Psalms 22:12–18
The psalmist is physically broken and socially stripped, surrounded by bestial enemies who pierce His body and gamble for His very clothes.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
The psalmist is physically broken and socially stripped, surrounded by bestial enemies who pierce his body and gamble for his very clothes.
To provide a graphic and visceral account of extreme physical and social suffering, portraying the victim as surrounded by predatory forces and experiencing total bodily dissolution.
The Forsaken Sufferer and the Worldwide Praise of the LORD
The righteous sufferer brings felt abandonment, shame, and deadly opposition to the LORD, and the LORD's deliverance becomes praise that reaches the congregation, the nations, and generations yet unborn.