Analyzing Psalm 22: Name, Praise and Glorify Him
Psalm 22:22-23 - God is with us and has answered us!
”I will tell of Your name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.“
Psalms 22:22-23 NASB1995
The sun begins to come out for the Forsaken ones! At the end of the last passage we finally see that God has answered (verse 21b). The crisis is still on-going (and Jesus is near His death), but it fades into the background because God is now there and not far away. I like what Enduring Word says about the fact that God has answered the Forsaken ones:
You have answered Me: After pouring out His soul in agony, now the Forsaken One has a glorious sense that God has answered Him. The crisis became bearable in the knowledge that God is not removed from His suffering nor silent in it.
The answer of God to the Forsaken One instantly meant that He no longer felt forsaken. The deliverance from the crisis itself may be yet to come, but the deliverance from the sense of being forsaken by God in the midst of the crisis was His. There is immense relief, joy, and peace in the words, “You have answered Me.”
“As he thus cries, the conviction that he is heard floods his soul…. It is like a parting burst of sunshine at the end of a day of tempest.” (Alexander Maclaren)
It is easy to see these words fulfilled in the experience of David; but they were perfectly completed in Jesus. This was also the resolution that another forsaken one – Job – fought so hard for. Even without an immediate deliverance from difficulty, there is immense comfort in knowing that God is there and that He is not silent in the midst of our crises.
Knowing that Jesus fulfilled this prophetic psalm, it is fair to wonder just when He could speak or live the fulfillment of these words, “You have answered Me.” Perhaps – though it is impossible to say with certainty – it was while He still hung on the cross, yet after the mysterious, glorious transaction of bearing the sin of mankind. Perhaps it was after the triumphant announcement, It is finished! (John 19:30), yet before (or even in) the warm words, Father, into Your hands I commend My Spirit (Luke 23:46). Those words point to a re-established sense of fellowship replacing the prior sense of forsakenness.
The fellowship with God is renewed! Jesus knows what is going to happen next, after He commends His Spirit to His Father! He will be resurrected, fulfilling the promise made that death is defeated for those who believe in Him. He will declare God’s name to the brethren and praise Him to the assembly. Jesus went to the Cross to glorify the Father first through obedience! From Enduring Word again:
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed a glorious prayer, and one line of that prayer reads: I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it (John 17:26). Those words, prayed in the shadow of the cross, can be understood as a deliberate desire to fulfill this word in Psalm 22, I will declare Your name to My brethren. Jesus understood that His obedient work on the cross would bring great glory to His God and Father, declaring the greatness of His name.
We may say that this section of Psalm 22 reflects the primary reason Jesus went to the cross: to glorify and obey His God and Father.
The next part of this passage asks us to do four things: Fear, praise, glorify and be in awe of the Lord. Let’s do some word studies!
Fear comes from the Hebrew word יָרֵא or yârêʼ, meaning fearing, reverent, afraid. For the believer, reverence is the best definition. We revere God because of His holiness and His sovereignty. Here’s a good explanation from Gotquestions.org:
A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. When we were children, our fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions on our part. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in a way that pleases Him.
Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having a reverence for Him that greatly impacts the way we live. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe.
Praise comes from the Hebrew word הָלַל or hâlal, and it has many Biblical usages:
to shine
(Qal) to shine (fig. of God's favour)
(Hiphil) to flash forth light
to praise, boast, be boastful
(Qal)
to be boastful
boastful ones, boasters (participle)
(Piel)
to praise
to boast, make a boast
(Pual)
to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise
(Hithpael) to boast, glory, make one's boast
(Poel) to make a fool of, make into a fool
(Hithpoel) to act madly, act like a madman
The best usages for praise in this context would in 2c (and possibly 1): To be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended , be worthy of praise, to shine. God is worthy of praise. We are to shine our feeble lights that reflect His great glory in praise! Here is another great explanation about praise from Gotquestions.org that refers to Psalm 150:
Psalm 150 uses the term praise thirteen times in six verses. The first verse provides the “where” of praise—everywhere! “Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.”
- The next verse teaches “why” to praise the Lord: “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.”
- Verses 3–6 note “how” to praise the Lord—with a variety of instruments, dance, and everything that has breath. Every means we have to make sound is to be used to praise the Lord!
Glorify comes from the Hebrew word כָּבַד or kâbad, with many meanings both good and bad (Blue Letter Bible uses British spellings of words):
to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honoured
(Qal)
to be heavy
to be heavy, be insensible, be dull
to be honoured
(Niphal)
to be made heavy, be honoured, enjoy honour, be made abundant
to get oneself glory or honour, gain glory
(Piel)
to make heavy, make dull, make insensible
to make honourable, honour, glorify
(Pual) to be made honourable, be honoured
(Hiphil)
to make heavy
to make heavy, make dull, make unresponsive
to cause to be honoured
(Hithpael)
to make oneself heavy, make oneself dense, make oneself numerous
to honour oneself
In this context, glorifying God means to make Him to be honored. His “everywhereness” is indeed a heavy weight (albeit a perfect and bearable one) on the believer and we want to tell all that we meet about His abundant Glory because it surrounds us like the air we breathe! My go-to resource today to supplement these ideas is Gotquestions.org:
To glorify God is to extol His attributes, praise His works, trust His name, and obey His Word. He is holy, faithful, merciful, gracious, loving, majestic, sovereign, powerful, and omniscient—and that’s just for starters. His works are wonderful, wise, marvelous, and fearfully complex. His Word is “perfect . . . trustworthy . . . right . . . radiant . . . pure . . . firm . . . precious” (Psalm 19:7–10). His salvation is astonishing, timely, and near. No matter how loudly or widely we proclaim the glory of God, He is worthy of more.
To stand in awe comes from the Hebrew word גּוּר or gûwr. This has many verb tense meanings, again both good and bad:
to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely
(Qal)
to sojourn, dwell for a time
to abide, stay, temporarily dwell
(Hithpolel)
to seek hospitality with
to assemble oneself
to stir up trouble, strife, quarrel, gather together
(Qal)
to stir up strife
to quarrel
(Hithpolel) to excite oneself
to dread, fear, stand in awe, be afraid
(Qal)
to fear, be afraid
to be in awe, stand in awe
To stand in awe of God is to have reverence and, again, to have a fear of God. We also sojourn with Him and abide with Him in our awe. A final word for the meaning of awe from Gotquestions.org; this is a rather lengthy excerpt, but this ties all of these things together in our humility before the Creator of the Universe:
In New Testament Christianity, reverence for God is demonstrated by our willingness to voluntarily die to self and obey His commands (Galatians 2:20; 5:13; James 2:12). Jesus reminded us that we must properly reverence God. He taught the disciples to begin their prayers with “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9–13). Hallowed means “set apart as holy.” We are to treat the name of God with reverence. It is common to hear people, even professing Christians, use God’s name as an exclamation. OMG is tossed about as though it was of no more significance than the word wow. We may not intend to be irreverent, but when we invoke His name in casual chatter, we are being just that.
Another way we demonstrate reverence for God is by the way we live. Those with a right understanding of God’s nature also understand His wrath. We show reverence by taking seriously His hatred of sin and the coming judgment on those who refuse to repent (Colossians 3:6; Romans 1:18). We pursue holiness because He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16). Reverent people desire “to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12).
We show reverence for God by learning how to truly worship Him. Jesus said that the Father is seeking people who will learn to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). True worship is not about our favorite song. It is not confined to an emotional experience and is not synonymous with tingly feelings. True worship is a lifestyle. We worship in spirit when our hearts are abandoned before Lord, willing to obey everything He has said. We worship in truth when our minds are engaged and filled with the biblical understanding of God’s nature. To worship God is to know Him and to serve Him. To worship Him the way He deserves to be worshiped, we must align our hearts with His and seek to obey Him (see Luke 6:46).
Reverence for God is a quality missing in much of what masquerades as Christianity today. Instead of the kind of reverence we see demonstrated throughout the Bible, modern Christianity has adopted a “Jesus-is-my-buddy” attitude that grossly downplays the holiness, power, and righteous wrath of the Sovereign Creator. Reverence does not refer to God as “The Big Guy in the Sky” or “The Man Upstairs.” Once we truly know who God is, we reverence Him in our hearts. Even the thief on the cross, after he realized who Jesus was, rebuked the other thief for his irreverence: “Don’t you fear God?” he said to the other thief; then he turned to Jesus and honored Him as the King (Luke 23:40–42).
Human beings were created to worship God, so reverence is the natural response of a heart that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. The more we grow in knowledge and understanding, the more reverence we feel toward Him. Proper reverence is not the same as stiff, religious formality. The gift of Jesus to us was God’s invitation to draw near (James 4:8; John 14:9). However, familiarity with God should not breed contempt, but greater reverence.
I am guilty of many things, including having used casual references to God’s holy name quite often in my life. I am saddened by so many movies and TV shows that drag the name of God and Jesus through the mud as epitaphs and swear words. And so many churches these days want a comfortable congregation who thinks that Jesus is an invisible pal who guides them through the day, like that obscene and contemptible graphic cartoon that shows Jesus winking, pointing at us and giving us a thumbs up. The very thought of God, who is holy and mysterious and all powerful, should send us falling to our knees in repentance for our sins, utter humility and true awe!
My next devotional examines Psalm 22:24-25 - He has not turned His face away from you.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please let every moment of my life be filled with reverence, praise, glorification and awe to know that you know me and have redeemed me! Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 3/10/2024 to review the lexicon for fear, praise, glorify, and stand in awe.
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 3/10/2024 to answer the questions about fear, praise, glorify and awe (reverence).