Psalm 22:14-15 meaning

This passage prophetically describes the physical sufferings Jesus the Messiah underwent as He was condemned and crucified. 

The Immediate Meaning of David’s Psalm 22:14-15

David, the psalmist, describes the physical condition of his body as he is surrounded by many powerful enemies. 

I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me (v 14).

The first way David describes his physical condition is that he is poured out like water. This expression seems to mean he has no energy left. He is physically exhausted and extremely weary. This expression also signifies futility. David is not only exhausted, he also may feel as though his efforts have been in vain. Like a cup of water that has been poured out on the hot desert floor, his energy has been wasted. He has nothing to show for his efforts. 

David may have had feelings of exhaustion and/or frustrating futility when he was on the run from Saul or hiding from the Philistines. He may have felt that all his moral uprightness had only resulted in moving him further from assuming his anointed position as king. Another possibility is that David may have felt these feelings while contemplating that his kingdom had come to ruin during Absalom’s rebellion. 

Next, David says: And all my bones are out of joint. 

This phrase seems to describe an injury(s) he had suffered—dislocated or a broken set of bones. This injury may have occurred while David fled from his enemies, was in combat with them, or was the result of abuse he may have suffered while in their custody. 

David continues discussing his physical condition by describing his heart. 

My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.

The psalmist uses this expression to describe how his heart is responding to the pressure and “heat” of being alone among many enemies. 

At normal temperatures, wax is a solid, but soft substance. It has the appearance of being firm and substantial, but it is extremely malleable under light pressure and quickly dissolved by heat. Its form is easy to mold, especially when it is melted. 

David’s expressions that his heart is like wax and it is melted within me could describe one or more physical conditions about his heart. David could be describing the heavy pounding of his heart arising from fear, physical exhaustion, sleep deprivation, dehydration, or torment as he is surrounded by his enemies. He could be describing a “panic attack,” where his heart seems to be racing out of control and he is powerless to bring his heart rate down. He also may be describing a heart attack or near-heart attack. Whichever of these conditions he was suffering, the point David is making is that the perilous and/or painful external circumstances or injuries he is experiencing are taking an inward and unsettling toll upon his heart. 

David continues describing his physical state of being.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws (v 15a).

He uses the expression: My strength is dried up like a potsherd to describe how physically frail he is. A potsherd is a broken piece of clay pot. A potsherd is a broken piece of pottery. Due to the interior of the pot being exposed it is usually dry and brittle. What David means by this is that his body is broken and drained. He is extremely weak. His strength is dried up. He has depleted his energy—possibly from trying to escape the powerful enemies encircling him. 

His phrase: And my tongue cleaves to my jaws explains why his strength is dried up. It is because he is severely dehydrated. As David has evaded his enemies, it appears he has been deprived of sufficient water to drink so his mouth is dried and his tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth. It sticks to his jaws. In addition to being thirsty and dehydrated is also possible that David is sleep deprived and/or starving as he may have been without nourishing food or rest for a considerable period of time. His body is broken like a potsherd. 

Just before David “fled… from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10), he went to Abimelech the priest asking for food because he had nothing to eat (1 Samuel 21:1-3.) Abimelech gave David some of the consecrated bread because he had nothing else to offer (1 Samuel 21:6). This event from I Samuel demonstrates how it was difficult for David to access food during this season of exile, which was a possible factor as to why his strength dried up.

David’s exhaustion, out of joint bones, heart episodes, and severe dehydration have him feeling like he is about to die. David explains to God that He is killing him.

And You lay me in the dust of death (v 15b).

David tells God that You are doing this to me. This could be viewed as a complaint or accusation. But the spirit and context of Psalm 22 seems that it is more likely a confession of David’s perspective to God. He seems to be saying this not as a final declaration of how things really are, but as a dialogue with the God he entrusts himself to. It is in part a recognition that God controls all things and has allowed/authorized that David be exposed to this circumstance.

David believes God is good (Psalm 23, 34:8, 37:3), yet he is experiencing bewildering pain and extreme difficulties. And he wonders why these things are happening to him. As David puzzles over the conflict of his conviction and circumstances, he practices what the Apostle James will later counsel his readers to do whenever they lack wisdom (God’s perspective) when they encounter various trials. James advises them to ask God for His perspective about our circumstances:

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
(James 1:5)

The reason David tells God: You lay me in the dust of death is to express how he is feeling about his suffering circumstances so that he can gain God’s perspective. David is sharing his opinions and thoughts out loud to God in a prayerful dialogue, seeking to see God’s perspective, which is the true perspective. 

While it may be true that the injuries and exhaustion David is enduring have brought him to the point of death, David is still trusting the LORD with his painful circumstances—even if it results in his death. 

I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.

Psalm 22:14-15 as a Messianic Prophecy

David’s poetic account of his physical pain prophetically parallels the sufferings of Jesus, the Messiah, as He was put to death on the cross. 

I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me (v 14).

David’s statement, I am poured out like water, speaks not only to the extreme physical exhaustion Jesus suffered before and during the ordeal of the cross, it also foreshadowed what happened when one of his Roman executioners pierced His side after He had died, 

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”
(John 19:34)

When His dead body was pierced, water (and blood) literally poured out of Jesus’s side. This unusual phenomenon may have been the result of Jesus suffering the condition called “hypovolemic shock.” Hypovolemic shock is a state where the body lacks sufficient blood to function properly. Jesus experienced traumatic blood loss during his scourging. His crucifixion would have exacerbated it.

The hypovolemic shock and asphyxiation from not being able to breath properly on the cross would have put immense stress upon His heart and its ability to function. A human heart under this amount of physical stress would have been like wax under heat. A heart that suffered the things Jesus suffered before and on the cross would respond as David described: it is melted within me. One could accurately say that Jesus died of a broken heart. 

The psalmist’s phrase: I am poured out like water also is reminiscent of the name of the place where Jesus agonized over His looming crucifixion and was arrested—“Gethsemane,” which means “Olive Press.” Jesus was pressed and squeezed like an olive being compressed to extract the oil within it. The picture of a squeezed olive is accurately pictured by the phrase poured out like water. 

Moreover, from a human point of view, it may have seemed a wasted opportunity for Jesus the Messiah to be killed before His kingdom was fully inaugurated. When He died, it may have seemed like Jesus, the One who has living water (John 4:10), was wasted and poured out like water upon the dry desert. It seems that even the Messiah, the Servant of the LORD, personally considered this tragic possibility as He reflected upon His imminent death (Isaiah 49:4). But God had far greater plans in store. Christ’s death would not be tragic waste. Rather, it would be through His death that Jesus would redeem the entire world (Isaiah 49:6, John 3:16).

David’s expression: And all my bones are out of joint speaks to the fact that crucifixion victims often had the shoulders dislocated when their cross was raised. 

As the heavy cross was raised and its post was implanted into its base (a hole dug in the earth), its victim experienced an agonizing jolt that violently jarred his body, which often pulled bones out of joint. Jesus likely experienced both this forceful jolt and suffered the painful dislocation of His bones at this moment.

To learn more about the physical agonies of the cross, see The Bible Says article—“Bearing the Cross: Exploring the Unimaginable Suffering of Crucifixion.”

David prophetically describes the severe exhaustion Jesus suffered in His final hours. 

My strength is dried up like a potsherd (v 15a).

Even without considering the physical ordeal of the abuse He endured, Jesus’ strength and energy would have been dried up. Consider how: 

• He had little to no sleep the night before He was executed as He prayed in the Garden, nor during His arrest, trials, and condemnation.
  (Matthew 26:36-46)

• He was distressed and grieved to the point of death.
  (Matthew 26:37-38)

• He prayed so intensely that His sweat became like drops of blood.
  (Luke 22:44)

• He was marched back and forth across Jerusalem to no less than six trials before He was forced to carry His cross to Golgotha.
  1. John 18:12-13—John 18:24)
  2. Matthew 26:57, Mark 14:53)
  3. Matthew 27:1-2, Mark 15:1, Luke 22:66-71)
  4. Matthew 27:11-14, Mark 15:2-5, Luke 23:1-7, John 18:28-38)
  5. Luke 23:8-12)
  6. Matthew 27:15-31, Mark 15:6-20, Luke 23:13-25, John 18:39 - 19:16) 

Given His lack of sleep, under the best of conditions, one’s energy and strength would have dried up. 

To these already exhausting circumstances, Jesus also endured severe physical abuse, 

• many physical beatings by the Jews;
  (John 18:22, Matthew 26:67-68, Mark 14:65, Luke 22:63-65) 

• A Roman scourging. (These scourgings ripped flesh off the body from the knees to the neck).
  (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1)

• The excruciating ordeal of the cross.

Considering all these things, Jesus’s strength would not only have been depleted, His entire body would have been broken and dried up. It would be shattered and brittle; dried up like a potsherd—a broken piece of pottery. 

We see the extreme weakness of Jesus from the fact that the Roman detachment forced the passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to carry His cross once it became apparent that Jesus was physically unable to carry it (Matthew 27:23, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26, John 19:17). The reason Jesus was unable to carry His cross was because His strength was dried up. 

Current archeology discoveries indicate that Pilate’s Jerusalem palace, the Praetorium, was located on the southwest side of Jerusalem, around less than half a mile from the place of His crucifixion. That Jesus was unable to carry the beam upon which He was to be crucified a fairly short distance is further indication of His severely weakened condition. 

[MAP of Jerusalem with Praetorium and crucifixion locations identified.]

David prophetically describes the severe dehydration Jesus suffered on the cross. 

And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; (v 15b)

One of the main ailments the victims of Roman crucifixion experienced was extreme thirst. We know Jesus felt this because while He was on the cross, He said, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). The Gospel writer John comments on how this statement from Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy,

“Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’”
(John 19:28)

The scripture which Jesus’s statement fulfilled appears to be this one in Psalm 22:15—And my tongue cleaves to my jaws. This would indicate that Jesus not only knew Psalm 22, but was also being intentional about demonstrating to others its fulfillment. 

After saying He was thirsty, Jesus was offered sour wine to drink, which He did before giving up His Spirit (John 19:29-30).

Finally, Psalm 22:15 speaks directly to the death of Jesus the Messiah.

And You lay me in the dust of death (v 15c).

Unlike David, who was brought only to the brink of death at the hands of his enemies, Jesus literally died, and His body was buried in a tomb and lay in the dust of death. 

“So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid…since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
(John 19:40-42)

See also: Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56.

Jesus the Messiah’s body remained in the dust of death for three days (Matthew 12:40, 1 Corinthians 15:4). All four Gospels describe how Jesus died and was buried the day before Sabbath. This would have been the sixth day of the week because the Sabbath is the seventh day. Each Gospel emphasizes that Jesus was raised on the “first day of the week” (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1). 

Adding up each of these days equates to Jesus remaining dead for three days. That Jesus would be in the tomb three days is also a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus specifically prophesied it of Himself (John 2:19). The Old Testament has many pictures of resurrection on the third day, all pointing to the ultimate fulfillment of Jesus defeating death by being raised on the third day:

• Isaac was spared death and delivered alive to Abraham on the third day of his journey (Genesis 22:4). 
• Joseph released his brothers from prison on the third day (Genesis 42:18). 
• God revealed His power to Israel at Sinai on the third day (Exodus 19:16). 
• David was delivered from death after the third day of hiding from Saul (1 Samuel 20:5). 
• Jonah was given as a picture of Jesus being in the tomb for three days then being raised (Jonah 1:17, Matthew 12:39). 

When David wrote And You lay me in the dust of death, it expresses his absolute faith and trust in God, even though it seemed like the LORD was killing him. In the same way, Jesus the Messiah trusted God unto His death. 

In David’s case, it seemed as though the LORD was about to lay him in the dust of death, but apparently God only brought David to the brink (or shadow) of death at the hands of his enemies. David was not killed by his enemies. He died peacefully after reigning as king over Israel for forty years (1 Kings 2:1-12). 

But in Jesus the Messiah’s case, the LORD really did lay Him in the dust of death,

“But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief.”
(Isaiah 53:10a)

Jesus knew it was God’s will for Him to suffer and be killed on a cross.

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
(Matthew 20:18-19)

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit…Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
(John 12:23-24, 27)

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to His Father: 

“If You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
(Luke 22:42)

Jesus endured a painful and humiliating death on a cross to please His Father and receive a glorious reward from Him,

“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
(Philippians 2:8)

“Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Hebrews 12:2)

David’s prophetic statement You lay me in the dust of death reveals the cosmic fact that God is the one who authorized the death of Jesus, His Son. When God authorizes something, He takes responsibility for the result, even though God does not do evil (Job 2:3). The verses cited above (along with Isaiah 53:4-12, John 3:14-17, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 5:21) explain God’s mysterious purpose for permitting the death of His Son at the hands of evil men, and Jesus’s faithful perspective for why He laid down His life (John 10:17-18). 

The Bible exhorts us to embrace this same attitude, faith, and perspective in our own circumstances and trials; the attitude that Jesus had in obeying God unto death. God asserts that doing so will bring God’s approval and reward. It tells us that this was Jesus’s motivation, to please His Father, and that it should also be our motivation as well. Jesus believed that fully obeying His Father was the path to His own self-interest, and the Bible tells each of us that it is the same for us:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
(Luke 9:23-24)

Following in the same obedient footsteps of Jesus is the way to actually gain total fulfillment from our lives on earth,

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
(Matthew 19:29)

In this verse from Matthew, “eternal life” is spoken of as a reward. The presence of “eternal life” is given as a gift for all who believe, and results in being spiritually born again (John 3:3, 14-16). But the experience of “eternal life” comes from walking in faithful obedience to God’s ways. 

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
(James 1:2-4)

Walking faithfully in obedience to God leads to fulfillment and completion, the granting of our deepest desires,

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 1:6-7)

“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
(Revelation 3:21)

We are to “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). If we faithfully maintain this attitude and perspective by faith through the trials we encounter, we will receive great reward, a reward that goes beyond our capacity to comprehend (1 Corinthians 2:9).