Exhaling Pain, Inhaling Grace - Noel Heikkinen

Psalm 22 sings the move from raw anguish to loud praise. David opens by exhaling grief without a filter, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me,” then keeps breathing until trust finds voice again. The psalm, read as a song not a treatise, holds the whole range of human feeling and gives language when a sufferer has none. The Psalms in general work like breathing: they help a heart expel its waste, then draw in oxygen that keeps faith alive. The common lie says following Jesus makes everything “fine.” Psalm 22 drags that lie into the light, makes space for honest pain, and then fills that space with gospel truth.

Jesus places himself inside this song. The eternal Son had known only perfect fellowship with the Father. On the cross he piled sin on himself until, in Paul’s words, he became sin. That is why the Face turned away. The deepest agony was not the whip or the thorns, but the rupture a sinner feels every day. Psalm 22 had sketched that agony centuries earlier: mocked like a fraud, called a worm, poured out like water, bones out of joint, tongue stuck, hands and feet pierced, clothes gambled away. David wrote about David, but the Spirit wrote about Jesus too. Even the possible image of a scarlet worm fixed to a tree to feed her offspring throws a shadow of the cross.

Then the hinge turns. “Save me …” falls into “You answered me.” Lament shifts to proclamation. Hebrews puts the line “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters” on Jesus’ lips. The second half swells into worldwide worship: ends of the earth remember, nations bow, kingship belongs to the Lord. The final stanza reaches into time and grabs the future: a people not yet born will be told what he has done. That is this generation. The psalm invites each sufferer to breathe out grief and breathe in Christ. He knows betrayal, bereavement, temptation, and pain. More than that, he bore sin and the God-forsakenness it deserves. So exhale honestly, but do not stop there. Inhale the gospel by trusting Jesus, then say so in the assembly. Baptism and song become the church’s inhale, a public yes to the God who answered.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Lament makes room for grace [12:13] Lament is not unbelief; it is the heart’s exhale so faith can breathe again. Psalm 22 gives permission to tell God the worst without pretending. Honesty clears the space where truth can land. Confession of pain becomes the doorway where comfort walks in. [12:13]
• 2. The Son entered utter abandonment [23:51] The cross is the moment the sinless Son stepped beneath the weight of sin until the Father’s face turned away. That severing, not the nails, is the center of his suffering. Because he went there, no abandoned one prays alone. His cry makes room for theirs until resurrection breaks in. [23:51]
• 3. Crucifixion fulfills David’s lyrics [30:07] “Pierced hands and feet,” dried tongue, lots for clothes are not random poetic flourishes. They are the Spirit’s fingerprints pointing straight to Golgotha. The Passion is not an accident spun out of control, but the long-promised script God brought to completion in Jesus. [30:07]
• 4. Praise rises from “You answered me” [31:23] The hinge of Psalm 22 turns lament into proclamation to brothers and sisters, then into mission to the nations. Praise is not denial of pain; it is testimony that God heard and acted. The assembly becomes the place where private anguish becomes public witness. [31:23]
• 5. Let honesty lead to belief [33:30] Venting alone will hollow a soul; exhale must be matched by inhale. Bring the ache to God, then take in the gospel Jesus secured in death and resurrection. Baptism and song are embodied ways to breathe in truth and say yes to the King who answered. [33:30]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [02:34] - Fifth Sundays: Psalms and baptisms
• [06:30] - Mark’s pain and strange joy
• [09:09] - A daily way into Psalms
• [10:49] - The Psalms speak for us
• [11:17] - Exhale grief, inhale grace
• [12:39] - When “everything’s fine” is a lie
• [15:01] - Psalm 22 sung as lament
• [19:36] - Jesus shows Psalms point to Him
• [21:23] - Find David, Jesus, and you
• [23:36] - The Son bears abandonment
• [28:49] - Crucifixion through David’s words
• [30:56] - “You answered me” turns to praise
• [32:27] - A people not yet born
• [35:13] - Worship, baptism, and breathing truth

Bible Reading
Psalm 22:1-2, 14-18, 22-28 (ESV)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

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Observation Questions

1. Psalm 22 shifts from raw anguish (vv. 1-2) to loud praise (vv. 22-28). What specific phrases or images mark this turning point in the psalm?
2. The psalm includes vivid physical descriptions of suffering (e.g., “bones out of joint,” “tongue sticks to my jaws”). How do these details connect to Jesus’ crucifixion as described in the New Testament?
3. Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22:22 (“I will tell of your name to my brothers”) and attributes it to Jesus. What does this reveal about how the early church understood this psalm?

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Interpretation Questions

1. Why might Jesus have quoted Psalm 22:1 (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) on the cross (Matthew 27:46)? How does this connect to the psalm’s broader message?
2. The psalmist moves from lament to praise after declaring, “You answered me” (v. 21). What does this imply about the relationship between honesty in suffering and trust in God’s faithfulness?
3. The sermon describes the Psalms as “breathing” — exhaling pain and inhaling truth. How does the structure of Psalm 22 model this rhythm for believers?

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Application Questions

1. Lament is described as “the heart’s exhale so faith can breathe again” [12:13]. When have you felt unable to voice your pain to God or others? What would it look like to “exhale” that grief honestly this week?
2. Jesus’ cry of abandonment on the cross means “no abandoned one prays alone” [23:51]. How could this truth reshape how you respond to feelings of isolation or spiritual dryness?
3. Baptism and song are called the church’s “inhale” of gospel truth [35:13]. What specific practices (e.g., worship, community prayer, Scripture meditation) help you “breathe in” Christ’s victory when life feels heavy?
4. The psalm ends with a call to proclaim God’s faithfulness “to a people not yet born” (v. 31). Who in your life needs to hear how God has met you in your darkest moments?
5. The sermon warns against pretending “everything’s fine” [12:39]. How can your small group create a safer space for honest lament while still holding onto hope?