Psalm 22:6-8 - But I [am] a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying], He trusted on the LORD [that] he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
Even though churches talk about it all the time, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a historical event that is REALLY HARD to fully understand. It isn’t just that Jesus was executed and murdered publicly, but the purpose of His death teaches us that He had to experience a certain quality of pain, shame, and suffering like no other. Millions of people have been crucified throughout history. None of them suffered like Jesus the Messiah.
The Bible calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” His death was considered an atoning sacrifice, intended to pay a quality of debt that only God Himself could measure and pay. Jesus came into the world as God-in-flesh to shed His blood in such a way that was sufficient to cover EACH AND EVERY offense ever committed against God – even though only believers receive the benefits of His atonement. The debt that Jesus paid required Him to suffer to a degree that no human being can fully understand because we can’t understand the quality and quantity of debt that He paid, using a physical body to pay a spiritual currency. This is why the Bible provides TONS of Messianic prophecies that help us do our best to know what Jesus actually did.
Jesus’ death was described long before the New Testament gospels were penned. The Bible teaches that He was like a lamb slain BEFORE the foundation of the world. In other words, it was always the predetermined purpose of the Father to give His only begotten Son as a suitable sacrifice on behalf of His people – even before He created the people who would need this sacrifice. So, it’s really important to pay close attention to the details of the Old Testament scriptures that speak about His death so that we can put the full picture together properly and have some understanding of the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice – as much as humanly possible.
The testimony of Psalm 22:6-8 is one of those places in scripture that we need to pay attention to as it points to Jesus’ death. Psalm 22 begins with the phrase, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus said these exact words just before He died while hanging on the cross. So, the testimony of Psalm 22:6-8 speaks to the events and circumstances of suffering, that provoked Jesus to make that statement before His death.
If we’re paying attention, we’ll see the incredible wisdom, planning, and control that the Father put on display through Jesus’ grace. Check it out:
“But I [am] a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.”
The language makes it seem like King David, the guy whose hand was used to physically pen this psalm, was being dramatic about his circumstances. The psalm does speak prophetically about Jesus, but it also speaks to the circumstances that David himself had to deal with at that time. When David referred to himself as “a worm,” these words were carefully selected by the Holy Spirit, who provoked David to pen them. David was indeed being poetic in describing the extent of his suffering. It’s true that the difficulty of David’s circumstances made it seem like God was distant and that he was despised and pitiful, like a worm among men. But, David’s comparison to a worm is specific and requires careful study.
The original language uses the Hebrew word “tola`” to describe the “worm” that David wrote about. This word describes a certain type of worm in the Hebrew language. The word tola` describes the “coccus ilicis,” more commonly known as, the female scarlet worm. There is an interesting work that God did when He created this worm. The female scarlet worm goes through an interesting ritual and process to give birth. The worm will attach her body to a tree trunk, fixing herself so firmly and permanently on it that she never leaves again. She dies in that position. When she deposits her eggs beneath her body, they are protected as they rest between the mother worm and the tree trunk. The eggs are hatched there, and the baby worms don’t leave that position until they are mature. This worm is called “the scarlet” worm because the mother worm will release a scarlet red fluid over the eggs while covering them. The eggs are born out of that fluid, totally covered in it. People used to take the dead bodies of these worms from the trees and extract the scarlet fluid to make commercial red dye and sell it.
Since ALL scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit must have provoked David to compare his suffering to this particular type of worm. It’s not a coincidence that this psalm is also a Messianic prophecy about Jesus’ death. Jesus also experienced intense pain, suffering, and shame through His death so that He was seen as a pitiful worm instead of a man. But think about these parallels for a second:
Jesus died fastened to a tree, bleeding all over it, just like that scarlet worm.
Jesus gave Himself up on the cross to produce life, just like the scarlet worm.
Jesus’ blood covers those who want the life that Jesus gives, just like the scarlet worm.
Those born again by the Holy Spirit are born out of the scarlet fluid that poured out of Jesus, just like the scarlet worm.
The use of this picture is amazing! Knowing how Jesus would die in the future, the Father created this scarlet worm and gave it these unique characteristics, to provide a poetic AND prophetic picture of the Lamb of God. Jesus later fulfilled that picture to perfection!
Still, this doesn’t explain the full marvel of Jesus’ death. It isn’t just that He gave Himself up to fulfill a prophetic picture that the Father instilled in the reproductive cycle of a worm. The testimony of Psalm 22:6-8 also explains the process of Jesus’ death, to exalt His glory through the torture He subjected Himself to on our behalf. Jesus was indeed the literal fulfillment of the scarlet worm, but the poetic facet of this description also explains how He was treated while He completed the work required to save the world from the eternal consequences of sin.
Even though Jesus came into the world as God in the flesh, as the only begotten Son, sent to reconcile the world to Himself, He was despised by the people. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world but was considered pitiful, shameful, and a joke. People plotted against Him, made fun of Him, gabled for His clothing, and mocked Him while He suffered.
When David was persecuted and suffered, he wrote these words in Verses 7-8:
“All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying], ‘He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!’”
David wrote that people went after him to ridicule him. The quality of ridicule that David experienced was arrogant mocking as if his enemies had already conquered him and destroyed him. It was as if they were celebrating a victory that hadn’t come. Since this statement prophetically refers to Jesus also, it means that when Jesus was crucified, He suffered the same kind of ridicule. The people who hung Jesus on a tree arrogantly mocked Him as if He was defeated, conquered, and destroyed. Even though Jesus is God, His enemies boasted about their treatment against Him as if they had won the fight they provoked. Even though the scriptures call God Jehovah Nissi – the LORD Our Banner – Jesus’ enemies gloated as if they were greater, and as if they were victorious, all while He suffered.
David wrote that his enemies and persecutors “shoot out the lip.” This describes poisonous words sparked by intense hate. In Romans 3:13, the Apostle Paul quoted Psalm 140:3, saying that the natural person speaks with the “poison of asps under their lips.” In other words, the things a person naturally speaks are provoked by deadly poison, as if from a viper. This poison is spread through sharp words, intended to tear down and destroy people. The Bible teaches that these words originate in the heart; and so, the natural heart produces deadly poison that spews out hate, malice, hostility, animosity, and bitterness, like venom. Just look around our world, especially on social media to see how true that is!
Since this psalm speaks prophetically about Jesus’ death, it shows that the people at His crucifixion spoke about Him in this same way. They let the deadly venom of their hearts shoot out of their mouths with an attitude of arrogance and hate. The pride that Jesus’ enemies had in their hearts provoked them to speak words against Him while He hung on a tree, dying for the sins of the world. Their words were intended to shame Him and tear Him down even more as if He hadn’t suffered enough already. The physical torture wasn’t enough, so they used words to beat Him down mentally, emotionally – psychological warfare…
David wrote that his persecutors shook their heads at him, and made specific statements about his faith. The Bible isn’t vague about the poison that flew out of the mouths of his enemies. The scriptures provide specific quotes. The text says that David’s enemies mocked David for trusting in the LORD. They mocked David for seeking the deliverance of the LORD. They made fun of David for his faith and obedience to God.
The way David’s enemies spoke about his faith was directed toward God more than David. Notice that David’s enemies didn’t necessarily call David weak, but suggested that God was weak because they assumed that God couldn’t help David in that moment. David’s enemies felt he was a fool because he trusted in a God that was too weak, and unable to come to the rescue. David’s enemies arrogantly boasted, assuming their attacks against David would overcome God, His purposes for David, and ultimately, David himself.
Since Psalm 22 speaks prophetically about Jesus, it’s clear that these issues pertain to Him too. In fact, Matthew 27:42-43 testifies that the audience that witnessed His crucifixion quoted Psalm 22:8 directly:
“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.’”
Jesus WAS God in the flesh, but He subjected Himself to this sort of hate and evil. Notice how the people who opposed Jesus did so with such arrogance as if they were defeating the Son of the Living God, clearly mocking the truth of His identity. They spoke about Him as if He were helpless. They taunted His claims about His deity. They boasted as if they would suffer NO consequences for their evil. These difficult truths require us to consider this event as God described it in the beginning. In Genesis 3:15 it says…
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
When God proclaimed His judgment against the devil, He did so by proclaiming judgment against sin itself. God promised that He would provide a “Seed,” referring to a human being born from a woman, to address the evil of the serpent, the devil. Jesus came into the world, born from a woman, to fulfill the promise of “the Seed,” just like the scarlet worm. Like the scarlet worm, Jesus would die to produce life. Like the scarlet worm, He would stain the tree from which His offspring would be born. Jesus paid the debt of sin so that those who believe this testimony could be born again and spiritually regenerated out of the blood that He shed. It was His death that judged the devil and sin. His death brought victory. Figuratively speaking, Jesus’ “heel was bruised” by the crucifixion. But, the bruising of His heel destroyed the head of the devil, figuratively AND literally.
That is not how Jesus’ enemies saw it, though. When they saw Him suffering on the tree, they assumed Jesus was defeated. They thought Jesus’ death would be the end of His ministry. The people who surrounded and mocked Jesus with intense hate, bitterness, malice, and evil were fueled by the depravity of the naturally corrupted heart because of the influence of the devil himself. Jesus suffered to a degree where He had to watch His enemies gloat as if they had won the fight. Jesus had to wait patiently until His death, while the devil provoked His own people to heckle Him, gnashing their teeth, as if their efforts to foil God’s plans were successful.
There are two things to think about here. First, it’s tragic to see the filth of human depravity. God foretold that the Seed would be wounded, but only on the heel. A wound to the heel is not enough to destroy. Still, Jesus’ enemies considered themselves victorious. This is a testament to the extent of arrogance humans have against God. We feel like our efforts and strength are sufficient to oppose God successfully. We feel like we can affect God’s plans. We feel as if we can mess up God’s purposes. We think we can win when we oppose Him. It’s not just that we oppose God, but that we do so as if there aren’t any consequences. We celebrate the perception of a victory all the while. Think about how offended and ticked off God might be with this kind of attitude spread out all over the planet…
Perhaps the worst part is that David wrote about his experience in Psalm 22. Even though Psalm 22 is prophetic, David also experienced suffering in a parallel way. This means, that the evil people had in their hearts when going after Jesus was also being projected against David. In other words, people have always tried to oppose God by opposing His anointed people, His purposes, and His promises. We as people, have always tried to fight against God, by fighting against His people and His purposes for them, figuring that we will overcome Him that way.
That brings us to the second thing we need to think about here. God sees into the hearts of all people, and while the world was offending Him during the days of David, He didn’t respond with wrath. Instead, God took the form of flesh to become a sort of “scarlet worm” to provide spiritual benefits for people who hated Him. David suffered 1,000 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus watched the hearts of His people that entire time. Rather than discard them and destroy them, He offered the greatest form of mercy known to mankind!
As people, we fight God. More often than not, we think we’re getting away with it, thinking we’re winning. Sometimes, the administration of God’s mercy makes it seem as if God is weak and unable to address our arrogance. This isn’t true. When Jesus came, He subjected Himself to intense suffering so that He was shamed like a worm among men. The people who opposed Him thought they were winning, but that was only because Jesus was letting them think that. Remember that Genesis 3:15 foretold that the wound to Jesus’ heel would be the very means by which the head of His chief enemy, the devil, would be destroyed. So, while we rebel against God, thinking that we’re winning, Jesus is just letting us think that way until He fulfills His work to show His victory is true; His power is supreme; His righteousness is superior; His wisdom is transcendent; His strength is everlasting.
Jesus Christ is God, and there is no other. When we think about how God treats us, even while we offend Him, we should be compelled to dedicate our lives to pursuing God’s mercy, forgiveness, and grace, trusting that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient to forgive our offenses. In response, we should commit our lives to worshiping Him and His purposes by His Spirit, out of heart-felt gratitude!
And, THAT’S what the Bible teaches about the One, WE know, as God.
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