Sharper Iron — The Psalter: The Passion of Our Lord According to St. David

Rev. Matt Wietfeldt, Director of Admissions and the Christ Academy program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 22.

Psalm 22 is one of the clearest Old Testament depictions of Christ’s suffering and death. The Father’s abandonment, the mockery of the bystanders, the nails through Christ’s hands and feet, and the gambling for Christ’s garments are all foretold. Even as Christ prays Psalm 22 from the cross in His great suffering over the Father’s abandonment, yet Christ also prays in great hope and trust that God will rescue Him. This trust is seen quite clearly in the last part of Psalm 22, where the hope of the resurrection shines brightest. Because Christ was abandoned by the Father on the cross, we have the assurance that Christ’s promise to be with us always is true.

Join Sharper Iron during the month of July to study several Psalms. In the Psalter, God speaks His Word to us and teaches us how to speak back to Him in prayer. Even in the great variety of the Psalms, each one points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Psalm 22

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
²O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

³Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises^[a] of Israel.
⁴In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet^[b]—
¹⁷I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
²¹    Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued^[c] me from the horns of the wild oxen!

²²I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴For 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.

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
²⁶The afflicted^[d] shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.

Footnotes

Psalm 22:3 Or dwelling in the praises
Psalm 22:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet
Psalm 22:21 Hebrew answered
Psalm 22:26 Or The meek

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).