The Messianic Psalms - Psalm 22 (2) — Chip Brogden

I will rejoice and be glad in it. Hello again everyone. This is Chip Brogdon coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. We're streaming online at www .watchman .net and we're continuing our series of messages on the Messianic Psalms.

The Messianic Psalms and Psalm 22

Jesus said everything written about him in the law, the prophets, and the psalms must come to pass. And so we're focusing our study on those particular psalms that we call Messianic Psalms, psalms that speak to the Messiah, that reveal something of the person or the nature of Jesus Christ, those psalms that give us some insight or revelation into the character of Jesus and his kingdom.

So last week we began a new study with Psalm 22. Now we did not finish Psalm 22 and that's what we are endeavoring to do this week. So if you're listening to this and you have not heard part one of Psalm 22, I encourage you to go back and listen to that first before you listen to this particular message because we only got about halfway through.

And as I looked at the time I had remaining, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to complete this psalm and really get into the heart of what I wanted to share with you. So Psalm 22 was talking about the crucifixion of Jesus.

And as I alluded to last week, a lot of people will teach out of Psalm 22 and they'll get the physical and spiritual aspects of the crucifixion in front of people and conclude their teaching. But this psalm is rich all the way through it and I don't think enough attention has been paid to the final part, this last half of Psalm 22.

And so that's what we want to devote ourselves to today is the last half of this Psalm 22. So grab your Bible and join me there in Psalm 22. And let's go to the Lord right now in prayer and ask him to give us revelation into this teaching.

Thank you, Father, for the opportunity and the privilege that we have to come together and to study your word. Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. I thank you that these scriptures bring strength and peace and life to us.

And I thank you, Lord, for your word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. I thank you that the entrance of your word brings life and light and truth. And so, Lord, as we study and meditate upon these truths, I thank you for giving us enlightenment, giving us truth as we meditate upon your word.

Holy Spirit, come and be our teacher and open our eyes to see and to behold wonderful things in these scriptures. Open our eyes to see Jesus. Lead us into all truth. I thank you for those that are listening, Lord, and I pray that we would all have an open heart to hear and to listen to what the Spirit wants to teach us and show us here in Psalms 22.

So thank you again, Lord, for this opportunity that we have in your word. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. So Psalms 22, now last week we talked a lot about the crucifixion. Again, if you've not heard that message, I encourage you to go back and listen to it before you listen to this one.

From Deliverance to Overcoming Through the Cross

What we left off in Psalm 22, verse 22, and again to set the stage for you, the first 21 verses of this particular psalm are kind of a petition, a crying out to God, not for deliverance. It goes further than that.

Most of us are trying to get deliverance from our cross instead of trying to see God's purpose in that cross. We're trying to get deliverance from out of our circumstances when really overcoming is not deliverance from my circumstance at all.

Overcoming is learning to walk in victory and to see God's purpose in the midst of my circumstances, not being delivered out of them altogether necessarily. And most of the time, God does not bring you out of the situation.

He brings you through the situation. And the purpose of that circumstance, the purpose of that situation, is to grow you up into Christ. I call it being reduced to Christ. Our circumstances tend to do that.

So when we are facing a cross, when we're facing a difficult trial, a difficult circumstance, it is intended to reduce us to the point of death. Because what happens is when we embrace the death of a cross, then the life of Jesus Christ is able to be revealed in us.

Paul says that as we share in the death of the Lord, we also share in the life of the Lord. But if we're not willing to suffer with Him, he says, we're not going to reign with Him. So if we want to reign with Him as kings and priests in His kingdom, we've got to be willing to accept our portion, our share of the sufferings.

And that's what is meant by taking up the cross, denying yourself, and following after Jesus as a disciple. That's the whole basis of discipleship. It's self-denial. And so we can see the fulfillment of Psalm 22 in the life, death, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection of Christ.

We see all of that here. But we also see a very practical application for us as we are following in the steps of the Master, as we are His disciples sitting at His feet and hearing His word. He says that you're not going to rise any higher than Him.

You can be like Him, He says, but the disciple will never be above the Master. It's enough that the disciple is like his Master. And He says, if they called Me names and if they persecuted Me, then they're going to do the same to you.

So we need to go ahead and accept that as an accomplished fact, as just part of living the Christian life is you're going to go through temptations and testings and trials. And the epitome of Christian living is not avoiding all of that.

It's learning to overcome in the midst of it. It's heading right into the storm and walking on the water if you have to. That's what it means to overcome. Now sometimes God will speak and the storm will cease and the wave will be still.

Sometimes He'll call you to get down out of the boat and walk on the water. And the waves are still there, the wind and the storm are there, and you've just got to be obedient. But that's how your faith grows.

So I just have a different perspective on the things that we go through. I'm not trying to get deliverance out of it necessarily. That would be nice, wouldn't it? And sometimes God does in His mercy deliver us from that particular cross that we're on.

But, you know, if you take up the cross and follow Jesus, it just stands to reason that you're going to experience some things that God's not going to deliver you from. There's got to be a death that we have to die.

There is a death that He has called us to embrace, not hide from, but to embrace that death so that we can learn to walk in resurrection life. There's no resurrection without a crucifixion, folks. And that's what we're learning here in Psalm 22.

So the first half of Psalm 22 is dealing with the spiritual and the physical implications of that crucifixion of Christ. But you notice in the last part of verse 21, right in the middle of it, I'm reading from New King James Version, it says, You have answered me.

And right there is a transition out of this praying for deliverance, crying out to God in despair. And then we have this transition, You have answered me. And after this, we see a very different way that this writing goes, a very different direction that this message takes from the point that the answer is received.

Now, the answer here was not deliverance from the cross. God did not come down and take Jesus off the cross and justify Him. He gave Him an assurance, an assurance, a vision. I think He helped Him to connect.

I mean, this is all conjecture. But I believe that there on the cross, the Lord Jesus was able to reach deep within Himself and connect to that vision, that purpose of why He came to the earth, why He is laying down His life to begin with.

What is the point? What is the purpose? And so, I think that's what you're going to see here as we pick up again in Psalm 22, verse 21. The last part of that is the transition. You have answered me. Then verse 22, I will declare Your name to my brethren.

Hebrews 2 and the Joy Set Before Christ

In the midst of the assembly, I will praise You. I think King James there says, In the midst of the congregation, I will praise You. New King James says, In the midst of the assembly, I will praise You.

Now, if you would keep your place right there in Psalm 22, and I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2. We just hit on this in the final minutes of last week, and it deserves more attention than we were able to give it.

So, we're going to go back and give it the attention that it deserves this week. Hebrews chapter 2, keep your place there in Psalms 22, but in Hebrews chapter 2, begin reading in verse 10. It's going to explain to us how and why Jesus became flesh and blood and actually died on the cross for us.

Well, let's begin in verse 9. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, and this is what we talked about when we were discussing the Psalm of His incarnation, His coming to earth, His becoming flesh and blood, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Verse 9, Hebrews 2. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. See, that's His purpose.

He was born to die. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. He emptied Himself. He became flesh and blood, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. So, verse 10. It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

For both He who sanctifies, verse 11, and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren. So, here again, what we're seeing is that the one who is sanctifying us and the ones who are being sanctified are to become one.

Paul says, He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. So, it is not Jesus, way off in the heavens, doing a high priestly work, and He's way off in the clouds, and here we are struggling on the earth.

It says, He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. We are one spirit with Jesus, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Verse 12. Saying, and then it quotes the verse that we just read, I will declare your name to my brethren.

In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. Verse 13. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, here am I and the children whom God has given me. And these are referencing other Old Testament passages of Scripture.

But the first and critical place that it references is Psalm 22, 22 that we just read. I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. So, verse 14 of Hebrews 2.

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So, through death he destroys death. He destroys death by dying. You don't defeat death by trying to avoid death. You defeat death by heading right into death, and by dying a death, and defeating death through death.

I can't describe that to you. You'll just have to pray about it and let the Spirit reveal it to you. But that's a principle that we need to learn. In God's kingdom, if you want to go higher, you've got to go down lower.

In God's kingdom, if you want to gain more, you've got to give up more. In God's kingdom, if you want to find your life, you have to lose your life. It's just a completely different set of parameters that we're operating under in God's kingdom because it is spirit and truth.

It's not according to flesh and blood. It's according to spirit and truth. But look at this very carefully again. Hebrews 2 .12 I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you.

And that's quoting Psalm 22 .22 that we just read. Now, something very interesting comes to mind here. New King James, it says, In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. In the King James Version, it says, In the midst of the church, I will sing praise to you.

That's the New Testament. In the Old Testament, King James, it says, In the midst of the congregation. So you have three words here, folks. Congregation, assembly, and church. Now, what's interesting is if you'll take Strong's Concordance and you look up that word assembly in Hebrews 2 .12 or church in Hebrews 2 .12, you come up with the word that we know to be as ekklesia.

The Ekklesia as Christ's Spiritual House

The ekklesia is the church that Jesus is building and it literally means the assembly of the people who have been called out. Now, it had a governmental function, a governmental understanding. It also could refer to any kind of a group that was gathered together.

But it came to be understood in the context of a spiritual house of living stones that Jesus was calling us out of the world and he was gathering us together into his kingdom, into his church, into his body.

And so you'll find here church in English translates back to ekklesia in Greek, which is what that means. They called out assembly. Those called out of what? Called out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Called out of this world and into the kingdom of God. Called out of the kingdom of self and into the kingdom of righteousness, the kingdom of God. So he says, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you.

Now, go back to Psalms 22. Now, what is the first thing here when he says, You have answered me. And then right after that he says, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly or in the midst of the ekklesia I will praise you.

The very thing he has in mind here at this crucifixion, he is thinking of the ekklesia. He says, I will build my church. And we know, folks, he's not building his church out of wood. He's not building it out of bricks.

He's not building it with a steeple on top. All those things are for our convenience. They have nothing to do with the church that Jesus is building. He is building a house of living stones. It is a spiritual house of living stones, and it is a gathering together of all those who have been called out of darkness, called out of this world and into the kingdom of his dear son.

So Jesus is building his church. He says the gates of hell will not prevail against him. Now, Hebrews, when you write poetry in Hebrew, I mentioned this last week and I didn't elaborate on it, so I will take just a minute now.

In English, when you write poetry, you're trying to find a certain rhythm to it. And a lot of poetry, the very elementary, basic kinds of poems typically rhyme. You're trying to rhyme the sounds. Well, in Hebrew, they don't rhyme sounds.

They rhyme thoughts. And that's why you can tell Hebrew poetry because you see the same thing stated two different ways. Okay? Here's a good example. I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.

And that is basically saying the same thing, but just saying it a little different way. You're saying the same thing twice, using a little bit different words. And that is how they write poetry in Hebrew.

And you can see that a lot of the prophetic scriptures, the Psalms certainly, but even Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, you'll see this same thing repeating itself. So he is making this connection here, brethren and assembly.

The brethren, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. So what is he talking about? Jesus in the midst of the ecclesia. Jesus in the midst of this church that he is building.

You know he's in the midst of it. You know that, don't you? He's not way off in heaven someplace, kind of hovering over the church and observing it from a long distance. In the book of Revelation, Christ is revealed as standing in the midst of the candlesticks.

He is in the midst, in the midst, in the midst. And here he says, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the church, in the midst of the congregation, in the midst of the assembly, in the midst of my brethren, this ecclesia.

I will praise you. Hallelujah. So how is he able to endure the cross? He's thinking about the ecclesia first and foremost. Praise God. If that doesn't get you excited, then you need to go back and read this some more and pray about it.

I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the ecclesia. I will praise you. It is the church that Jesus is building upon the foundation of himself. He's in the midst of his church. And obviously I'm not talking about organized religion.

I'm not talking about denominationalism. I'm not talking about the church as a building. I'm not talking about church as a movement, whether it's a house church or an institutional church. I'm not talking about the outward dynamic of how we do it.

I'm talking about the spiritual dynamic of Jesus assembling his people together in the spirit. Do you understand me? In the spirit. I'm not talking about how many people you can get together in a group, whether it's a living room or whether it's a church building.

It's beside the point. We are one in the spirit. We are one body. And you are not more a part of the body by being physically gathered together than you are when you're separated. Now obviously there is a time and a place where we gather together and it is a physical gathering.

But listen folks, that's not what makes you who you are. The ecclesia is not based on how many people we can get together. First of all, Jesus says, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

Not two or three thousand, not two or three hundred, but two or three gathered together in my name. There I am in the midst of them. And if that's the only corporate expression you have, if that's the only time you're physically gathered together, it is still a valid expression of the church that Jesus is building.

Because it's not based on the outward structure of things. It's not based on trying to do it, who's got the right way, whether it's in the living room, whether it's in a church building, whether it's out on a mountain someplace or in the woods.

Folks, we need to get our eyes off of the natural. We need to get our eyes off of the physical. And we need to get our eyes on the spiritual reality behind everything. The outward appearance is one thing, but the spiritual reality and the spiritual dynamic of the church that Jesus is building is more important than how you do it, where you do it, who you do it with, and how often you get together and do it.

Praise God. You'll have to pray through that. I hope that will encourage some of you that maybe you're kind of discouraged because you're looking for like-minded people to fellowship with. You're kind of out there in the wilderness, and you're thinking you're not connected.

I want you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are connected to the body of Christ because you're connected to the head. And you can be gathered together with a group of people, but if they're not connected to Jesus, they are no more the church than when you're just home by yourself.

You can be gathered together. The physical gathering together of people does not make them the church that Jesus is building. It is a spiritual house of living sons. Now, what can I say more than that?

The Great Assembly and Christ's Worldwide Kingdom

I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will praise you. Okay, we need to move on. Verse 23, you who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him and fear him, all you offspring of Israel.

Verse 24, for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him, but when he cried to him, he heard. And so here we have thanksgiving, that God has answered the prayer of this one who has been crucified.

Now, verse 25, my praise shall be of you in the great assembly. Here we are again, same thought of an assembly, a gathering. So a spiritual house of living sons, a spiritual congregation. Here I am and the children that God has given me in the midst of the brethren, in the midst of the assembly.

What does the Lord have in mind here? What he has in mind is all of the people that he is gathering together into this house of living sons that he has prepared as a habitation for himself. And that's what he's thinking of there on the cross.

That's his answer. It's to see beyond the cross and see the payoff. I've got to demonstrate this to you because I don't know if I'm expressing it well enough for you to be able to appreciate it. But keep your finger there in Psalm 22 and let me show you what I'm talking about.

Again, back to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews is just so rich. I'm constantly referring to it. It's so rich that I'm kind of intimidated to begin a study of it. And it's all I can do just to reference it from time to time because there's so much in there.

But Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. Now look at this, folks, and please get this. Please understand this. Look, looking unto Jesus, Hebrews 12, 2. Look at this. Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

Well, what we're talking about in the last half of Psalm 22 is the joy that was set before Jesus. How was Jesus able to willingly lay down his life, endure the things that he endured physically, endure the things that he endured emotionally, and endure the things that he endured spiritually in being separated from his father?

As far as communion is concerned, as far as fellowship is concerned. When he took our place, was made to be sin, even though he knew no sin, God made him sin for us. He became our substitute. How was he able to endure that?

It says, for the joy that was set before him. What joy? What joy was he looking forward to? Psalms 22 tells us. Go back to Psalm 22. That's what I'm trying to illustrate here. That he's able to get through all of this because of the joy set before him.

And he's describing exactly what he is seeing there while he's on the cross. What he is seeing in the spirit as the end result and the purpose for which he is enduring all of this shame and all of this suffering.

What does he see? He sees an assembly. He sees a gathering together of brothers and sisters. He says, these are my brothers and these are my sisters, and I'm giving praise to God in the midst of them.

That's what he is seeing there on the cross. I don't know if I'm communicating it to you well enough, but I pray that God would open your eyes to see what it is I'm trying to express to you. That's where his joy is coming from.

That's how he's able to endure the cross. But not just the church. He doesn't just have the church in mind. He is the savior of the world. He didn't just die for the church's sins. He died for the sins of the whole world.

And so keep reading. Verse 25. My praise shall be of you in the great assembly in the ecclesia. So he's obviously thinking about the church. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. Verse 26. The poor shall eat and be satisfied.

Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever. Look at verse 27. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

Hallelujah. See, he is the son of man. He is the savior of the world. He is the one who leaves the 99 sheep that he already has and goes out to seek and to save that one sheep that is lost. And so here on the cross, he sees and reconnects with this vision and with this purpose of how it's going to be on the other side of resurrection.

And first he is thinking of the assembly, those that he has already gathered together, the 99, if you will, of that house of living stones that he is building upon the foundation of himself. He sees himself in the midst of his brethren.

But not only that. He sees, verse 27, all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations shall worship before you. Verse 28. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations.

Hallelujah. Now see, it doesn't look like Jesus is Lord. They're up on the cross. They're when everyone's tempting him, saying, if you're the son of God, come down off the cross and we'll believe you.

And of course he didn't do that. He is enduring the cross, paying the price for the joy that is set before him to see God's purpose fulfilled, not just in an assembly, but in the whole world. Why? Because the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations.

The devil's not in charge of anything. Darkness may have been there for a moment. Death may have reigned supreme there for just a moment in time. But three days later, he's going to rise. And that is going to be the foundation upon which this kingdom is established.

And it's not just a kingdom for the church. The church is the progenitor. The church is the impetus for this kingdom. But this kingdom extends to bless all the nations of the earth. All the prospers of the earth shall eat and worship.

All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him. Even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this.

And folks, that's what Jesus is thinking about, rejoicing in, even while he is suffering the death of the cross. Praise the Lord. What a powerful prophetic message that is to us. He endured the cross.

Abraham's Promise Fulfilled Through Christ

He despised the shame for the joy set before him. The joy of the assembly of the righteous, the congregation, the ecclesia, as well as the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that in you and through you, all the nations of this world will be blessed.

And how are they blessed? Not through the nation of Israel, folks, but through Christ, the son of promise, through which all the nations of this world will be blessed. Praise the Lord. It's exciting. And there's so much more here, but we're out of time for this week.

This is Chip Rogdon streaming online at www .washington .net. Thank you so much for listening this week, and we'll resume again next week with this study of the Messianic Psalms. God bless you.