They shall come and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this. Psalm 22:31
One of the most poignant portions of all Scripture, this 22nd Psalm speaks of the Saviour being forsaken at Calvary. It speaks of His loneliness, His rejection, and His suffering. This is undoubtedly one of the most touching of the Psalms as it depicts the Saviour’s torments on the cross. In the New Testament’s Gospels, we read the details of Jesus’ life, what people around Him saw and heard. We read His words and those of others who responded – or failed to respond – to Him. But it is in Psalms such as this one where we read of the innermost torment of His soul as He bore our iniquities on the cross.
We discuss some of those sufferings when we gather to remember Him. Much of our material for our meditations of Him come from Old Testament revelations such as Psalm 22. These are very precious to us. As David writes these words, he is only in a limited way able to understand what he is writing about. But his words are passed on to generations that followed him. Many of the Israelites in succeeding generations had little understanding of this Psalm. But when we move into the New Testament, we find the revelation of what this Psalm foretold. As we draw near to the cross, the picture comes clearer. We see the Psalm’s prophecies fulfilled.
Some 25 generations have come and gone since then. And in the revelation of this Psalm, the Lord’s people have been brought into an understanding of their Saviour’s suffering.
Our remembrances reflect on the righteousness that is mentioned in today’s verse. What transpired on the cross brings the righteousness of God to us. God can clear us of sin because His righteous Son bore our punishment.
We have heard this of a generation before us. And today, we tell the next generation what our Saviour has done. -Jim MacIntosh