Psalms 22:27

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,....

His case illustrates God's righteous government. Beyond the existing time and people, others shall be brought to acknowledge and worship God; the fat ones, or the rich as well as the poor, the helpless who cannot keep themselves alive, shall together unite in celebrating God's delivering power, and transmit to unborn people the records of His grace.

In reading this verse one is struck with the Messiah's missionary spirit. It is evidently his grand consolation that Jehovah will be known throughout all places of his dominion. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord." Out from the inner circle of the present church the blessing is to spread in growing power until the remotest parts of the earth shall be ashamed of their idols, mindful of the true God, penitent for their offences, and unanimously earnest for reconciliation with Jehovah. Then shall false worship cease, "and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee, "O thou only living and true God. This hope which was the reward of Jesus is a stimulus to those who fight his battles. It is well to mark the order of conversion as here set forth; they shall "remember" —this is reflection, like the prodigal who came unto himself; "and turn unto Jehovah" —this is repentance, like Manasseh who left his idols and "worship" —this is holy service, as Paul adored the Christ whom once he abhorred.

SOME have thought that this Psalm was used as a soliloquy by our Lord when He was expiring upon the Cross. It may be so. Fitter words could scarcely have been conceived, even by our Lord Himself. We must not, however, strain a point to establish a conjecture, nor attempt to prove that which is not revealed to us. We have no sort of hesitation, however, in asserting that this Psalm describes both the outward sufferings and the inward emotions of our expiring Lord—and in that light it becomes a very wonderful Psalm, indeed. Its clear prophetic description is an evidence of our Lord's Messiahship, and indeed, it is so full and plain that it is a key to His sufferings. Here the Prophet explains the Evangelist, just as in ordinary cases the Evangelist is the expositor of the Prophet. Towards the close of this Psalm its tone is singularly altered—mournfulness departs and joy occupies its place—the mighty Hero sees the conflict ended, anticipates the victory and begins to chant the conquerors paean. We have selected our text out of that part of the Psalm which overflows with the joy of anticipated triumph, and we trust that this morning the joy of the Lord may be our strength so that we may be moved to prayer and nerved for action. As this is the annual Missionary Sabbath, I feel bound to preach upon the subject, yet, while I do so, I shall at the same time desire to speak personally to the souls of all present. Remembering that we are in a dying world, I, a dying preacher to dying hearers, would not deliver even a single discourse without appealing to the consciences and aiming at the hearts of those who are present. Because we are thinking of heathens, or of the coming triumphs of Christ in the latter days, we must not forget those who are perishing before our eyes.

SOME have thought that this Psalm was used as a soliloquy by our Lord when He was expiring upon the Cross. It may be so. Fitter words could scarcely have been conceived, even by our Lord Himself. We must not, however, strain a point to establish a conjecture, nor attempt to prove that which is not revealed to us. We have no sort of hesitation, however, in asserting that this Psalm describes both the outward sufferings and the inward emotions of our expiring Lord—and in that light it becomes a very wonderful Psalm, indeed.

The transition is very marked; from a horrible tempest all is changed into calm. The darkness of Calvary at length passed away from the face of nature, and from the soul of the Redeemer, and beholding the light of his triumph and its future results the Saviour smiled. We have followed him through the gloom, let us attend him in the returning light. It will be well still to regard the words as a part of our Lord's soliloquy upon the cross, uttered in his mind during the last few moments before his death.

All the ends of the world - The Gospel shall be preached to every nation under heaven; and all the kindred of nations, משפחות 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 Savior, and through him shall all their praises be offered unto God.

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.