The Man Hidden in the Text

A Scripture study tracing how Psalm 22 and Psalm 80 bring the man-word trail into prophecy: the suffering One who is a worm and no ordinary man, and the Man of God’s right hand who is also the Son of Man.

“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” — Psalm 22:6

“Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.” — Psalm 80:17

1. From Encounter to Prophecy#

The earlier trail began with language. English says “man,” but Hebrew can distinguish Adamic mankind, individual man-form, and mortal frailty. Then the trail moved into encounter. Abraham saw men. Jacob wrestled a Man. Joshua met a Man with a drawn sword. Manoah and his wife saw a Man whose identity reached into the Angel of the LORD and the presence of God.

Those passages prepared the reader to ask a better question. Not merely, “Is the word man present?” but, “What kind of man is the text revealing?” Most men are ordinary sons of Adam. Some figures appear in man-form but are heavenly messengers. In certain passages, the Man is surrounded by divine markers.

Psalm 22 and Psalm 80 now move the discovery from encounter into prophecy. The Man is no longer only met in a scene. He is spoken of in suffering, in rejection, in right-hand strength, and in son-of-man identity.

This part of the study slows down over two Psalms. Psalm 22 shows the suffering One who says, “I am a worm, and no man.” Psalm 80 asks for God’s hand to be upon “the man of thy right hand,” and then names Him “the son of man.” Together they form one of the clearest hinges in the man-word trail.

2. Psalm 22: The Suffering Voice#

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?” — Psalm 22:1

Psalm 22 begins with a cry that reaches far beyond David’s ordinary distress. David writes truly from suffering, but the Spirit carries the words into prophecy. The Gospel accounts place this Psalm at the cross, where Jesus takes its opening words upon His own lips.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” — Matthew 27:46

The Psalm is not merely a record of pain. It is an ordered testimony of humiliation, surrounding enemies, pierced suffering, public shame, divided garments, deliverance, praise, seed, and nations remembering the LORD.

“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head...” — Psalm 22:7

“They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” — Psalm 22:18

Inside that prophetic suffering comes the phrase that belongs to this study: “I am a worm, and no man.”

3. “No Man”: H376 in the Place of Rejection#

“But I am a worm, and no man (H376)...” — Psalm 22:6

The word translated “man” in “no man” is H376, ish. This is the word of individual man, person, husband, or man-form. In ordinary use, an ish is commonly an ordinary man who also belongs to Adamic mankind. But Psalm 22 uses the word in a negative phrase: “no man.”

The statement must be read carefully. The prophetic sufferer is not saying that He has no true humanity. The New Testament does not reveal a Savior who only seemed human. The Word was made flesh. He was born of a woman. He was made like unto His brethren. He hungered, thirsted, slept, wept, suffered, and died.

Therefore “no man” does not mean “not human.” It means the suffering One is no “ordinary” man. It is important to look at the root word for H376, which is the word H582, “enosh”, in Strong’s, enosh is “properly a “mortal” (and thus differing from the more dignified H120)”. Where David is saying, I am a worm, and no dignified man (H120); the Spirit is prophesying about this particular worm, and that Jesus is no ordinary H120.

The crimson worm is a designed creature that has an amazing life purpose. The female crimson worm is a worm that is found in the middle east. The worm, when it is ready to give birth, will climb a tree, will fasten itself to the tree, will give birth to the new babies, and the new baby worms will eat her, to survive. The crimson worm climbs the tree, to be eaten, as a sacrifice, so her offspring can live. And she is called a crimson worm, because she leaves a crimson stain on the wood. David saw this worm, he is likening himself to her, that others benefit and he is a sacrifice, in that moment, but the Spirit is talking about Jesus, the man, and whoever will come to him, and eat and drink of him, will have life.

This gives Psalm 22 its force. The One who is brought down into worm-like purpose is still the One through whom praise will rise, the seed will serve, the nations will remember, and the kingdom will be acknowledged as the LORD’s.

“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.” — Psalm 22:27-28

4. “A Reproach of Men”: Adamic Mankind Looking On#

“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” — Psalm 22:6

The same verse that says “no [ordinary, mortal] man (H376)” also says “a reproach of men (H120).” The “men H120)” who reproach Him move the reader into Adamic mankind language, H120, adam.

This is a quiet but weighty distinction. The sufferer is “no ish,” yet He is reproached by adam. The one mocked by mankind is the one who will bring mankind’s blessing. Adamic man looks upon the suffering One and despises Him, not understanding the mystery being carried out in front of their eyes. Jesus, overshadowed by the Spirit, and not of conception by a man, is the One Man, of the Old Testament, the Son of Man, who will be the Seed, that is the blessing to the nations.

Zechariah 12:10 says, “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

This is one reason the passage must not be flattened. It is not only a statement about emotional anguish. It becomes a prophetic window into the cross. The true Man is hidden beneath rejection. The one men despise is the one through whom the nations will turn.

5. Psalm 80: The Man of God’s Right Hand#

Psalm 80 gives the next hinge. After Psalm 22 shows the suffering One as a worm and no ordinary, mortal, man, Psalm 80 asks God to place His hand upon a particular Man.

“Let thy hand be upon the man (H376) of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.” — Psalm 80:17

The phrase “the man of thy right hand” uses H376, ish. The Psalm is not speaking of man (H120) in the broadest generic sense only. It singles out a Man, a distinct figure associated with God’s right hand.

The right hand in Scripture is the place of strength, authority, favor, action, and rule. The Man of the right hand is not merely present; He is placed. He is upheld. He is made strong for God’s own purpose.

“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” — Psalm 110:1

Psalm 80 does not yet unfold all that Psalm 110 will make plain. But it gives the reader a phrase that cannot be ignored: the Man of God’s right hand. This Man stands in the place of divine appointment. This is a commander of the armies of YHWH.

6. The Son of Man Whom God Made Strong#

Psalm 80 does not stop with “the man (H376) of thy right hand.” It immediately adds, “upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.”

“Let thy hand be upon the man (H376) of thy right hand, upon the son of man (H120) whom thou madest strong for thyself.” — Psalm 80:17

Here the Psalm joins two categories. The first is H376, the individual Man. The second is ben-adam, son of man, son of mankind. The same figure is the Man of God’s right hand and the Son of Man made strong for God.

This is one of the clearest bridges in the whole study. The Son is related to mankind, yet He is not Adam by conception. He is the Man of God’s right hand. He is Son of Man, not because He is trapped under Adam’s failure, but because He will represent humanity according to God’s purpose. He will be of Mary, fully man as a son of mankind (H120), but he will not be conceived by a man, and under the predisposition of sin. Mary will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and this Man will be no ordinary mortal; he will be an image bearer like none other before him, and he will leave, giving the spirit, that ordinary H376+H120 men will be a new creation.

The phrase “for thyself” is essential. This Man is not self-made. He is not raised by the will of fallen man. He is made strong for God’s purpose. The blessing, the kingdom, and the restoration of mankind proceed according to God’s will.

7. Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2: Mankind’s Calling Fulfilled#

Psalm 8 asks a broad question about mankind.

“What is man (H582), that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man (H120), that thou visitest him?” — Psalm 8:4

In Psalm 8 the immediate frame is mankind. God made man a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. Man was given dominion over the works of God’s hands. But in Adam, mankind did not bring that calling to fullness.

“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet...” — Psalm 8:6

Hebrews 2 reads Psalm 8 through Christ. The writer says that not all things are yet seen under man, but “we see Jesus.”

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour...” — Hebrews 2:9

This is the proper movement. Psalm 8 begins with mankind’s calling. Hebrews 2 shows that Jesus fulfills that calling. He is made lower for the suffering of death, then crowned with glory and honor. The Son of Man restores what Adamic mankind could not complete.

In Matthew 23:37 Jesus says,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…”

In Luke 13:34 there is a similar account, but Luke ends with, “and ye would not!”; not could not, would not.

Again, in Psalm 8:4, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Matthew and Luke, “how often would I have gathered you, but you would not!”

8. Daniel 7: One Like a Son of Man#

Daniel 7 adds another doorway. It is not part of the H376 trail in the same way as Genesis 32 or Psalm 80, because Daniel 7 is Aramaic. Yet it belongs to the Son of Man trail.

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven...” — Daniel 7:13

The phrase is human-like: one like a son of man. Yet the movement is heavenly: He comes with the clouds of heaven. He is brought before the Ancient of days, and receives dominion, glory, and a kingdom.

“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him...” — Daniel 7:14

Daniel holds together what the study has been discovering. The figure is truly in the human category, yet not confined to ordinary human weakness. He is human-like, heavenly, royal, and everlasting in dominion.

When Jesus takes up the title “Son of Man,” He does not make a small claim. He gathers Psalm 8, Psalm 80, Daniel 7, and the larger promise of restored rule under God. (Ultimately he is claiming to be the Adoni, Lord, and Messiah (anointed one, which is Christ in the Greek).

9. The Hidden Wisdom and the Lord of Glory#

The mystery was present, but not fully understood. The Man was hidden in the text. The suffering was foretold. The right-hand Man was named. The Son of Man was seen in vision. Yet the rulers did not understand the wisdom of God being carried out at the cross.

“Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” — 1 Corinthians 2:8

They saw a rejected man. They did not understand the Lord of glory. They saw humiliation. They did not understand enthronement. They saw weakness. They did not understand the wisdom and power of God.

Psalm 22 had already shown the pattern. The sufferer is despised, yet the nations will turn. The garments are divided, yet the kingdom is the LORD’s. The worm is no ordinary man, and the reproach of Adamic mankind becomes the path by which mankind may be restored.

Rejected Man → Lord of Glory → Nations Turn → Kingdom Declared

10. Closing: The Man, the Son of Man, and the Next Doorway#

Psalm 22 and Psalm 80 bring the man-word trail into focus. Psalm 22 shows the suffering One as a worm and no H376, reproached by Adamic mankind. Psalm 80 shows the H376 of God’s right hand, the ben-adam (H120) made strong for God Himself.

The two Psalms belong together. The Man who is rejected is the Man appointed. The One treated as less than man is the One made strong for God. The Son of Man enters the place of suffering in order to bring mankind into the purpose for which man was first made.

The next doorway is Immanuel. The God who has been with His people by presence, promise, appearance, blessing, and glory will now be announced as God with us in the fullness of time. The Word will be made flesh. The true dwelling of God with man.

End of Part Three of Six

Next: Part Four — Immanuel, Tabernacle, Temple, and the Body Prepared