Psalm 22:31 - Printer Friendly

ESV: they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

NIV: They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

NASB: They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

CSB: They will come and declare his righteousness; to a people yet to be born they will declare what he has done.

NLT: His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.

KJV: They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

NKJV: They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.

In this verse David foretells that a generation will proclaim the Lord's righteousness to a people yet unborn. The preceding generation will declare that the Lord has done it; that is, provided salvation. A thousand years after the life of David, the Messiah Jesus died on the cross to provide salvation by shedding His blood for us.

Jesus uttered the first words of this psalm from the cross (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46). Christ's final words from the cross were similar to the last words of this same passage: "he has done it." At the moment of death, Jesus cried out, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The Greek word for "it is finished" is tetelestai, which implies something has been completed, paid, fulfilled, or reconciled. In the first century when a painter put the final brush stroke on a canvas and was satisfied with what he saw, he might say "Tetelestai!" His painting was complete. Nothing needed to be added to it. Tetelestai was written on a loan when the last payment was made.

Jesus' declaration of "Tetelestai!" means "nothing needs to be added to what I have done. Paid in full!" Salvation, then, is not a matter of what anyone can do to earn salvation, but a matter of what Jesus has already done.

Psalm 22:22–31 focuses on David's praise to God, whereas the earlier passage focused on his prayer to God. We read there that trouble took a heavy toll on David. Here we find David thanking the Lord for the triumph he gave David over his foes. We find a similar contrast in chapters 27 and 28 of Matthew. One records the awful death of Jesus, the other His amazing deliverance out of the grave.

This psalm may be divided into two parts. The first part, verses 1–21, contains an urgent prayer, in which the suppliant questions a holy God's distance from him in his time of suffering. It also contains a graphic description of the Messiah's suffering. Messiah's suffering included humiliation, the taunts of unbelievers, a distressful sense of loneliness, and intense physical pain. The second part of the psalm continues a prayer to be delivered, and includes a glimpse of resurrection and exaltation. The psalm praises God and announces a future time when God will receive worldwide acclaim and worship.

This psalm of David should be understood in association with Psalms 23 and 24. Psalm 22 describes the sufferings of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, for His sheep. Psalm 23 describes His care for His sheep. Psalm 24 describes His return in glory to reward His sheep. Psalm 22 includes prophetic sayings which Jesus uttered from the cross. It also predicts the afflictions he endured there (Matthew 27:27–56; Luke 22:63–65; 23:18–49). Isaiah 53 also prophesies the sufferings that Jesus suffered on the cross.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.