But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
Psalm 22 is a prophecy of Christ in His humiliation, first coming and sufferings, fulfilled literally in His betrayal, condemnation, crucifixion and resurrection as righteousness triumphed over the powers of darkness. Christ Himself is the speaker, recognizing God as the One who gave Him life from His earliest day, bringing Him from the womb and giving Him hope and trust in sure mercy when He lay helpless on His mother's breasts. The verse applies to Jesus' infancy and childhood, showing that He trusted, depended on and cast Himself upon the Father from birth, being sustained with hope from the time He was an infant and not only in adulthood. He entered human life helpless and subject to childhood's weaknesses, meeting all human trials and conflicts in Himself, yet without sin or distrust of God, leaving His case in God's hand when human limitations shut from Him the knowledge of His triumph. His life from the beginning of His human existence through the cross provides righteousness for the sinner by faith, so that those who are tempted may also overcome through Him as Fellow-sufferer, Fellow-sympathizer, Fellow-helper and mighty Saviour.
Prophetic Setting and Meaning
Psalm 22 as a whole is a prophecy of Christ in His humiliation, first coming and sufferings, prophetically depicting what He would endure. It foresaw His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, and should be read in direct connection with those events as prophecy fulfilled literally in them. It is a prophecy of His crucifixion and resurrection fulfilled in His life and in the closing events recorded in the Gospels, showing righteousness triumphing over the powers of darkness. It belongs preeminently to Christ in His humiliation.
The psalm gave beforehand the witness of the Messiah's lowly life, work and ministry, rejection by His people, injustice in His trial, death with criminals and malefactors, burial with the rich, and agony as He bore human sin. It foretold His very words and prayers of agony on the cross, offered on humanity's behalf. Jesus lived out all that was written from Genesis to Malachi, proving by His life that the Father sent Him. The tragedy of His sacrifice on the cross helped show Him to be the Messiah and God's sacrifice for the world.
Part of the psalm occurred in David's own life in a measure, but its burden applies first to David and finally in antitypical fulfillment to David's greater Son, Jesus Christ in the flesh. David's experience was typical of Christ's, while the verse expresses the experience in the flesh of Jesus Christ Himself. What Christ passed through for humanity when the sins of the world were laid upon Him fulfilled the psalm in fullness of agony and sacrifice. Christ is the speaker in the psalm, shown by its connection with the reproach and head-wagging described in Psalm 109:25.
In the verse itself the speaker recognizes God as the one who gave him life from his earliest day, bringing him from the womb with quickening power to his frame. God made him hope and gave him trust in His sure mercy when he lay helpless upon his mother's breasts from infancy. The sufferings portrayed display God's eternal justice and holiness, the unchangeable excellence and binding obligation of His law, and the hatefulness and guilt of sin. Christ by His sufferings honored the divine law, and that honoring did not purchase liberty to despise it. He stood in the sinner's place and represented people in vicarious offering, bearing sin and dying for them, enduring for humanity's sake what the repentant sinner must pass through in giving Himself to die on the cross, sharing human infirmities and suffering even to sickness and death.
Christ's Trust from Birth
The verse applies to the infancy and childhood of Jesus and shows that He trusted, depended on, and cast Himself upon the Father from birth. He was sustained with hope from the time He was an infant at His mother's breast, not only in adulthood, the Father sustaining Him from the womb and teaching Him to trust even as an infant. He had cast Himself upon God even before becoming part of the human family, and God kept Him through the Holy Spirit. That faith protected Him from Satan's power until He came to understand, for the psalm prophetically portrays His trials and temptations from birth onward and His reliance on the Father's love and help.
He entered human life helpless and subject to childhood's weaknesses and Satan's temptations, depending on the Father to keep Him from sin and meeting in Himself all human trials and conflicts. In His humanity His human heart trembled over the consummation, efficiency, and success of the plan of salvation. He questioned not God but whether He Himself was sufficient for the work, coming to the place where His human limitations shut from Him the knowledge of His triumph so all He could do was leave His case in God's hand. In all such temptations and doubts that harassed Him there was no sin and no distrust of God. The verse belongs to a prophetic picture of His inner experience and struggle under temptation, showing that even in deep distress His life and hope rested in God who had cared for Him from birth, and showing how He came through.
His life from the beginning of His human existence through the cross provides righteousness for the sinner by faith, and receiving Him means receiving His righteousness across the whole span of human life. Salvation is needed from the beginning of life and is provided in Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and did no sin. This illustrates the experience of every believer who has His righteousness. As Fellow-sufferer, Fellow-sympathizer, Fellow-helper, and mighty Saviour all the journey through, He met in Himself all human experiences, trials, and conflicts, and followers must share His experience so the faith of Jesus may be developed in them. His victory shows that those who are tempted may also overcome through Him.
Psalm 22 is a prophecy of Christ in His humiliation, first coming and sufferings, fulfilled literally in His betrayal, condemnation, crucifixion and resurrection as righteousness triumphed over the powers of darkness. Christ Himself is the speaker, recognizing God as the One who gave Him life from His earliest day, bringing Him from the womb and giving Him hope and trust in sure mercy when He lay helpless on His mother's breasts. The verse applies to Jesus' infancy and childhood, showing that He trusted, depended on and cast Himself upon the Father from birth, being sustained with hope from the time He was an infant and not only in adulthood. He entered human life helpless and subject to childhood's weaknesses, meeting all human trials and conflicts in Himself, yet without sin or distrust of God, leaving His case in God's hand when human limitations shut from Him the knowledge of His triumph. His life from the beginning of His human existence through the cross provides righteousness for the sinner by faith, so that those who are tempted may also overcome through Him as Fellow-sufferer, Fellow-sympathizer, Fellow-helper and mighty Saviour.
Prophetic Setting and Meaning
Psalm 22 as a whole is a prophecy of Christ in His humiliation, first coming and sufferings, prophetically depicting what He would endure. It foresaw His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, and should be read in direct connection with those events as prophecy fulfilled literally in them. It is a prophecy of His crucifixion and resurrection fulfilled in His life and in the closing events recorded in the Gospels, showing righteousness triumphing over the powers of darkness. It belongs preeminently to Christ in His humiliation.
The psalm gave beforehand the witness of the Messiah's lowly life, work and ministry, rejection by His people, injustice in His trial, death with criminals and malefactors, burial with the rich, and agony as He bore human sin. It foretold His very words and prayers of agony on the cross, offered on humanity's behalf. Jesus lived out all that was written from Genesis to Malachi, proving by His life that the Father sent Him. The tragedy of His sacrifice on the cross helped show Him to be the Messiah and God's sacrifice for the world.
Part of the psalm occurred in David's own life in a measure, but its burden applies first to David and finally in antitypical fulfillment to David's greater Son, Jesus Christ in the flesh. David's experience was typical of Christ's, while the verse expresses the experience in the flesh of Jesus Christ Himself. What Christ passed through for humanity when the sins of the world were laid upon Him fulfilled the psalm in fullness of agony and sacrifice. Christ is the speaker in the psalm, shown by its connection with the reproach and head-wagging described in Psalm 109:25.
In the verse itself the speaker recognizes God as the one who gave him life from his earliest day, bringing him from the womb with quickening power to his frame. God made him hope and gave him trust in His sure mercy when he lay helpless upon his mother's breasts from infancy. The sufferings portrayed display God's eternal justice and holiness, the unchangeable excellence and binding obligation of His law, and the hatefulness and guilt of sin. Christ by His sufferings honored the divine law, and that honoring did not purchase liberty to despise it. He stood in the sinner's place and represented people in vicarious offering, bearing sin and dying for them, enduring for humanity's sake what the repentant sinner must pass through in giving Himself to die on the cross, sharing human infirmities and suffering even to sickness and death.
Christ's Trust from Birth
The verse applies to the infancy and childhood of Jesus and shows that He trusted, depended on, and cast Himself upon the Father from birth. He was sustained with hope from the time He was an infant at His mother's breast, not only in adulthood, the Father sustaining Him from the womb and teaching Him to trust even as an infant. He had cast Himself upon God even before becoming part of the human family, and God kept Him through the Holy Spirit. That faith protected Him from Satan's power until He came to understand, for the psalm prophetically portrays His trials and temptations from birth onward and His reliance on the Father's love and help.
He entered human life helpless and subject to childhood's weaknesses and Satan's temptations, depending on the Father to keep Him from sin and meeting in Himself all human trials and conflicts. In His humanity His human heart trembled over the consummation, efficiency, and success of the plan of salvation. He questioned not God but whether He Himself was sufficient for the work, coming to the place where His human limitations shut from Him the knowledge of His triumph so all He could do was leave His case in God's hand. In all such temptations and doubts that harassed Him there was no sin and no distrust of God. The verse belongs to a prophetic picture of His inner experience and struggle under temptation, showing that even in deep distress His life and hope rested in God who had cared for Him from birth, and showing how He came through.
His life from the beginning of His human existence through the cross provides righteousness for the sinner by faith, and receiving Him means receiving His righteousness across the whole span of human life. Salvation is needed from the beginning of life and is provided in Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and did no sin. This illustrates the experience of every believer who has His righteousness. As Fellow-sufferer, Fellow-sympathizer, Fellow-helper, and mighty Saviour all the journey through, He met in Himself all human experiences, trials, and conflicts, and followers must share His experience so the faith of Jesus may be developed in them. His victory shows that those who are tempted may also overcome through Him.