Analyzing Psalm 22: All Will Bow Before Him
Psalm 22:29; Mark 10:17-27 - Rich, poor, alive, near death - we are all invited to partake of the Gospel feast.
”All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.“
Psalms 22:29 NASB1995
When looking at various commentaries on this verse, I found some Biblical experts calling this a very obscure passage and quite difficult to understand. Great! But I’ll make an amateurish attempt anyway. First, let’s look at the word “prosperous” (as used in the NASB version) and see what it is in the Hebrew. It comes from the word דָּשֵׁן or dâshên, meaning fat! That’s it! So the prosperous in the time of David were identified as the fat ones.
Even the prosperous who believe will be able to worship the Lord and eat with Him! Here is what Joseph Benson (1749-1821) says about this, from Bible Hub:
All they that be fat upon the earth — It was said, Psalm 22:26, that the meek, the lowly, and poor should eat and be satisfied: it is here foretold, that the fat ones of the earth; the rich and great, the nobles, princes, and kings, should be called in to partake of the feast. And worship — This word is added to show what kind of eating he spoke of, that it is a spiritual eating, a feeding upon the bread of life, a partaking of Christ and his benefits. High and low, rich and poor; all mankind are invited to partake of the gospel-feast.
There is no command from the Lord that we should sell all that we have and be impoverished to be saved. It is true that Jesus tells the young rich ruler these things from Mark 10 (below) and He also says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God:
”As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”“
Mark 10:17-27 NASB1995
But here is what this means for all, from Gotquestions.org:
Jesus’ message is clear—it is impossible for anyone to be saved on his own merits. Since wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were, therefore, the most likely candidates for heaven. Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the idea that anyone can earn eternal life. The disciples had the appropriate response to this startling statement. They were utterly amazed and asked, “Who then can be saved?” in the next verse. If the wealthy among them, which included the super-spiritual Pharisees and scribes, were unworthy of heaven, what hope was there for a poor man?
Jesus’ answer is the basis of the gospel: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (Matthew 19:26). Men are saved through God’s gifts of grace, mercy, and faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing we do earns salvation for us. It is the poor in spirit who inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3), those who recognize their spiritual poverty and their utter inability to do anything to justify themselves to a holy God. The rich man so often is blind to his spiritual poverty because he is proud of his accomplishments and has contented himself with his wealth. He is as likely to humble himself before God as a camel is to crawl through the eye of a needle.
We can’t buy our way to Heaven with our riches or do enough good works to gain eternal life. The rich were thought of as having God’s approval and blessing, so Jesus wanted to destroy that notion. Sitting on great wealth (or even a comfortable nest egg) has the danger that it will distract us from our spiritual poverty and make us prideful and content and not humble before God. Everything we have and every blessing is from Him.
We all go down to dust at the end of our mortal lives. David is saying that all who die and become dust will fall down before Him and worship Him (we can do it now, willingly and humbly, or we can do it later, unwilling, after we are conquered). Enduring Word has an interesting perspective on this passage:
It is of note that though all honor the LORD, they honor Him in different ways. The prosperous of the earth enjoy a fellowship meal and worship God. In contrast, those who go down to the dust simply bow before the LORD in humble reverence.
This has much the same idea as the later passage of the Apostle Paul, when he wrote: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
Those who go down to the dust suggests those who are rightly humbled, but it can also be understood in a broader sense. Earlier in the psalm, dust suggested the mortality of man and his place under the curse (Psalm 22:15). David may here use those who go down to the dust as a simple representation of all humanity.
Finally, there is the third phrase “even he who cannot keep his soul alive” to ponder. Let’s look at soul from the Hebrew: This comes from the word נֶפֶשׁ or nephesh, with the following Biblical usages:
soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
living being
living being (with life in the blood)
the man himself, self, person or individual
seat of the appetites
seat of emotions and passions
activity of mind
dubious
activity of the will
dubious
activity of the character
dubious
Essentially, this is the core essence of a living being, particularly a human being.
What about alive? This comes from the Hebrew word חָיָה or châyâh, with the following Biblical usages:
to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health
(Qal)
to live
to have life
to continue in life, remain alive
to sustain life, to live on or upon
to live (prosperously)
to revive, be quickened
from sickness
from discouragement
from faintness
from death
(Piel)
to preserve alive, let live
to give life
to quicken, revive, refresh
to restore to life
to cause to grow
to restore
to revive
(Hiphil)
to preserve alive, let live
to quicken, revive
to restore (to health)
to revive
to restore to life
The soul and life are inextricably linked, it seems. Some commentators have noted that this passage likely means those who are near death (not sure how they got that). I think Enduring Word might be closer to the true prophetic nature of this Psalm:
…It is a suggestive phrase, especially considering the connection in this psalm with Jesus the Messiah, the greater Son of David. Of all humanity, Jesus was singular as One who could keep himself alive. Jesus Himself said of His life, No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:18).
We live through Him, who laid His life down for us and brought His life back through the Resurrection!
My next devotional is the final one for Psalm 22:30-31: We will declare His righteousness. I will summarize a few key points from this Psalm in that devotional. Next up: A deep dive into 1 John!
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - All blessings and all good gifts come from you. Please keep me humble and always aware that my soul is only alive through you! Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 3/18/2024 to review the lexicon for prosperous, soul, alive.
Bible Hub commentary is ©2004–2024
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.