READ: Psalms
22-24
Psalm 22 follows an interesting path. It begins
with the Psalmist crying out to God because he feels forsaken. He doesn’t feel
like God is hearing or answering his prayers. Then in verse 4 he reminds
himself, and God, that his family before him had been saved by God. He knew
their story and it brought him hope. Perhaps if God did it for them, He could
do it for him. In verse 6 he’s back to seeing his own weakness. From verse 9
through 11 though, he is remembering the faith he was brought up with. His
identity with God has history and is not isolated in the events of the moment.
The truth of the testimony of the Lord and his heritage begins to give him
hope. Surely if God can do miraculous things for my fathers and grandfathers,
he can do them for me!
By verse 12 he is again reciting his troubles to
the Lord. He is acknowledging his neediness. In verse 19 things have changed.
He’s no longer asking “God, where are you?” Instead, he’s confidently asking
God for help. Why? Because the testimony of others brought him hope!
In verse 22 the Psalmist commits to testifying
himself, and encouraging others to sing praises about the feats of the Lord. He
sets out a challenge to tell others what God has done because others who are
feeling weak, downtrodden and forsaken need to know what God has done so they can
have hope for what He will do. From verse 26 till the end, the Psalmist is
reminding us of the future coming when all the wrongs will be put right. He’s
got an eternal perspective shaping his hope now as well.
He reminds us that everyone, one day, will kneel
before the King of kings. The last two verses serve as a challenge and
motivation. Future generations will be told about the Lord, people will be
proclaiming God’s righteousness… not just for a year or two… but even to those
generations still not born. The Psalmist has been so transformed by the truth
of God through testimony he challenges us. Will the generations coming after us
see the glory of the Lord through our testimony?
Psalm 23 follows this nicely as a beautiful
testimony of God’s provision, protection and promise as a Shepherd. As David,
the shepherd, wrote this we know he knows what he’s talking about. As he
shepherded his father’s sheep faithfully, he has experienced God shepherding
him. He shared this testimony so we, too, would draw close to God as our
Shepherd.
Psalm 24 is an invitation to draw near to God, love
Him, praise Him and experience Him. This invitation is for now, and an
invitation for eternity. It ends on a question we all must ask ourselves: Who
is this King of Glory?
JOURNALING
AND PRAYER
1. Ask God to remind you of a testimony you’ve heard
that brought you hope, encouragement or conviction. Thank God for His
life-changing work in the lives of others. Pray for the person who shared their
testimony with you, and thank God for them.
2. Ask God to show you things He has done in your life
and record them in your journal. Ask God to show you who needs to hear your
testimony – either casually in everyday conversation, or formally in a planned
get-together. Ask God to give you opportunities during this next week to share
with others the things He has done in your life.
3. Ask the Lord to reveal to you whether or not you
have passed on your faith through testimony to your children, grandchildren,
friends, family or co-workers. Do the people closest to you know your faith
story? If you have kept His glory hidden, confess that to Him and ask for
courage and opportunity to share it. If you have been faithful with it, ask Him
for more opportunity and the blessing of seeing fruit from your faithfulness.
