Psalms 22:14-31
14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion's mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 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.
25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD's,
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.
How the suffering of the Messiah was fulfilled in Christ Jesus from the first half of this song, and now the suffering turns to praise and the posterity of Him who endured the cross for His people in the assembly! The description of being poured out (John 19:34), with bones out of place due to hanging while nailed to a tree, his heart as if melted as it gave out, a dry mouth and tongue, and no more strength from holding Himself up while pushing against nails to breathe - these fit the agony of one crucified before crucifixion was a thing for the Romans yet to come into existence. Then we see the jeering tormentors as a pack of wild growling dogs surrounding him as He suffered, the wicked of the people crowding around the spectacle (Matthew 27:41-42, Mark 15:29-30, Luke 23:35-36). Then there is the description of His hands and feet pierced, the method of crucifixion. There is the lack of broken bones, as recorded in the gospel account (John 19:33-34, 36-37). Even the gambling for His clothes is foretold here (Mark 15:24, Matthew 27:35). But the hopelessness of the situation is soon turned to victory; the strength of the Father delivered the Son from death of the dogs and lion, symbolic of the crowd of God’s people who rejected Him and the devil who is the lion seeking to devour and who thought to stop God’s work on the cross! The phase comes at the end of verse 21, “You have answered Me.” This is the victory over sin and death by the atonement of the Messiah hanging as a curse on a tree for you and me (Galatians 3:13). He became the guilty one paying for our sin while being sinless Himself! What is the response we should have to these things? Verse 23 begins the list. We are to proclaim the good news to the people around us. We are to have a fear of God with trembling praise and then glorify Him in our lives, by our words and deeds. Verse 24 reminds us that God hears us in our affliction of sin and suffering, having subsequently suffered in our place to demonstrate that He has felt our pain and anguish, our rejection and judgment, and offers hope through His horrendous death where ours should have been. When we are made aware of these things by God-given faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), we can know He hears us when we cry out for help, for deliverance from our just due (Romans 3:23, 6:23). This should result in our continued praise for His salvation, and a resulting life as a living sacrifice to pay spiritual vows of willing obedience in doing the good we were made to do (Ephesians 2:10). As poor beggars, we seek bread crumbs and find a feast in Christ! We eat of Him to our satisfaction as the psalmist wrote here. Our hearts truly do live forever in Jesus the Christ, our long foretold Messiah. As this message reaches the end of the earth (Acts 1:8), more will enter the Kingdom here on earth to worship our sovereign God Who rules over every nation. None rule themselves or are absent from His control. That is a lie of fallen pride to leave God out. We eat of the bounty God gives and then die to meet Him (Hebrews 9:27-28). We cannot keep ourselves alive, as verse 29 reminds us, but we can have hope through death into eternity. The resurrection of Jesus proves this for us who follow Him. The psalm ends with reminding us that the people in Christ, Jew and Gentile, will be the people of God to serve Him and retell the good news generation to generation. The gospel message is of the righteousness of Christ, not our own (Philippians 3:9), which earns us salvation. The gospel demonstrates us as the posterity of the Messiah and our resulting praise to Him (Revelation 5:9), the work of Christ on the cross to redeem us as a people for Himself, a people to praise and glorify Him! He alone has done this!
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