Psalm 22 is a psalm by David and even though David speaks in the first person, it is obvious from the text that David is not speaking of himself but he is speaking of events that happen to another person. The events happening in this psalm did not happen to King David but rather, is a foreshadowing of what would happen to the Messiah; in essence, another shadow of the cross; therefore, this is indeed a Messianic psalm. 

The psalm begins with some of the very last words that Jesus ever spoke on the cross; Eli Eli lama sabachthani or my God my God why have you forsaken me, Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34. Before the Bible was divided into chapters and verses by Robert Estienne aka Stephanus in the mid sixteenth century, the way you remembered a passage was by citing the first verse of each passage which in this case is Psalm 22.

On the cross and in His humanity, Yeshua called out the first verse of Psalm 22 in despair as this would have been the first time in His human life that He did not feel connected to the Father. But it could also be that in reciting the first verse of Psalm 22, Messiah was pointing the people back to this psalm and to remember it all, to once again confirm that He indeed is the promised Messiah of Israel.

In verse six, David describes himself as a worm, a reproach and despised of the people. Although certain individuals like Michal, his first wife came to despise David; David was beloved of the people; so, this verse is not speaking of David but of the Messiah that indeed through the coaxing of the leaders of Israel, the people came to despise the One Whom they cheered when seeing His miracles but have now come to jeer at his crucifixion.

Verses seven and eight pictures the scorn and mockery of Christ by the Chief priests, scribes, elders, and those passing by, as told in Matt. 27:39-43. Verse eight says that “He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him,” which is essentially what is spoke of the Messiah in Matthew 27:43.

Verses eleven and twelve speak of being surrounded by many bulls, strong bulls of Bashan. These are figurative of the prominent men present at the crucifixion of Christ Jesus; the chief priests, scribes, and elders in Matthew 27:41 and Mark 15:31. Later in verse sixteen this assembly are called dogs and are identified as the assembly of the wicked.

Verse sixteen is also where the controversial rendering of “they pierced my hands and my feet,” is written. Controversial because the rabbis say that this is a misinterpretation of the text by Christians and that it should actually read, “like a lion my hands and my feet.” This however is the rendering from the Masoretic Text that was written nine hundred to a thousand years after the time of Jesus and makes no sense at all. However, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament written some two hundred years before the time of Jesus is translated as “they pierced my hands and my feet.” So, this is not a misinterpretation as the rabbis often teach but is the correct translation. 

Verse eighteen states that “They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture,” something that never happened to King David but did happen to Jesus at the cross. This is recorded in Matthew 27:35 and Mark 15:24.

Once again these are events that did not happen to King David even though he writes in the first person but were prophetic of what would happen to the Messiah. We have gone through just some of the verses in Psalm 22 that point to the events of the cross.

David wrote this prophetic psalm a thousand years before the advent of Jesus the Christ; this shows one of the unique features of the Bible, that in it God makes prophecies that He later fulfils perfectly and completely. Something that is unique to the Holy Bible.