Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 22:27
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
27. All the ends of the world ] R.V., of the earth. The remotest countries. Cp. Psa 67:7; Psa 98:3.
shall remember &c.] There was a knowledge of God, to which the nations might attain through the witness of His works without and the witness of conscience within. But they ‘forgot Him’ (Psa 9:17) and turned away from Him to idols of their own imagination (Rom 1:21; Rom 1:28). But one day they will ‘remember’ and ‘return.’ Cp. Jer 16:19 ff.
all the kindreds of the nations ] All the families of the nations; realising the patriarchal promise (Gen 12:3; Gen 28:14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
27 31. The Psalmist’s hopes take a wider range, extending to all mankind and to future ages. He anticipates the time when not he alone, not the seed of Israel only, but all nations to earth’s remotest bound, will pay homage to Jehovah. From personal hopes he passes to national hopes, from national hopes to universal hopes, reaching forward into the future from generation to generation. But this establishment of Jehovah’s kingdom is not explicitly regarded as the fruit of the Psalmist’s sufferings. We are not yet upon the level of Isaiah 53. Perhaps the nations are represented as being attracted by Jehovah’s deliverance of His servant, though even this is not clear.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
All the ends of the world – All parts of the earth; all nations. The earth is frequently represented in the Scriptures as having limits or boundaries; as spread out; as having corners, etc. Compare Isa 11:12; Jer 9:26; Jer 25:23; Jer 49:32; Rev 7:1. This language is in accordance with the prevailing modes of thinking, in the same way as we say, the sun rises; the sun sets, etc.
Shall remember – The nations are often represented as forgetting God; that is, they act as if they had once known him, and had then forgotten him. See Job 8:13; Psa 9:17; Psa 50:22; Rom 1:21. Here it is said that they would again call God to remembrance; that is, they would worship him as the true God.
And turn unto the Lord – Turn away from their idols to worship the living God.
And all the kindreds of the nations – All the families. The numerous families upon the earth that constitute the one great family of mankind.
Shall worship before thee – Shall worship in thy presence; that is, shall worship thee. The language is derived from the act of worshipping God in the tabernacle or the temple, before the visible symbol of his presence there. As applicable to the Redeemer, this language is in accordance with what is uniformly said of him and his work, that the world would be converted to the living and true God. Compare the notes at Psa 2:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 22:27
All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord.
The return to the Father
In this Psalm the utterance of the believing heart in trial and in deliverance becomes, at various points, a prophetic anticipation of the experience of Christ. In one verse after another we seem to hear out of His own mouth the sorrow and the triumph of Christ. Regarding the text in this light, as an expectation which a believer might naturally express in the hour of his own enlargement, it brings before us an interesting connection of thought. A believer who has been brought into great temptation and trouble, and whose faith has been drawn out into lively and lowly exercise, when the deliverance comes will be aware of something more than the worth and the gladness of that particular deliverance. He has been holding converse with the mercy of God under pressure. There comes afresh into his heart the impression of the love of God, of which his own relief is only an instance and expression. So God teaches him–forces him to learn afresh–what a blessedness this is to have this God for his God forever and ever. Then how naturally he may go on to such an anticipation as that in the text he has a fresh sense of that in God which saves and blesses. How natural it becomes to cherish even so great an expectation as that the ends of the world may turn to the Lord! If all believers had the fresh sense they might have of Divine compassion there would be less uncertainty about the prosperity of the Gospel, less of feeble and dubious effort. And we may also hear the utterance of a Saviours joy and exultation when it is said, The ends of the world shall remember, and shall turn to the Lord.
I. The prospect from the cross. So taken, the text suggests to us our Lords consciousness of the virtue that lay in His atoning sacrifice. The life of perfect holiness and perfect love was crowned by the death in which He put away sin. Exceeding glory to God and good to man were to be unfolded from it. This lay fully before our Lords eye from the first. What He saw it becomes us to believe–the ends of the world shall remember, and turn to the Lord.
II. The souls awakening. They shall remember. It is as though something long forgotten had come to mind, had melted their hearts within them. In what sense is the truth in Christ new? It is not so new but that it has also something old in it. Just this lay behind many a transient conviction, many a vague and dim impression. Whatever of new has come has put unspeakable meaning into all the old.
III. Mans place with God. This is not so only with those for whom conversion comes after years of acquaintance with the Christian creed, and with the form of Godliness. It holds for men as men. The God who in Christ becomes ours is the very God for whom man was made. This is the meaning of man. And the blessedness which redemption brings is for the heart of man, as man was planned and made.
IV. The inevitable return. The text points to a time when turning to God shall be the main thing, the prevailing thing, as if a mighty tide setting that way, carried all before it. For the present we do not see this. (Robert Rainy, D. D.)
Three stages in religious life
I. Reflection. Shall remember. We use the word reflection here because the usual Bible significance of the word remember is not simply recollect, but meditate, consider. The act described is far more than one of memory; witness the words, Remember now thy Creator. Here also the Psalmist means remember the Lord. Thought is the first stage in true life. Right thought on a right subject is essential to right life. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
1. Think about God.
2. Think what Gods ways with men are.
3. Think of your relationship to God. In the past; now; for the future.
II. conversion. Turn unto would be a synonym; or return. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? These passages, with that in our text, remind us–
1. That man is turned away from God. There is aversion and alienation.
2. Man may be restored to God. His face may yet look into the face of the Father, his life spent in Godward sympathies and activities.
3. This conversion, i.e. moral turning round, implies human effort and Divine help. Man is to turn, and God will turn him. Then, and then only, will his back be towards vanities and sins, and his face towards the true and the pure. More than passing sentiment is needed. There must be the putting forth of all the strongest forces of manhood, and the energising grace of God.
III. Adoration. Shall worship. This is the climax. It is the fullest development of the higher life, the crown of human destiny. Adoration of God is–
1. The instinct.
2. The obligation.
3. The satisfaction of souls. (U. R. Thomas.)
The importance of true religion, and the care of God to preserve it
I. To glorify and enjoy God are the great ends of our creation and redemption. This is the great and fundamental article of religion. Gods design in the creation and government of the world must have been the manifestation of His perfection, and the conferring happiness on intelligent creatures in proportion to their capacities. To what purpose hath God distinguished man with a rational and immortal soul resembling Himself, but to make him capable of religion and eternal life. What the character of God and the nature of man so clearly demonstrate on principles of reason, God hath expressly declared to us in His Word.
II. God has given men proper information of His character, will, and grace as their rule of duty and their guide to happiness. The existence of the creation demonstrates the existence of the Creator; its greatness proves His immensity; its order, His wisdom; and the provision made for the happiness of His creatures, His boundless goodness. In every state of man the only perfect rule of religion is Divine revelation, which confirms all the principles of natural religion, and informs us of many things necessary to be known which our own reason could not have discovered. The dispensations of Gods providence subserved the design of His revelations for preserving religion and virtue in the world.
III. That before the coming of Christ the worship of the true God should be generally forgotten and neglected by mankind. This melancholy truth the history of the world hath but too amply verified. True religion must always have the true God for its object, and His moral character and revealed will for its rule. False religion originates in a departure from the worship of the true God to that of idols; either as objects of religious adoration or as the means of it. To this cause Moses ascribed the idolatry of Israel. The sun, moon, etc., from being worshipped only as representations of God, came to be considered and worshipped as so many distinct deities. As the multitude of gods worshipped by the heathen distracted their religion, and turned it away from the only true God, so their mean and immoral characters shamefully debased it. Religion is the chief part and foundation of moral righteousness. As before the coming of Christ the Gentiles had grossly departed from the knowledge and profession of the true religion, so the Jews had greatly degenerated from the sincere belief and practice of it.
IV. By the Gospel and the grace of Christ all nations should be brought to remember and turn unto the Lord. The coming of the Saviour was the era of light, reformation, and happiness to the world As to the proper improvement of these truths, let us ever live under the serious belief and impression that, to glorify and enjoy God, our Creator and Saviour, are the great ends of our existence, and can be attained only by the knowledge and practice of true religion. (W. Dalgleish, D. D.)
Nature and extent of true conversion under Messiahs reign
I. The nature of true conversion.
1. It is to remember. It is fitly expressed by the ease of the prodigal, who is said to have come to himself. The Holy Spirit is ever seeking to make us remember. Sometimes by adverse providences, as with Josephs brethren. At other times by His Word. Sometimes it is without any apparent cause. I thought on my ways, says David, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies. And there will, however brought, be many ways which we shall remember with sorrow and shame. As our ways of open immorality: things which we thought were no harm, since other people did them; and ways which we have thought nothing about–sins of the heart. And ways, too, that you have counted good you will thus remember. All your religion while unconverted will appear odious to you.
2. It is turning unto the Lord. This is very important, for it is possible to remember our evil ways without turning from them. And it is possible both to remember and turn, and yet not to turn to the Lord. And–
3. There will be worship–the homage of the heart presented to God according to His will.
II. The extent. All the ends of the world; all the kindreds of the nations, etc. It was fit that the accessions of the Gentiles should be reserved for the Gospel day, that it might grace the triumph of Christ over His enemies. And the good work then begun must go on, no longer limited to the seed of Abraham. But the time will come when our text will be abundantly fulfilled. Nor can the time of fulfilment be far distant. The last branch of the last of the four beasts foretold by Daniel is now in its dying agonies. But while we are concerned for all the world, let us not forget our own souls. (Andrew Fuller.)
The assistance derived by Christianity from human learning
it is matter of doubt whether there is real improvement in the world in morals and religion. In some parts matters seem to have become worse. But in others, our own country especially, since the Reformation there has been improvement, and such as is not likely to be lost. Still, we are far enough from perfection. For that we must look on to the kingdom of God yet to be established, but meanwhile we must help it forward as we best can. But note–
I. What are the causes of the improvement we have noticed? They are–
1. General experience, though there are instances in which the moral and religious condition of the people are no better now than they were ages ago. The reason of this is that these communities have possessed no literature, and hence the teachings of experience have been lost and each generation has to begin anew.
2. Letters and learning. Hence these teachings no longer die with those who have acquired them, but are handed on to their successors. But we have instances in which–as in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where there have been letters and learning, but because separated from true religion–the world has not been morally advanced by them. The experience of France in the eighteenth century is in point here.
3. The revelation of Christianity. But this from an early period down to the time of the Reformation being loaded with superstition, the moral life of men was but little benefited. Hence we gather that there must be the union of Learning and Christianity if any real progress is to be made.
II. What assistance Christianity has received from human learning. This learning may be distinguished–
1. As the study of ancient languages and composition. Hence now we have the Scriptures translated, and this learning is useful not only to translate but to teach us the rules of interpretation, and of just criticism, and of the best models of composition, and to give freedom and strength to the imagination. Even the elegance of ancient writers, though often considered as merely ornamental, is not without its use towards the perfection of Christian morals. There is a connection and a sympathy which, though they do not always appear, have yet a tendency to prevail, between whatever is simple and elegant in the arts, and a simplicity and elegance of manners. By this connection we are rendered more sensible of any thing that can soften the human mind, can heighten the enjoyment of social life, or prepare us for that Christian charity which is the bond of peace and of all virtue.
2. The study of philosophy, which is not merely useful in the discovery of curious and useful arts. It serves a much nobler and more generous purpose, that of promoting our progress towards the perfection of our nature, and of advancing the interests of true religion. (W. Pearce, D. D.)
The triumph of Christianity
Some regard this Psalm as our Lords soliloquy when expiring on the Cross. It may be so. Fitter words could not have been conceived. The mighty hero sees the conflict ended, anticipates the victory, and begins to chant the conquerors paean.
I. The conversion of the nations to God may be expected. It is much to be desired. But the battle is long and weary and the end is not yet. Some think it is not to be looked for. But–
1. Our newborn nature craves for it; and–
2. Is it not unlikely that on this earth where God has stood in the person of His Son, that evil, after all, should vanquish Him?
3. And see the promises of reward made to our Redeemer. He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. And the Scriptures are full of such promises, in the Psalms and in all the prophets. It is good to be reminded of them, for we shall not labour well if we do not labour in hope. And as yet we have not done so much as to give the fragments of the Gospel feast to the nations. When the Church is ready for great events they shall occur to her.
II. Such conversion will occur in the usual manner of other conversions. The nations, says our text, shall remember, and shall turn unto the Lord, and shall worship before Him.
1. They shall remember. In this manner conversion begins.
2. They shall turn.
3. They shall worship.
III. The means to accomplish this result are to be found at Calvary. This is a Calvary Psalm; its connection is full of sacrificial suffering. Every conversion is the result of Christs death. And His death is our motive for spreading the Gospel. And it is the security of future triumph. We shall conquer the world, but it will be by the Cross. The old legend of Constantine, In hoc signo vinces, hath truth in it for us. By this we shall conquer–by the Cross, by the preaching of Jesus Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 27. All the ends of the world] The Gospel shall be preached to every nation under heaven; and all the kindred of nations, mishpechoth, the families of the nations: not only the nations of the world shall receive the Gospel as a revelation from God, but each family shall embrace it for their own salvation. They shall worship before Jesus the Saviour, and through him shall all their praises be offered unto God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the ends of the world, i.e. all nations, from one end of the world to the other. So this is an evident prophecy of the calling of the Gentilesto the knowledge of God and Christ by thy gospel, and consequently a clear proof that this Psalm doth directly and immediately speak of Christ; to whom alone, and not to David, this and divers other passages of it do manifestly belong.
Shall remember: it is not particularly expressed what they should remember, because there were several things that should and would be remembered by them, which were likely to occasion their turning to the Lord. They shall remember their former and manifold wickedness with grief, and shame, and fear; and particularly their sin and folly in worshipping dead and impotent idols that never did nor could do them either good or hurt. They shall remember that God who did make lively impressions upon their minds, which yet they had in great measure blotted out and forgotten, but now by the preaching of the gospel they shall be revived. They shall remember their great and manifold obligations to God, which they had quite forgotten; his patience and goodness in sparing them so long in the midst of all their impieties, and in revealing his gospel to them, and giving his Son for them. They shall remember the gracious words and glorious works of Christ, and what he did and suffered for them; which possibly divers of them had been eye and ear witnesses of in Judea, (although, with the unbelieving Jews, they despised and misconstrued them,) and others had heard the fame and tidings of them.
Unto the Lord; unto the only true God, and unto Jesus Christ, to whom this name of Jehovah is ofttimes ascribed in Scripture.
All the kindreds, Heb. all the families; which is not to be understood strictly of every particular person and family, but of all sorts and of great numbers of them; as such universal phrases are very frequently taken in Scripture.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27-31. His case illustratesGod’s righteous government. Beyond the existing time and people,others shall be brought to acknowledge and worship God; the fatones, or the rich as well as the poor, the helpless who cannotkeep themselves alive, shall together unite in celebrating God’sdelivering power, and transmit to unborn people the records of Hisgrace.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,…. That is, all the elect of God among the Gentiles, who live in the farthermost parts of the world, for whom Christ is appointed to be their salvation, and whom he calls to look to him for it; these shall remember the Lord whom they have forgotten, and against whom they have sinned, how great and how good he is; they shall be put in mind of their sins and iniquities committed against him, and call to mind their latter end; and consider, that after death will come judgment to which they must be brought; they shall be apprised of the grace and goodness of God in Christ, in providing and sending him to be the Saviour of lost sinners, by his sufferings and death, at large described in this psalm; which will encourage them to turn unto the Lord, since they may hope for full pardon of sin, through his blood and sacrifice; and to turn from their idols, and from all their evil ways, and from all dependence on themselves or on creatures, to trust in and serve the living God in faith and fear; which turning is usually brought about under and by the ministry of the word; which is appointed to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; and has this effect when it is attended with the Spirit and power of God; for conversion is not the work of man, neither of ministers nor of men themselves, but of God, in which men are at first passive; they are turned, and then, under the influence of grace, become active, and turn to the Lord, by believing in him, and so cleave unto him: and likewise remembrance of the above things is not owing to themselves, but to the Spirit of God, who puts them into their minds; and which is very necessary and essential to conversion, even as a remembrance of past things is necessary to a restoration after backslidings, which is a second conversion;
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee; not only externally, by praying before the Lord, and attending on his word and ordinances; but internally, in spirit and in truth, which worshippers the Lord seeks; such spiritual worship being suitable to his nature, and such worshippers believers in him are; this must be understood of some of all nations, kindred and tongues, whom Christ has redeemed by his blood, and calls by his grace; see Zec 14:16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 22:28-32) The long line closing strophe, which forms as it were the pedestal to the whole, shows how far not only the description of the affliction of him who is speaking here, but also the description of the results of his rescue, transcend the historical reality of David’s experience. The sufferer expects, as the fruit of the proclamation of that which Jahve has done for him, the conversion of all peoples. The heathen have become forgetful and will again recollect themselves; the object, in itself clear enough in Psa 9:18, becomes clear from what follows: there is a ( Psychol. S. 346ff.; tr. pp. 407ff.) among the heathen, which the announcement of the rescue of this afflicted one will bring back to their consciousness.
(Note: Augustin De trinitate xiv. 13, Non igitur sic erant oblitae istae gentes Deum, ut ejus nec commemoratae recordarentur .)
This prospect (Jer 16:19.) is, in Psa 22:29 (cf. Jer 10:7), based upon Jahve’s right of kingship over all peoples. A ruler is called as being exalted above others by virtue of his office ( according to its primary meaning = Arab. mtl , erectum stare, synonymous with , vid., on Psa 110:4, cf. Mic 5:3). In we have the part., used like the 3 praet., without any mark of the person (cf. Psa 7:10; Psa 55:20), to express the pure praes., and, so to speak, as tempus durans: He rules among the nations ( ) . The conversion of the heathen by that sermon will, therefore, be the realisation of the kingdom of God.
Psa 22:29 The eating is here again brought to mind. The perfect, , and the future of sequence, , stand to one another in the relation of cause and effect. It is, as is clear from Psa 22:27, an eating that satisfies the soul, a spiritual meal, that is intended, and in fact, one that is brought about by the mighty act of rescue God has wrought. At the close of Ps 69, where the form of the ritual thank-offering is straightway ignored, (Psa 22:23) takes the place of the . There it is the view of one who is rescued and who thankfully glorifies God, which leads to others sharing with him in the enjoyment of the salvation he has experienced; here it is an actual enjoyment of it, the joy, springing from thankfulness, manifesting itself not merely in words but in a thank-offering feast, at which, in Israel, those who long for salvation are the invited guests, for with them it is an acknowledgment of the mighty act of a God whom they already know; but among the heathen, men of the most diversified conditions, the richest and the poorest, for to them it is a favour unexpectedly brought to them, and which is all the more gratefully embraced by them on that account. So magnificent shall be the feast, that all , i.e., those who stand out prominently before the world and before their own countrymen by reason of the abundance of their temporal possessions (compare on the ascensive use of , Psa 75:9; Psa 76:10; Isa 23:9), choose it before this abundance, in which they might revel, and, on account of the grace and glory which the celebration includes within itself, they bow down and worship. In antithesis to the “fat ones of the earth” stand those who go down to the dust ( , always used in this formula of the dust of the grave, like the Arabic turab ) by reason of poverty and care. In the place of the participle we now have with (= ) a clause with , which has the value of a relative clause (as in Psalms 49:21; Psa 78:39, Pro 9:13, and frequently): and they who have not heretofore prolonged and could not prolong their life (Ges. 123, 3, c). By comparing Phi 2:10 Hupfeld understands it to be those who are actually dead; so that it would mean, His kingdom extends to the living and the dead, to this world and the nether world. But any idea of a thankful adoration of God on the part of the dwellers in Hades is alien to the Old Testament; and there is nothing to force us to it here, since , can just as well mean descensuri as qui descenderunt , and dna ,tnuredne (also in Eze 18:27) means to preserve his own life, – a phrase which can be used in the sense of vitam sustentare and of conservare with equal propriety. It is, therefore, those who are almost dead already with care and want, these also (and how thankfully do these very ones) go down upon their knees, because they are accounted worthy to be guests at this table. It is the same great feast, of which Isaiah, Isa 25:6, prophesies, and which he there accompanies with the music of his words. And the result of this evangel of the mighty act of rescue is not only of boundless universality, but also of unlimited duration: it propagates itself from one generation to another.
Formerly we interpreted Psa 22:31 “a seed, which shall serve Him, shall be reckoned to the Lord for a generation;” taking as a metaphor applying to the census, 2Ch 2:16, cf. Psa 87:6, and , according to Psa 24:6 and other passages, as used of a totality of one kind, as of the whole body of those of the same race. But the connection makes it more natural to take in a genealogical sense; and, moreover, with the former interpretation it ought to have been instead of . We must therefore retain the customary interpretation: “a seed (posterity) shall serve Him, it shall be told concerning the Lord to the generation (to come).” Decisive in favour of this interpretation is with the following , by which acquires the meaning of the future generation, exactly as in Psa 71:18, inasmuch as it at once becomes clear, that three generations are distinctly mentioned, viz., that of the fathers who turn unto Jahve, Psa 22:30, that of the coming , Psa 22:31, and , to whom the news of the salvation is propagated by this , Psa 22:31: “They shall come ( as in Psa 71:18: to come into being), and shall declare His righteousness to the people that shall be born, that He hath finished.” Accordingly is the principal notion, which divides itself into ( ) and ; from which it is at once clear, why the expression could be thus general, “a posterity,” inasmuch as it is defined by what follows. is the people which shall be born, or whose birth is near at hand (Psa 78:6); the lxx well renders it: (cf. Psa 102:19 populus creandus ). is the dikaiosu’nee of God, which has become manifest in the rescue of the great sufferer. That He did not suffer him to come down to the very border of death without snatching him out of the way of his murderous foes and raising him to a still greater glory, this was divine . That He did not snatch him out of the way of his murderous foes without suffering him to be on the point of death – even this wrathful phase of the divine , is indicated in Psa 22:16, but then only very remotely. For the fact, that the Servant of God, before spreading the feast accompanying the shelamim (thank-offering) in which He makes the whole world participants in the fruit of His suffering, offered Himself as an asham (sin-offering), does not become a subject of prophetic revelation until later on, and then under other typical relationships. The nature of the , which is in accordance with the determinate counsel of God, is only gradually disclosed in the Old Testament. This one word, so full of meaning (as in Ps 52:11; Psa 37:5; Isa 44:23), implying the carrying through of the work of redemption, which is prefigured in David, comprehends everything within itself. It may be compared to the , Gen 2:3, at the close of the history of the creation. It is the last word of the Psalm, just as is the last word of the Crucified One. The substance of the gospel in its preparatory history and its fulfilment, of the declaration concerning God which passes from generation to generation, is this, that God has accomplished what He planned when He anointed the son of Jesse and the Son of David as mediator in His work of redemption; that He accomplished it by leading the former through affliction to the throne, and making the cross to the latter a ladder leading up to heaven.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
27. All the ends of the earth shall remember. This passage, beyond all doubt, shows that David stops not at his own person, but that under himself, as a type, he describes the promised Messiah. For even then, it ought to have been a well-known point, that he had been created king by God, that the people might be united together and enjoy a happy life under one head; and this was at length completely fulfilled in Christ. David’s name, I admit, was great and renowned among the neighboring nations; but what was the territory which they occupied in comparison of the whole world? Besides, the foreign nations whom he had subdued had never been converted by him to the true worship of God. That forced and slavish submission, therefore, which the heathen nations had been brought by conquest to yield to an earthly king, was very different from the willing obedience of true godliness by which they would be recovered from their miserable wanderings, and gathered to God. Nor does the Psalmist mean an ordinary change, when he says, that the nations shall return to God, after having become well acquainted with his grace. Moreover, by uniting them to the fellowship of the holy feast, he manifestly grafts them into the body of the Church. Some explain these words, They shall remember, as meaning, that upon the restoration of the light of faith to the Gentiles, they should then come to remember God, whom they had for a time forgotten; (523) but this seems to me too refined, and far from the meaning. I allow that the conversion or return of which mention is here made, implies that they had previously been alienated from God by wicked defection; but this remembrance simply means that the Gentiles, awakened by the signal miracles wrought by God, would again come to embrace the true religion, from which they had fallen away. Farther, it is to be observed, that the true worship of God proceeds from the knowledge of him; for the language of the Psalmist implies, that those shall come to prostrate themselves before God, in humble adoration, who shall have profited so far in meditation upon his works, as that they shall have no more desire proudly and contemptuously to break forth against him.
(523) As it is not said what they should remember, some commentators explain it thus: That they shall remember, with penitence, their sins; and, particularly, their idolatry. Others, that they shall remember the goodness and mercy of God, through Christ, to a lost world. And others, that they shall remember God whom they had forgotten, worshipping, instead of him, wood and stones. This last seems to be the view to which Calvin refers.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
27. All the ends of the world The language of this verse cannot apply to David’s kingdom, but is a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel. Mat 28:19; Rom 16:26; Zec 14:9. David could not, in sobriety of language, suppose that his personal sufferings and deliverance could have the worldwide effect to turn the heathen nations to God. It is one of those numerous passages foretelling Messiah’s universal reign, which lie along through the entire course of Old Testament revelation.
Shall remember They shall call to mind the wonderful death, resurrection, and ascension of Messiah, his triumph over all his foes, and the resultant effect of the preaching of the gospel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to YHWH. And all the families of the nations will worship before You.’
And not only will the poor and needy praise Him, but among the nations to the ends of the earth many will acknowledge His Name. They will remember what the Afflicted One has endured, and turn to YHWH, and some among all the families of the nations will worship YHWH (Gen 12:3; compare Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Nay, so extensive shall be the blessings in Jesus, and so vast the extent of redemption by Jesus, that all the ends of the earth, not Israel only, but Gentiles shall come to his light, and kings to the brightness of his rising. Isa 60:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
Ver. 27. All the ends of the world shall remember ] Shall turn short again upon themselves, as those Solomon prayed for, 1Ki 8:47 , and the prodigal, Luk 15:17 .
And turn to the Lord
And all the kindreds of the nations, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the ends, &c. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject) App-6, for the people dwelling in the farthest regions.
world = earth. Hebrew. ‘erez.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 22:27-31
Psa 22:27-31
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah;
And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
For the kingdom is Jehovah’s;
And he is the ruler over the nations.
All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship:
All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him,
Even he that cannot keep his soul alive.
A seed shall serve him;
It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation.
They shall come and declare his righteousness
Unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it.”
In Psa 22:27-28 are prophesies that the kingdom of God shall spread over all the world, the nations (that, is the Gentiles) shall submit to the rule of Christ who is the king in the kingdom of God.
Not only so, this proliferation of the power and glory of God’s kingdom shall make steady progress throughout all generations.
“All the fat ones of earth shall eat and worship” (Psa 22:29). “This means that those who are at present self-sufficient will put aside their arrogance and join the feast.”
“All they that go down to the dust” (Psa 22:29). This points to the fact that many successive generations shall rise, serving the Lord, and shall pass away in the long continuation of the Kingdom of Jehovah.
“They shall declare his righteousness … that he hath done it” (Psa 22:31). Kidner pointed out, that just as the psalm began with its first verse in the mouth of Jesus on the Cross, it ends in the same manner. “`He hath done it’ is an announcement not very far removed from another word of Jesus from the Cross, namely, `It is finished.’ “
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 22:27-28. This prediction was fulfilled when the kingdom of Christ was established throughout the world. (Rom 10:18; Col 1:23.)
Psa 22:29. This verse predicts that all classes of people, the fat (prosperous) as well as those in the dust (the poor) would bow before the Lord. The last clause means that no man can save his own soul, and that is the reason all classes would come to the Lord for salvation.
Psa 22:30. This is a prediction that Christ was to have a seed that would be spiritual and that it would be greater than the fleshly seed of David. The fulfillment of this prediction is indicated in Joh 3:1-5 and 1Pe 2:9.
Psa 22:31. That shall be born is a prophecy of those who would be born again and become a part of the spiritual seed of Christ.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
All the ends: Psa 2:8, Psa 72:8, Psa 72:11, Psa 86:9, Psa 98:3, Isa 45:22, Isa 46:8, Isa 46:9, Isa 49:6, Isa 49:12
turn: Act 14:15, Act 20:21, Act 26:18-20, Rom 16:26, 1Th 1:9
and all: Psa 96:7, Psa 102:22, Psa 117:1, Rev 7:9-12, Rev 15:4
Reciprocal: Deu 26:10 – and worship Deu 32:43 – Rejoice 1Ki 8:43 – General 1Ch 16:24 – General 2Ch 6:33 – that all people Psa 18:43 – made Psa 18:48 – liftest Psa 33:8 – the earth Psa 45:5 – people Psa 47:2 – a great Psa 47:8 – reigneth Psa 65:2 – unto thee Psa 65:5 – all Psa 66:4 – General Psa 67:7 – all the Psa 69:29 – let thy Psa 96:3 – General Psa 108:3 – praise Psa 110:3 – Thy Psa 138:4 – when they hear Psa 145:6 – And men Psa 148:11 – Kings Isa 2:2 – and all Isa 11:9 – for the Isa 24:16 – uttermost part Isa 42:4 – and the isles Isa 42:12 – General Isa 43:5 – I will Isa 49:22 – Behold Isa 52:10 – all Isa 59:19 – shall they Isa 60:3 – the Gentiles Isa 65:1 – I am sought Jer 16:19 – Gentiles Eze 17:23 – under Dan 2:35 – and filled Dan 7:27 – and all Hos 1:11 – for Hos 2:23 – Thou art my God Mic 4:1 – and people Mic 5:4 – shall he be great Hab 2:14 – the earth Zep 2:11 – and men Zep 3:9 – that Zec 2:11 – many Zec 8:20 – there Zec 14:9 – the Lord Mal 1:11 – my name Mat 8:11 – That Mat 24:31 – from Mat 28:19 – ye therefore Mar 16:15 – into Luk 24:47 – among Joh 11:52 – not Joh 12:19 – the world Act 1:8 – unto Act 3:25 – all Act 9:35 – turned Act 11:1 – the Gentiles Act 13:47 – that thou Act 15:17 – the residue Act 21:20 – they glorified Act 26:20 – turn Rom 9:24 – not of the Jews Rom 10:18 – unto the ends Rom 11:25 – until Rom 15:12 – and he Rev 11:15 – The kingdoms Rev 21:24 – the nations
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 22:27. All the ends of the world All nations, from one end of the world to the other. So this is an evident prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles to the knowledge of God and Christ by the gospel, and a clear proof that this Psalm immediately speaks of Christ; to whom alone this and divers other passages of it belong. Shall remember They shall remember their former wickedness with grief, and shame, and fear; particularly in worshipping dead and impotent idols. They shall remember their great and manifold obligations to God, which they had quite forgotten, his patience in sparing them so long, in the midst of all their impieties, and in revealing his gospel to them, and in giving his Son for them: they shall remember the gracious words and glorious works of Christ, what he did and suffered for them; which possibly divers of them had been eye and ear witnesses of. And turn unto the Lord Unto the only true God, and unto Jesus Christ, to whom this name of Jehovah is often ascribed in Scripture. All the kindreds of the nations Hebrew, , cal mishpechoth, all the families. Which is not to be understood strictly of every particular person and family, but of all sorts, and of great numbers of them; as such universal phrases are often to be understood in Scripture.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God’s purpose for Israel was that she be a kingdom of priests by mediating the knowledge of God to all people, and by bringing all people into a relationship with God (Exo 19:6). David had an unhindered view of this purpose, as is clear from this expression of his concern that God’s deliverance of him would result in the Gentiles turning to Yahweh in faith. After all, Yahweh is the sovereign King who rules over all nations, not just Israel (Psa 22:28). All people will bow before Him, whether they are rich or dying (Psa 22:29). David believed his testimony of God delivering him from death would influence later generations of people to trust in the Lord. Because God has preserved this record in Scripture, it has encouraged all succeeding generations to do so. The record of God delivering Jesus Christ when He cried for salvation from death (Heb 5:7) and God hearing and resurrecting Him has encouraged many more to put their confidence in David’s God. The last phrase (Psa 22:31), "He has performed it," is similar to our Lord’s cry, "It is finished" (Joh 19:30).
This is one of the Messianic psalms (cf. Psa 22:27-30 with Act 2:30-31 and Php 2:8-11; and Php 2:22; Php 2:25 with Heb 2:12). VanGemeren considered it an individual lament that contains thanksgiving. [Note: VanGemeren, p. 198.] It became clear later, that it not only recorded actual events in the life of David, but also predicted events in the life of David’s greatest Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. David probably described many of his own sufferings figuratively, but his descriptions happened literally in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some commentators believed that David did not experience anything like what he described in this psalm, but that his words were totally predictive of Messiah. [Note: E.g., Kidner, p. 105.] Interestingly, there is no confession of sin or imprecation on enemies in this psalm. Our Lord’s cross sufferings were also free of these elements. [Note: See Richard D. Patterson, "Psalms 22 : From Trial to Triumph," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47:2 (June 2004):213-33, for further interpretation of the grammatical, historical-cultural, literary, and theological data in this psalm.]
God’s people of all ages can learn from this psalm. Even though it may appear that the Lord has forgotten and forsaken us in times of extreme persecution, we can count on Him delivering us from death in answer to our prayers. Our rescue may come through the prolongation of our lives, as in David’s case, or through resurrection, as in the case of our Lord. With this assurance of deliverance, we can praise God even today, and encourage others to trust in and worship Him as well. [Note: See Ronald B. Allen, Lord of Song, pp. 103-30; and Mark H. Heinemann, "An Exposition of Psalms 22," Bibliotheca Sacra 147:587 (July-September 1990):286-308.]