What does Psalm 22:11 mean?
In this verse David calls upon the Lord to be near him. His enemies surrounded him and death seemed imminent. He sees the Lord as the only one who can help him. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus, faced death all alone. No one could help Him. The Roman officials, the Jewish leaders, and the frenzied crowd that called for His crucifixion certainly wouldn't help Him. His disciples offered no help; they had fled when the soldiers arrested Jesus (Matthew 26:56). Nailed to a cross, there was nothing his loved ones could do but watch Him die (John 19:25–27). He alone experienced death as the one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). He alone was sinless and therefore could bear the punishment every sinner deserved.The apostle John wrote: "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Peter wrote: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18).
Psalm 22:1–21 depicts David's questioning of God's silence and estrangement from him in his desperate situation. The structure of this prayer, and the images it evokes, are prophecies of Messiah's sufferings. Isaiah 53:3–8 likewise predicts these experiences and explains that Messiah endured them for us sinners. Matthew 27:46 reports that Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 when he was suffering on the cross. First Peter 2:24 –25 refers to the sufferings of Jesus the Messiah and calls Jesus ''the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.''
This psalm may be divided into two parts. The first part, verses 1–21, contains an urgent prayer, in which the suppliant questions a holy God's distance from him in his time of suffering. It also contains a graphic description of the Messiah's suffering. Messiah's suffering included humiliation, the taunts of unbelievers, a distressful sense of loneliness, and intense physical pain. The second part of the psalm continues a prayer to be delivered, and includes a glimpse of resurrection and exaltation. The psalm praises God and announces a future time when God will receive worldwide acclaim and worship.
