Psalms 22:31 Meaning and Explanation
“They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Psalm 22 does not end at the moment of one man's rescue. Its final verse looks beyond the present congregation to people who do not yet exist. God's righteousness will be declared because his work is worthy of lasting remembrance and faithful transmission.
Future messengers will proclaim the LORD's righteousness to people yet unborn, declaring that he has acted. The psalm closes with God's saving work remembered, announced, and received by a coming generation.
The Context of Psalms 22:31
The final section of Psalm 22 expands the scope of praise. Verse 25 speaks of worship in the great congregation, verse 26 of the meek who eat and praise, and verses 27 through 29 of all nations and every mortal bowing before the LORD. Verse 30 says that a seed will serve him and be counted to the Lord for a generation. Verse 31 explains what this ongoing generation will do: they will come and declare God's righteousness to a people that shall be born. The chapter therefore ends with testimony extending beyond the psalmist's own lifetime.
What Does Psalms 22:31 Mean?
"They shall come" pictures people arriving as witnesses and heralds, carrying forward the praise described throughout the psalm's closing verses. What they declare is "his righteousness," God's right and faithful action. In this psalm, that righteousness includes his hearing the afflicted cry and acting in a way that vindicates trust in him. The audience is "a people that shall be born," a future generation with no direct memory of the original distress. The final words, "that he hath done this," point emphatically to God's completed deed. The verse leaves the focus upon him. Human messengers speak, yet the enduring subject of their message is the LORD and what he has accomplished.
The chapter's literary movement makes this closing proclamation especially significant. Psalm 22 began with a cry from agony, surrounded by mockery and violent images. It then turned, after God's hearing, toward praise in the congregation. That praise spread to Israel, the meek, all nations, those near death, and a seed counted for a generation. Verse 31 gives the means by which the praise continues: God's righteousness is declared to the unborn. The chapter therefore treats testimony as a holy stewardship. Later people learn of God's faithfulness through those who remember and speak truthfully. The future is invited into worship through the trustworthy telling of what God has done.
The final phrase has a strong resonance with the Gospel accounts of Jesus' death, where he says, "It is finished" in John 19:30. The wording is not a direct quotation of Psalm 22:31, yet both passages stand at the completion of a work and direct attention to what has been accomplished. Psalm 22 is also closely connected with Christ's suffering through explicit Gospel echoes earlier in the psalm. Read within that canonical setting, verse 31 points to the continuing proclamation of God's righteous saving work through Christ. It also retains its broad psalmic force: God's deeds are to be declared so that future generations may know and worship him.
Bible Verses Related to Psalms 22:31
“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.”
- Psalm 78:4
“Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.”
- Joel 1:3
“Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.”
- Isaiah 45:21
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
- John 19:30
Where Psalms 22:31 Echoes in Scripture
John 19:30 records Jesus' final declaration from the cross, "It is finished." Psalm 22:31 closes by declaring that the LORD "hath done this." John does not introduce the phrase as a quotation, so the connection should be treated as a strong canonical resonance. Both endings direct attention to a completed divine work, and the Gospel's earlier echoes of Psalm 22 make the relationship especially weighty.
How to Apply Psalms 22:31 Today
We participate in this verse whenever we preserve and share truthful accounts of God's faithfulness for those coming after us. Parents and grandparents may tell children how the LORD sustained them. Churches may teach Scripture carefully, pray through remembered mercies, and make room for testimony that centers on God rather than personality. In ordinary life, a written prayer journal, a conversation at a table, or a patient explanation of a psalm can carry this work forward. We can speak honestly about suffering as well as deliverance. Psalm 22 gives future hearers a faith that has room for lament, waiting, worship, and confidence in God's righteous action.
Reflection & Prayer
What work of God needs to be remembered so that a future person may learn to trust and praise him? Ask for grace to tell that story truthfully, with God's faithfulness at its center. Pray: "Righteous LORD, help us declare thy works faithfully, that those yet to come may know thee and worship thee."