Psalm 22:26-29 meaning

David’s prophecies will be fulfilled after Jesus’s final victory when He returns to establish His kingdom.

The Immediate Meaning of David’s Psalm 22:26-29

In David’s rapturous celebration of God’s faithfulness, his praise shifts from what the LORD has done to what the LORD will do. Specifically, David’s praise of the LORD’s miraculous deliverance of his life from the clutches of his enemies transforms into a prophetic praise of God’s future and eternal glories.

David’s prophetic praises were fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah and they will be fulfilled in His exaltation in the new heaven and the new earth. 

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied (v 26a).

David, the psalmist, is the afflicted. He was afflicted by the agonies described in Psalm 22:1-21. These afflictions included:

• Despised by the people (Psalm 22:6)
• Mocked and slandered as wicked (Psalm 22:7-8)
• Surrounded by powerful enemies eager to do him harm (Psalm 22:11-13)
• Physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted (Psalm 22:14a, 15)
• Injured with dislocated and/or broken bones (Psalm 22:14b)
• A panic attack or a heart episode (Psalm 22:14c)
• Starved and dehydrated to the point of death (Psalm 22:15, 17a)
• Captured by enemies (Psalm 22:16)
• Stripped naked and humiliated (Psalm 22:17-18)
• Dispossessed of his clothing and belongings (Psalm 22:18)

These afflictions may describe the time when David fled from King Saul and was captured by the Philistines (1 Samuel 21:10-15).

Whatever troubles Psalm 22 was describing, David is afflicted by them no longer because the LORD hastened to his assistance and delivered his soul from violent death (Psalm 22:19-20). Now, the one who was afflicted will eat and be satisfied. This satisfaction could be in reference to David’s hunger as he fled from Saul and turned to Ahimelech the priest for bread (1 Samuel 21:1-6). After his vindication, David no longer has to sneak around for food. He can eat and be satisfied. 

Jesus may be alluding to David’s line—the afflicted will eat and be satisfied in His “Sermon on the Mount”:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
(Matthew 5:6)

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted [afflicted] for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:10)

David’s point is that God will continue to bless him because he was faithful when he was afflicted. David then extrapolates his experience and says that the principle applies to anyone who is faithful.

Those who seek Him will praise the LORD (v 26b).

David is saying that those who seek the LORD in faith and entrust themselves and their affliction to Him will not be disappointed. (See also 1 Peter 4:19). They will forever praise the LORD for His abundant goodness.

David bursts with joy over the LORD’s blessings: 

Let your heart live forever! (v 26c).

The expression Let your heart live forever! is most likely an expression meaning: a heart or a life that is completely fulfilled, happy, and satisfied. It is similar to the Greek word “Makarios” which is translated as “Blessed” in Jesus’s Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12, Luke 6:20-22). The psalmist’s expression is also similar in meaning to the abundant life that Jesus came to give (John 10:10). 

In the Hebrew text of Psalm 35:26, the term your heart is singular and not plural, indicating that the psalmist is addressing each person within the specific group of those who seek Him. Only those who seek Him will be satisfied—just as only each person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). This is an individual choice each person makes before God. 

David’s expression—live forever—suggests an everlasting nature to the satisfaction and abundant life those who seek Him are able to enjoy. Consequently, this is an Old Testament scripture that indicates that people can live forever in blessed harmony with God. This would reinforce that fellowship and blessing with God have always been available to humans by God’s grace, accessed by faith (Romans 1:16-17; Ephesians 2:8-10). 

The Bible teaches that the LORD’s blessing of David and those who fear Him will last forever. His rewards, which will be rendered at the final judgment, are eternal (2 Corinthians 5:10). But we can also experience great rewards in this life for walking in fellowship with Him, just as God promised Israel blessings for walking in obedience to His ways of loving and serving others (Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Matthew Mark 10:29-30). 

The greatest gift God gives is eternal life, which is granted on simple faith in Jesus as His Son and for our salvation of being justified in God’s sight (John 3:14-16). The Gift of eternal life is distinct from the reward, inheritance, or prize of eternal life. The gift is given solely by God’s grace, which is received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

But the reward of eternal life is given to those who walk in the works prepared by God for them (Ephesians 2:10)—those who not only receive the gift by faith, but also walk by faith (Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 6:8). 

To learn more about the Gift and the Prize of Eternal Life, see The Bible Says articles:

• What is Eternal Life? How to Gain the Gift of Eternal Life

• Eternal Life: Receiving the Gift vs. Inheriting the Prize

The principle of reward to which David was referring is similar to what the author of Hebrews says about faith and reward,

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval…And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
(Hebrews 11:1-2, 6)

Moreover, the prophet Daniel said:

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”
(Daniel 12:2-3)

See also: 2 Timothy 2:12, James 1:2-3, 12, 1 Peter 4:19.

Jesus promised rewards to those who suffer and lose their life for His sake:

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
(Matthew 10:38-39)

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
(Matthew 19:29-30)

Next, David prophesies that one day everyone will recognize the sovereignty and goodness of the LORD and worship Him.

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD (v 27a).

The expression all the ends of the earth means: “everyone, everywhere.” David predicts that everyone, everywhere will recognize and remember their Creator, When they remember, they will turn to the LORD because He is good (Psalm 34:8; 100:5; 135:3; 145:9, Lamentations 3:25, Nahum 1:7).

David reiterates this event of worldwide remembrance. The word translated remember can also be rendered “think on.” The idea seems to be that each person on the earth will make observations, reflect upon them, and recognize upon their reflection that the path to the greatest flourishing in life is through turning to the LORD. 

And all the families of the nations will worship before You (v 27b).

From a Jewish perspective, the nations is a term that means “the Gentiles.” Even the Gentiles who know little or nothing of the LORD and His goodness will worship before Him on that day. It won’t just be a few Gentiles here and there that turn to the LORD in worship, but entire families of Gentiles—all the families of the nations—will do this. 

The future glory and exaltation of the Messiah is a common theme throughout scripture.

Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12), which describes the Messiah as a suffering Servant who will be despised and deemed as smitten of God (Isaiah 53:3-4), begins by saying the Messiah “will prosper” and “be high and lifted up and greatly exalted” (Isaiah 52:13).

Jesus said of Himself (He often referred to Himself as the “Son of Man”), “when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him” (Matthew 25:31-32a).

Of Jesus, Paul wrote the following, saying that because Jesus followed His Father’s will and learned obedience, even to death on a cross, God glorified Him: 

“God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(Philippians 2:9-11)

The whole world—all the ends of the earth—will see that Jesus is the LORD, and worship Him, as David, Isaiah, Christ, and Paul have predicted. 

David also predicts the LORD’s dominion over the nations. 

For the kingdom is the LORD’s (v 28a). 

The kingdom could refer to at least two things. It could refer to:

1. the kingdom of Israel 
2. the Messianic kingdom 

The psalmist likely has both concepts in mind.

Interestingly, David, who is the psalmist, was the anointed king of Israel. If he is saying the kingdom of Israel is the LORD’s, David means that his own authority and kingdom belong to the LORD. 

The Messianic kingdom is the LORD’s political authority, His reign over the new heaven and the new earth. The LORD’s kingdom will last forever, 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.”
(Psalm 45:6)

After He was raised from the dead, Jesus, who is the Messiah, told His disciples that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). The writer of Hebrews insists that “because of the suffering of death” Jesus restored humanity’s original “glory and honor” of reigning over the earth (Hebrews 2:9). 

David continues describing the Messiah’s dominion: 

And He rules over the nations (v 28b).

If nations refers to the Gentiles, and the kingdom specifically refers to Israel, then David is saying that the Messiah’s rule will be over Israel and it will be over the Gentiles. This would be a kingdom over all the earth. 

Several hundred years after the time of King David, the prophet Daniel elaborates on David’s prophecy: For the kingdom is the LORD’s; And He rules over the nations. Daniel predicted a future event regarding a king (Messiah) who was to come:

“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.”
(Daniel 7:14)

Daniel describes the kingdom that Jesus will rule. David describes what the LORD’s kingdom will be like. 

All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship (v 29a).

The psalmist describes the kingdom in banquet-like terms. He says all the prosperous, meaning all those who find prosperity in and through the LORD, for apart from the LORD there are none who are prosperous. These prosperous people will eat to their hearts’ content and worship God. 

Isaiah also describes the inaugural day of the Messianic kingdom as a banquet,

“The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.”
(Isaiah 25:6)

Likewise, Jesus frequently speaks of His inauguration in terms of a banquet throughout His teachings and parables (Matthew 8:11-12, 22:2-14, 25:10). Revelation too describes the kingdom in similar language of a feast or banquet (Revelation 19:7-9). 

All of these banquet-like passages seem to be describing the same or similar future moment that David was depicting when he wrote: All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship.

David says the Messianic kingdom will include people from multiple eras, including those of past ages. 

All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive (v 29b).

The expressions: all those who go down to the dust and even he who cannot keep his soul alive refer to all those who have physically died. All who once lived and have now died will bow before the LORD. In order for them to bow before the LORD after they have died and gone down to the dust, they will have to have been resurrected back to life. 

Verse 29 implies that there is a resurrection of everyone—the righteous and the unrighteous—and that all—both the righteous and the unrighteous—will remember their Creator and they will bow before Him on that day (the day of judgment). 

David was predicting exciting events that are still in the future of the time this commentary is being written. And once again, David was predicting events that other Bible figures would later predict and prophecy about, including: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John.

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

Psalm 22:26-29 as a Messianic Prophecy

Much of what David expressed in this passage was primarily prophetic concerning the Messiah, and was discussed in the first portion of this commentary, which is “The Immediate Meaning of David’s Psalm 22:26-29.”

Therefore we will only discuss thoughts that were not previously mentioned as we explain how this passage pertains to Jesus the Messiah.

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD
Let your heart live forever! (v 26)

Jesus the Messiah was the afflicted. He was afflicted by the ordeal of betrayal, abandonment, arrest, a series of unjust trials, much abuse, rejection by His own people, temporarily forsaken by God, and the agonizing death of the cross. 

But Jesus is afflicted no longer. Now He will eat and be satisfied. His shame has turned to glory (Hebrews 12:2). 

As mentioned above, the interjection—Let your heart live forever!—is directed at an individual. We know this because the expression is in a singular, not plural form. From a Messianic perspective, the interjection—Let your heart live forever!—could be God the Father saying this to Jesus now that He is eternally raised from the dead. Jesus will now live forever, or it could be Jesus exclaiming this of the LORD, His Father. 

David’s prophetic praises were fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, and they will be fulfilled His exaltation in the new heaven and the new earth. 

The prophetic praises in Psalm 22:22-26 were primarily fulfilled in the immediate aftermath of Jesus’s resurrection. 

The prophetic praises in Psalm 22:27-31 are either currently being fulfilled and/or they will be fulfilled upon the end of this age—when Jesus returns to earth and inaugurates a physical manifestation of His kingdom upon this earth.