The Passion in Psalm 22:26-31

[Chris]

The Passion in Psalm 22:26-31

The Passion in Psalm 22:26-31
By Dr. David Reagan

The last six verses of Psalm 22 give us a summary of the glorious consequences of the Cross.

The first is salvation for all who put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior:

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord,
Let your heart live forever!

The apostle Peter sums up the meaning of this verse in 1 Peter 2:24, "He Himself [Jesus] bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."

The second consequence of the Cross that is mentioned in Psalm 22 is that the obedience of Jesus in submitting to the humiliation of the Cross will result in His glorification before all the nations of the earth when He returns to reign over the world:

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's,
And He rules over the nations.

When that glorious reign begins, all the Redeemed will be prospered, while those who are damned by their unbelief will bow before Him and confess Him as King of kings and Lord of lords before being consigned to Hell:

29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

Isaiah states that "every knee will bow, every tongue will confess" that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is affirmed in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11.

Think of it — a day will come when Hitler and Stalin will bow and confess the lordship of Jesus, as will Madeline Murray O'Hare, Charles Darwin, and ever other nefarious person who has ever lived. But it will have no impact upon their eternal destiny. Only those who make that confession in this life will receive the blessing of having their "hearts live forever" (Psalm 22:26).

The final consequence of the Cross that is mentioned in Psalm 22 is that during the millennial reign of Jesus, the Redeemed (who will be in glorified bodies) will teach those who are born during that time of the righteousness of Jesus and of the all—sufficiency of His sacrifice on the Cross:

30 Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

31 They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

A Fascinating Possibility

Notice again the last phrase of Psalm 22: "He has performed it." Literally, in the Hebrew, it says, "It is finished."

This fact has prompted some scholars to theorize that as Jesus hung on the Cross, He quite likely quoted all of Psalm 22, beginning with the words, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" and ending with the words, "It is finished." The witnesses then simply wrote down the opening and closing words which were recorded in the Gospels (see Matthew 27:46 and John 19:30).

In the final part of "The Passion in Psalm 22" series, we'll look at the Giver of Salvation prophetically described in Psalm 22.

[mattfivefour]

What a beautiful series this has been! I look forward to Dr. Reagan's conclusion!