AN EXPOSITION OF PSALM 22 (6)
Psalm 22

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VIII. Christ declares Jehovah to His church (vv.22-26). Here begins the second half of this psalm. Christ began the first half with the sorrowful question "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (v.1). But having acknowledged "You have answered Me" (v.21a), He begins this second half with a thankful announcement:

"I will declare Your name ..." (v.22a). The "name" of Jehovah is here not one of the various names by which He is known, such as El Shaddai, Elohim, or Adonai. Rather, the word "name" is here used as a metonym for whom and what Jehovah is. To "declare" Jehovah's name is to publicly "praise" Him (see the parallel statement in v.22b) in all His glorious perfections. Christ will declare that God was just in forsaking Him when He bore the sins of His people. And God was faithful even when all men were torturing Him. And God had accomplished His purpose of salvation through what He had undergone. O that the sons of God were as diligent in praising Him after they have been by Him brought through the ordeals of their own lives. We are so quick to complain when we feel God has not dealt graciously enough with us, but so slow to praise Him when He has gloriously delivered us. Note also to whom Christ says "I will declare Your name":

"... to My brethren; ..." (v.22b). Christ does not here refer to His earthly brethren, whether His physical siblings or His countrymen. Rather, Christ will declare Jehovah's praises to His spiritual brethren. These are the children of God, "those who believe in [Christ's] name" (John 1:12), those of whom Christ spoke when He said, "For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). This prophecy is declared fulfilled in Hebrews 2:12. In the context of that text, Christ's brethren are identified in various ways: the sons of men God had given to Him (v.13); those whose nature He assumed in order to serve God as their High Priest and thereby deliver them from their bondage (vv.14-18); the sons of God whom He brought to glory through His sufferings (v.10), those who are one with Him through having been sanctified by Him (v.11a), those of whom He is not ashamed (v.11b).

"... In the midst of the assembly I will praise You" (v.22c). The "assembly" is the church of God, "the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Hebrews 12:23). Christ fulfilled this prophecy on various occasions after His resurrection from the dead (e.g., Matthew 28:10, 16ff; 1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Christ's words of praise are described in Psalm 40:9f: "I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly" (cp. Psalm 35:18). Christ will continue through eternal ages to fulfill this prophecy to praise God in the great assembly (Ephesians 3:21): "to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

"You who fear the LORD, praise Him! ..." (v.23a). To "fear" Jehovah in this instance is not to show mere psychological fear of His wrath, as did Adam when he said "I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10 - the first appearance of this Hebrew word). Rather, here to "fear" Jehovah is to stand in awe of Him and to therefore trust in Him, as did Israel when they witnessed God's deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:31). All who thusly fear God are to "praise" Him, which is to "glorify" Him (see the parallel verb in v.23b).

"... All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, ..." (v.23b). The "descendants of Jacob" here are not his physical descendants, for the vast majority of them despise Jacob's God even to this day through their rejection of His Christ. Rather, reference here is to Jacob's spiritual descendants, all who fear revere their patriarch's God and Christ. To "glorify" God is to "offer praises" to Him, for He says that "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me" (Psalm 50:23).

"... And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!" (v.23c). The "descendants of Jacob" are here identified by the parallel phrase "offspring of Israel". This is the "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16) comprised of all, whether Jew or Gentile, who walk according to the rule of glorying in Christ alone, to the exclusion of all who instead boast of their physical circumcision (vv.12-15; cp. Romans 2:28f). All such believers in Christ are not only the true "offspring of Israel", but also "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). All these spiritual descendants of the patriarchs will fear Jehovah through trusting in His Christ for the salvation of their souls.

"For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; ..." (v.24a). Men despised and abhorred the afflictions of Christ (Isaiah 53:3): "He is despised and rejected by men .... He was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (Isaiah 53:3). But God did not despise or abhor Him. Rather, and although "it pleased the LORD to bruise Him" and "put Him to grief" (Isaiah 53:10), He was well-pleased with the afflictions of Christ (vv.10-12): "When You make His soul an offering for sin, ... the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

"... Nor has He hidden His face from Him; ..." (v.24b). Of men it is said "we hid, as it were, our faces from Him" (Isaiah 53:3). But God did not. Although God did indeed forsake His Son, He did so only temporarily, and He did not do so completely. How do we know?

"... But when He cried to Him, He heard" (v.24c). "[W]hen He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear" (Hebrews 5:7). God always hears the cries of His children, and never turns a deaf ear to them.

"My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; ..." (v.25a). Jehovah alone is the theme of Christ's praise. As we have already observed, Christ in His church declares and praises the name of Jehovah alone (v.22). And He exhorts His church to fear and glorify Jehovah alone (v.23). Churches of antichrist praise their creeds, their ordinances and sacraments, their denominational fathers and lineage, and their own good works. But Jehovah alone is to be the theme of all praise in the church of God - "To God be the glory, great things He hath done."

When a saint says "My praise shall be of You in the great assembly", Jehovah will be not only the theme of his praise but also its source. True praise originates in heaven. No man will praise God unless God makes Him willing to do so (Psalm 110:3). No man can praise God unless God opens his lips and gives to him strength to do so (Psalm 51:15). No man's praise of God is acceptable unless God consecrates it. Let us all therefore learn to pray, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

"... I will pay My vows before those who fear Him" (v.25b). The "vows" of Christ were of at least three sorts:

1. The vows He made in the Covenant of Redemption. In this covenant between the three persons of the Godhead cut in eternity past, Christ vowed to come into this earth to redeem God's elect. "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said [in fulfillment of Psalm 40:7f]: '... Behold, I have come - in the volume of the book [of the eternal counsel] it is written of Me - to do Your will, O God'" (Hebrews 10:5-7). And at the conclusion of His earthly ministry He said, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:4f).

2. The vows He assumed as the High Priest of His people – for the "offering" of a priest of God is often called a "vow" (e.g., Leviticus 7:16; 22:18ff).

3. The vows He here makes to proclaim Jehovah's praise to His church (vv.22-25).

Saints should follow Christ's example (Psalm 116:12-14): "What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people."

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