David
David, who succeeded Saul as King, has become known as the sweet Psalmist of Israel. He was committed to protecting and promoting the activities of the priests of YHWH. He re-organized the priesthood from twelve to twenty four courses, each with a chief priest. Also the Zadokian dynasty of chief priests was established during his reign. This is the order, committed to righteousness, which will function in the Messianic Kingdom under King Jesus.
David’s Psalms, in particular, are a fruitful source of illumination when tracing the image of the cross prior to the incarnation. He was the anointed of the Lord as recorded by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that time forward” (1 Sam.16.13) and therefore a Messiah himself. Under the tutelage of Samuel he honed his gift of music and prophecy at the Naioth School of Prophets, and accordingly became a perfect channel to write as the Spirit of God moved him. Peter speaks of him as a prophet.
Psalm 22, the most famous of all psalms in this connection, reads as if it were composed at the foot of the cross. It describes in detail so much of what a Roman crucifixion entailed, before even such a capital punishment was in existence. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the Savior of the world, was nailed to a Roman execution stake at 9 a.m. on the 14th Nissan, in the very year that was predicted in Daniel’s prophecy. The suffering and abuse which Jesus suffered through the night of the 14th Nissan is illuminated in Psalm 22 by several images. “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round” (v.12). The bulls alluded to here are from trans-Jordan and are remarkable for size, strength and fierceness. A suitable image when we consider the Messiah was arrested by a combination of Temple guards, Roman soldiers and supporters of the unmerciful Jewish leaders (over 600 men altogether), to be abused through the night with both beatings and humiliations. The verbal abuse of the crowd as they bayed for His blood like a pack of dogs shouting, ‘crucify … crucify’ is captured by the verse, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me” (v.16). The unmerciful treatment of Jesus by Jews and Romans; including a scourging which would have killed a weaker man; left Jesus totally exhausted, unable even to carry the crossbeam of the execution gibbet; “I am poured out like water … my strength is dried up like a potsherd” (vv.14,15). Add to that, the excruciating pain of the crucifixion itself, “they pierced my hands and my feet” (v.16); and “all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels … and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” (vv.14,15). This inhuman treatment demonstrated the sinfulness of the human heart and the insatiable evil appetite of the Devil. Jesus suffered the distilled essence of the wrath of man and the wrath of Satan.
The added humiliation of Golgotha is captured by the words, “I am a worm and no man” (v.6). The word translated ‘worm’ refers to the worm ‘coccus ilicis’. When the female of this species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until they were ready to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such worms were the scarlet dyes of antiquity extracted. For example, these were the dyes that were used to color the scarlet curtains and cloths in the Tabernacle. When David said, ‘I am a worm’ he pre-figured the death of Jesus when the Messiah, like the coccus ilicis worm, shed His life blood to bring many sons to glory.
The prophet continued, I am “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” (vv.6-8). The fulfillment of this is referenced by Matthew, and Mark, “…they that passed by railed on him wagging their heads” (Matt.27.39; Mark 15.29). Then again, “They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots” (v.18), was fulfilled to the letter. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (John 19.23,24). Other Psalms add more detail, such as, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps.69.21).
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