Gilbert House Fellowship

THE PSALMS OF DAVID are often prophetic. We know this. But we often overlook just how supernatural they are. This week, we focus on two of the most profound and stunning psalms in the Bible. Psalm 22 begins with a line quoted by Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It’s widely acknowledged by Bible scholars that the 22nd Psalm is a prophecy of the Crucifixion written more than 600 years before the Persians invented that horrific method of execution. However, verses 12 and 13 are usually misinterpreted. They read: Many bulls encompass me;strong bulls of Bashan surround me;they open wide their mouths at me,like a ravening and roaring lion. (Psalm 22:12–13, ESV) Bible commentaries usually explain these verses as a reference to the well-fed livestock of ancient Bashan. That’s not what the passage means. Bashan was a terrible place to raise cattle, which would have starved on the poor pastureland available on that rocky, volcanic soil. Goats and sheep thrived in Bashan, but the anci