Monday Meditation
May 05, 2014
From the desk of Dr. A.J. Higgins
Them that Honor Me
Psalm 22:22 I will declare Thy Name
Psalm 22:31 They . shall declare His righteousness
Decades before David penned this Psalm, God had told Eli the priest, “Them that honor Me, I will honor” (1 Sam 2:30). And since that time the pages of Scripture are replete with instances which confirm God’s great unalterable promise.
In a world where, “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness” (Prov 20:6), and it is the norm for everyone to declare their own worth and assert themselves, God honors those who place His honor as a priority.
And Calvary is no exception to that principle. His words, going to Calvary, concerned the Father: “The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). Again, His first concern on resurrection is expressed in verse 22: “I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren. In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.” His first utterances on resurrection ground were concerning the Father to Mary at the tomb. He honored His Father in His death and in His resurrection.
The Psalm ends with words which reinforce the faithfulness of God to the principle He initially enunciated to Eli. The Lord Jesus declared God’s Name and glory. God’s promise, in turn to Him, is that future ages would declare His righteousness to succeeding generations. You and I are privileged to be among that number.
Each Lord’s day as we gather together, we are not merely reciting events in His life to remind ourselves of all He did. We are proclaiming to all – declaring to the watching universe, His righteousness. Men impaled Him to the tree, accusing Him of being unrighteous. God has seen to the worldwide declaration of the righteousness of His Son. Elsewhere, Isaiah refers to Him as God’s “righteous Servant” (Isa 53:11).
As we declare Him in the gospel message, we are declaring that He is righteous. Men may have given Him the place of a criminal, numbering Him among the lawless, but we can give Him that unique and honored place as the Righteous One.
But not only on a Lord’s Day can you have this privilege. Each day you can bow your knee and declare to God that His Son was righteous and worship Him for reversing the verdict of Calvary.
He declared God’s Name in His life; God will declare His righteousness eternally!
Consider
At Calvary, Christ showed that God can be righteous in saving men and women who are sinners and taking them to heaven. In what other ways did Christ “declare” God’s Name to men?
“A people that shall be born” could have special reference to the nation of Israel “reborn” in a future day. In what way will they own that He is righteous?
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