Because 50 Day 10
Scripture Reading: Psalm 22:27-31
27All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!
Today’s Prayer:
Lord, may our lives be saturated and informed by your Word.
Going Deeper:
As Austin just pointed out, the Psalms were on Jesus’ lips throughout his life and ministry. He referenced the worship songs of His day on a regular basis. Jesus quotes from Psalm 22 in the final moments of his life when he cries to God, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When the first century audience heard or read that statement, they would have immediately recognized it as a small part of the whole psalm. They would probably have gone through the rest of the psalm in their head, including the last verses of the psalm found above.
In the hustle and bustle of every day life, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of what God has done for us. The Psalms serve as excellent reminders for us of what God has done and His character. In Psalm 22, the psalmist reminds us of the scope of worship. Who will remember and turn to the Lord? Who will bow down before Him? What does verse 28 claim belongs to the Lord?
One of the repeating choruses of the current presidential election cycle is an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the status quo. Candidate after candidate from both parties promise to remedy the problems of today and bring hope for tomorrow. Yet, this psalm reminds us that He alone has dominion; He alone rules over the nations. The great London pastor and preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said, “Brethren, the present state of affairs does nor satisfy us, and since our Lord’s heart is larger than ours, it surely does not satisfy him.” There is a longing within us for something more and that longing is a faint echo of the longing of God. He has made us for something more than discussions of income tax and immigration. We were made to “proclaim his righteousness.” We were made for worship.
If you would like to dig more into how Jesus incorporated the Psalms into his everyday life, read Timothy Keller’s The Songs of Jesus.