What does Psalm 22:1 mean?

Some Psalms, such as Psalm 3, can be connected to specific events in the life of David. Psalm 22 does not match any exact incident in David's history. The language used is more like an execution than a time of trouble. It seems David uses those figures of speech to highlight how troubled he is. This also implies this portion of Scripture is prophetic. The suffering depicted here closely matches that of Jesus during His crucifixion. Both Christ (Matthew 27:46) and later writers (Hebrews 2:12; Psalm 22:22) made this same connection.

David feels abandoned by the Lord, but he still acknowledges that the Lord is his God. We do not know what circumstances caused David to feel this way, but we do know Jesus spoke these same words from the cross (Matthew 27:46). The Father did not rescue Jesus by taking Him off the cross, because He had sent Jesus into the world as His Lamb to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). When Jesus died on the cross, God "made him to be sin" for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and a curse (Galatians 3:13). Rather than rescue Jesus "from" death, God rescued Him "out of" death (Psalm 22:24).

Because God is "of purer eyes than to see evil" (Habakkuk 1:13), He looked away from His Son when His Son was bearing our sin on the cross. Many feel the only answer to Jesus' question, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is this: God forsook Jesus at Calvary so He would not have to forsake us eternally. Because Jesus died for our sins and conquered death, we can live forever in the constant presence of God. At the same time, as part of the Trinity, Jesus can never be entirely separated from God.

Another explanation for Jesus' use of these words is the method of naming Scriptures used in Jewish tradition. Books or other writings were often known by their starting words or phrases. Reciting the first statement of this Psalm, then, might have been Jesus pointing to this passage as both encouragement and explanation during His crucifixion.