Posted on 03/28/2018 3:40:12 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.(Psalm 22:22-23)
We are suddenly transported into an entirely different scenario. The righteous servant had just been hanging between heaven and earth, or perhaps even heaven and Hell. His enemies have been jeering, exulting over and mocking Him. He has called out to the LORD on whom He has long relied to save His soul from the savages who encompass Him.
But now this same person speaks from the midst of a congregation of worshippers. He is standing there with his brothers, and exhorting them to fear and glorify the LORD!
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.(Psalm 22:24-25)
He celebrates the goodness of the LORD< who has not abandoned him after all. God once told Israel that “for a brief moment did I turn away from you, but now I have returned to you in great Lovingkindness”, But this righteous, obedient and trusting sufferer is the ultimate Israel, and He has been vindicated.
Now he stands whole and justified in the midst of the great congregation, to ‘pay his vows’ of worship and love before those who truly fear God.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. (Psalm 22:26-27)
He speaks of a coming banquet, set by the LORD himself, which will be the ground of all true joy and happiness… The meek will be invited to it…the poor and needy have a pace set for them there. This will be the same banquet Isaiah spoke of,
And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.(Isaiah 25:6-7)
,i>“Now is the Judgment of this world and now is the Prince of this world cast out…”(John 12) The old sinful order of this world, has been turned on it’ s head. Instead of the Proud and the ruthless ruling, and might making right, even if it means crushing the weak ad helpless, it will be the meek who will be satisfied, because of the suffering of the Messiah.
Those who wait upon the LORD and who seek to do his will and not their own, they are the ones who have been validated by the suffering of the one standing there in the congregation. The cross is the judgment of this world.
Now also the very ends of the earth will hear of the suffering and vindication of Messiah, and there shall be a world wide ingathering of true worshippers from across the globe. People from every tribe and tongue and nation will join in worship of the LORd God of Israel.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.(Psalm 22:28-29)
By his suffering, God has been vindicated and is seen to be the King of Kings and ruler of the universe.
Returning to the figure of the banquet, (the marriage supper of the Lamb), it will not just be the meek of the earth, for we are told that all of those who are fat, (truly Prosperous), they too are invited to come and worship.
Eventually all of humanity shall recognize what the servant had done, even those who rejected Him and insisted on going to hell, for only He could have saved them, no one can save himself. Every Knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Messiah is LORD.
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. (Psalm 22:30-31)
This is a reference to the mystery of the church, something the Psalmist nor his contemporaries knew anything of. Another congregation would arise and worship Him, taking his word to the ends of the Earth, letting all men know what the sufferer accomplished in his suffering and the glory which should follow.
ping
A big key to understanding the Bible is that it can, and often does, move from one entirely different scenario to the next, in a twinkle of the eye.
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