VERSES 22 & 23
OF
THE PRAYER
“I will tell my people what You have done
I will praise You in their Assembly
PRAISE the Lord, you servants of the Lord!
Honour the Lord,
you descendants of Jacob!
WORSHIP the Lord, you people of Israel!”
(The Psalm-22, Verses: 22 & 23)
SINCE GOD SAYS,
“Call to Me when trouble comes;
I will save you,
and you will praise Me.”
(Psalms, Chapter 50, Verse: 15)
Therefore, these verses tell us that GOD saved the life of Jesus & revealed the news of his future-based life as a servant of GOD.
Therefore, prayer of Jesus on the cross, the Psalm-22, is virtually divided into two parts. The first part includes the Verses from 1 to 21. Wherein the state and condition of Jesus is recorded including his cries for help and salvation. The second part includes the Verses from 22 to 31. Wherein Jesus himself is telling that he has been positively saved by the Lord. So, he is highly grateful to the Lord. He is making thanks-giving promises in this part. And, as such this part may be named as the thankfulness of Jesus in response to his salvation by the Lord. In short, the first part is a call while the second part is that of thankfulness.
Now come to the Verse under reference:-
“I will tell my people what You have done.
I will praise You in their Assembly.
Praise the Lord, you servants of the Lord!
Honour the Lord,
you descendants of Jacob!
Worship the Lord, you people of Israel!”
The sense of thankfulness is very much present in these Verses. Jesus is saying here that he will tell his people about the favour of the Lord bestowed upon him in terms of his salvation. And, he will tell about the favour of the Lord, publicly. So that everyone may positively know__ that the Lord has acceded to his prayer on the cross__ and saved him__ without letting him die on the cross unhelped. As such, Jesus is promising here that he will mention the favour of the Lord__ again and again__ and thus he will remain ever-busy in the praise of the Lord.
Our one alone Lord__ our GOD has always commanded us__ to refrain from the faith in idols/things and unreal gods/goddesses.
GOD commands:-
“O’mankind! Worship your Lord, Who has created you and those before you. So that you may ward off (evil). Who (the Lord) has appointed the earth a resting-place for you and the sky a canopy; and causes water to pour down from the sky, thereby, producing fruits as food for you. Hence, do not set up rivals to GOD and you know (that it is a worst sin).”
(Al-Quran, Chapter 2, Verses: 21 & 22)
The one alone GOD is Gracious-Enough to pardon all the sins, committed during the time of ignorance. With such a generous invitation, the Lord is inviting the mankind to resort to the One Alone Lord and quit or leave all the religions or religious sects in which the persons or things are worshipped as gods or saviors. So those__ who are desirous to resort__ they should resort without any delay__ lest the Satan may render their whole life useless and fruitless. Beware please! Death may approach at any time and disconnect the chain of life, all of a sudden. Please remember! The forgiveness of sins depends upon the belief in the presence of One Alone GOD according to the commandments of GOD in each & every Holy Book and those who will die as the servants of One Alone GOD will positively find their Lord Merciful & Kind after death and that is the soul of the message of Jesus on cross.
In the Verses under reference, the word of “servant” is highly important:-
“Praise the Lord you servants of the Lord”
Ponder over the status of a servant please. What are those traits which confirm a servant as a servant and separate him from his master. An eight-point detail is given below in this regard:-
MASTER & SERVANT
1. A servant is not a master. Nor he is a partner of his master’s wealth or belongings. He can not own anything thereform, even, equal to a mustard seed.
2. A servant is always subservient to his master. He always renders services for his master. He can never be considered as an assistant of his master or next to his master.
3. To act accordance with the will of his master, is always binding upon a servant. He is never free to deal with the affairs of his master in accordance with his own will.
4. The master can punish the servant on his mistakes and he can replace him by some new and better servant. Rather he can terminate his service at any time.
5. A servant always begs from his master. He is bound to continue his service and discharge his duties in all kinds of circumstances. Prescribed conditions of service, are always binding upon him and he can not desist from them.
6. A servant is always bound to honour his master and he is also bound to hold his master’s enemies as his enemies and his master’s friends as his friends.
7. The prolonged length of service or extraordinary services can not change the status of a servant. He can not betake the status of his master at any stage.
8. Whatsoever is found by a servant from his master as wages or prize__ that is found only in lieu of his obedience. Rather, in lieu of “unconditional-obedience” as the conditions are always imposed by the master and the servant accepts them as it is.
However a servant owns a bit of liberty on his part. He may leave his master in term of resignation but a slave is slave. Who can not leave his master in any condition. And__ if the master is one and there is no master save him, then even a servant is slave because he can not leave his master at any cost.
So Jesus says:-
“I am telling you the truth. No slave is greater than his master & no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice.”
(John, Chapter 13, Verse: 16 & 17)
It means that all the prophets were slaves or servants of the Lord. And, in their servant-n-master or slave-n-lord based link__ all of them had__ all the qualities of servants & slaves definitely. That is why that all of them stood as servants & slaves of the Lord__ throughout their lives__ and obeyed their Lord in the most positive terms.
In the lines:-
“Honour the Lord, you descendants of Jacob!
Worship the Lord, you people of Israel!”
Jesus is advising the descendants of Jacob and the people of Israel to honour and worship the one alone GOD. The same thing has been advised in all the Scriptures, it is very simple to know and judge that when our Creator & the Lord is none but the one alone GOD, then, we should naturally honour and worship none but the one alone GOD.
Jesus has advised to honour & worship the one alone GOD in commanding terms. Accordingly, the followers of Jesus should honour & worship none but the one alone GOD. Whereas like the misled & the Devil-deceived followers of other prophets they are also honouring & worshipping their prophet instead of the one alone GOD. Such a practice on their part is quite contrary to the demands of Jesus.
The words of Jesus:-
Honour the LORD—–
Worship the LORD—–
are, therefore, declaring the practice in question, undesirable rather false which must be given up at once. On the Day of Resurrection, the words of Jesus “Honour the Lord”__ “Worship the Lord”__ will definitely pass a decree against this false practice. Then where will stand the followers of sectarian leaders? Who are holding their prophets as gods & saviors instead of the one alone GOD. Who alone, is the Lord & Savior of everyone__ since inception to date__and till the last Day or the Day of Resurrection__ rather even after that.
GOD SAYS,
“Worship no god but Me! Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it because I Am the Lord your GOD and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate Me and on their descendants, down to the third and fourth generations.”
(Exodus, Chapter 20, Verse: 3 to 5)
After such a clear and well-explained warning in the Bible, there remains no excuse for Trinity or faith in three gods at all. Now whosoever says that:-
“gods are three. First is the GOD of Moses, Jehovah. Second is the Word of GOD, Jesus and third is the Holy Ghost and; will of all the three is one.”
Such a person is openly rejecting the Ten Commandments. And he is also denying the sole right of Honour & Worship of the Lord, the one alone GOD.
The believers of Trinity must, at once, give up Trinity and resort to Alone GOD. Which is the actual religion of prophets since Adam to date.
The day of Judgement is near. But as it has not yet approached, so, present time is the precious time__ to correct the faith & belief in the light of the Scriptures__and the teachings of prophets. Even momentary delay in this connection, may be highly dangerous__ as the time & tide wait for none. And__ the death may close the doors of life at any time.
To honour the Lord means to hold the Lord as the Absolute One GOD. And to worship the Lord means to worship the one alone GOD __ as the Lord is the All-able Creator of all the creatures. Natural duty of every creature is, therefore, to resort to the Creator alone__ not to someone else beside the Lord.
Compared with the honour of the All-able Creator, the One Alone GOD___ no man, no angel, no jinn or any creature, owns any honour at all. The All-able Creator is the Almighty Lord. The Lord may cause the death of all the creatures at any time___ And___ it will make no loss or difference to the Lord__ as the Lord alone is the Eternal, the Supreme, the Sublime & the Almighty Lord.
It is written:-
“Lo! All honour belongs to GOD alone.”
(Al-Quran, Chapter 4, Verse: 139)
So, the Lord alone is the All-honourable and the Lord must be honoured in the most positive terms. No man, angel, jinn or any other creature__ should be held as all-honourable like the Lord___ as that is open denial of the Lord’s Absolute Honour.
Men, angels and jinn are, of course, honoured but__ they are honoured only in terms of their loyalty to the All-honourable.
We must, therefore, be loyal to the All-honourable, the one alone GOD and we must honour the Lord at all cost and in all kinds of circumstances. We should never dare to negate the Lord’s Honour__ in terms of any satanic concept or the likewise notions __made to honour & worship the persons by sectarians.
The Scripture says:-
“They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! God is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say (unto them) who, then, can do aught against GOD if GOD had willed to destroy Messiah, the son of Mary and his mother and everyone on earth??? GOD’s is the sovereignty of heavens and the earth and all that is between them. GOD creates what GOD wills and GOD is All-able to do all things.”
(Al-Quran, Chapter 5, Verse: 17)
In conformity of this statement, the Scripture further says:-
“They surely disbelieve who say; Lo! God is the Messiah, son of Mary. Whereas the Messiah (himself) said: O’Children of Israel! worship GOD, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! Whoso ascribes partners unto GOD, for him GOD has forbidden Paradise. His abode is the fire. For evildoers there will be no helpers. They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! GOD is the third of three while there is no god save the One GOD. If they desist not from saying so, a painful doom will fall on those of them; who disbelieve.”
(Al-Quran, Chapter 5, Verses: 72 & 73)
For such disbelievers or the believers of Trinity, the Scripture, has given a convincing clarification about Trinity:-
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger. The messengers (like of whom) had passed away before him. And, his mother was a saintly woman and they both used to eat food. See! How I make the revelation clear for them and, then, see! How they are turning astray. Say you worship in place of GOD that which possesses for you neither hurt nor use? GOD is GOD, Who is the Hearer, the Knower. Say (also to them) O’people of the Scripture, stress not in your religion other than the truth and follow not, the vain desires of the folk who erred of old and led many astray, and erred from a right way.”
(Al-Quran, Chapter 5, Verses: 75 to 77)
No prophet or a righteous man has ever dared to say that he, himself, should be honoured like GOD or worshipped like GOD. Satan, of course, had certainly said to Jesus to worship him in place of GOD but Jesus had responded in the following way:-
“Go away Satan! The Scripture says: Worship the Lord your GOD and serve only the Lord.”
(Matthew, Chapter 4, Verse: 10)
In the same way, Jesus has responded in his prayer on the cross while uttering the following lines of the Verse No.23:-
“Praise the Lord, you servants of the Lord!
Honour the Lord, you descendants of Jacob!
Worship the Lord, you people of Israel!”
No doubt, it is a matter of simple common sense that when GOD is One__ the only One__ then, how the slaves or servants of GOD__ can be held as gods, worthy of the honour__ which is for the one alone GOD only. But alas! The people are honouring and serving the slaves and servants__ just like the Lord. Rather, they have chosen them as gods & the lords__ in place of the one alone GOD.
