The Emotions of Psalms, Part 2 – Psalm 22: Feeling Abandoned
Psalm 22 June 14, 2026
Introduction
- In October 1972, Nando Parrado boarded a flight with his rugby team, friends, and family members, expecting an ordinary trip across the Andes Mountains. Instead, their plane disappeared into one of the most remote and unforgiving environments on earth. The plane struck a mountain ridge and crashed high in the Andes between Chile and Argentina. Many passengers died instantly.
- For the survivors, the first days after the crash were filled with hope. They knew search-and-rescue teams would be looking for them. Every distant sound of an airplane caused them to rush outside the wreckage. Surely someone would see them. Surely help was on the way.
- As the days passed, however, hope began to fade. The survivors endured freezing temperatures, hunger, injuries, and the constant uncertainty of whether they would ever be found. Yet they continued to believe that somewhere beyond the mountains, people were searching for them.
- However, days later using a small transistor radio recovered from the wreckage, the survivors listened for news about the search effort. Instead of hearing encouraging updates, they received devastating news: the authorities had officially suspended the search. After days of looking, rescue teams had concluded that no one could have survived the crash. The world believed they were dead. In an instant, they went from waiting to be saved to realizing that they had been left behind.
- This was more than physical suffering. It was emotional and spiritual despair. The cold was terrible. The hunger was terrible. But perhaps the deepest wound was the feeling of abandonment. They were surrounded by towering mountains, cut off from civilization, and convinced that they had been forsaken.
- 3 points today – Psalmist’s Pathos, Psalmist’s Processing, Psalmist’s Pointing
Psalmist’s Primary Pathos: Abandonment
- Psalm 22
- 22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. - 3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame. - 6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” - 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help. - 12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion. - 14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death. - 16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots. - 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! - 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him. - 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever! - 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations. - 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
- Forsaken (Heb. ʿāzaḇ) – to depart from or abandon, leave behind
- Spectrum of Abandonment: Saturation to Suppression
- Initial reaction to outside stimulus (ongoing pain and suffering)
- Suppression – tough it out, I can only count on myself, I can trust no one, I can let no one in, I must overcome this on my own
- Saturation – see all the lies below in the Psalm
- Initial reaction to outside stimulus (ongoing pain and suffering)
- William S. Plumer “There are… two very different modes of asking the question, Why hast though forsaken me? One is a bold defiant mode of declaring all one’s suffering unjust….The other is a humble, submissive, believing mode of addressing our cries and complaints to God.” Geneva Series of Commentaries: Psalms (c. 1867, reprinted 2016) (p. 292).
Psalmist’s Processing
- Lies of abandonment
- God is far away (v1)
- God is not answering me (v2)
- I can find no rest (v2)
- I am a worm – unworthy of God’s presence – the mocking of the people is correct (v6-8)
- There is no one to help me as I come under attack, I’m too weak – eyes fixed on the trial (v11-18)
- Truth of abandonment
- God’s character: holiness (v3)
- Were trusted in the past and delivered/rescued (v4-5)
- God has always known me and has a plan for me (v9-10)
- God is not far off and hears us as we call to Him to save us (v19-21)
- Dan Cruver “When I struggled with my sense of God’s absence, I was tempted to gauge his acceptance by how vividly I could feel him near. Yet Robert Critchley’s hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock” counsels us not to “trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’s name.” My emotions were not the measure of God’s acceptance.”
- Weapon against abandonment: praise of God and affirmation of truth
- Glorify God with testimony to others (v22-23, 25)
- He sees, understands, and meets the afflicted right where they are (v24)
- Those who seek the Lord will find Him and be satisfied (v26)
- Rejoice as others glorify God (v27)
- Not only does He no abandon us, but He gives us meaning and purpose as we see the good fruit of the things Hs has done in us and through us
- Remember who is the true King (v28-29)
- This world is full of kingdoms – only the Kingdom of God/Heaven matters
- Matthew 10:7 “And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
- This world is full of kingdoms – only the Kingdom of God/Heaven matters
- Generations will be blessed (v30-31)
- Glorify God with testimony to others (v22-23, 25)
Psalmist’s Pointing to Jesus
- This Psalm is one of the clearest depictions of the heart of the gospel in the OT….David never experienced what he is describing here, but the suffering servant, the Messiah Jesus, whom this Psalm prophesies about, did.
- V12-18 described Jesus’s crucifixion while v19-31 describe the righteous prayer that all those who trust in Christ can faithfully proclaim, to the Glory of God.
- Matthew 27:45-46 “45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””
- William S. Plummer “Christ knew that he was the substitute for sinners and that he was suffering for others. But his human nature was ready to sink under the load of our sins, and under the hidings of his Father’s face, and he encouraged himself in this pious and natural way.” (p292)
- Jesus certainly felt forsaken and He rightly expressed that feeling – He did not suppress it, nor did He let Himself become saturated with it such that the lies of the enemy could take root. Jesus, of course, knew He had not been truly forsaken or abandoned, but that doesn’t mean He didn’t feel that way…and Jesus processed through that very emotion even as He hung on that wretched cross.
- He had never been disfellowshipped from the Father in all of His eternal existence. Yet, in this moment the Father’s face is turned away from the Son who has become sin as the atoning offering for the world
- Isaiah 59:2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you…”2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
- He had never been disfellowshipped from the Father in all of His eternal existence. Yet, in this moment the Father’s face is turned away from the Son who has become sin as the atoning offering for the world
- Jesus certainly felt forsaken and He rightly expressed that feeling – He did not suppress it, nor did He let Himself become saturated with it such that the lies of the enemy could take root. Jesus, of course, knew He had not been truly forsaken or abandoned, but that doesn’t mean He didn’t feel that way…and Jesus processed through that very emotion even as He hung on that wretched cross.
- Order of the sayings of Jesus:
- “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” – Luke 23:34
- Order of the sayings of Jesus:
- “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” – Luke 23:43
- “Woman, behold your son!…Behold your mother!” – John 19:26–27
- “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34
- “I thirst.” – John 19:28
- “It is finished.” – John 19:30
- “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” – Luke 23:46
- Jesus feels the weight of this separation. Jesus feels the emptiness and pain of being apart from His Father, yet He endures because He knows that though He feels forsaken and abandoned, through there has been a turning away because of sin, the Father remains present, even though He was not looking upon the sin He was still there waiting for the work to be complete and ready to receive His Son with open arms…so Christ endures
- Like Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, I will hope in him…”
- Daniel 3:17-18 “17 …our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
- These statements are both a choice of intellect and emotion – they are a command to our own heart (mind, emotion, will) to remain steadfast in faith and persevere through the intellectual and emotional lies that the enemy shoots at us.
- Daniel 3:17-18 “17 …our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
- Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
- “I thirst”….“It is finished”…..and with persevering endurance, the atoning work on the cross is complete so the Son addresses the Father once more – having never been left behind – as the Son commit His spirit into the Father’s hands. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
- Like Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, I will hope in him…”
Conclusion
- Many people can endure trials if they believe someone is coming to help. What crushes the human spirit is the belief that no one is looking, no one remembers, and no one cares. That is the experience David describes in Psalm 22, and it is the experience the survivors of the Andes faced when they heard that the search had ended.
- Yet one of the remarkable aspects of Psalm 22 is that David never stops talking to God, Just as Christ never stopped talking to His Father on the cross. Even while feeling forsaken, he continues to pray. The very words “My God” reveal that the relationship has not been abandoned, even if it feels that way.
- The survivors faced a similar choice. They could surrender to despair, or they could continue moving forward despite their circumstances. Nando Parrado eventually realized that if they remained where they were, they would die. Rescue was not coming to them. They would have to go in search of rescue themselves.
- After more than two months stranded on the mountain, Parrado and fellow survivor Roberto Canessa set out on a desperate journey across the Andes. Neither man was equipped for such an expedition. They had little food, inadequate clothing, and no map of the terrain ahead. Before them stood massive snow-covered peaks that seemed impossible to cross.
- For ten days they climbed through the mountains, often uncertain whether they were moving toward life or death. Exhausted and starving, they continued one step at a time. Finally, after crossing some of the most difficult terrain imaginable, they encountered a Chilean shepherd and not but a few days later, rescue helicopters arrived in the Andes to save all those who thought they had been left behind.
- When we face pain – especially when it just seems to keep adding up – one of the enemy’s favorite strategies is to pour lies into our sense of abandonment. The enemy will lie to our thoughts and lie to our emotions, but like Jesus we must process these things with truth and persevere, knowing that ultimately no matter what happens to us here on Earth, we have been eternally rescued and our God will not leave us or forsake us. He will spread His glory throughout all the world as we continue to hope in Him, continue to trust in Him, and continue to share His love to all those around us.
- Amen. Amen. Prayer through Psalm.