Psalm 22, a Psalm of David, was written 1000 years before Jesus. Crucifixion had not yet been invented.
Crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. The length of time a condemned man hung on a cross ranged from 6 hours to four days. Death was typically due to asphyxia caused by impairment of respiratory movement, shock and cardiac arrest.
Since Roman soldiers were commanded to stay until the prisoner died, they were known to precipitate death by means of fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.
In Roman times, crucifixion was applied mostly to slaves and disgraced soldiers, and rarely used on Roman citizens. It was, however, used on the Son of God to free those who would believe on Him:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God.
Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.
Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced. My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.”
Mark 15:33: “Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”