Previously I reflected on the power of this Psalm, one quoted by Jesus as He hung on a cross. At the heart of the Gospel is the testimony of this Psalm, that Jesus willingly experienced the punishment for sin that I deserved. In the midst of that punishment He cried out in anguish because the Father turned away from Him and the sin He bore for me.
But there is more to this Psalm than the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The second half of the Psalm takes a decidedly different turn as the author declares his intent to praise God in the midst of the nations so that people can turn to the Lord and worship Him.
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[d] 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. Psalm 22:22-31
If you have experienced the life changing salvation that comes as a result of Jesus death for you, how can you do anything but declare His glory to the nations? How can you do anything but praise Him in the great congregation? It baffles me that so many who claim to follow and believe in Christ are unwilling to let others know of His wondrous deeds. How is it possible to have tasted of the delight of life in Christ and not speak of it? We are so quick to fill the world of social media with news of what we ate for dinner, quizzes that tell us the country me should live in or what our I.Q. is. Yet we are reticent to praise Jesus with our lives and in real conversation with people sitting across the table from us.
I can only conclude that we take for granted and hold lightly, what Jesus has done on the cross. Reading Psalm 22 with open eyes and open heart can change that. Because Jesus was pierced through for my transgressions, I will worship Him and tell of His greatness to the nations.
Dan Lacich: Provocative Christian Living 