Three Stages in Religious Life
Psalm 22:27
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before you.


I. REFLECTION. "Shall remember." We use the word reflection here because the usual Bible significance of the word "remember" is not simply "recollect," but meditate, consider. The act described is far more than one of memory; witness the words, "Remember now thy Creator." Here also the Psalmist means "remember the Lord." Thought is the first stage in true life. Right thought on a right subject is essential to right life. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

1. Think about God.

2. Think what God's ways with men are.

3. Think of your relationship to God. In the past; now; for the future.

II. CONVERSION. "Turn unto" would be a synonym; or "return." "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" These passages, with that in our text, remind us —

1. That man is turned away from God. There is aversion and alienation.

2. Man may be restored to God. His face may yet look into the face of the Father, his life spent in Godward sympathies and activities.

3. This conversion, i.e. moral turning round, implies human effort and Divine help. Man is to turn, and God will turn him. Then, and then only, will his back be towards vanities and sins, and his face towards the true and the pure. More than passing sentiment is needed. There must be the putting forth of all the strongest forces of manhood, and the energising grace of God.

III. ADORATION. "Shall worship." This is the climax. It is the fullest development of the higher life, the crown of human destiny. Adoration of God is —

1. The instinct.

2. The obligation.

3. The satisfaction of souls.

(U. R. Thomas.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

WEB: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.




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