By April Yamasaki
From Desolation . . . to Joy! Together, these four words sum up the Easter story. From the darkness and desolation of Good Friday to the light and joy of Resurrection Sunday. From the anguish and misery of Jesus’ suffering on the cross to his ultimate triumph over sin and suffering and death.
“From Desolation . . . to Joy” is also a fitting title for Psalm 22. The psalm begins with words of lament: “My God, my God, Why have you abandoned me? You seem far from saving me, far away from my groans” (v. 1).
Psalm 22 and many other psalms in the Bible are subtitled “A Psalm of David.” The subtitle means that these psalms were either written by David — the shepherd who became a king — or they were written in the spirit of David, out of David’s life circumstances, when he felt threatened by enemies, when his life was in danger.
Like other psalms of lament in the Bible, the lament of Psalm 22 turns to praise: “God does not ignore those in trouble. He doesn’t hide from them but listens when they call out to him” (v. 24). Only in Psalm 22, the praise section is much longer than in most other psalms of lament. Instead of just a few lines, the praise of Psalm 22 goes on for the last ten verses of the psalm!
But Psalm 22 was not only known as a psalm of David. In the early Christian church, Psalm 22 became uniquely understood as a Psalm of Jesus. On the one hand, Psalm 22 was written out of David’s experience and context as the shepherd who became a great king. But it also speaks of the time to come when Jesus would be revealed as shepherd and king of us all. In fact, Acts 2:31 describes David as a prophet speaking about the resurrection of Christ. Psalm 22 is an example of David’s prophetic words.
So Psalm 22 begins, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (v. 1). In Matthew 27:46, these very same words are quoted by Jesus on the cross.
Psalm 22 says, “People make fun of me and hate me” (v. 6). Luke 25:35 notes, “the leaders made fun of Jesus….The soldiers also made fun of him.”
Psalm 22 says, “My strength has dried up like a clay pot, and my tongue sticks to the top of my mouth” (v. 15). In other words, the psalmist was so dehydrated that his mouth was dry with thirst. In John 19:28, Jesus says on the cross, “I am thirsty.”
Psalm 22 says, “They divided my clothes among them, and threw lots for my clothing” (v. 18). The gospel of John describes the soldiers doing the very same thing with Jesus’ clothing, and even refers directly to Psalm 22: “This happened so that this Scripture would come true” (John 19:24).
But the psalm doesn’t end with desolation, and the parallels with Jesus’ story don’t end there either. In Psalm 22, desolation gives way to joy. In the last part of the psalm, the scene changes from one of desolation to a festival celebrated in the temple:
All of you who revere the Lord — praise him! All of you who are Jacob’s descendants — honor him! All of you who are all Israel’s offspring — stand in awe of him! (v. 23)
But this feast was not only for Jacob’s direct descendants, for the people of Israel. For the psalm continues:
Let all those who are suffering eat and be full! Let all who seek the Lord praise him! Every part of the earth will remember and come back to the Lord; every family among all the nations will worship you. (vv. 26-27)
The prophetic vision of Psalm 22 speaks not only of the crucifixion of Christ, but of a coming age of joy and celebration that extends beyond the people of Israel to all people. To all who are suffering. To all who seek the Lord. To all the earth. To all the nations.
In this coming festival of joy, the psalmist says, “Then I will tell my brothers and sisters about you; I will praise you in the public meeting” (v. 22). In the New Testament, Hebrews 2:12 attributes these words to Jesus. It’s Jesus who says, “Then I will tell my brothers and sisters about you; I will praise you in the public meeting.” In this way, the desolation and joy of Psalm 22 are directly related to Christ Jesus.
If that weren’t enough, Psalm 22 ends this way:
Future descendants will serve him; generations to come will be told about my Lord. They will proclaim God’s righteousness to those not yet born, telling them what God has done. (vv. 30-31)
God’s righteousness and joy will be for everyone — even unborn generations to come.
In Psalm 22, the individual lament of the psalmist turns into joy for the whole community, a joy that extends also to the whole world, to generations past as in David’s time and in Jesus’ time, to our time today and to future generations.
That’s a big vision, and when we catch that vision, it can make a difference to how we live today from desolation to joy! As the psalmist moved from desolation to joy in Psalm 22, we also can share our personal experiences of desolation and lament with others in community, have them prayed over and transformed into joy as God is faithful to us and answers us again and again. We can also share that joy beyond our own community to the wider community and world.
That might sound too idealistic to be true. And yet, I’ve seen glimmers of this even in the little community of my local congregation. As prayer requests are shared and prayed over, as God’s answers are received with thanks, we also move from desolation to joy. We experience the new life of Easter. So may we also share that joy with others — in our families and for generations to come, in our wider community, and world.
April Yamasaki currently serves as resident author with a liturgical worship community, editor of a daily devotional magazine, spiritual formation mentor, continues to write both online and in print, and speaks in churches and other settings. Her most recent book is This Ordinary, Extraordinary Life (CSS, 2023).