The Hunted Deer

The Psalm before us is agonizing and brutal, but also tender and triumphant. The gospel writers draw from it heavily to show us the crucifixion of Christ, and that means that psalm is a portrait of Him. If you want to see your Savior, look at Ps 22. This is the king's song, a song of agony but also a song of victory.
When I was about 11 years old, my family began worshiping at an OPC congregation in Ft Collins. There was a psalm request time every Sunday evening, and for many weeks in a row, someone would request to sing Ps 22. We thought it was a little odd at the time. Why does this church want to sing "My God, My God O Why Have You Forsaken Me" every single week? Is there something we need to know about their spiritual condition? In one sense, I still don't know the answer to that question; in another, there is nothing wrong with a church that is willing to sing the sorrows as well as the triumphs of its redeemer. This psalm is for the choirmaster; it belongs to all of us, and though an "I" speaks regularly in the psalm there is plenty of room for "we" as well: "In you our fathers trusted." This psalm tells of the sufferings of Christ and the worship to follow. Pay attention, and before your very eyes you will see the Son of God portrayed as crucified.