³ Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises^[a] of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

⁹ Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹ Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet^[b]—
¹⁷ I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
²¹     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued^[c] me from the horns of the wild oxen!

²² I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
²⁶ The afflicted^[d] shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸ For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰ Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹ they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.

Sermon Transcript:

Pastor Thom Rittichier
Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Now, I am not the first one who began a message using that phraseology. As a matter of fact, Bible fact, Jesus began his first message with pretty much those kinds of words. The way he said it is this, Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And what he had done is he had taken an Old Testament scroll. And he unrolled it to an Old Testament prophecy. And in that Old Testament prophecy, when he had read it, he said, Today this has been fulfilled in your hearing. And I want you to know, today the Old Testament prophecy, that we look in on, is fulfilled in your hearing. Precisely in the manner that Jesus fulfilled that Old Testament prophecy, we will have this Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in our hearing. This scripture that I’m talking about is Psalm number 22. And I’m going to ask you to turn there with me to Psalm number 22. What I was just referring to is in Luke 4:16-21, where Jesus takes Isaiah 61:1-2, reads them, and says, This is fulfilled. And you know, this is a very interesting point in time that he does this because he had just been baptized by John the baptizer, or John the baptist. He had just come back from being out in the wilderness to be tempted, being led there by the Spirit of the Lord, to face that. And as he came back to Nazareth, his hometown, he went on the Sabbath day, as was his custom as what he usually did on the Sabbath day, to the synagogue. And they handed him the scriptures and he read and said this.

Now, this morning, in Psalm 22, we’re going to look in on part two. Part one we looked at last week, verses 1 through 21, which was prophetic when written, about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, what he would experience from his perspective, his thinking, his experience, what he was going through. Now, we noted, when looking at that, a very difficult thing. Matt’s prayer kind of reflected it this morning when he talked about a difficult thing. Part one was a difficult thing to hear in a message. It was a difficult thing. It was heavy to carry. It was burdensome. You almost had to endure this. As you saw the thinking of Jesus Christ, like a caged animal, going back and forth in this helpless caged state. We actually looked in on how his thinking kept going back and forth on his helpless condition and his hope. And then we saw him, as a caged animal, drowned in the sea of human sin. The Psalm said, You lay me in the dust of death. Described by Isaiah as this, His soul was made the offering for our sin, Isaiah 53:10. The Lord crushed him for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was laid on him, Isaiah 53:6. That’s what we saw. And it was difficult to see the Savior crying out, helpless. And then after seeing God make him who knew no sin to be sin for us, after seeing his soul made the offering, we saw his soul, his soul, what was going on inside of him, made the offering for sin. Then we heard the words of Psalm 22:21, Save me, he cries, from the mouth of the lion, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me. You have rescued me. It turns, the Psalm turns, right there. The biggest part of this distress is that God was gone. Jesus made that clear to us, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me, quoting this Psalm as he hung on the cross, in the hours of darkness, where he was made sin for us. You know, before that time, Jesus had been focused on other people, the crying women of Golgotha as he carried the cross through the city streets, he ministered to them. The soldiers as they were putting him on the cross, he minister to them. The criminals beside him, he minister to them. His mother and his apostle, John, he ministered to both of them. And he ministered, when he died, saying, It is finished.

This morning, we’re going to look at part two, which covers verses 22 through 31. I want you to recognize how this Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled. It’s fulfilled, like most of the Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled. Let me, for a moment, have you look at what Jesus said in Luke chapter four. He stands up, he’s handed the scroll and he opens to this place intentionally. And he reads this, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. Yahweh has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And then he ended there, rolled up the scroll and handed it to the attendant, so Luke says. Then he proceeded to say, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. You know, it’s very interesting in this Old Testament prophecy where he stopped. And what he didn’t say at that moment. You see, this prophecy goes on and it says this, And the day of vengeance of our God. He said this first part is fulfilled in your hearing. It’s fulfilled, as I have come to proclaim this, it’s fulfilled. But he stopped. Because this second part wasn’t being fulfilled. In Old Testament prophecy, this is called the near and the far fulfillment, the near and the far. And it happens over and over and over and over in the Old Testament prophetic notes that are being filled, as a matter of fact that we will fulfill today in your hearing. That’s how this happens.

Now, last week, I used a photo to give you a picture of how this is presented often about Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled. We use this picture to represent a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. In Psalm 22, written by David, it’s talking about David’s experience, that’s what he’s seeing. And David, by the Spirit, is allowed to see the future of Christ being crucified. David saw it, he prayed. And what he saw was Jesus Christ, and he was praying relative to him, and what he was experienced. We see that because as this Psalm describes, in verse 18, there were soldiers there who cast lots to divide his garments. Those Romans soldiers knew nothing of this prophecy or what they were doing to fulfill it, but they fulfilled it to a tee. Others around said and did things, exactly fulfilling the prophecy, mocking him, even saying the words that, centuries before David’s seeing the Christ said, would be expressed. Absolutely amazing. But there is a further fulfillment of this prophecy, another hill. And we don’t see all of the road that leads up to this hill. But we see the prophetic note. And that’s what we look on this morning. And it even reaches further to include you and I, fulfilling the prophecy like this.

Look with me at Psalm 22 verse 22, “I will tell of your name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” That’s where we start. And how it ends is where we all get included in this prophetic note. Look at verse 30-31, “Posterity shall serve Him, it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation. They shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.” You know, the Amplified Bible, as they present that phrase, say this, “It is finished!” You ever heard that before? It’s what Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and then said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. And breathed his last breath.

From beginning to this Psalm is what Jesus had going on. Even in the midst of ministering to other people, this was his soul. And we’re gonna look at it, and how we see it being fulfilled today. Looking to Jesus, who for the joy, endured the cross. That’s what this passage is about. And it’s applicable to our life, because that comes directly from Hebrews, chapter 12. We are to be looking to Jesus, who for the joy endured the cross. Last week, we looked at the enduring, the hard thing to see him there, to see him helpless, to see him like a caged animal going back and forth in his mind. And today, we look at the joy, the joy of this. Oh the cross is still in the picture. But the emphasis that we are presented with today is the joy. We’re going to look at it this way. First of all, the joy of moving out of affliction and into praise, the joy of that taking place. And then this, the joy, and here’s where our fulfillment of this comes in, the joy of moving into fulfilling worship before him. Just as its described here, in a near and far fulfillment, this joy. Now as we do this, I would like to ask you a question, to kind of stimulate your thinking here with me. How literally do you take, for your life, the Bible’s frequent references, calls and earnest exhortation for us to have joy? Joy in the midst of what you’re enduring, joy that you’re looking for, and experience. How seriously do you take that? That you carry a happiness of heart that comes from you. Jesus for the joy endured.

I just want to emphasize to you how much the Bible talks about joy. Let me just do it quickly this way. Go back to this front of the Psalm, Psalm 1. And I’m just going to go through a couple of these Psalms and point out how frequently the Bible is calling us to living life with God in joy. Notice Psalm 1, “Blessed, which means happy, in a very happy, enviable state, is the man”. And he describes the man, what he does, verse 2, “his delight, he takes a delight, a sense of satisfaction, of uplift in spirit, in the instructions of the Lord”. We’re not going to go through Psalm 1 this morning. But nevertheless, the emphasis there is on the joy. Psalms 2, look at how it ends, verse 12, “Kiss the son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed, happy, enviable are all those who take refuge in Him”. Again, Psalm 3, verse 8, “Salvation belongs to the Lord, Your blessing be on your people”. Psalm 4, verse 7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when when their grain and their wine abound”. You have to understand the passage to know what he’s talking about. I have lived as a farmer and with a farmer and there is a sense of great accomplishment when the harvest is done. It’s all finished. I have more joy. Lord, you’ve done that in my heart. Verse 8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, make me safe”. Psalm 5, verse 11, “But let all those who take refuge in You rejoice, let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exalt in you. For you bless the righteous, you make them happy, O LORD, you cover them with favor as with a shield”. We have a whole bunch in the New Testament about joy also. So my question is how serious are you on the pursuit of joy and the representation of the joy of the Lord, to those around you, to those in your immediate circle? I want to say, it’s big to God.

Joy taking, joy taking this morning in Psalm 22, we have some very practical help, because we’re looking at prophetic vision here. And I want you to know why I am emphasizing prophetic vision here. This Proverb, written by Solomon in his collection, states this, Where there is no prophetic vision, no clear insight, vision about what the future holds, the people perish. And that word perish refers to being discouraged. That they begin to lose, they begin to lose focus, they begin to lose investment. They begin to lose. Other things…romance novels, photography, sports, movies, chasing women, having your mind altered…begin to come into their life and they lose, they perish, because there is no clear prophetic vision of what we are going through and what it’s leading to. The Bible tells us, this is what happens. We don’t need that. We need the joy of the Lord, being our strength, for this blessedness, this happiness of the one who guards and keeps this instruction. Psalm 22. That’s what we’re looking at it being fulfilled in our hearing.

Right off, it says in verse 22, in the congregation of the brothers. Now I need to let you know that since this is prophetic, that the book of Peter says, no matter of prophecy is a matter of private interpretation. You can’t come up with the ideas of prophecy on your own, though sometimes I interact with people who do this. We have to do it in accord with what the Scriptures say. First Peter, chapter two, No matter of prophecy, is a matter of private interpretation. It’s got to be in accord with the scriptures. It’s got to be in accord with those who know the Lord. So I want you to know, I’m going to be very careful here and point out how this is in accord with the scriptures. And I’m going to be very careful to let you know that I’m not alone. This isn’t a matter of private interpretation. But it is prophetic vision. It is prophetic vision. And it is you and I fulfilling it today. It being fulfilled in your ears, it is that, it is that. I want us to see this for the sake of having heart and joy in the cost of following Christ in this world.

In the congregation of my brothers. Now I want you to know, that statement in verse 22, the New Testament tells us is Jesus talking. No matter of prophecy is a matter of private interpretation. This is Hebrews 2:12. The author of Hebrews, the New Testament insight, tells us this is Jesus talking, because it is Jesus who is telling us, it is Jesus who is being identified with his brothers, and he quotes this as coming from Jesus. What are his brothers? Who is he talking about here? He says, Psalm 22:23, these are the offspring of Jacob. Notice with me, “You who fear the Lord, Praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him, stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel.” This is Jacob, you remember who Jacob was? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, who became the 12 tribes of Israel, it’s his children, Jesus is talking here, to those. It’s prophetic vision. That’s what Hebrews chapter two is talking about. He says, he’s talking about the world to come. He’s talking about seeing the world put in subjection to Jesus, though we don’t see it right now. He’s talking about Jesus bringing many sons to glory, and defeating Satan in this. That is what he talking about, Hebrews chapter two. And it’s Jesus talking here. And he’s talking about his brothers. And this prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus to the tee. He appeared on the road to Emmaus, Luke chapter 24, and he’s walking down there. And there’s some guys who are all uptight about what’s taking place. And Jesus comes and he begins to explain to them all the things about himself, things about himself in the Psalms. And they talk about their hearts burning, and then he is gone from them. And the next time he shows up, boom, he shows up in the middle of the disciples, and he proclaims this very thing. This is the prophetic fulfillment by Jesus of this. This is him talking, where he calls his people to the praise of God, to those who fear God, to stand in awe of him, because he being dead is now standing before them alive. Their minds were opened, the Bible says, and he opened their mind to understand this. And they stood in awe. They stood in awe of him.

They stand in awe of him because these praises from the afflicted are coming. Because, verse 24, he is not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Those, who under circumstances and in situations of their life, have distress. He didn’t turn away from that. He didn’t turn, God the Father did not turn. God, my God, Jesus said, did not turn away from that. But he rescued Jesus, and through Jesus, he rescues all of them. That’s what he says. And he, verse 24, has not hidden his face, his presence from him, the Christ, but he has heard when he cried. This is an amazing statement amongst the brothers. But this expands and here’s where you and I begin to enter into the very fulfillment of this prophetic note. Please, get the prophetic vision. Get it. Because otherwise competing affections will draw your heart off. There are trials here, there are challenges. There is approach, there is adversity. There is people thinking, You’re one of those. I remember working with a person that didn’t know I was in the ministry, was a pastor. It was a person who is in a medical situation and in dire need. And I took their attention to the Lord. And showed them the provisions that God makes in dire circumstances in the Lord. And their heart, rightfully so, was lifted. A little bit later, another medical person interacted with this individual. And came back to me saying, You know, she got this religious view on stuff. We were ready to give her something help, but now with this religious stuff. And I thought, wow, The reproaches of those who reproached him, fell on me, Romans 15:3. It’s ok. You will have that. If you genuinely follow Jesus, if you stand for Jesus, people will leave you, people will dis you. You will suffer persecution, being dissed, being put down. It’s social and we live with it, although sometimes it becomes employment and it becomes financial. It’s okay. Only prophetic vision will keep your heart here with joy.

Here it begins to expand, this congregation, the moving out of affliction and into praise, which is what we’re called to here in joy. It goes to, in the great congregation, which he defines in verse 27, “All the ends of the earth…all the families of the nations” are being touched. This is the great congregation. Now before he talked about the gathering, the convocation of his brothers, Israel, this he talks about prophetic view of the future, the great, the big, the exceedingly large convocation, that includes all the families of the world. That’s what he’s talking about here. Now, just so you know, that this is not a matter of private interpretation. I have brought the John MacArthur Study Bible with me. He says, This is the testimony of expanding, by solicitation, to universal praise, for the universal divine blessing. This is going out to the ends of the earth. This great congregation is universal of all the nations. For those who are so inclined, Ryrie Study Bible. He says, This is a description of the millennial blessing and he does get there. As a matter of fact, if you look down to verse number 28, “For the kingship belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nation’s”. That’s what he’s talking about. You know, there is a prophetic vision where Jesus returns, and he rules on the earth for 1000 years. He’s here, he’s present. We see him, we’re with him in Jerusalem, if you belong to Christ, that happens. This gets there. It talks there. But it’s not yet.

Question for you. When does Jesus appear in the great congregation? When does this praise from God the Father come? Verse 25, “From you comes my praise in the great congregation”. When does that happen? And when does Jesus then, as this verse say, “my vows I will perform”, when in the great congregation, when Jesus is being praised by God the Father, does he fulfill, bring to completion, the vows that he made to do the will of God? When does that happen? To perform them before those who fear Him, those who stand in reverence awe? Now I want you to know, I’m being careful, because this is prophetic. And it’s not a matter of private interpretation. And you’ve got to stick with what is said, and this is what is said, God the Father’s praise coming to Jesus, as Jesus comes forward to fulfill the vow, the promises that he made. And this is done in front of this great congregation of those who fear the Lord. That does happen, we do know when that happens. This happens where, From my God, Jesus says, Come my praise. This does happen. In Revelation, chapter five, when before the throne of God, all of these, in a convocation, are gathered. And they’re expressing, chapter four, their worship and their value to God. And then suddenly, John begins to cry. Because there’s a scroll. A scroll like Jesus went and took, in the synagogue at Nazareth, there’s a scroll that’s handed out and nobody’s worthy, nobody, nobody is competent to take this scroll, and to unfold the future events of planet Earth. Nobody is worthy, and there’s crying going on. And then this loud voice proclaims, there is one who is worthy. He’s the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, and he has redeemed us to our God, by his blood, from every tribe, kindred, nation, and people, He is worthy. And he opens the scroll, breaking the seals, and the future of planet earth begins to unfold. This is the great congregation. And those passages in Revelation, talk about the worthiness of the lamb being praised, because he has done this and he is able to accomplish it. Revelation 5:12, is exceedingly precious, where it says this, “saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and glory and honor and blessing’.” He’s worthy. And that praise comes from God in the midst of the great congregation, and he begins to unfold on planet earth, a time when there are more people redeemed in a shorter passage of time than any other time in the history of the planet. As a matter of fact, in Revelation chapter 14, God even sends forth an angel to proclaim the everlasting gospel, to rescue people from damnation as they’re going through the wrath of God on earth, to get them out, to get them out. God does that. Revelation chapter 14, he sends an angel to communicate the gospel. And that’s precious. In the great congregation, from you, God comes my praise. And then from these people, come praise.

Psalm 22:26, “The afflicted shall eat.” This is a picture of worship and sacrifice going on and celebration. It had a feast with it, “they will eat and be satisfied, those who seek Him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!” May this belong to you, may your inner man live, sustain in life, and may it go on and on and on and on without end. The promise of eternal life is so big. It is so big. It becomes kind of unrealistic, as it’s referred, to because the magnitude of what we’re talking about here, doesn’t register in our hearts. Jesus cry is, as he recounts this, May your soul, your life, live forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember. And shall turn to the Lord, all the families of the nations, and here’s his rule on earth, the kingdoms that belong to the Lord. And he rules over the nation.

Okay, time for us to move into our fulfilling of this. How today we fulfill this. All the families of the nations in worship. Verse 29, “All the prosperous of the earth”. The prosperous refers to those whos life on earth went well. Life on earth came out really good for them. “The prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship,” they’ll be involved in this celebration, “before him shall bow down all who go down to the dust.” Have you ever heard that phrase in the Bible? I go the way of all the earth. Have you heard that phrase? It was a statement made by one of the patriarchs and it was a repeated phrase, because everybody goes to the dust of the earth. Okay, there are some pictures in prophecy that maybe everybody won’t have to experience that. But here, he talks about all the nations everywhere, everyone who goes to the dust of the earth, those who can’t keep themselves alive, are involved in this expression of worship. The expression that is full blown adoration to God, appreciation, thanksgiving, making him shine, making him be so big because of what he’s done. This is what we do in our songs of praise and worship. Alright, we’re not there, we’re not in heaven, we don’t experience it yet, but we will, we will, we will be caught up in it, full blown.

But let me share this as well. Worship is not just strumming a harp and singing praises to God. There is service, there is engagement in active, meaningful labor, which at this point loses its toil. The sweat of the brow, the frustration of failure, the difficulty of not achieving what you have in mind, which is part and parcel of living here is gone. In heaven, we do not float on clouds, singing songs and hymns all day long. We are actively engaged in meaningful service, service that registers with God. He calls it being a ruler, an administrator over much, being engaged involved in what he’s doing. Verse 30, “Posterity”, he says, “shall serve Him”. And here, here is where you and I enter in. A coming generation of all the families of the earth, a coming generation of all the families of the earth, a coming generation shall be told of the Lord, just like we’re doing today, they shall be told of the Lord.

And in verse 31, that coming generation that hears that, being told of the Lord, they, to a people yet to be born, to a people yet to be occupying the earth, they shall proclaim, they shall carry this note, they shall communicate this to children and to grandchildren, and to friends and neighbors and relatives, and people who are expressing an interest. Like a medical person in need here, raising their eyes to the Lord, and that no one who adversely reacts, raising their eyes to the Lord, that there is something here, there is meaning and purpose and hope. Because Jesus was made helpless and hopeless. We have this, it’s here, they will proclaim that he has done it, they will proclaim that it is finished and done, that what they will proclaim. This is how big what you were doing is, communicating to grandchildren and to children, communicating to folks in the community, by your words and your actions. How important, how weighty God is through Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus said it like this. These will hear well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in that which is little, behold, I will make you ruler over much. Enter into the joy of your Lord. That’s Matthew 25:21 and 23. This is how big what you’re doing is. We are fulfilling scripture today, here, sending it out. And you and I, in this far and near fulfillment. That’s the near and the far who carry it on to kids yet unborn.

Father in heaven, we come before you and we just rejoice. Because the prophetic words of Scripture were reacted to in Jesus name. And some of them weren’t included. Because they didn’t join him. They reacted against him. But the prophetic words of Jesus, from his mouth in Psalm 22, we have the opportunity to join him and to experience this, the joy, the joy which is no greater than to hear of folks walking in the truth. Thank you for Jesus death, burial and resurrection and that it’s set us on a course of life eternal and joy here, in Jesus name. Amen.