“The Lord Has Done It.”
[Psalm 22:22–31]
Yesterday, Tuesday, I was spending time at home with the children and had an interesting conversation with my youngest daughter, Ye-eun. She told me there was something she wanted to eat and asked for help, so I helped her. But after receiving the help, she said nothing, showed no reaction, and simply turned her back to me and started to walk away. So I said to her, “You're welcome.” The reason I said that was because I had expected her to say, “Thank you.” But instead, Ye-eun responded by saying “You're welcome,” and then continued on her way.
In that moment, I was reminded of the relationship between God and us, His children. Often, when we find ourselves in difficult and challenging situations, we pray to our Heavenly Father, and when He answers our prayers, we either respond with silence or even turn our backs on Him—perhaps going on with our lives without even expressing our gratitude.
As I pondered why we do this, I found insight in something Pastor Charles Swindoll wrote in his book The Grace Awakening:
“The one I consider the most dangerous heresy on earth is the emphasis on what we do for God, instead of what God does for us.”
We tend to live our faith focusing not on what God has done or is doing for us, but on what we must do or are doing for God. As a result, when we need His help, we cry out to Him; but after receiving an answer to our prayers, rather than giving thanks, we simply turn our backs and go our own way.
I'm concerned that we do not spend enough time reflecting on what God has done and continues to do in our lives. Instead, we place too much emphasis on what we have done for God and for His body, the Church. As a result, rather than dwelling in God’s grace, we fall into a legalistic kind of “faith” (or is it more of a religious routine?). Therefore, instead of giving glory to God, we begin to seek our own glory, and this leads to hierarchy and classism within the church itself.
In today’s Scripture, in the latter part of Psalm 22:31, the psalmist David declares, “He has done it.” This means that the Lord has accomplished salvation (according to Yoon-Sun Park’s commentary). David makes this confession because he has experienced the saving grace of the Lord.
Therefore, I would like to reflect on three characteristics of a person who has experienced the saving grace of the Lord, and see how we might apply them to our lives.
First, a person who has experienced the saving grace of the Lord praises God.
Look at Psalm 22:22–23a:
“I will declare Your name to my brothers; in the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the Lord, praise Him!...”
Why did David praise God? The reason is that God answered David’s earnest prayer.
Look at verse 24:
“For He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; He has not hidden His face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
In the original Hebrew, this verse begins with a phrase meaning “because” or “for this reason.” Therefore, this verse gives the reason all the saints should praise the Lord, as stated in the previous verse (v. 23) (according to Park Yun-sun).
The reason for this praise is that God listened to the cry of the afflicted one—that is, David, who was being persecuted by his enemies (v. 24). The essence of that prayer can be summed up in one word: deliverance.
As we already meditated on in verses 20–21, David pleaded with God to deliver him from his enemies—those he described as “bulls,” “dogs,” and “lions”—and God heard his prayer and rescued him from them.
What’s interesting is that, while David was praying, at first he felt like God was not answering him. That’s why in verse 1 he cried out:
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?”
However, David did not give up. He continued to pray, and in the end, he received an answer from God.
When we pray to God, we must not give up.As we learn from the parable of prayer in Luke 18, we must always pray and not lose heart (v. 1).
Rather, we should pray until we receive an answer from God.
Just as Jacob wrestled with the angel at the Jabbok River and refused to let go until he received a blessing, we also must pray with determination, refusing to give up until we receive God’s response.
Even if at first it seems like God is not hearing our prayers, we must not give up but continue to pray with faith, being assured that God will certainly hear and answer our prayers.
Then, who can praise God?
Look at the first part of Psalm 22:26:
“The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him…”
In other words, the humble seek God, and those who seek Him are satisfied by Him—and that is why they praise Him.
The heart of one who experiences such satisfaction will live forever (v. 26).
To put it another way, those who enjoy the abundance of blessed spiritual life eternally are the ones who can truly praise God (Park Yun-sun).
That’s why David says:
“All the rich of the earth will feast and worship…” (v. 29).
David, in his need, earnestly prayed to God, and God answered his prayer and satisfied his heart.
Therefore, David confessed:
“From You comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly…” (v. 25).
To confess that our praise comes from God is to acknowledge that we are saved by God's grace alone.
David knew that the salvation he received in the midst of suffering came entirely from God, so as he offered praise, he confessed that even his praise had come from the Lord.
The name “Jesus” means “Savior.”
His divine nature is that of a God who delights in saving us.
Therefore, when we cry out to Him, He hears our prayers and grants us the grace of salvation.
And a soul that has tasted that saving grace cannot help but praise God.
David says in verse 23 of today’s passage:
“…all you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him…”
A believer who has experienced the saving grace of the Lord ought to give glory to God.
How, then, can we give glory to God?
David praised God in the assembly (v. 22), and he also praised God’s righteousness (v. 31).
In other words, he praised God’s salvation (according to Park Yun-sun).
Look at Psalm 22:30:
“Posterity shall serve Him…”
Here, the “posterity” refers to the descendants of the believers mentioned in the previous verse (Park Yun-sun).
This means that not only we ourselves serve the Lord, but our descendants also serve Him—and through this, God is glorified.
Look at Psalm 22:22, 30, and 31:
“I will declare Your name to my brothers…” (v. 22)
“…it will be told of the Lord to the coming generation” (v. 30)
“They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born, that He has done it” (v. 31)
We must declare the name of the Lord.
We must proclaim the work of salvation He has done for us from generation to generation.
We must say, “He has done it” (v. 31).
Therefore, we give glory to God.
Look at the second part of Psalm 22:23:
“…all you offspring of Israel, fear Him.”
After receiving answers to prayer and experiencing the grace of salvation, we can easily become proud.
As a result, instead of glorifying the holy God, we begin to seek our own glory.
And instead of proclaiming the Lord, we begin to proclaim ourselves.
That is why, after experiencing the saving grace of God, we must fear (revere) Him even more deeply.
How, then, should we fear the Lord?
(1) We must first remember God.
Look at the first part of Psalm 22:27:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord…”
Those who fear God remember that there is no Savior on this earth apart from the Lord.
However, the Israelites in the book of Judges did not fear God and forgot Him, which led them to sin against Him (Judges 8:34–35).
The psalmist Asaph said in Psalm 77:11–12:
“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.”
Look again at Psalm 22:27:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord…”
Those who fear God not only remember Him but also return to Him.
To those who return, God’s blessing is promised (Deuteronomy 30:10).
Those who know and believe that salvation belongs to God alone will return to the Savior.
They do not waste time seeking help from elsewhere.
They return only to the saving God and earnestly long for His saving grace.
(3) We must fulfill what we have vowed to God.
Look at the second half of Psalm 22:25:
“…before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.”
David, who had made vows to God in the midst of affliction, now says that he will fulfill them after receiving salvation.
The one who fears God is someone who keeps the vows they made to Him.
He is the One who grants us the grace of salvation.
After experiencing the salvation He has accomplished for us, we must confess like David:
“The Lord has done it.”
Having tasted this saving grace, we must praise God, give Him glory, and fear Him all the more.
“
The Lord has accomplished salvation.”
Confession by Pastor James Kim
(With the prayer that we may all be filled with the joy of salvation)