Psalm 22:6-8 meaning

Jesus, the Messiah, will experience similar loathing, mistreatment, and humiliation. His enemies will also speak similar slanders in their efforts to delegitimize Him as the Messiah. 

THE IMMEDIATE MEANING OF DAVID’S PSALM 22:6-8

The psalmist, David, returns to his present distress after he recalled how God was faithful to deliver “our fathers who trusted” in God (Psalm 22:4).

But I am a worm and not a man (v 6a).

David describes himself as a worm, not a man. 

Man was made in God’s image. Normally, people instinctively recognize and show a measure of respect and empathy for their fellow image bearers. (Sin can warp and obliterate this natural and proper affection). 

A worm is not made in God’s image. For the most part, people typically ignore or loath worms and trample them underfoot without a second thought. Those living in an agricultural society like ancient Israel would despise worms because they ruined crops by eating through fruit, causing it to rot and become worthless. A worm could also mean a “maggot” which feed on the decomposing carcasses of dead animals. This type of worm is revolting to people. It is filthy and gross. A worm is a symbol of rotten-waste, death, and/or decay.

Moreover, in the ancient and medieval world, the term worm was often synonymous with “snake.” People typically have a strong aversion to snakes. They hate them. The psalmist may be saying that people have the same feelings of hate and reproach toward him that they usually have toward a snake. From a Biblical perspective a snake (worm) is a symbol of evil, as that was the form the devil took when he tempted Eve to disobey God in the Garden of Eden.

By making this comparison, the psalmist—God’s anointed King David—is saying that he is regarded by men with the same disdain as a worm—a symbol of rotten corruption, death, decay, and/or evil. His human dignity is not respected or considered. He is treated as being sub-human—as though he were a worm. It would have been strange that such low sentiments would be directed at a national hero like David. 

When David poetically relives his exile among the Philistines in Psalm 56, he pleads with God to be gracious to him, “for man has trampled upon me…My foes have trampled upon me all day long” (Psalm 56:1-2). The trampling upon him by man that David describes in Psalm 56 is evocative of how he is regarded as a worm, here in Psalm 22 by men.

The second line of Psalm 22:6 explains this image from the first line of this verse.

A reproach of men and despised by the people (v 6b).

Here the psalmist says that He is a reproach of men, meaning that people speak ill of him, they think he is shameful, and they disassociate themselves from him. David the psalmist also says he is despised by the people, which means he is strongly disliked or hated. 

David elaborates:

All who see me sneer at me (v 7a).

All means everyone, or nearly everyone. Functionally everyone who sees him does not even attempt to hide their dislike of him. They sneer at him. This means their faces recoil in disgust of the person they see whenever they see David. 

They separate with the lip, they wag the head (v 7b).

The They in these lines refers to the “all who see me” from the previous line. David continues to describe how people react with disdain when they see him. 

He says they separate with the lip, and they wag the head. Each of these are manners of facial expressions or gestures to show disgust and disapproval. The phrase Separate with the lips is a facial expression. It means to hold the upper and lower lips apart as they sneer. It could also they mean gape or gawk at him in open scorn or derision. The expression Wag the head is a gesture to turn the head left and right as a show of disapproval. What is indicated by this verse is that all the people who despise David—God’s anointed king—are making gestures that show their disdain of him.

As they make these gestures and expressions, all who see him are saying:

“Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him” (v 8).

Verse 8 is an interesting verse because in it David, the psalmist, is quoting or summarizing what his enemies are saying against him. And for reasons that will be explained later, it appears that as his enemies are using David’s own words against him. As will be demonstrated below, the expression—Commit yourself to the LORD—appears to be particularly Davidic. It is associated with him and seems to be an idea or phrase he used regularly. In other words, this verse appears to be David quoting his enemies, as they mockingly quote him.  

It is right and good to commit yourself to the LORD, but they [David’s enemies] were saying these things to mock and humiliate the psalmist. The indication is that David is caught and cannot escape, and his enemies are saying “Let’s see his god get him out of this.”

A NASB-95 word search for the English word Commit or its variants of “commits” and committed” reports 162 verses which include these words in the Bible. 

The overwhelming majority of these verses use commit to speak about committing some type of sin or crime. 8 verses use commit, commits, or committed refers to keeping an object or person under guard. One more verse, Romans 6:17 talks about be committed to a teaching. 

This leaves only five verses with commit used in reference to the LORD. All five of these verses are linked to David. 

Psalm 31, a psalm of David says: 

“Into Your hand I commit my spirit.”
(Psalm 31:5)

With His final words Jesus, the Messiah, quoted this prayer of David as He died on the cross. 

“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
(Luke 23:46)

Psalm 37, another psalm of David says: 

“Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”
(Psalm 37:5)

David’s son, Solomon, seems to echo what his father taught him in Solomon’s wise sayings (or proverbs):

“Commit your works to the LORD
And your plans will be established.”
(Proverbs 16:3)

The fifth and final verse about committing to the LORD is found in Psalm 22:8, where David, the psalmist, appears to be quoting or paraphrasing his enemies parroting David as they ridicule and slander him. 

“They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
‘Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.’”
(Psalm 22:7b-8)

All of this is internal evidence to support the psalm’s own account that this is “A Psalm of David” (Psalm 22 superscript) because David appears to be the primary Biblical author who said things like “commit to the LORD.” 

As a straightforward statement, it is right and good to commit yourself to the LORD. But they [David’s enemies] were saying these things to mock and humiliate the psalmist. 

Their taunt could have been intended one of two ways. Both ways were based in wicked and/or wrong assumptions about the LORD. They were twisting this good statement and godly advice into a message that meant the opposite of its original and good meaning. They intended it to be used to mean “Don’t commit yourself to the LORD”. This being the case, the implications of their folly should not be followed. 

First, their taunt could have been intended as a premise for a false unstated conclusion. 

• The premise was: David committed himself to the LORD. 
• The unstated conclusion is: Those who trust in the LORD come to ruin. 

If their taunt was meant to be understood this way, they meant: “Behold the calamity and disaster that results from following the LORD. Since God loves and delights in His psalmist and led him into these disasters, let’s see if the LORD will rescue him out of them.” 

This straightforward way of understanding the taunt would likely have been how the unbelieving Philistines or Gentiles meant it. 

While such a taunt is initially spoken against the psalmist, it is ultimately directed against the LORD. It is blaspheming God as being too weak or too far removed to protect the psalmist and others who have chosen to commit themselves to the LORD. Those who make such taunts have a warped perspective of the LORD. 2 Peter 2:10b-22 vividly describes the foolish and dangerous perspective of those who blaspheme God in this way. 

But “God is not mocked” (Galatians 6:7). The LORD will rescue His people. 

“The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.”
(2 Peter 2:9-10a).

And the LORD will punish those who mislead others by mocking Him. 

“Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
(2 Peter 2:3b).

Those who ridicule the LORD like this as a way to taunt His followers are likely either unbelievers or Gentiles who do not know God (2 Chronicles 32:9-19), or they may be “false prophets” (2 Peter 2:1) who intentionally abuse their position to represent God and exploit people for their own gain by maligning the truth (2 Peter 2:2b-3a).

The second way their taunt could be interpreted is a sarcasm.

They could have been saying: “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him” sarcastically.

People who live in a God-fearing culture like Israel would have meant this taunt sarcastically. 

From the sarcastic interpretation, the psalmist’s enemies’ words would have been an accusation. “You are suffering these troubles because you have NOT committed yourself to the LORD! If you had committed yourself to the LORD then these troubles would not be upon you. Your suffering is proof of your faithlessness.” In other words, they were saying that the terrible circumstances which the psalmist was suffering were God’s retribution against his wickedness. 

If advancing this, David’s accusers would be claiming that a person’s suffering is proof of their sin. Such a claim slanders God. The LORD severely admonished Job’s friends for “not speaking of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7). Among the false and evil things which Job’s friends said of the LORD was that Job had to have done something to deserve his suffering, and if he repented, Job could impose himself on God to restore his fortunes. 

Far from being conclusive evidence that a person is living in unrighteousness, suffering can be evidence that we are walking with Christ, as believers are admonished to suffer as He suffered (Romans 8:17). God can use difficulty as an instrument to increase intimacy and fellowship with those He loves and who seek Him. 

Though at times suffering can be the natural consequence of our sin (such as when the fool is ensnared by his own folly), on other occasions suffering can be a byproduct of living righteously in an unrighteous world (John 15:18-19, 1 Peter 3:14-15). 

Regardless of its cause, suffering is always an opportunity to know God better by faith (James 1:2-3). In this sense, all suffering can be redemptive—redemptive suffering—that works for the good of those who commit their way to the LORD and love God (Romans 8:28).

God allows His people to encounter trials (sometimes extremely difficult or painful ones) to grow their relationship with Him and deepen their faith (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-9). “Without faith it is impossible to please Him [God]” (Hebrews 11:6a). Jesus encouraged His disciples that the sufferings they overcome in this life by faith in God will be greatly rewarded by God (Matthew 5:3-12, 10:32, 10:39-42, 19:28-30, 25:14-23). 

The Book of James tell us:

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
(James 1:12)

Having exposed the errors and false assumptions of the wicked and sarcastic taunt of the psalmist’s enemies, we will now consider how these accusations were intended to harm David.

If this Psalm 22 refers to the events described in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, then David may have been surmising how his enemies back home in Israel were making use of his calamity to smear and ruin him.

They were arguing that David’s sufferings were scandalous proof that he had not committed himself to the LORD and/or that David was not God’s anointed messiah. They were trying to delegitimize David as the king of Israel with this insult. 

Scandals and negative accusations (including false ones) can quickly take on a life of their own. Rumors and reactions to rumors can snowball and reinforce themselves to ruinous results. They can have a compounding effect. Consider the progression David’s enemies hoped to bring to fruition through their accusations:

1. David was experiencing suffering and/or trials. 
2. His enemies argued that David’s unpleasant circumstances were proof that he had sinned and lost (or never had) God’s favor and was no longer a legitimate possibility to reign as king. 
3. As a result of these slanders, some people abandoned David, including some of his friends. 
4. Such reactions were additional trials David had to suffer and were used by David’s enemies as further validation of their slander. 

And thus, the slanderous cycle to delegitimize David from taking Saul’s place as king was designed to reinforce and perpetuate itself. 

But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
“Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

PSALM 22:6-8 AS A MESSIANIC PROPHECY

Jesus, the Messiah, experienced the reproach and insults of His enemies as described in these verses as He hung on the cross.

But I am a worm and not a man (v 6a).

They regarded Jesus as a worm. They treated the Messiah—“the Righteous One” (Isaiah 24:16, 53:11), as they would treat a worm—a symbol of corruption, decay, death, and sin.

Jesus was treated inhumanely by the Jewish authorities who broke many of their own laws to hastily arrest and condemn Him. They violated his rights as a man. 

For a list of laws that the Jewish authorities violated in their conspiracy to execute Jesus, see The Bible Says article: “Jesus's Trial, Part 1. The Laws Broken by the Religious Leaders: A Summary.”

I am…A reproach of men and despised by the people (v 6b). 

Though He had encountered resistance from some people before, Jesus fully was a reproach of men and despised by the people when “the chief priests stirred up the crowd” against Him during His trial before Pilate (Mark 15:11). The people demanded that Pilate “Crucify Him!” (Matthew 27:22-23, Mark 15:13-14, Luke 23:21, John 19:15). Jesus was so despised that “all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children!’” (Matthew 27:25). 

After Jesus was condemned to death, He was crucified on a cross in front of the city gate (Hebrews 13:12) for all the people to see. Not only was His death on a wooden cross a bloody and horrific spectacle, the Jewish people seemed to have (incorrectly) interpreted it as evidence that Jesus was not the Messiah. 

Moses wrote: 

“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree…for he who is hanged is accursed of God.”
(Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

The Jews seemed to have misinterpreted Jesus’s crucifixion to mean that He did not qualify as Messiah. This is likely because they expected a conquering Messiah-Son-of-David rather than a suffering Messiah-Son-of-Joseph. 

Even the disciples seem to have been unable to see Jesus’s death as being consistent with the Christ (Messiah) until it was revealed to them by the resurrected Christ and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 16:21-22, Acts 1:3, 2:1-14). Jesus came first as a servant, and was given the right to rule as a result (Matthew 20:28). He will come again as a conqueror (Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11). 

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, mentions how the idea of the Messiah being crucified was a stumbling block for Jews, when they considered Jesus,

“we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block.”
(1 Corinthians 1:23)

It appears that the idea that the Messiah would die at the hands of His enemies in such an accursed way was incompatible with their expectations. Instead of worshiping Jesus as they should have done, they despised Him. Their eyes were blinded for a time, but will be opened again at the appointed moment (Romans 11:25-26). 

Paul correctly interpreted Jesus’s crucifixion and this Mosaic curse as Jesus taking upon Himself the sins of the world:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’”.
(Galatians 3:13)

Psalm 22 accurately predicted and prophetically demonstrated how Jesus the Messiah would be rejected and despised by the people He came to redeem. Psalm 22 reveals how Jesus’s crucifixion proves that He was the Messiah. 

But those who saw Jesus on the cross as they entered Jerusalem for Passover mocked their Messiah, as His enemies hoped they would. 

All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head (v 7).

Matthew’s Gospel describes the various groups of people who sneered at and mocked Jesus as He was crucified. He mentions:

• Those passing by
  (Matthew 27:39-40)

• The chief priests, along with the scribes and elders
  (Matthew 27:41-43)

• The two robbers who were crucified on either side of Him
  (Matthew 27:44)

It is of particular interest what the chief priest, scribes, and elders were saying as they mocked Him:

“He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
(Matthew 27:42-43)

Notice how their insults against Jesus the Messiah mirror the insults Psalm 22 prophesied would be said by those who wag their head against the Messiah,

“Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him” (v 8).

Here are the parallels. In each case the line from Psalm 22 is listed first; the quotation from Matthew 27:43 is given second:

Commit yourself to the LORD (Psalm 22)
“He trusts in God” (Matthew 27)

Let Him rescue him (Psalm 22)
“let God rescue Him now” (Matthew 27)

because He delights in him (Psalm 22)
“if He delights in Him” (Matthew 27)

Notice the similarity of these slanders. The same twisted words that were used to delegitimize David as God’s anointed messiah and king of Israel when he was suffering in peril were echoed by Jesus’s enemies to delegitimize Him as the Messiah and eternal King of Israel.

But as Psalm 22 demonstrates, their slanders did not disqualify Jesus as the Messiah. If anything, these slanders from His enemies were further proof that He was the Son of Man because He fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 22.