In Psalm 22, the sufferer does something profoundly theological—he argues with God on the basis of God’s own history. Israel’s past is not mere story; it is evidence. The God who revealed Himself in acts of deliverance has bound His name to His people.
“They trusted… and You delivered them.”
This is the language of covenant faithfulness. Not that the fathers were without failure, but that God remained unwavering. The exodus, the wilderness, the repeated restorations—these are not isolated miracles, but a pattern of divine character.
The Tension
The psalmist knows this, yet he does not yet see this in his present suffering.
So what does he do?
He does not abandon God. He appeals to Him.
He places the weight of history upon the silence of the present and says, in effect: “Be now what You have always been.”
This is where the church must learn to pray again.
We stand not only with Israel, but at the foot of the cross, where Jesus Christ Himself takes up this psalm. The ultimate righteous sufferer enters into this cry—not as one abandoned in despair, but as one fulfilling the path of redemptive suffering. The resurrection does not erase Psalm 22—it vindicates it.
And we, as those shaped by a Baptist heritage, do not stand rootless. We remember those who trusted God not merely in comfort, but in persecution, marginalization, and costly obedience. They held fast to the same God—often without immediate deliverance—yet were not ultimately put to shame.