A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this.  

Psalm 22:30-31 

God has ordained the means for preaching Christ. Throughout history He has given His message to His people. They have pointed to Christ from ancient days. Peter said, ‘to Him give all the prophets witness.’ When the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost He kindled a fire in them to empower them to turn the world upside down by preaching Christ. Paul determined to place all his emphasis on preaching Christ and Him crucified. These people and all who have followed in their train have declare God’s righteousness by pointing people to Christ. As the Scripture declares, ‘great was the company of those who published it.’ In every generation God has put the message of Christ into the mouths of those who are not ashamed to confess Him before all. In formal and informal contexts they make much of Christ. They will declare Christ in the assembly of the church and in the marketplace. They may be common laboring folk, middle-class entrepreneurs, preachers, teachers, male or female. Aside from anything else they do, they consistently declare His righteousness by making much of Christ. This is a high privilege and a holy calling.  

High King of Heaven, 
we rejoice that we have the privilege to proclaim You to all the world. 
We praise You that this message will continue, 
over the whole earth, until Your return. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORDS’s, and He rules over the nations. 

Psalm 22:27-28 

The message of Christ shall go to the ends of the earth. Christ gave the Great Commission to the disciples, telling them to take the gospel message everywhere. He said the end of the world would not come before the gospel message went out over the whole of it, ‘and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’ According to our text, the effect will be widespread conversion. We see just how successful the gospel will be when we look at who are saved and from whence they come. ‘After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.’ Christ saves many. He said as much when He instituted the communion feast. He said He was shedding His blood ‘for many.’ We have a glimpse into the scope of His redemptive plan. He knows the whole of it and speaks of many people being saved. Therefore we have confidence in preaching Christ. He has guaranteed the success of the gospel. As our text puts it, ‘all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD.’ It is encouraging to know that Christ will perform all He has promised by gathering all His sheep into His fold that there may be one flock and One Shepherd. We call upon you who hear this message to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.  

Our Glorious, Saving God, 
we rejoice that You have planned a great redemption. 
We praise You that You will complete it by redeeming many. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard. 

Psalm 22:23-24 

God hears Christ. The first half of the psalm from which our text derives details for us the depths of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. They serve to give us a clear picture of all He was willing to endure to purchase our redemption. The turning point of the psalm comes at verses 19 through 21, where He sets His prayer before God, His Father. From verse 22 onward the tone of the psalm changes to one of rising victory. Our text declares the success of Christ’s prayer. Whereas the beginning of the psalm articulated the estrangement between Christ and His Father, while Christ was made to be sin for us Who knew no sin, our text shows the beginnings of the joy that was set before Christ at the completion of His suffering. Christ prevailed in every way. He cried ‘It is finished’ when He gave up the ghost in death. He continued under the power of death for a time. God raised Him from the dead as proof He accepted His sacrifice for sins. He heard Him. Christ now lives to make intercession for His redeemed. He sits at the right hand of His Father holding up, by His presence, the great objective plea of His blood. He is the foundation of our acceptance with God. Because God accepts Christ, He accepts all who are in Christ. He receives the Head and receives the Body with Him. Jesus never fails.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You are the Holy Trinity. 
We praise You that You work together 
to complete our redemption. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.  

Psalm 22:19-22 

The cross of Christ was a success. To the eyes of those who did not see, it was a failure. The Pharisees and Sadducees thought they had succeeded, and Christ had failed. Rome was convinced they had succeeded in preserving the Pax Romana by executing a source of unrest. The disciples were convinced the cross was a failure. They were inconsolable at the outcome in spite of what Christ had told them about rising from the dead. It’s hard to say what Satan thought of it. Scripture does not give us a lot of insight there. To God, the cross was a success. Christ viewed it as a work that He finished. He looked forward to the joy that was set before Him. He would shortly rise from the dead, and ‘declare Your name to my brethren.’ Therefore, the cross was and remains the greatest success story of all time. It is the gospel, the good news, that we who were doomed to die, live not just for time, but for eternity. The gospel message is, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.’ Psalm 22 gives us insight into the sufferings of Christ, but it does not finish until it shows us the victory which Christ has won. He brings praise to the assembly. He shows us His hands, feet, and side. He is risen indeed. Jesus never fails.  

Our Glorious Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have done all things well. 
We praise You that You have both died 
and risen again. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning