I. “The author of the psalm.” This psalm is said to have been composed by David: “A Psalm of David;” compare the notes at the title of Psalms 3:1. It cannot be absolutely demonstrated that these titles to the psalms are all of them correct, as it cannot be supposed that they were affixed to them by... [ Continue Reading ]
MY GOD, MY GOD - These are the very words uttered by the Saviour when on the cross Matthew 27:46; and he evidently used them as best adapted of all the words that could have been chosen to express the extremity of his sorrow. The fact that he employed them may be referred to as “some” evidence that... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY GOD, I CRY IN THE DAYTIME - This, in connection with what is said at the close of the verse, “and in the night-season,” means that his cry was incessant or constant. See the notes at Psalms 1:2. The whole expression denotes that his prayer or cry was continuous, but that it was not heard. As ap... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU ART HOLY - Thou art righteous and blameless. This indicates that the sufferer had still unwavering confidence in God. Though his prayer seemed not to be heard, and though he was not delivered, he was not disposed to blame God. He believed that God was righteous, though he received no answer... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR FATHERS TRUSTED IN THEE - This is a plea of the sufferer as drawn from the character which God had manifested in former times. The argument is, that he had interposed in those times when his people in trouble had called upon him; and he now pleads with God that he would manifest himself to him i... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CRIED UNTO THEE - They offered earnest prayer and supplication. AND WERE DELIVERED - From dangers and trials. THEY TRUSTED IN THEE, AND WERE NOT CONFOUNDED - They were not disappointed. Literally, “they were not ashamed.” That is, they had not the confusion which those have who are disappointe... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I AM A WORM, AND NO MAN - In contrast with the fathers who trusted in thee. They prayed, and were heard; they confided in God, and were treated as men. I am left and forsaken, as if I were not worth regarding; as if I were a grovelling worm beneath the notice of the great God. In other words, I... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THEY THAT SEE ME LAUGH ME TO SCORN - They deride or mock me. On the word used here - לעג _lâ‛ag_ - see the notes at Psalms 2:4. The meaning here is to mock, to deride, to treat with scorn. The idea of laughing is not properly in the word, nor would that necessarily occur in the treatment here r... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TRUSTED ON THE LORD THAT HE WOULD DELIVER HIM - Margin, “He rolled himself on the Lord.” The margin expresses the true sense of the Hebrew word. The idea is that of being under the pressure of a heavy burden, and of rolling it off, or casting it on another. Hence, the word is often used in the se... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU ART HE THAT TOOK ME OUT OF THE WOMB - I owe my life to thee. This is urged by the sufferer as a reason why God should now interpose and protect him. God had brought him into the world, guarding him in the perils of the earliest moments of his being, and he now pleads that in the day of trou... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAS CAST UPON THEE FROM THE WOMB - Upon thy protection and care. This, too, is an argument for the divine interposition. He had been, as it were, thrown early in life upon the protecting care of God. In some special sense he had been more unprotected and defenseless than is common at that period o... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT FAR FROM ME - Do not withdraw from me; do not leave or forsake me. FOR TROUBLE IS NEAR - Near, in the sense that deep sorrow has come upon me; near, in the sense that I am approaching a dreadful death. FOR THERE IS NONE TO HELP - Margin, as in Hebrew, “not a helper.” There were those who wo... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY BULLS HAVE COMPASSED ME - Men with the fierceness and fury of bulls. Compare Isaiah 51:20; Psalms 68:30. STRONG BULLS OF BASHAN - The country of Bashan embraced the territory which was on the east of the Jordan, north of Gilead, which was given to the half tribe of Manasseh: compare Genesis 14:... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GAPED UPON ME WITH THEIR MOUTHS - Margin, as in Hebrew, “opened their mouths against me.” That is, they opened their mouths wide as if they would devour me, as a lion does when he seizes upon his prey. In Psalms 22:7 they are represented as “opening” the mouth for another purpose - that of deri... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM POURED OUT LIKE WATER - The sufferer now turns from his enemies, and describes the effect of all these outward persecutions and trials on himself. The meaning in this expression is, that all his strength was gone. It is remarkable that we have a similar expression, which is not easily accounted... [ Continue Reading ]
MY STRENGTH IS DRIED UP LIKE A POTSHERD, - A “potsherd” is a fragment of a broken pot, or a piece of earthenware. See Isaiah 45:9, note; and Job 2:8, note. The meaning here is, that his strength was not vigorous like a green tree that was growing, and that was full of sap, but it was like a brittle... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR DOGS HAVE COMPASSED ME - Men who resemble dogs; harsh, snarling, fierce, ferocious. See Philippians 3:2, note; and Revelation 22:15, note. No one can doubt that this is applicable to the Redeemer. THE ASSEMBLY OF THE WICKED HAVE ENCLOSED ME - That is, they have surrounded me; they have come aro... [ Continue Reading ]
I MAY TELL ALL MY BONES - That is, I may count them. They are so prominent, so bare, that I can see them and count their number. The idea here is that of emaciation from continued suffering or from some other cause. As applied to the Redeemer, it would denote the effect of long protracted suffering... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY PART MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM - They divide; they apportion. This refers merely to the fact that they made such a division or distribution of his garments; the manner in which it was done, is specified in the other part of the verse. The word “garments” is a general term, and would be applicable... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BE NOT THOU FAR FROM ME, O LORD - “O Yahweh.” Others - all others - have forsaken me, and left me to perish. Now, in the day of my desertion and my peril, be thou near to me. See Psalms 22:11. This is the burden of the prayer in the whole psalm, that God would not leave him, but sustain and deli... [ Continue Reading ]
DELIVER MY SOUL FROM THE SWORD - The word soul here means life, and denotes a living person. It is equivalent to “deliver me.” “The sword” is used to denote an instrument of death, or anything that pierces like a sword. Compare 2 Samuel 11:24. As applied to the Saviour here, it may mean those extrem... [ Continue Reading ]
SAVE ME FROM THE LION’S MOUTH - His enemies represented as fierce and ravening lions, compare Psalms 22:13, FOR THOU HAST HEARD ME - The word “heard” in this place is equivalent to “saved” - or saved in answer to prayer. The fact of “hearing” the prayer, and answering it, is regarded as so identica... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL DECLARE THY NAME - I will make thee known; that is, thine existence; thy perfections; thy law; thy method of salvation. As the result or effect of the interposition which he desired, and for which he prayed, he says that he would diffuse a knowledge of God. This is an expression of true piety... [ Continue Reading ]
YE THAT FEAR THE LORD - A phrase denoting those who are pious. PRAISE HIM - This is language which may be supposed to be addressed by the speaker in the great congregation. In the previous verse he had said that he would praise God “in the midst of the congregation;” he here speaks as if he were in... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE HATH NOT DESPISED NOR ABHORRED THE AFFLICTION OF THE AFFLICTED - This expresses the belief that his prayer had been heard. The fact that he had been thus heard is here assigned to be the ground or reason for the exhortation in the previous verse, addressed to all the pious. The Lord had heard... [ Continue Reading ]
MY PRAISE SHALL BE OF THEE - That is, I will praise thee. I will call to remembrance thy goodness, and will unite with others in celebrating thy faithfulness and lovingkindness. IN THE GREAT CONGREGATION - See the notes at Psalms 22:27. I WILL PAY MY VOWS BEFORE THEM THAT FEAR HIM - In the presence... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEEK SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED - The word “meek” - ענוים _‛__ănâviym_ - means here rather “afflicted, distressed, miserable.” This is its usual meaning. It is employed sometimes in the sense of mild or meek (compare Numbers 12:3); but it here manifestly denotes the afflicted; the poor; the di... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE ENDS OF THE WORLD - All parts of the earth; all nations. The earth is frequently represented in the Scriptures as having limits or boundaries; as spread out; as having corners, etc. Compare Isaiah 11:12; Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32; Revelation 7:1. This language is in accor... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE KINGDOM IS THE LORD’S - The dominion belongs of right to Yahweh, the true God. See Matthew 6:13; Psalms 47:7. AND HE IS THE GOVERNOR AMONG THE NATIONS - He is the rightful governor or ruler among the nations. This is an assertion of the absolute right of Yahweh to reign over the nations of t... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THEY THAT BE FAT UPON THE EARTH - The general meaning of this verse is, that “all classes of persons” will come and worship the true God; not the poor and needy only, the afflicted, and the oppressed, but the rich and the prosperous. There are three classes mentioned as representing all: (1) th... [ Continue Reading ]
A SEED SHALL SERVE HIM - A people; a race. The word used here, and rendered “seed” - זרע _zera‛_ - means properly “a sowing;” then, a planting, a plantation; then. seed sown - of plants, trees, or grain; and then, a generation of men - children, offspring, posterity: Genesis 3:15; Genesis 13:16; Gen... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL COME - That is, there were those who would thus come. Who these would be is not specified. The obvious sense is, that some would rise up to do this; that the succession of such men would be kept up from age to age, making known these great facts and truths to succeeding generations. The l... [ Continue Reading ]