Psalm 22:22-31 (All The Ends Of The Earth Will Turn To The Lord)

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you. I want to begin today with an assumption and I want you to tuck that assumption Into your pocket and hold on to it throughout the entirety of this message that God's Word tells the truth and Whatever God's Word says we're going to believe even if it's bigger and greater and More fantastic than we ever could have imagined.

Amen.

Now.

Psalm 22 as a Royal Psalm of Humiliation and Exaltation

Tuck that away for a second. Over the past two messages in this holy week series. We've been going through Psalm. Psalm 22 which is a royal psalm. It is a psalm that hangs beneath the shadow of the cross for much of it it's a cross.

It's a psalm where we stare right into the abyss and right into the midst of Jesus's agony and It's a psalm that actually Unpacks itself in two great acts. If it were a play it would have an act one and it would have an act two.

Act one would be the humiliation of the Christ. Act two would be the exaltation of the Christ. Act one would be the cross of Christ and act two would be the crown of Christ. Act one is what we looked at in Palm Sunday and in Good Friday Begins with this great line.

My God my God. Why have you forsaken me and David wrote these lines a thousand years before Jesus even came before Jesus ever spoke those words on the cross. So that when you see Jesus in Matthew 27 saying my God my God, why have you forsaken me?

He is quoting David. He is quoting a psalm that David wrote for Jesus to speak and in that way Psalm 22 Shouts the cross. It doesn't mumble it. It looks like it reads like an eyewitness report in the Old Testament Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 look like they should belong in the New Testament.

It looks like someone standing at the cross with an eyewitness, you know writing down the events. That's how clear these two passages are and that's why we wanted to go through Psalm 22 because in it we see that Jesus embodies everything in the psalm.

He calls himself a worm.

He says that he was.

Surrounded by scorners. He was pierced in his hands and his feet. He was stripped of his dignity. He was laid down in the dust of the death the maker of the dust was buried in the dust. His bones came out of joint his heart melted like wax.

His tongue was clinging to the roof of his mouth and his garments were gambled for. Which are all events that happened in the life of Christ, but yet they were recorded a thousand years before they happened and What we see in this first act of Psalm 22 is the descent of Christ.

Yes, he was elevated upon a cross, but he was descending down into the grave down into the dust descending unraveling Decomposing becoming unrecognizable. And what we said on Good Friday is if you understand biblically and theologically what dust means dust is the Unconnected substance that was what God made Adam with but he had to order it first.

He had to construct it. He had to assemble it so the fact that Jesus is going down into the dust means he's being disassembled and In that he entered into the great malediction of the Bible the great curse of the Bible for unto Dust you were made and unto dust you shall return.

He is embodying the curse of Adam but dear ones Praise be to God that that is not the end of the story because act two is Not the descent any longer it's the ascent the ascent into cosmic victory. It's the anthem and the rallying cry of God that his victory will victory harder than any victory ever victory before.

Today, we look at the dramatic end of Psalm 22 Which doesn't remain in the valley of the dust? But it crescendos into the victory of Christ he entered into a linen tomb and he walked out wrapped in glory and In that death bit off more than it can chew because it choked upon the Lion of Judah.

Today we're gonna look at his faithfulness and today we're gonna see what his resurrection Accomplishes and we're gonna see three things that his resurrection accomplished first. It resurrected him. Second it resurrects us and.

Third.

It's going to resurrect everything the entire world. So with that, would you turn with me to Psalm 22 verse 22? It's easy to remember. It's just all twos. Psalm 22. 22 will go to 31. We'll read it. We'll pray and then we will dive into the victory of Jesus Christ.

So Psalm 22. This is how the psalm begins in verse 22. I Will tell of your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I Will praise you you who fear the Lord praise him all you descendants of Jacob glorify him and stand in awe of him all You descendants of Israel.

For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Nor has he hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him for help he heard. From you comes my praise in the great assembly. I Shall pay my vows before those who fear him.

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let him let your heart live forever. All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord and All the families of the nations will worship before you.

For the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust will bow before him. Even he who cannot keep his soul alive Posterity will serve him and it will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

And they will come and will declare his righteousness to a people who will be born. That he has performed it. Let's pray Lord, we thank you for Psalm 22. We thank you for the vivid visceral viciousness That you took upon your own head an Innocent man and in that sense a victim and Yet Lord the psalm does not end in the grave.

It ends with you no longer victim but victor. Swallowing up us in your victory. Swallowing up the entire world and death itself in your victory Lord. Let us remember That this is the very words of God.

That this is out of all the Old Testament passages that you could have chosen the very one that you shouted on the cross which means that you want us to pay special attention to what it means and the implications that it brings.

Lord we thank you. We ask that you help us today by your spirit to examine your word. Well and Lord like we read earlier. Would you write your word on our hearts and Lord if there anyone here today who has not been given a heart of flesh, but is still in Their heart of stone.

Lord, would you perform a resurrection even today? It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. I love hearing the children say amen. It tells me that we have about 80 years at least left in this Church of life the majority of Psalm 22 deals with agonizing defeats.

The majority of this chapter deals with pain despair defeat brokenness and death but yet in verse 22 His first words that he says there is I will. Now, how is it that someone who went down into the dust of death can say I will.

How many times have you been to a funeral where you walk up and you see? The person laying there and then all of a sudden they say I will. That'd be crazy and yet the one who went down into the dust is the one who says I Will and he says I will because the grave said I can't hold him the same lips that tasted vinegar the same tongue that clung to the roof of his mouth the same God who cried out and Agony is the one the one who said my God my God.

Why have you forsaken me is the one here? Who is saying I will I? Will tell of your name. Which this is not like in the princess bride where he pushes on his abdomen and some guttural mutterings come out to blaze.

This this is.

Confident powerful convicted. Living words coming out of the mouth of Christ who has been risen from victim to victor. He says I will again because the because death said I can't. Because death has no hold on him.

The one who died cannot be killed. The one it was silenced is now speaking. The one within the tomb is now the one crushing the tomb. The one shattered in death is The one who will shatter death. It even says that he will stand.

He will stand in the midst of the assembly. That is.

Resurrection.

Because dead men don't speak so he had to be raised from the dead if he even were to say I will well the fact that he will stand means that he went from his lying posture in the middle of the tomb to standing and not just in the tomb, but in the midst of the assembly a Thousand years before it happened David proclaimed that this man would suffer and die.

But the one who was in the dust would not be silent. He would speak. The one who was in the tomb would not lay down but would stand. The one who was all alone in his Final moment would not be all alone forever because he would be the one who stands in the very center of the assembly.

Which is the Church of Jesus Christ? The one who was pierced will be the healer. The one who was silenced is going to be the one who needs the chorus and This is why Hebrews the book quotes Psalm 22 word for word when it says this and In your Bibles if you have an NASB It will be in all capital letters where it's quoting Psalm 22.

If you don't have an NASB and your Bible doesn't do all caps. It's verse 12. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels namely Jesus. Because of the suffering of death Crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings for both he who sanctifies and those who are Sanctified are all from one father for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren.

This is where he quotes Psalm 22. I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise. What Hebrews is saying what Psalm 22 is saying is that Jesus didn't stay dead.

He said I will say I will sing. He's the one who was raised and why was he raised? He was raised to call us into the assembly. Jesus didn't raise to stand in the middle of an empty room. If he stands in the midst of the assembly, it means he's called us.

It means we've gathered around him, which means that the very center of the universe is Christ. Which means that there's a Christo centrism to even reality, which means that when we are With Jesus at the center of all things we then praise.

We stand in the sanctuary with him. We raise our voices from death to life the one who said I will is The one who now leads us to say he is. We also see in this passage that the one who was despised was not abandoned verse 24.

For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted nor is he hidden his face from him. But when he cried to him for help he heard This same God who cried out my God my God, why have you forsaken me it says right here he wasn't forsaken.

That was our point on Palm Sunday that the one who cried out my God my God Forsaken he's quoting David not saying that divine abandonment has occurred because here in verse 24. It says he was not forsaken.

The Lord never stopped hearing him. The Lord never stopped listening to him. The Lord when he cried out for help answered him. He was rejected by men.

Yes.

He was rejected by us. Yes, but he was not rejected by God the righteous judge who never forsake him and Then we see here what was God doing in his death. Pronouns are very Important and not just in our lifetime where people have made a fuss of pronouns.

Pronouns are very important in the Bible. We need to know what they mean. So I'm gonna read you verse 24 again, but I'm going to put in the proper nouns. Where the pronouns are just to help not all of them, but where they help this is verse 24 with the proper nouns.

God the Father has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of God the Son. Nor has God the Father hidden his face from Jesus. But when Jesus cried out to God for help God heard him. Jesus wasn't forsaken.

Jesus wasn't abandoned. Jesus was obeying the will of his father and Being destroyed to save us. The pain that he was going through was real. The cry that he cried out was real. What he was pointing to was real.

But he was not forsaken. The father did not turn his face away. The father heard him. The father answered him. The father said well done my good and faithful servant. And on the cross heaven was leaning in and on the cross.

Even after they buried our Savior. He was not left to rot in Sheol. He was not forgotten in the dust. He was not cast off in decay. He was raised he was exalted and he was Glorified. The bruised one became the crowned king.

The one struck down was the one lifted up though. This is why Isaiah says that it pleased the Lord to crush him. And if you finish reading that passage It says he will see his offspring and he will prolong his days.

Resurrection now.

Resurrection, Worship, and the Table of the Lord

That's what Christ has done for himself. He was raised he was vindicated. He was glorified. But the passage doesn't end in verse 24 it ends in verse 31. We've seen how he has resurrected. But now what else?

We learn now that he also has resurrected a people. He's resurrected us. Look at verse 23. You who fear the Lord praise him. Jesus doesn't praise God in solo fashion. He's not singing a solo anthem. The one who was crucified is now raised.

But the one who is singing is singing in a chorus and not solo. Because why Jesus is assembling a group of people around him a choir around him who is going to herald the anthem of Resurrection to the ends of the very earth.

The one who mocked him is now Mandating that we his people would also be raised because Paul says that we are dead in our trespasses, right? The punishment for our sins is death, right? So the fact that Jesus can stand in the midst of an assembly means that a whole lot of resurrections has happened.

He's resurrected us to life. Why to sing. That's what he's saying. He's resurrected us from death so that we can sing. And this isn't just a suggestion from.

Jesus.

His resurrection authority commands it and praise be to God. I'm preaching to the choir here because We have a lot of padded seats We have a lot of carpet and we have these dinky little tiles and yet we rock this place when we sing praise God for that.

Whatever that was.

When we say amen Those little things flutter and I love it. Because if you belong to the people of God you must praise him. What else could we do. I Was dead now, I'm alive because of him and what can I do but say thank you Jesus.

Thank you God. The one who raised me Commanded me to gather with him in the assembly and to sing. And it's for my good. This is such a limited version such a limited story, but I think like I still am in the military.

So I'll just share it with you. Anyway. One of the things that I used to hate until I really understood it was singing in formation and singing when we were running because I have a touch of asthma and When we were running I was focusing on not suffocating.

So it always hated when we would sing until I got it and one day I finally got called out one of the drill sergeants looked at me and almost ripped my head off my shoulders and He told me to sing and I started singing.

And I realized that it's probably the most glorious thing that you can do is be running towards a supposed enemy and.

Singing.

Anthems and.

That's in the army. Think about when you and I gather here before the presence of our commander Jesus. And when we are leaving this place and going out into the nations. We are singing People. I used to think too in church that singing Was only for women.

Singing is for the entire people of God brothers. I've said this before in men's group, but it's true. The loudest most boisterous singers in all of history were Vikings in route to plunder and They didn't even have a good reason for singing.

How much more do we have a reason to sing? He was dead. He's alive. You were dead. You were raised. Amen. The one who is worthy is owed it and now you may be asking yourself. Who is he telling to sing?

Maybe not me. Maybe someone else. Maybe you're covering the Manili Vili portion of the the choir. What it says here all the descendants of Jacob glorify him all and stand in all. All of the descendants of Israel.

Well, what does that mean? Well Jacob is the Biological physical genetic descendant of Abraham. So if you want to break this down very easily you need to be a Israelite to sing but then he says all the descendants of Israel sing.

At the time of Jesus the ten northern tribes of Israel did not exist. So does that mean that only Jews are singers in the choir of God. No. Paul says That when Christ raised us from the dead The true seed of Abraham.

That he made his people both Jew and Greek. Both slave and free both male and female. One people called the Israel of God. So if you are spiritually descended from Abraham through faith. Then you have been called to the choir to herald the anthem of Christ until the rafters of every square millimeter of planet earth shakes.

And that's why he raised us. So that we would praise not flippantly not with emotionalism. I watched a video this week of a pastor.

Who.

Installed a roller coaster on the stage so that he could really rile the people up and It was a really Sucky roller coaster. It was one that like the two-year-olds would ride and he was riding it thinking he had done something.

We are not called to whip people up into a frenzy over cheap tricks and Frills and emotionalism and everything else. I'll tell you this. If the resurrected Christ doesn't get your heart beating. What is a stupid?

Cheap plastic roller coaster gonna do for you any and it's not just you. It's not just us that he's raised. He means by this. That he is assembling a chorus of people together that is not just individuals but generations.

A People who will fill the world with his praises. A people who will sing an anthem that can never die. A people who will praise his thunderous name down into the final day of physical material earth's history.

A People that will include every tribe tongue and nation. A regenerate family who will sing. Why do I know that? Because he tells us. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise the Lord and let their heart live forever.

We'll get to this more in just a moment, but Anyone who seeks Jesus? He'd see this passage is about anyone who seeks Jesus will praise him. That means you. That means your children. That means your children's children.

And again, we're gonna get to that more in just a second. He raises us to be a praising people. He raises us to be a singing people. What else does he raise us to. He raised us to be a feasting people?

He raises us so that we will have sacramental joy. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever. Did you notice what it's doing here in this passage?

The one who was hungry on the cross is gonna be the one who feeds us. The one who was thirsty and his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth is gonna be the one who who quenches our deepest thirst.

The one who was Afflicted. It's gonna be the one who serves the afflicted. The one who was the one who was killed on the cross. It's gonna be the one who now keeps you and I alive by what. By his body in his blood.

There's so much communion elements in here that the one who afflicted will eat and be satisfied. How is that gonna happen? Because he's gonna give us his own body. To nourish us. He's gonna give us his own blood to be our wine that satisfies our thirst.

His body is going to feed his people. His blood is going to quench his people for eternity. So why have we been raised? We've been raised to sing. We've been raised to praise. We've been raised to feast upon the Living Christ who nourishes us every time we gather corporately and Every time we worship every time we sing Psalm 22 where it says those who seek him will praise.

The Lord has been fulfilled and every time we get here and we gather around this table and It says the afflicted will eat and be satisfied. This verse has been fulfilled in our presence. The afflicted tell me you're not.

Tell me the world that you live in is perfect and easy and you have everything that you want. Tell me you don't have any bruises any hurts any scars any pains any disappointments. What this passage is saying is that the one who was perfectly afflicted now is here to serve you in your affliction.

To feed you in your starvation. To give you his bone blood and your thirst. This is why not the only reason That we gather every single week and we do the Lord's table every single week because we are afflicted every single week and we need To eat every single week and we need to drink every single week and we need to be nourished every single week.

And.

I can't for the life of me understand why the majority of Christendom does not take this glorious table every single week because at this table. The same truth that was true for the thief on the cross.

You remember the thief on the cross. Lord when you come into your kingdom, remember me today. You will be with me in paradise. Welcome in the Lord's Church. You were here at the Lord's table. You're eating at the garden table.

He has raised you Not to keep you in starvation. But to feed you to nourish you so that you will praise him so that you will worship him and so that you will fill the world with his glory. Look where this passage is promising us those who seek him will praise the Lord their hearts will live forever.

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied. The prosperous will eat and worship. From the very lowest to the highest. From the most broken to the most healthy. From the newest to the oldest from the smallest to the tallest.

We will be fed and satisfied if we are in Christ. And it's not just a blessing for this life. Praise God for that. Now let's be clear based off what we were owed if Christ invited us once to this table.

Fed us with his body and blood and then let us slip away into hell. We would have infinitely more than we deserve. The fact that he invites us every day every we're sorry every week to this table is Infinitely more than we deserve and the fact that this passage tells us that it goes beyond just the physical life that we live is infinite upon infinite upon infinite More than we deserve.

Look at what David says all those who go down into the dust will bow before him. Why why can you have any confidence in that because he went to the dust first? The one who went down into the dust will grab you and pull you back out with him.

That's why Paul can say you were not only crucified with Christ you were not only buried with Christ, but you were raised with Christ.

Yes.

Though we die we will rise and Not just spiritually in The same way that death came upon the world and it came in two ways. They died instantly spiritually and they died eventually physically. In the same way you will be raised when you are saved when you come to know Jesus Christ.

When you are awakened you come to life instantly spiritually and then eventually.

Physically.

At the end of time when your body is raised your salvation Salvation justification Sanctification and glorification are now complete. If you die, you will rise. That's a promise. Because it says that we will bow down before him with bodies.

Kind of hard to bow down if you don't have knees. Kind of hard to bow down if you're just an ethereal spirit. So much of church history has painted heaven as this either cute shaman babies riding on clouds or an ethereal spiritual Mystical kind of heaven.

Brothers and sisters heaven is.

A.

Exit ramp in route to eternity. It's where you're dead and body but present with the Lord, but it's the story's not finished there. The story's finished when your body and your soul are reunited woven back together perfectly and incorruptible flesh so that you will live with Jesus physically.

Where your knees will feel earth again as you bow and worship him. Where your vocal cords will vibrate with glorious vibrato as You worship the raised and glorious King. The same Christ who defeated dust will assemble us.

I Don't care where you die. Let's say that you were cremated. I think the one who created the cosmos can figure out where your ashes are and how to reassemble you again. What if you fell off a boat and you're eaten by a shark?

I Think the same thing. That's I don't know it's kind of a crazy way to go. But the one who invents it all flesh can put you back together again. Perfectly. Can he not? Some are going to be assembled in that great day For condemnation and some are going to be assembled for joy.

Everyone will get an incorruptible body. But not everyone will have it with Christ and joy. First Corinthians 1542 says this to you and I believer if you're in Christ. So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown a perishable body. He's talking about Jesus there. Farming term sown planted Jesus in the ground.

Okay.

It is raised an imperishable body. That's resurrection. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body if there is a natural body.

There is also a spiritual body brothers and sisters what Psalm 22 what first Corinthians 15 is anticipating is Christ being the first fruit of the resurrection and He's raised us now Spiritually to praise him.

He's raised us now spiritually to be nourished by him but he's raised us ultimately and totally for physical existence with him in a material and Spiritual world that has been woven back together again to be with him forever.

In verse 29 through 31 proves this 29 and we're in Psalm 22 again. Even he everybody say I. Even he who cannot keep his soul alive. That's all of us. Posterity will serve him. It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

They will come and will declare his righteousness to a people who will be born That have not yet been born that he has performed it. What a gospel comfort that is. Because everyone in this room cannot keep your soul alive.

There's not a single thing you can do. You can't duct tape it. You can't gorilla glue it.

And.

Yet the one.

Who went down into the dust first for us is the one who will keep us. Is the one who will sustain us is the One who will hold us because he lets none that are his out of his hand like Jude says. We will not stumble in the presence of God.

Have you thought about how deep that statement is in the presence of a thrice? Holy God.

Us.

Who are so frail and so finite? Will stand erect and strong and tall and boldly and joyfully. Why? Because we're like Israel and they were eating dirt. When they saw a mountain shake, they weren't even standing before the presence of Almighty God.

Why is it that they? Were being ripped apart in their humanity by the holiness of God and that we will stand there without stumbling. It is only because you've been clothed with Christ. Like a fireman entering into a fire a fiery building with his suit on is protected and Yet if he goes in without it, his flesh is compromised.

When you and I walk into the presence of God clothed with the robes of Christ, we are safe. The one who went down into the dust for us transforms our dust.

Forever and.

The passage is even more glorious than that. It says posterity will serve him. What what Jesus is doing? Here is an unbroken chain reaction. His people past present and future are going to be made alive.

It's not just us. It's our children. It's our children's children. It's our grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren's. Children's and this is the promise. That this Jesus who's been raised from the dead is raising you he's raising up your family.

He's raising up your generation. He's raising up your legacy one legacy one generation after another until what what is this passage? What is this Psalm? What is it pointing towards? It's pointing towards the one who went down into the darkest defeat having the greatest victory ever.

Our theology of Jesus must be that if anyone can have total victory, it's Christ. Amen. This is why I said earlier when we started that we must follow the Bible where the Bible goes. We must follow the Bible where the Bible says because this verse right here in 27 If my family and your family are set apart by God for generations and grandchildren's and legacies and all of that unto what end?

What is God doing in that? Why did Jesus die? Why did he raise? What is the end for which God created the world so that he would own it all? Verse 27 all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.

I Point this out a lot. All is not a very complicated Hebrew word it doesn't take a linguistic scholar or a Philologist all the ends of the earth which means the entire earth the entire earth the entire earth Will remember and will turn to the Lord and all the families all the families all the families of all the nations of all the nations.

Will worship before you King Jesus? Lord. He will answer your prayers. He'll gather You his Son thank him for all that he's credit.

For all that he's done for all that he's reckoned and focused on.

River over the curb.

For the third time.

It says open your heart to the Father.

He always sings.

And he's gonna share it with commonwealths, and he's gonna share it with nations, and he's gonna share it until all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord. That's the end for which God created the world.

The whole earth is gonna remember and turn to the Lord. And you look around and you say, well, that's not happened yet.

Be patient.

Jesus is not writing with the same motivations as our microwave generation. Where we can have everything at the click of our fingers. This is like leaven, leavening a lump. This is like a mustard seed growing until it's the largest tree.

It's like a tiny pebble becoming a large mountain that fills the entire earth. He, the one who conquered death, is going to be the one who spreads life. If he conquered death in full, he will spread his life in full.

It is inevitable. Every soil that was lost to sin is gonna be reclaimed. Every tongue that once cursed will confess. Now, I don't mean that everyone is going to be saved. That's not what I mean. I don't mean that.

I mean there will be people who die and go to hell. What I mean is that the direction of redemption is heading towards an entire earth filled with believers. That in every hundred year span you look at, the church has grown.

And that's anecdotal. And we don't base our theology off of anecdotes. But look in history. I mean, from 12 to 2 .5 billion is a pretty amazing growth rate. Do you know in the last hundred years that the church has quadrupled in size from 800 million to 2 .4, 2 .5 billion?

Just in a hundred years. And yet, one of the enemy's greatest tactics has been to convince the team that is overwhelmingly going to have victory that we are going to lose. This is the Boston Celtics against a middle school girls team quivering in the locker room thinking, we're not gonna do it.

We're not gonna make it. Jason Tatum, pull yourself together. This is a promise from Jesus that the entire earth is going to know God through Jesus Christ. Why do we look at the promises like this and we say, that doesn't mean what it means.

How, what else can it mean? What else can those words mean than the entire earth will remember in turn of the Lord? B .B. Warfield says this. I don't agree with B .B. Warfield and everything, but this is a good one.