Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 22:26
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live forever.
26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied ] The flesh of a sacrifice offered in performance of a vow was to be eaten on the same day on which it was offered, or on the morrow (Lev 7:16; Num 15:3). The Psalmist will invite the meek to join him in this eucharistic meal. Such an invitation is not indeed prescribed in the Law, but it is in full accordance with the command to invite the poor and needy to share in the tithes (Deu 14:29; Deu 26:12; where the phrase ‘eat and be satisfied’ occurs), and in the harvest festivals (Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14). There seems to be no good reason for supposing that the words are to be understood wholly in a figurative and spiritual sense, though on the other hand their meaning is not to be limited to the external performance of a ritual ceremony. At any rate the language of this and the preceding verse is based upon the idea of a sacrifice of thanksgiving of which the worshippers partook (Psa 23:5). ‘Eat and be satisfied’ is not merely a current formula for the refreshment which flows from Divine blessing, the Psalmist anticipating that his own deliverance will lead to the prosperity of all the godly.
that seek him ] R.V., that seek after him. All Jehovah’s devoted followers (see on Psa 24:6) will swell the anthem.
your heart shall live &c.] R.V., let your heart live for ever. The entertainer invokes a blessing on his guests. May those who were ready to perish be revived and quickened with an undying energy! With the whole verse cp. Psa 69:32.
If the primary and immediate reference is to a sacrificial feast, it is clear that the words reach far beyond the outward rite to the spiritual communion of which it was the symbol; while the Christian reader cannot but see the counterpart and fulfilment of the words in the Holy Eucharist.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The meek shall eat and be satisfied – The word meek – anaviym – means here rather afflicted, distressed, miserable. This is its usual meaning. It is employed sometimes in the sense of mild or meek (compare Num 12:3); but it here manifestly denotes the afflicted; the poor; the distressed. When it is said that they would eat and be satisfied, the idea is that of prosperity or abundance; and the statement is, that, as the result of the Redeemers work, blessings in abundance would be imparted to the poor and the distressed – those who had been destitute, forsaken, and friendless.
They shall praise the Lord that seek him – Those that worship God, or the pious, shall see abundant cause to praise God. They will not merely call upon him by earnest prayer, but they will render him thanks for his mercies.
Your heart shall live for ever – The hearts of those that worship God. Their hearts would not faint or be discouraged. They would exult and rejoice continually. In other words, their joy and their praise would never die away.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 22:26
The meek shall eat and be satisfied.
Feasting on the sacrifice
The custom of sacrificial feasts was common to many lands.
I. The worlds sacrificial feast. The Jewish ritual, and that of many other nations, provided for a festal meal following on, and consisting of the material of the sacrifice. That which, in one aspect, is a peace offering reconciling to God, in another aspect is the nourishment and joy of the hearts that accept it. And so the work of Jesus Christ has two distinct phases of application, according as we think of it as being offered to God or appropriated by man. In the one case it is our peace; in the other it is our food and our life. The Christ that feeds the world is the Christ that died for the world. The peace offering for the world is the food of the world. We see hence the connection between these great spiritual ideas and the central act of Christian worship. The Lords Supper simply says by act what the text says in words. The translation of the eating into spiritual reality is simply that we partake of the food of our spirits by the act of faith in Jesus Christ. Personal appropriation and making the worlds food mine, by an individual act, is the condition on which alone I get any good from it.
II. The rich fruition of this feast. Satisfied. Jesus Christ, in the facts of His death and resurrection, being to us all that our circumstances, relationships, and inward condition can require.
III. The guests. It is the meek who eat. Meek usually refers to mens demeanour to one another. The expression here goes deeper. It means both afflicted and lowly,–the right use of affliction being to bow men, and they that bow themselves are those who are fit to come to Christs feast. Men are shut out only because they shut themselves out. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The recompense of piety
In genuine religion there is great reward. Nothing is so conducive to the happiness of man, nothing so effectually secures it.
I. The temper to be cherished. Meekness, lowliness of mind, which so becomes us as sinners.
II. The conduct to be pursued. We should seek the Lord. This supposes–
1. That we have suffered loss. We do not seek what we have. We have lost the knowledge, favour, image, and the enjoyment of God.
2. That this loss may be regained. The Gospel shows us how.
3. The use of proper means is also implied.
III. The blessings which shall be secured. We shall eat and he satisfied; shall praise the Lord, and live forever. (T. Kidd.)
They shall praise the Lord that seek Him.—
Good news for seekers
These are the words of Jesus on the Cross. He died to further the Fathers glory. This was the object He sought, and He solaces Himself with the thought of all the kindreds of the nations turning to God, and that they who seek the Lord shall praise Him. The assurance of text very encouraging. Note–
I. The persons–the seekers of the Lord. These are they–
1. Who really desire to commune with God. Not mere repeaters of a prayer, but those who really seek the Lord.
2. Who know that they are at a distance from Him.
3. But are anxious that that distance should be taken away.
4. And would feel themselves to be the friends of God.
5. And desire all this now. All this prepares the man to praise when he finds the Lord.
II. The promise. They shall, etc.
1. It is fulfilled unconsciously while the man is seeking.
2. The praise abounds when the desire is granted. You who seek, you shall surely find salvation, and that ere long. God may try yon, let you wait a while before He gives you the joy of realised pardon; but seek on still.
3. You shall go on seeking and go on praising.
III. The praise. It will be–
1. Because we found Him as we did.
2. That we found such a Saviour.
3. Because of our security.
4. Because we ever sought the Lord at all.
Conclusion: Let us who have sought the Lord praise Him. Let us show our poor friends the seekers the way. We sought and we found; let us magnify the Lord at once. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Arduous seeking becomes joyous in finding
All his seeking, I say, helps him to prize Divine mercy when he receives it, and trains him to praise God according to the promise of our text, They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Never is a babe so dear to its mother as when it has just been restored from a sickness which threatened his life; never does a father rejoice over his little child so much as when he has been long lost in the woods, and after a weary search is at last brought home. No gold is so precious to a man as that which he has earned by hard labour and self-denial: the harder he has toiled to gain it, the more rejoiced is he when at length he has enough to permit him to rest. No freedom is so precious as the new found liberty of a slave, no enlargement so joyous as that of one who has long been sitting in the valley of the shadow of death bound in affliction and iron. No return to a country is so full of delight as that of sorrowful exiles who come back from cruel Babylon, by whose waters they sat and wept, yea, wept when they remembered Zion. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Seekers become singers
As a bird lies hidden among the heather, but is seen when at last it is startled and made to take to the wing, so doth praise take to the wing and display itself when at last those who seek the Lord are permitted to find Him. What thunderclaps of praise come from poor sinners when they have just found their all in all in God in the person, of Christ Jesus. Then their joy becomes almost too much for them to hold, vastly too much for them to express. Oh, the praises, the day and night praises, the continuous praises, which rise from the returning, repenting soul which has at last felt the Fathers arms around its neck and the Father swarm kisses on its cheek, and is sitting down at the table where the happy household eat and drink and are merry. Praising time has come indeed when finding time has arrived. Happy day! Happy day! when we meet with God in Jesus Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Your heart shall live forever.—
The immortality of the affections
The heart has been employed by the inspired writers as the symbol of human affections. So the heart of man is said to be tried by God–to be opened, established, enlightened, strengthened, searched by God. The text asserts the absolute indestructibility of our religious affections. Work up to this through the intervening lessons.
1. There is one thing in this fleeting world which is immortal. Man wears on his forehead the crown of his regnant majesty; for his nature is undying. No soul has ever yet passed out of existence.
2. The text draws a distinction between life and mere existence. Into this word live we must suffer a new increment of meaning to enter. These hearts of ours may have one of two moral states. Whichever of these is possessed as a permanent character decides destiny. The heart that seeks God enters immediately into the nearness of Gods presence, where there is fulness of joy. The heart that wilfully refuses to seek God is forced into the darkness of utter banishment from God for the unending future. The first of these conditions is life, the second is death.
3. The text evidences its authority by language peremptory and plain. The word shall is of itself sovereign and conclusive But the form of speech employed is not that of prediction so much as that of promise. There are also three fixed laws of human nature which, fairly working together, render it absolutely certain that our affections will survive the shock of death, and reassert themselves hereafter.
(1) One is the law of habit. The pressure of such a law holds more surely in our mental and moral nature than in our physical. Loves are stronger and hates are more inveterate than simple habits of body and mind.
(2) Another law is that of exercise. Practice makes perfect. Under this law the memory is often so wonderfully strengthened that it disdains data of aid. The most curious working of this law will appear in the fact that when our affections are wrought upon their increase is supreme. Ones prejudices become his master.
(3) Then there is the law of association. Most of all, this is subtle and forceful. When its action reaches a mans moral and mental natures working together it seems almost irresistible. These three laws actually intertwine themselves together, and accelerate the action of each other.
4. The text teaches that human immortality is quite independent of all accidents and surroundings. Augustine says, Our life is so brief and insecure that I know not whether to call it a dying life or a living death. It is not in the body that our immortality resides. Your heart is yourself. There is one thing in man, only one, that is immortal–the soul. Human affections will live forever in the line of their seeking. The heart therefore is independent of all surroundings.
5. The text fixes all its force by an immediate application of its doctrine to such as are meek enough to receive it. If your heart is to live forever, then much consideration ought to be given to your aims in life, for they are fashioning the heart that is to be immortal. And our companionships ought to be chosen with a view to the far future which is coming. If our hearts are to live forever, then some care should be had concerning our processes of education by which our affections are trained. And if our hearts are to live forever, then surely it is now time some hearts were changed powerfully by the Spirit of Divine grace. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Immortality of the affections
Transient and occasional bursts of inspiration in the Old Testament anticipate what Christianity was afterwards to teach. They seem like lightning flashes, illuminating the deep obscurity for a moment. How much is implied in these words, Your heart shall live forever. They mean that the body shall not,–in its present elements it shall not; it has nothing to do with the life immortal. The happiness of the future existence shall not come from the body, from the gratification of its passions nor the exercise of its powers; and just so far as a man depends for his enjoyment on these earthly indulgences he is unfit for that spiritual state to which death will soon translate us, and for which it is our wisdom now to prepare. These words of the text also imply that the mind, though it shall endure, will not be the source of happiness in another existence. We know too little of its nature to say whether death will change it; but certainly it will change our estimation of it; for now, in this world, talent, force of mind, genius are set highest among the gifts of God. The affections (or the heart) are as much above the understanding as the mind is above the body. It is in the affections that the elements of heavenly happiness are to be found. These words teach us what should be our constant object, and lead us also to consider how abundantly God has provided for it on every side. Consider–
1. How all the arrangements of this life favour the growth of those affections which are the elements of life immortal. The home, requiring of each within it to suppress those selfish passions which darken over everything which they touch, and making it manifest that all the sunshine and comfort of the dwelling depend, not on its magnificence, not on the luxuries within it, but simply and entirely on the spirit of love within. And the circle of friendship carries out those same affections into wider range. That these are Divine arrangements may be seen from the moral and spiritual laws which run through theme–which ordain that these affections shall move in paths of duty. But these arrangements of life for a certain purpose are not meant to effect that purpose of themselves; it rests with us to trace out, to follow, and improve them. The first business of the Christian life is to deny ourselves, which means not to deny ourselves a blessing here and there, but to resist the strong selfish tendency of our nature, to train our affections in the right Way, to regard them as the beginnings and indications of our future destiny, and to keep our heart with all diligence, since out of it are the fountains of immortal life. Once attach this thought of immortality to the affections, and how mighty and solemn those interests become!
2. All the arrangements of death, all of which have a purpose and meaning, are even more fitted to form for immortality the heart which is to live forever. The world is changed by the presence of death; wherever it comes we feel that a new influence is there, a power is there which was not there before. Each one who feels at all feels that something is meant by it, that it is a communication addressed to him. Never do the affections come forth in purer or more disinterested action than in the presence of death.
3. The arrangements of the future existence are also of a kind to favour the growth of the affections. The foresight of the future state, the vision of it which lies before us in the light of the Gospel, must necessarily have a great effect on the efforts we make to reach it. Awake, then, to a sense of the importance of the heart. See how all your welfare for this world and the other depends on the right unfolding and care of its affections. (W. B. O. Peabody, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 26. The meek shall eat] anavim. the POOR, shall eat. In the true only Sacrifice there shall be such a provision for all believers, that they shall have a fulness of joy. Those who offered the sacrifice, fed on what they offered. Jesus, the true Sacrifice, is the bread that came down from heaven; they who eat of this bread shall never die.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The meek, i.e. faithful or godly persons, who are frequently called meek ones, as Psa 25:9; 76:9; 149:4; Isa 11:4; 61:1; Zep 2:3, because the grace of God doth soften and sweeten the hearts of sinners, and subdues their pride, and passion, and rebellion against God, and their fierceness towards men. Or, the poor, as this word is oft rendered; which seems well to suit this place, partly, because these are opposed to the fat ones upon earth, Psa 22:29; partly, because the following eating and satisfaction may seem most proper and acceptable to such as were in want; partly, because here is an allusion to the legal feasts, made of the remainders of the sacrifices, in which the poor had a share; and partly, because this well agrees to the time of Christs coming, when the body of the Jewish nation were a poor and afflicted people, and the poor especially did receive the gospel, Mat 11:5.
Eat and be satisfied; which is mentioned as a great blessing, Joe 2:26, as it is threatened as a grievous curse that men should eat and not be satisfied, Lev 26:26; Mic 6:14. But because it was comparatively a poor and mean thing to have ones belly filled and satisfied with that food which perisheth and passeth away presently after it is received, this magnificent promise is doubtless to be understood spiritually, of those spiritual blessings, that grace, and peace, and comfort, and full satisfaction, which all believing and pious souls have in the sense of Gods love, and the pardon of their sins, and in the influences of Gods Spirit into their souls. That seek him; that seek his favour; or that inquire after him, and labour to know and discern him; wherein possibly the Spirit of God may intimate to us the necessity of seeking, and the difficulty of finding or discovering God, when he shall appear in the flesh, and in the form of a servant; which was likely to hide him from the eyes of the carnal and careless Jews, and not to be discerned but by those that were studious and inquisitive concerning the mind of God revealed in the Scriptures concerning that matter.
Your heart, i.e. their; for he speaks of the same persons still, though there be a change from the third to the second person, as is usual in these poetical and prophetical books of Scripture.
Shall live, i.e. shall be greafiy refreshed and comforted; life being oft put for a happy and comfortable life, as 1Ki 1:25; Psa 34:12; in which respect Jacobs heart or spirit is said to have revived, Gen 45:27; as, on the contrary, Nabals heart was said to have died within him, 1Sa 25:37, when it was oppressed with great sadness.
For ever; your comfort shall not be short and transitory, as worldly comforts are, but everlasting.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
The meek shall eat and be satisfied,…. Such who, being made thoroughly sensible of sin, look upon themselves the chief of sinners, and the least of saints; and being truly convicted of the insufficiency of their own righteousness, wholly trust to and rely on the righteousness of Christ; and, being acquainted with their impotency and inability to do any good thing of themselves, ascribe all to the grace of God, and have no dependence on anything done by them; who are willing to be instructed and reproved by the meanest saint; are not easily provoked to wrath; patiently bear indignities and affronts, and are gentle unto all men: these shall “eat” the fat and drink the sweet of Christ the bread of lift; they shall eat of his flesh by faith, which is meat indeed; they shall find the word, and eat it; feed on the wholesome words of Christ, the words of faith and good doctrine, and shall be “satisfied”, or “filled”: other food is not satisfying; it proves gravel, ashes, and wind; it is not bread, and satisfies not; but such as hunger and thirst after Christ and his righteousness, and are poor in their own eyes, meek and humble; these are filled with good things to satisfaction, Mt 5:6; Jarchi interprets these words of the time of the redemption and the days of the Messiah;
they shall praise the Lord that seek him; in Christ, with their whole heart; who being filled by him and satisfied, bless the Lord for their spiritual food and comfortable repast, as it becomes men to do for their corporeal food, De 8:10;
your heart shall live for ever; this is an address of Christ to them that fear the Lord, the seed of Jacob and Israel; the meek ones, and that seek the Lord, his face and favour, and who eat and are satisfied; signifying, that they should be revived and refreshed, should be cheerful and comfortable; should live by faith on Christ now, and have eternal life in them; and should live with him for ever hereafter, and never die the second death.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. The poor shall eat. The Psalmist has a reference to the custom which was at that time prevalent among the Jews, of feasting on their sacrifices, as is very well known. He here promises this feast, in order to exercise and prove his charity. And surely that is a pleasant and an acceptable oblation to God to which compassion and mercy are joined. Without these, the ceremonies by which men profess to worship God, with all their pomp and magnificence, vanish into smoke. David does not, however, simply promise to bestow upon the poor and the hungry something for the mere nourishment of the body. He declares that they shall be partakers of this feast for another purpose, namely, that matter of comfort being ministered to them, joy might be restored to their hearts and flourish afresh. For they saw in that feast, as in a mirror, the goodness of God set forth to all who are in affliction, which might assuage with wonderful consolation the grief arising from all their calamities. The Psalmist therefore adds, They shall praise Jehovah that seek him. The abundant repast of which they had partaken ought, no doubt, to have incited them to give thanks to God; but what is particularly meant is, praising God for that deliverance in grateful commemoration of which the sacrifice was offered. This appears still more clearly from the last clause of the verse: Your heart shall live for ever One meal could not have sufficed to make their hearts live for ever. It was rather the hope which they entertained of having ready succor from God which did this; for all the faithful justly reckoned the deliverance of this one man as a deliverance wrought for themselves in particular. Whence it follows, that, in the peace-offerings, the praises of God were so celebrated, as that genuine worshippers also exercised their hope in them. Farther, as hypocrites content themselves with merely going through the bare and lifeless ceremony, the Psalmist restricts the right performance of this exercise to true and holy Israelites; They shall praise Jehovah that seek him; and to seek God is the certain mark of genuine godliness. Now, if the fathers under the law had their spiritual life renewed and invigorated by their holy feasts, this virtue will show itself much more abundantly at this day in the holy supper of Christ, provided those who come to partake of it seek the Lord truly, and with their whole heart.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) The meek.Better, The afflicted. This term, combined here with so many expressions for the worship of Jehovah, points to the Levites.
Your heart.LXX. and Vulg., their, which carries on the construction better. But such sudden changes of person are common in Hebrew; see even next verse. The feast that was made after a great sacrifice, such as 2Ch. 7:5, not improbably suggested the figure of the banquet at which all the restored of Israel should meet; afterwards elaborated in the prophets (comp. Isa. 25:6), and adopted in its refined spiritual sense by our Lord (Luk. 14:16).
The prophetic glance reaches further than the immediate occasion, and in the sufferers triumphant sense of vindication and restoration he embraces the whole world. (Comp. Jer. 16:19.) The interposition of Divine judgment in favour of Israel will warn the nations into sudden recollection of Him, and bring them submissive to His throne.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. The meek shall eat The poor and humble shall eat the sacrificial meal (Psa 22:25) with him in accordance with Deu 16:11
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The meek will eat and be satisfied. They will praise YHWH who seek after Him. Let your heart live for ever.
And the result is that the poor and humble will partake of Him and be satisfied (Joh 6:35). They will eat and be filled. And those who seek after YHWH will praise Him. In the words of Jesus, ‘blessed ones are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingly Rule of God’ (Mat 5:3).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 22:26. The meek shall eat, &c. The humble: See Mat 11:29. “They shall eat of the true christian sacrifice; in consequence of which, they shall praise the Lord, and live for ever; i.e. shall be always full of comfort and joy, which nothing shall be able to take from them.” The next verse so clearly represents the calling of the Gentiles, that we cannot reasonably interpret it in any other sense. See Psa 2:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here is another blessed verse, and most comprehensive indeed, of all blessings in Jesus. The meek, that is, all humble, lowly in heart, and seekers after salvation in Jesus, shall have an everlasting table spread in the fulness, freeness, suitableness, and all-sufficient supplies in Jesus. Living upon Jesus, they shall be living to Jesus, and in Him; and shall rejoice all the day and live forever.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 22:26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
Ver. 26. The meek shall eat and be satisfied ] They shall be well filled at my peace offering feast, saith David; at my holy supper, saith Christ; and in me shall have the full fruition of all good things; as at a feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines refined on the lees, Isa 25:6 Nec copiam huius saeculi concupiscent nec timebunt inopiam, saith Austin; Here they shall neither covet the wealth of this world nor fear the want of it.
They shall praise the Lord
Your heart shall live for ever
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
FEASTING ON THE SACRIFICE
Psa 22:26
‘The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offering for thanksgiving shall be offered in the day of his oblation.’ Such was the law for Israel. And the custom of sacrificial feasts, which it embodies, was common to many lands. To such a custom my text alludes; for the Psalmist has just been speaking of ‘paying his vows’ that is, sacrifices which he had vowed in the time of his trouble, and to partake of these he invites the meek. The sacrificial dress is only a covering for high and spiritual thoughts. In some way or other the singer of this psalm anticipates that his experiences shall be the nourishment and gladness of a wide circle; and if we observe that in the context that circle is supposed to include the whole world, and that one of the results of partaking of this sacrificial feast is ‘your heart shall live for ever,’ we may well say with the Ethiopian eunuch, ‘Of whom speaketh the Psalmist thus?’ The early part of the psalm answers the question. Jesus Christ laid His hand on this wonderful psalm of desolation, despair, and deliverance when on the Cross He took its first words as expressing His emotion then: ‘My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?’ Whatever may be our views as to its authorship, and as to the connection between the Psalmist’s utterances and his own personal experiences, none to whom that voice that rang through the darkness on Calvary is the voice of the Son of God, can hesitate as to who it is whose very griefs and sorrows are thus the spiritual food that gives life to the whole world.
From this, the true point of view, then, from which to look at the whole of this wonderful psalm, I desire to deal with the words of my text now.
I. We have, first, then, the world’s sacrificial feast.
Brethren! there is little food, there is little impulse, little strength for obedience, little gladness or peace of heart to be got from a Christ who is not a Sacrifice. If we would know how much He may be to us, as the nourishment of our best life, and as the source of our purest and permanent gladness, we must, first of all, look upon Him as the Offering for the world’s sin, and then as the very Life and Bread of our souls. The Christ that feeds the world is the Christ that died for the world.
Hence our Lord Himself, most eminently in one great and profound discourse, has set forth, not only that He is the Bread of God which ‘came down from heaven,’ but that His flesh and His blood are such, and the separation between the two in the discourse, as in the memorial rite, indicates that there has come the violent separation of death, and that thereby He becomes the life of humanity.
So my text, and the whole series of Old Testament representations in which the blessings of the Kingdom are set forth as a feast, and the parables of the New Testament in which a similar representation is contained, do all converge upon, and receive their deepest meaning from, that one central thought that the peace-offering for the world is the food of the world.
We see, hence, the connection between these great spiritual ideas and the central act of Christian worship. The Lord’s Supper simply says by act what my text says in words. I know no difference between the rite and the parable, except that the one is addressed to the eye and the other to the ear. The rite is an acted parable; the parable is a spoken rite. And when Jesus Christ, in the great discourse to which I have referred, dilates at length upon the ‘eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood’ as being the condition of spiritual life, He is not referring to the Lord’s Supper, but the discourse and the rite refer both to the same spiritual truth. One is a symbol; the other is a saying; and symbol and saying mean just the same thing. The saying does not refer to the symbol, but to that to which the symbol refers. It seems to me that one of the greatest dangers which now threaten Evangelical Christianity is the strange and almost inexplicable recrudescence of Sacramentarianism in this generation to which those Christian communities are contributing, however reluctantly and unconsciously, who say there is something more than commemorative symbols in the bread and wine of the Lord’s table. If once you admit that, it seems, in my humble judgment, that you open the door to the whole flood of evils which the history of the Church declares have come with the Sacramentarian hypothesis. And we must take our stand, as I believe, upon the plain, intelligible thoughts-Baptism is a declaratory symbol, and nothing more; the Lord’s Supper is a commemorative symbol, and nothing more; except that both are acts of obedience to the enjoining Lord. When we stand there we can face all priestly superstitions, and say, ‘Jesus I know; and Paul I know; but who are ye?’ ‘The meek shall eat and be satisfied,’ and the food of the world is the suffering Messiah.
But what have we to say about the act expressed in the text? ‘The meek shall eat.’ I do not desire to dwell at any length upon the thought of the process by which this food of the world becomes ours, in this sermon. But there are two points which perhaps may be regarded as various aspects of one, on which I would like to say just a sentence or two. Of course, the translation of the ‘eating’ of my text into spiritual reality is simply that we partake of the food of our spirits by the act of faith in Jesus Christ. But whilst that is so, let me put emphasis, in a sentence, upon the thought that personal appropriation, and making the world’s food mine, by my own individual act, is the condition on which alone I get any good from it. It is possible to die of starvation at the door of a granary. It is possible to have a table spread with all that is needful, and yet to set one’s teeth, and lock one’s lips, and receive no strength and no gladness from the rich provision. ‘Eat’ means, at any rate, incorporate with myself, take into my very own lips, masticate with my very own teeth, swallow down by my very own act, and so make part of my physical frame. And that is what we have to do with Jesus Christ, or He is nothing to us. ‘Eat’; claim your part in the universal blessing; see that it becomes yours by your own taking of it into the very depths of your heart. And then, and then only, will it become your food.
And how are we to do that if, day in and day out, and week in and week out, and year in and year out, with some of us, there be scarce a thought turned to Him; scarce a desire winging its way to Him; scarce one moment of quiet contemplation of these great truths. We have to ruminate, we have to meditate; we have to make conscious and frequent efforts to bring before the mind, in the first place, and then before the heart and all the sensitive, emotional, and voluntary nature, the great truths on which our salvation rests. In so far as we do that we get good out of them; in so far as we fail to do it, we may call ourselves Christians, and attend to religious observances, and be members of churches, and diligent in good works, and all the rest of it, but nothing passes from Him to us, and we starve even whilst we call ourselves guests at His table.
Oh! the average Christian life of this day is a strange thing; very, very little of it has the depth that comes from quiet communion with Jesus Christ; and very little of it has the joyful consciousness of strength that comes from habitual reception into the heart of the grace that He brings. What is the good of all your profession unless it brings you to that? If a coroner’s jury were to sit upon many of us-and we are dead enough to deserve it-the verdict would be, ‘Died of starvation.’ ‘The meek shall eat,’ but what about the professing Christians that feed their souls upon anything, everything rather than upon the Christ whom they say they trust and serve?
II. And now let me say a word, in the second place, about the rich fruition of this feast.
Think of what that death, as the sacrifice for the world’s sin, does. It sets all right in regard to our relation to God. It reveals to us a God of infinite love. It provides a motive, an impulse, and a Pattern for all life. It abolishes death, and it gives ample scope for the loftiest and most exuberant hopes that a man can cherish. And surely these are enough to satisfy the seeking spirit.
But go to the other end, and think, not of what Christ’s work does for us, but of what we need to have done for us. What do you and I want to be satisfied? It would take a long time to go over the catalogue; let me briefly run through some of the salient points of it. We want, for the intellect, which is the regal part of man, though it be not the highest, truth which is certain, comprehensive, and inexhaustible; the first, to provide anchorage; the second, to meet and regulate and unify all thought and life; and the last, to allow room for endless research and ceaseless progress. And in that fact that the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father took upon Himself human nature, lived, died, rose, and reigns at God’s right hand, I believe there lie the seeds of all truth, except the purely physical and material, which men need. Everything is there; every truth about God, about man, about duty, about a future, about society; everything that the world needs is laid up in germ in that great gospel of our salvation. If a man will take it for the foundation of his beliefs and the guide of his thinkings, he will find his understanding is satisfied, because it grasps the personal Truth who liveth, and is with us for ever.
Our hearts crave, however imperfect their love may be, a perfect love; and a perfect love means one untinged by any dash of selfishness, incapable of any variation or eclipse, all-knowing, all-pitying, all-powerful. We have made experience of precious loves that die. We know of loves that change, that grow cold, that misconstrue, that may have tears but have no hands. We know of ‘loves’ that are only a fine name for animal passions, and are twice cursed, cursing them that give and them that take. The happiest will admit, and the lonely will achingly feel, how we all want for satisfaction a love that cannot fail, that can help, that beareth all things, and that can do all things. We have it in Jesus Christ, and the Cross is the pledge thereof.
Conscience wants pacifying, cleansing, enlightening, directing, and we get all these in the good news of One that has died for us, and that lives to be our Lord. The will needs authority which is not force. And where is there an authority so constraining in its sweetness and so sweet in its constraint as in those silken bonds which are stronger than iron fetters? Hope, imagination, and all other of our powers or weaknesses, our gifts or needs, are satisfied when they feed on Christ. If we feed upon anything else it turns to ashes that break our teeth and make our palates gritty, and have no nourishment in them. We shall be ‘for ever roaming with a hungry heart’ unless we take our places at the feast on the one sacrifice for the world’s peace.
III. I can say but a word as to the guests.
You are shut out because you shut yourselves out. They that do not know themselves to be hungry have no ears for the dinner-bell. They that feel the pangs of starvation and know that their own cupboards are empty, they are those who will turn to the table that is spread in the wilderness, and there find a ‘feast of fat things.’
And so, dear friends! when He calls, do not let us make excuses, but rather listen to that voice that says to us, ‘Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not. . . . Incline your ear unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
meek = the patient or wronged ones.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
The meek: Psa 69:32, Lev 7:11-17, Isa 25:6, Isa 65:13, Joh 6:48-58
they: Psa 105:3, Psa 105:4
your: Psa 69:32, Joh 4:14, Joh 6:51
Reciprocal: Gen 3:22 – eat Exo 29:33 – eat those Psa 23:5 – preparest Psa 25:9 – meek Psa 40:16 – all Psa 132:15 – I will satisfy Pro 9:5 – General Isa 49:9 – They shall feed Isa 55:2 – eat Isa 61:1 – to preach Lam 3:25 – unto Joe 2:26 – ye shall Amo 5:4 – and Zep 2:3 – all Mat 5:5 – the meek Mat 11:5 – the poor Joh 6:54 – eateth Joh 10:16 – other Act 15:17 – the residue 1Co 11:24 – eat Rev 7:17 – feed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 22:26. The meek That is, the poor or humble, gentle and teachable, namely, believing and godly persons whose hearts the grace of God hath softened and sweetened, subduing their pride and passion, and their rebellion against God, and fierceness toward men; shall eat and be satisfied Shall partake of those spiritual blessings which God hath provided for them in his gospel, that grace, and peace, and comfort, which all believing souls enjoy, in a sense of Gods love, in the pardon of their sins, and in the influences of Gods Spirit. Of these and not of any temporal blessings, this clause is doubtless to be understood. They shall praise the Lord that seek him That seek his favour, and the true spiritual knowledge of, and communion with, him. Your heart shall live He speaks of the same persons still, though there be a change from the third to the second person, as is usual in these poetical books. For ever Your comfort shall not be short and transitory, as worldly comforts are, but everlasting.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:26 {q} The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
(q) He alludes still to the sacrifice.