Psalm 22:26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. The custom of sacrificial feasts was common to many lands. I. THE WORLD'S SACRIFICIAL FEAST. The Jewish ritual, and that of many other nations, provided for a festal meal following on, and consisting of the material of the sacrifice. That which, in one aspect, is a peace offering reconciling to God, in another aspect is the nourishment and joy of the hearts that accept it. And so the work of Jesus Christ has two distinct phases of application, according as we think of it as being offered to God or appropriated by man. In the one case it is our peace; in the other it is our food and our life. The Christ that feeds the world is the Christ that died for the world. The peace offering for the world is the food of the world. We see hence the connection between these great spiritual ideas and the central act of Christian worship. The Lord's Supper simply says by act what the text says in words. The translation of the "eating" into spiritual reality is simply that we partake of the food of our spirits by the act of faith in Jesus Christ. Personal appropriation and making the world's food mine, by an individual act, is the condition on which alone I get any good from it. II. THE RICH FRUITION OF THIS FEAST. "Satisfied." Jesus Christ, in the facts of His death and resurrection, being to us all that our circumstances, relationships, and inward condition can require. III. THE GUESTS. It is the "meek" who eat. Meek usually refers to men's demeanour to one another. The expression here goes deeper. It means both "afflicted" and "lowly," — the right use of affliction being to bow men, and they that bow themselves are those who are fit to come to Christ's feast. Men are shut out only because they shut themselves out. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. |
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