Have you ever noticed how some of the psalms, often written for events years apart, seem to flow together in an awesome overall lesson? Reading through Psalms today, I looked at my notes and noticed something.
Psalms 18-21 are prayer and praise for a victorious king.
Psalm 22 is the agony of a man suffering publicly in sight of his enemies who are mocking him. It goes on to talk of trusting God’s strength.
Psalm 23 is a trusting lamb being cared for by his Good Shepherd.
Psalm 24 is used today to celebrate the Lord entering the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Why is this important?
These may seem to be random thoughts of ancient people, but God directed how Psalms was written and put together. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) So why did God put these chapters together this way?
Psalm 22 is not just King David’s pain and humiliation, it describes Jesus’ crucifixion 1000 years later in detail. The most obvious link is that Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27 even says “the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.” (verse 41)saying “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him'(verse 43a). Those well-educated men surely knew Psalm 22:7 and 8: “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.'”
Those well-respected men were so educated that it never occurred to them that the psalm described a real event. It happened both in King David’s life, since he wrote about it, and was written in such a way that it described a future event, the death of David’s Good Shepherd.
David knew about shepherds
King David was a shepherd for his father’s flock before God made him a king, a shepherd for the kingdom. He knew how much work was needed to keep simple, foolish sheep safe and healthy. Psalm 23 talks about a sheep who has easy access to “green pasture”, “quiet waters”, safe passage through dark mountain passes, and plenty of oil for its head. Reading through the psalm, it seems so effortless, but Israel was in a nearly desert climate. Finding abundant green grass without weeds or bugs that made the flock sick took work. So did finding quiet waters that weren’t full of bugs or crap left by other animals. Keeping the flock safe and having enough oil to keep bugs from biting the flock took a lot of planning that the carefree sheep didn’t notice.
A big part of taking care of sheep was keeping them safe. Shepherds always had to watch out for predators that would try to eat the careless sheep. Sheep are actually very simple animals. They act on instinct and curiosity. It is a shepherd’s job to train the sheep, but also to know what will distract his sheep and make it wander away. Sheep don’t know what danger is. If a sheep gets scared, it runs from shock. A sudden bunny hopping nearby could start one sheep running and the flock will follow. Meanwhile fear will stop a sheep in its place. If a predator gets in the herd, the sheep will be too terrified to run and basically wait to be eaten. A shepherd needs to make sure no wolves or other predators get near the flock, usually fighting any animals before they get to the flock.
Jesus needed to fight Satan for his earthly flock.
That is why Psalms 18-24 are written like that. The victorious great King of Psalms 18-21 needed to suffer publicly by dying in our place, bearing our sins in his death, to protect his flock from the predator of earthly life, Satan. Part of his work as our shepherd could only be done by suffering as Psalm 22 says so that his flock can go to heaven and be in God’s house forever.
