Psalm 22 -Deliverance of the King -Pt2

Prayer focus - Highest giving during times of distress

Psalm 22:21–31 ESV

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; 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, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted 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 you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

From Lament to Thanksgiving - v.22-31

It is somewhat analogous to the way we react to God when some tragedy happens.

Some people avoid facing what has happened because it imperils their fundamental understanding of God as one who is faithful and loving and involved.

Other people face the nature of what has happened and indeed find that their fundamental understanding of God is imperiled.

The genius of Psalm 22 is that it refuses to take either of those alternatives.

It resolutely insists on facing two sets of facts.

It invites people to look directly in the face the adversity that has happened to them but also to stay attentive to the facts about God that they already knew.

It thus moves between: “Why have you abandoned me?” and “You are enthroned as the holy one”

The psalm thus invites us neither to deny the reality of what we already know about God nor to deny the reality of what has happened.

The 2nd half of Ps.22 teaches us that the result of biblical lament is thanksgiving; it is deliverance or even better understood satisfying rest!

The end of Psalm 22 sets the table for Psalm 23

Lamenting leads us to comfort, it leads us into the arms of our good shepherd.

The Lord and his people are Delivered to Joy by the Steadfast Love of God

V.21-22 - From I am rescued to I will tell

The People of Lord will gather and praise the Lord -V.21-24

The people of the Lord = those who fear him

From public shame to public praise

Hebrew 2:11-12 - quotes Psalm 22:1

\te in the song; no tongue may be silent, no heart may be cold. Christ calls us to glorify God, and can we refuse?” (Spurgeon, 332).

The people of the Lord will devote themselves to the Lord - V.25

The people of the Lord will be satisfied in the Lord -

The people of the Lord will lead the nations to praise the Lord

So What?

Am I satisfied in Christ alone?

Am I embracing the cross-centered life

The cross of Jesus Christ is central in the life of believers

Communion table - cross is central and his people are thankful

The cross is central for witnessing - the heart of the gospel is the substitutionary death of God’s son for sin.