What does Psalm 22:14 mean?
What is the meaning of Psalm 22:14?

I am poured out like water

- David describes a total draining of life and strength. Water, once spilled, cannot be gathered again; it simply soaks into the ground and is gone (2 Samuel 14:14).

- His words also anticipate the Messiah’s experience: “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out” (John 19:34).

- Isaiah speaks the same truth of the Suffering Servant: “He poured out His life unto death” (Isaiah 53:12).

- The image assures us that Scripture records literal events—David’s ordeal in the past and Christ’s literal, physical outpouring at the cross.


and all my bones are disjointed

- David feels his skeleton losing cohesion, an agony that leaves him unable to support himself. Psalm 38:3 echoes, “There is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.”

- Crucifixion stretched Jesus’ limbs until joints were pulled from their sockets, yet “Not one of His bones will be broken” (John 19:36; Exodus 12:46).

- By preserving every bone unbroken while allowing joints to separate, God fulfilled prophecy with precision, underlining the reliability of each word of Scripture.


My heart is like wax

- Wax softens in heat, losing firmness. David’s courage and physical heart both seem to collapse under pressure. “As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish before God” (Psalm 68:2).

- In Gethsemane Jesus endured such strain that “His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). The comparison highlights literal cardiovascular stress and emotional overload.

- God allows such melting so that dependence shifts from self-strength to His sustaining power (Psalm 73:26).


it melts away within me

- The final clause shows complete internal dissolution: courage, strength, and hope appear to be liquefying. Similar language paints the terror of those facing judgment—“Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble” (Nahum 2:10).

- For David, the sensation was real in the midst of relentless enemies; for Jesus, it culminated in actual death, after which the centurion confirmed, “Certainly this Man was righteous” (Luke 23:47).

- God recorded these details centuries in advance so we could recognize the cross when it came and trust every promise still pending.


summary

Psalm 22:14 gives a step-by-step portrait of literal, bodily suffering—first David’s, ultimately Christ’s. Life drains away like spilled water, joints separate, the heart softens to wax, then liquefies inside. Each phrase matches historical events at Calvary, proving Scripture’s precision and reminding us that the Savior’s exhaustion, dislocation, and cardiac collapse were all endured for our redemption.

How does Psalm 22:13 reflect the suffering of the psalmist?
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