From Lament to Praise in the Congregation

The psalm turns from desperate plea to public praise. The delivered sufferer vows to declare God’s name among his brothers and in the congregation, and the afflicted are invited to eat and be satisfied. The shift is one of the poem’s most important literary movements.

Hebrews 2:12 directly quotes Psalm 22:22 and places the words on the lips of Christ: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.” This is explicit inspired Christological interpretation. The New Testament therefore reads not only the psalm’s suffering but also its post-deliverance praise in relation to Jesus.