Psalm 22 is an extremely dramatic psalm. It shifts from exultant praise to dejection without transition. It ends—or resolves—with the enigmatic last line: For he has done it. Done what? Accomplished what? Finished what? Speaking of God’s ultimate salvation the psalm says He has done it.

We know that Jesus wrestled with this psalm from the cross. He quoted it in despair, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We know that the apostle John used it to understand the Lord’s death. He quoted it to explain the soldiers’ decision to not tear up his outer clothes. He explains that it happened that way—So that Scripture would be fulfilled.

I’ve become convinced that the words of this psalm are like a thought-map for the last moments of Jesus’ life. At the very fulcrum point of redemption the Lord was praying this psalm. It’s as though we have to think the dying of God’s anointed Son to understand what is accomplished in God’s righteousness. It’s almost as though Jesus himself had to experience it to understand this enigmatic line—He has done it; it is finished.