he says, but thou art holy. He responds by quickly looking at the character of God, who he is. You're a holy God. When you feel afflicted in this, excuse me, rejected in the sense of isolated, left alone, I want to call you to look at the character of who God is.

And then look at the conduct of God, what God has done in the past. It says, and thou hast inhabited the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee. They trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee and they were delivered.

They trusted in thee and were not confounded. I'm suggesting to you that as Christ is crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why have you not heard my prayer in the daytime and at the nighttime that in his mind, he reminded himself of how great God is and how great God has demonstrated himself, this great God, through the children of Israel and the way that he redeemed them, bought them out of slavery, and provided for them and sustained them. And I call you to consider when you feel, one, overwhelmed by rejection, look to God, consider what he has done. But notice the rejection goes not just from God, comes not just from God, but from man. Notice verse 6. David makes this statement, and I'm telling you we're looking at it through the mind of Christ. Christ says, but I am a worm. I don't know, that just doesn't sit well with me. Jesus, God, telling us he's a worm?

Come back to that. He says, no man. A reproach of men and despised of the people. Here we see a reference to reproach, scorned of men, despised of the people, thought lightly of, contemptible.

Isaiah 53.3 fits in perfectly. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. But what about this worm concept? Do we read that to say that Jesus on the cross said, I'm a worm. I am good for nothing. I'm not even a man.

Well, he didn't look like a man. We know that from what we heard yesterday in chapel from Dr. Talbert. But what's interesting, if you look at this word worm, it's the Hebrew word tolaat, which literally means a scarlet worm.

And this is a particular word for a worm that, when crushed, produces a scarlet dye. And furthermore, the female embeds herself into wood or into a tree, gives birth to her young, and then dies, and in death, stains the young in the wood so that the young have life. Do you get it? I see Jesus not saying, I'm not worth anything. I see Jesus saying, I know what rejection is like, but I also know why I'm here.

I'm here to purchase the price for everyone who calls on me. What a beautiful picture of who Jesus is and in the mind of Christ. And what else does he think about himself?

He knows others are rejecting him. And we turn to verse 8, and we learn that he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him. I'm sorry, I missed verse 7.

I don't want to miss verse 7. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They shake their head. And what we here see is we see a reference where in the first one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, we've seen a reference to Matthew 27, verse 46, and Mark 14, verse 34. Here we have another reference to a biblical passage, Matthew 27, 42 through 43, which describes this very event where people gathered around, lip sticking out, saying, who are you? You're nothing.

Rejected by others. And in his mind, Jesus makes this statement in verse 9, but thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly.

So if you take verses 6 through 8, and they're taunting him and saying, he trusted the Lord, let the Lord deliver him, Jesus reflects on this fact. God, you came up with this plan. It's your plan that I would be incarnated into this baby and trust on my mother and find comfort in her.

I'm going to rest in you. Jesus understands rejection, and I want you to know that he knows if you feel today isolated or rejected, maybe drop ad week hits you a little too personally. I know what it's like to be at college my sophomore year getting dropped off by my parents. It was in the middle of the sophomore year. I came early to play basketball and do the whole conditioning thing, and I felt so alone in the middle of nowhere in upper Wisconsin.

I remember as this big, tall, six foot six, used to be muscle bound guy, crying out, saying, I don't know if I want to be here. I'm lonely. Things happen. My brother went to college with me, and he graduated. And I just made the mistake of not building enough friends.

I'm hanging with my brother and having a good time. And you might say, well, that's a cheap illustration. You don't know loneliness and isolation.

OK, I agree. Maybe my illustration doesn't come close to what you're feeling right now, but I know one who does know. It's Jesus.

If you feel rejected today, run to Christ. It's just very simple because he knows. Notice the other thing that he knows. He understands oppression. In verse 11, we have the second prayer.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. And then he gives us oppression in these categories. I think oppression spiritually, oppression physically, and oppression emotionally. So if you're keeping notes, you would consider, verses 12 and 13, spiritual oppression.

And all I'm going to do is just touch on this. And I want you to note that there's references here to many bulls have compassed me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gape upon me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion. And I'm going to suggest to you, verses 12 and 13 speak of demonic oppression around the foot of the cross. Demons reveling in the glory of seeing Christ on the cross. Isn't that amazing if you would see what I'm saying to you, that in Colossians 2, verses 14 through 15, having spoiled principality and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it, there at his cross.

There's also this affliction that is very physical. And here, a beauty of this psalm that tells me that I believe I'm on the right track looking into the mind of Christ. Here, David describes a form of crucifixion that had not yet been invented.

It wouldn't be invented until some 400 years later by the Persians, and then implemented on him a thousand years later. And here's David just rolling with lament. And look at how he describes the cross. Verse 14, I'm poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax.

It's melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and now has brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones they look and stare upon me. All of these references to being suspended between heaven and earth.

Can't even lift up his head. All he can see are his ribs pierced in his hands and his feet. Talking about the piercings of a wild animal, biting into you and their teeth marking in you, but we know the piercings are those four massive wounds on Christ, his hands and his feet.

Jesus Christ is in the midst of all this, and then he sees this emotional, we see this emotional oppression. Verse 18, they parted my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. To take someone's garment, outer garment, is just really a disgrace, because basically this, I want you to understand, it's against the law to take someone's garment and keep it overnight.

You're supposed to give it back to that person because it's the only thing he had to sleep in that night. And it was so honored, usually you would take the garment of one who had died and pass it on to a family member, but in their scorn and contempt for Christ, they took the garment and said, let's barter over this. You know who was at the cross? Mary.

It's very clear, mom's there, why not give the garment to mom? Because they didn't care about Jesus. Jesus understands rejection. Jesus understands oppression. Spiritually, physically, emotionally.

And I wish I had more time to develop what I'm saying, but I need to get to this third. Christ understands desperation. Notice, I say this in his humanity. I do completely believe that Jesus was submissive to this whole process, but let's not forget, Jesus is 100% man, and in his humanity, look at how he cries out, be, but be not far from me, oh Lord, my strength, haste thee to help me. He calls on God in desperation to provide him strength.

He calls on God to hurry up. I can't, I don't want to, maybe it's better, do this anymore. At Northland, I ran into a wall. I bounced off this wall. There's a story behind that. I was blindfolded, so it wasn't as bad as normally it is for me, but it ended out that I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 29 stitches right in the center of my head.

And I remember going to Iron Mountain, Michigan, and having the doctor who was on call show up, and his hair was all disheveled. I'm thinking, is this guy drunk? Is he with it? He's going to stitch me up? I'm in big trouble.

I'm never going to get married. I have this huge scar right in the front of my head. The local anesthesia that they used wore out on stitch 20. And I remember every pull of that thread in my head. I was hoping for it to be hofer.

I think that's what's going on here. Like, Lord, would you hasten to help me? He says, deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog.

That word, my darling, translated from Hebrew to Greek is monogenes, which means only begotten, another reference to Christ in John 3.16. This is all about Jesus. And so we see Christ understanding this unbelievable desperation for God.

Would you please act? I don't know if I can keep this up. And then we're directed, in our attention, to the turning point. This is so amazing. He says, save me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. These are wild oxen. At the very point of death, something changes.

Huh, what happened? Well, verse 22 gives us the hint. I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

OK, that doesn't help me at all. Well, it does if you would consider that this verse is quoted in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 12. And if you understand the contents of Hebrews 2, verse 12, it's all talking about Jesus Christ and his superiority over angels and how he conquered death and hell.

And how did he do that, everyone, on the cross and through his Resurrection? And so I conclude with this thought. If we understand how Christ is able to relate with us when we feel rejected, when we feel oppressed, when we feel desperate for him to act and move and do something, notice the reverse of the curse in the last part of this chapter, the praises of a victorious King.

I'm just going to reference these. What we see, first of all, is God heard my cry. So when you feel rejected, remember, because of the Resurrection, we can say that God hears us.

This is the reverse of what we saw in the first plea, this first petition. Jesus Christ overcomes rejection through the Resurrection. The second one, we see a reference to this fact that God not only heard my cry, but we have a reference to the second one.

There we go, all nations will worship him. And how does that reverse the curse? Well, if we consider the second one, the second aspect being oppression, everyone's oppressing.

They're hurting spiritually, physically, emotionally. Notice what happens, the Resurrection overcomes oppression. Because in verses 22 through 25, it speaks of Israel praising him, in verses 27 through 31, it speaks of all nations praising him. And that's the result of the Resurrection. And finally, I will experience eternal satisfaction. That desperation in verse 19, where he says, haste thou to help me. You are my strength, but hurry up and help me. Notice in verse 26, there's a reference to eternal satisfaction.

What a great God we serve. So Mr. Lupitz set the plane on a 10-minute descent about half an hour into the flight from Barcelona, Spain to Germany. The cockpit voice recorder picked up only the usual pilot exchange, the banter of cheerful, courteous words. Investigations do not know exactly what happened. Mr. Lupitz might have intentionally crashed the aircraft, and the thing is, we know he did, out of his depression. You can hear in the background of the black box, screams of people saying, what is happening? And we're still only hearing this constant breathing of a man who is just focused on taking the lives of all of those around him.

And we're left going, that's just a random act of madness. I wish we knew what was going on in his mind. I wish someone could have reached him. And I want you to know this, that Psalm 22 is that black box that helps us understand the mind of Christ. You know what Psalm 22 does for me and what I hope it does for you? When you feel alone, when you feel oppressed, when you are desperate for God to act, cry out to him. Pray to him. And then reflect on his goodness in prayer. Remember, Jesus Christ knows, Jesus Christ sees, and Jesus Christ cares. And he is the great high priest who has not just been touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, such as we are, and yet without sin. He is the great victor. And to Christ, we can turn in the power of his Resurrection. May God bless you as you pursue him in this way. You've been listening to a sermon preached at Bob Jones University by Dr. Jason Ormiston, which is part of the study series about Christ in the Old Testament. Join us again tomorrow as we continue this series here on The Daily Platform. We'll see you next time on The Daily Platform.