Psalm 22:8
8 He trusted [galal] on the LORD [Yahovah] that he would deliver [palat] him: let him deliver [natsal] him,
seeing he delighted [chaphets] in him. KJV-Interlinear
8
"Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him,
because He delights in him." NASB
This is a taunting
gesture from the crowd of people in general, as they watch the events of the
crucifixion.
As Jesus was nailed to
the cross, and as it was lifted up into place, and as He hung there, the crowd
was taunting.
There are always vocal people
in any crowd, that will offer comments, loud and clear which are intended for
all to hear.
And oddly enough, their
very comments are a part of prophecy in which they themselves, even as a vocal
and mocking crowd, are fulfilling. But
the greatest of the mockers were the scribes and priests that were in the
crowd, for it was they who were quoting scripture, even with inaccuracies,
Matt. 27:43. The priests did not know
their own textbook very well.
If they had known
doctrine then they would have known the prophecy. Had they known the prophecy, they would not
be saying anything. But an arrogant person lacks truth, and certainly lacks
understanding. And they presume to know
everything.
Trusted, means to roll,
to roll something off ones own self onto another, to cast off, to commit
something to someone else.
Deliver, ‘palat,’ means
to slip out, to escape, to carry away.
Deliver, ‘natsal,’ means
to snatch away, defend, deliver, rescue.
This was a taunt or
tease, in an attempt to get God to come down and snatch Jesus right off the
cross and thus save him from further suffering.
They were expecting or rather, challenging both God and Messiah, to come
together and impress them or fulfill their ridicule against God and Messiah. They wanted to see it. They wanted proof.
And oddly enough, proof
was already available from the scriptures, from the evidence of the Magi, from
the life of Jesus, from the details of his birth and residence of his early
life, from the miracles that exceeded anything ever seen or done in history, from
the timing of the Passover, from the proofs that those who opposed Jesus, had
provided themselves. Even their mocking
fulfilled prophecy. Even the content of
their mocking, fulfilled prophecy.
Fools, are those who lack
truth in their souls, and fools demand things that are already there. They just do not see them. Actually they refuse to see them.
And finally, delighted, ‘chaphets,’
meaning to delight, favor, desire, pleased.
And this is exactly what we are all to do, ‘Delight thyself in the Lord…’
The priests, the mob
crowd, everyone professed to know God, and boasted in that they were somehow
defending Gods honor by mocking, which is a sin, Jesus, who claimed to be
God. Hypocrites all.
And though all of this
ridicule was done in contempt, it was really a fulfillment of prophecy in that
the Psalms foresaw this behavior, and more than that, this is exactly what
everyone is supposed to do, which is, trust in the Lord, commit your way unto
the Lord, delight in the Lord, and He will deliver.
And even though no one
saw it, this is exactly what God did.
Only God, delivered every
human being out of the bondage of sin and eternal death. It is just that far too many reject this
personal deliverance and salvation opportunity.
They are too caught up in their own self defined spiritual delusion, or
they reject the idea all together.
