‘The Lord has done it.’
[Psalms 22:22-31]
Yesterday Tuesday I spent some time with my children at home and had an interesting conversation with my youngest daughter, Karis. Karis asked me to help her with something that she wanted to eat. So I helped her and she didn't say anything to me and turned her back to me in no response. So I said to Karis, 'welcome'. The reason I said that was because I expected Karis to say “Thank you”. But she said, “Welcome” to me, and then went on her way again. In that image, I thought about the relationship between God and God's children. I thought about our response to God after we received an answer of our prayer to Him in a difficult situation. We might not respond to God or turn our back on Him and perhaps just go our way without expressing gratitude to Him. When I was wondering why we tend to do that, I found the cause in what Rev. Swindol said 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” (Swindol).
The reason why we go our way without expressing gratitude to God even after we have received God’s answer of our prayer in our difficulties is because we focus on what we are doing (or have to do) for God instead of what God has done for us. I am concerned that we have too much attention and emphasis on what we have done for God and for the church of the Lord’s body rather than meditating on what God has done in our lives and what He is doing now. As a result, we are falling into religious life of legalism rather than staying in God's grace. Therefore, we are pursuing our own glory rather than giving glory to God, so hierarchy is prevailing in the church.
In Psalms 22:31, the psalmist David confesses, “for he has done it.” It means that the Lord has accomplished salvation (Park). David confesses that the Lord accomplished salvation because he has experienced the grace of His salvation. Therefore, I would like to think about how anyone who has experienced the grace of the Lord's salvation behave and apply them to our lives.
First, those who have experienced the grace of the Lord's salvation praise God.
Look at Psalms 22:22-23: “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! ….” Why did David praise God? This was because God answered David's earnest prayer. Look at verse 24: “For he has not despised or disdained 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 text of the Hebrew, at the beginning of this verse, there is the word “For”. This conjunction introduces the clause of verse 24 that explains the reason why all the saints should praise God in verse 23 (Park). The reason for the praise is because God has heard the cry of “the afflicted one,” David, who is persecuted by his enemies (v. 24). The prayer was, in one word, “deliverance”. As we had already meditated in verse 20-21, David prayed to God for deliverance from his enemies, such as “dogs,” “lions” and “wild oxen,” God answered his prayer and answered David to deliver him from his enemies. Interestingly, as David prayed, he initially felt that God wasn’t answering his prayers. So he prayed in verse 1, “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, while David didn’t give up and prayed God, he eventually received his prayer answered from God.
When we pray to God, we must pray without giving up. As we learn from the parable of prayer in Luke 18, we should pray and not lost heart . Rather, we must pray until God answers prayers (Lk. 18:1-8). Just as Jacob wrestled with an angel in the Jabbok River and determined not to let go until he was blessed, so we need to pray with determination not to give up prayer until God answers our prayer. Even if we feel like God isn’t listening to our prayers at first, we shouldn’t give up and pray to God until we receive prayer answers by faith with assurance that God will surely hear our prayers.
So who can praise God? Look at Psalms 22:26: “The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD ….” In other words, since the afflicted one who is humble seeks God and the person who seeks God enjoys satisfaction from God, he praises God. The heart of those who enjoy such satisfaction will live forever (v. 26). In other words, those who enjoy the riches of spiritual life blessed forever can give praise to God (Park). So David said: “All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship …” (v. 29). David prayed earnestly to God in need, and God answered David's prayer and satisfied his heart. Therefore, he confessed “From You comes my praise in the great assembly …” (v. 25). The confession that our praises have come from God is confessing that we are saved only by God's grace. Since David knew that the salvation he had received during the tribulation was purely from God, he confessed and praised that his praise had come from God.
The lesson we need to learn here is that our God is Savior God answers our prayers because He wants to be praised. The name “Jesus” means “Savior”. Therefore, his divine character is God who is pleased to save us. Therefore, when we cry out to Him, He answer our prayers and gives us the grace of salvation. The soul who has tasted that grace of salvation cannot but praise God.
Second, those who have experienced the grace of the Lord's salvation glorify God.
In Psalms 22:23, David said “… All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him ….” We who have experienced the grace of the Lord's salvation must give glory to God. How should we glorify God?
(1) We should glorify God by offering praise and worship to God (vv. 27, 29).
When David praised God, the assembly praised the Lord (v. 22) and also praised God's righteousness (v. 31). In other words, they praised God's salvation (Park).
(2) We should glorify God by serving Him.
Look at Psalms 22:30 – “Posterity will serve Him; ….” Here, the word “Posterity” refers to the descendants of believers mentioned in the previous verse (Park). In other words, not only we should glorify God by serving Him, but also our descendants should glorify God by serving Him as well.
(3) We should glorify God by proclaiming the Lord.
Look at Psalms 22:22, 30, 31: “I will tell of Your name to my brethren …” (v. 20), “… It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation” (v. 30), “They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it” (v. 31). We must proclaim the name of the Lord. We must tell the successive generations of His work of salvation He has done for us. We must say, ‘The Lord has done it’ (v. 31). Therefore, we must give glory to God.
Third, those who have experienced the grace of the Lord's salvation revere God.
Look at Psalms 22:23 – “…Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!” After receiving answer of our prayer from God and experiencing the grace of His salvation, it is easy for us to become proud. As a result, we seek our own glory rather than glorifying our holy God. Also, we preach ourselves rather than preach the Lord. Therefore, we must revere God even more after experiencing the grace of God's salvation. How should we revere God?
(1) We must remember God first.
Look at Psalms 22:27 – “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD ….” Those who revere God remember that there is only the Lord is the Savior on earth. However, the Israelites in Judges sinned against God because they didn’t revere God and remember Him (Judg. 8:34-35). This is what the psalmist Asaph said in Psalms 77:11-12: “I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.”
(2) We must turn to God.
Look at Psalms 22:27 – “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, ….” Those who fear God not only remember God, but return to God. God blesses those who return (Deut. 30:10). Only those who know and believe that salvation is in God will return to God their Savior. They don't waste time to seek other helping hands of salvation. They only return to God their Savior and seek His grace of salvation from Him.
(3) We must fulfill our vows.
Look at Psalms 22:25 – “…before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.” Now after he was saved, David now said that he would fulfill what he had pledged to God when he was in trouble. Those who fear God are those who fulfill their vow to God.
Our Jesus is our Savior. He is the Lord who gives us the grace of salvation. After experiencing the salvation that He is doing for us, we must confess, like David, ‘The Lord has done this salvation.” We who have experienced this grace of God’s salvation must praise God, glorify Him and revere Him even more.
‘The Lord has done this salvation,’
James Kim
(Praying and hoping that my heart will be filled with the grace of God’s salvation)