Handel's Messiah Week 1
Kevin Ireland

This is week 1 of a six- week series called Hallelujah - the Bible and Handel's Messiah, taught during the season of Lent. This class begins exploring the powerful connections between scripture, the libretto of Charles Jennens, and the music of George Frideric Handel to deepen our appreciation of both the Bible and this beloved masterpiece.

In our first session, we focus on Psalm 22, a passage quoted by Handel, the Gospel writers, and Jesus himself. This psalm speaks to prayer, grief, despair, and resurrection—offering surprising insights into faith and endurance.

First - the slides.

And now for the video!

Handel's Messiah Week 1

Handel's Messiah Week 1 - The Text

Handel’s Week 1 Text

Psalm 103:1

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name.

Psalm 8:3-4

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

Psalm 31:9-10

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me”

Psalm 51:2-3

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Psalm 42:2

My soul thirsts for God, for the living god. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

Psalm 126:1-2a

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy …

Psalm 137:8-9

O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

Psalm 82:2

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?

Blind Willie Johnson Dark Was the Night - Cold Was the Ground

Dark was the night, and cold the ground
On which the Lord was laid;
His sweat like drops of blood ran down;
In agony he prayed.

"Father, remove this bitter cup,
If such Thy sacred will;
If not, content to drink it up
Thy pleasure I fulfill."

Go to the garden, sinner, see
Those precious drops that flow;
The heavy load He bore for thee;
For thee he lies so low.

Then learn of Him the cross to bear;
Thy Father's will obey;
And when temptations press thee near,
Awake to watch and pray.

John Calvin

commentary on Psalm 22

…the anatomy of all the parts of the soul, for not an [emotion] will anyone find in himself whose image is not reflected in this mirror. All the griefs, sorrows, fears, misgivings, hopes, cares, anxieties – in short, all the disquieting emotions with which [we] are wont to be agitated – the Holy Spirit hath here pitched exactly.

Commentary on the Book of Psalms, vol. 1, translated by J. Anderson

Psalm 22

To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night but find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not human,
    scorned by others and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
    they sneer at me; they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls encircle me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth[a] is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs are all around me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they bound my hands and feet.[b]
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
    O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my life[c] from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued[d] me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;[e]
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me[f]
    but heard when I[g] cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor[h] shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
    May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before him.[i]
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

29 To him,[j] indeed, shall all who sleep in[k] the earth bow down;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    and I shall live for him.[l]
30 Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord
31 and[m] proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
    saying that he has done it.

Jennens opens this section with number 22 (Balam) singing John 1:29 (behold the lamb of God)), before numbers 23–26 turn to Isaiah 53:3–6. (suffering servant)

Jennens then introduces Psalm 22:7–8 in numbers 27–28 before giving numbers 29–31 to Psalm 69:20, Lamentations 1:12, and Isaiah 53:8 respectively.

From this we can see that the main Scriptural engagement is between Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, with a dash of Psalm 69 and Lamentations 1,

the opening identification of Jesus as the Lamb of God in John 1:29 establishing the framework in which all these texts are presented. How does this comport with what David sang in Psalm 22?

Quoting the verses that mock the psalmist for trusting in God

Noon has darkened. As fast as she could say, “He’s dead,” the light dimmed. And where are you [O God] in this darkness? I learned to spy you in the light. Here in this darkness I cannot find you. If I had never looked for you, or looked but never found, I would not feel this pain of your absence. Or is it not your absence in which I dwell but your elusive troubling presence?

Lament for a Son, Nicholas Wolterstorff