INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 22 TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN UPON AIJELETH SHAHAR, A PSALM OF DAVID. The only thing observable in the title of this psalm is the sense of the words "Aijeleth Shahar", left untranslated; which, according to some of the Jewish g interpreters, is the name of a musical instrument; to... [ Continue Reading ]
MY GOD, MY GOD,.... God is the God of Christ as he is man; he prepared a body for him, an human nature; anointed it with the oil of gladness; supported it under all its sorrows and sufferings, and at last exalted it at his own right hand:, and Christ behaved towards him as his covenant God; prayed t... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY GOD, I CRY IN THE DAYTIME,.... In the time of his suffering on the cross, which was in the daytime: BUT THOU HEAREST ME NOT; and yet he was always heard, John 11:41; though he was not saved from dying, yet he was quickly delivered from the power of death, and so was heard in that he feared, He... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU [ART] HOLY,.... Which may be considered either as an argument with his God, why he should hear and answer him, since he is holy, just, and faithful; he has promised, when any call upon him in a day of trouble, he will hear and answer them, and will be glorified by them; this Christ did, and... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR FATHERS TRUSTED IN THEE,.... By whom are meant Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom our Lord descended; and the people of Israel when in Egypt, in the times of the judges, and in all ages before the coming of Christ, of whom, as concerning the flesh, or as to his human nature, Christ came, Roman... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CRIED UNTO THEE, AND WERE DELIVERED,.... As the Israelites did in Egyptian bondage, and as they in later times did when in distress; see Exodus 2:23; c. The crying is to be understood of prayer to God, and sometimes designs mental prayer, sighing, and groaning, which cannot be uttered, when no... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I [AM] A WORM, AND NO MAN,.... Christ calls himself a worm, not because of his original, for he was not of the earth earthy, but was the Lord from heaven; nor because of his human nature, man being a worm, and the Son of Man such, Job 25:6; and because of his meanness and low estate in that natu... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THEY THAT SEE ME LAUGH ME TO SCORN,.... To the afflicted pity should be shown; but instead or pitying him in his distresses they laughed at him; this must be understood of the soldiers when they had him in Pilate's hall, and of the Jews in general when he hung upon the cross; some particular per... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TRUSTED ON THE LORD, [THAT] HE WOULD DELIVER HIM,.... Not that they spoke in a deriding way of the object of his trust, for, as impious as they were, this they did not do; but of his trust in the Lord, which they looked upon to be a false one, as would appear by his not being delivered, as he tru... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU [ART] HE THAT TOOK ME OUT OF THE WOMB,.... The Papists affirm, that there was something miraculous in the manner of Christ's coming into the world, as well as in his conception; that his conception of a virgin was miraculous is certain, being entirely owing to the wonderful and mysterious o... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAS CAST UPON THEE FROM THE WOMB,.... Either by himself, trusting in God, hoping in him, and casting all the care of himself upon him; or by his parents, who knew the danger he was exposed to, and what schemes were laid to take away his life; and therefore did, in the use of all means they were di... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT FAR FROM ME,.... Who had been so near unto him, as to take him out of the womb, and to take the care of him ever since; this is to be understood not with respect to the omnipresence of God, who is everywhere, and is not far from any of us; but of his presence, which was now withdrawn from Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY BULLS HAVE COMPASSED ME,.... By whom are meant the chief priests, elders, Scribes, and Pharisees, among the Jews, and Herod and Pontius Pilate among the Gentiles, comparable to bulls for their fierceness, rage, and fury against Christ, Psalms 2:1; and for their pushing at him with their horns o... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GAPED UPON ME [WITH] THEIR MOUTHS,.... Either by way of derision and contempt, Job 16:10; or belching out blasphemy against him, or rather, with the greatest vehemency, crying out "Crucify him, crucify him", Luke 23:21; and this they did [AS] A RAVENING AND ROARING LION, when it has got its pr... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM POURED OUT LIKE WATER,.... This may refer to Christ's sweat in the garden, when through his agony or conflict with Satan, and his vehemency in prayer, and the pressure on his mind, in a view of his people's sins, and the wrath of God for, them, and the accursed death he was about to undergo on... [ Continue Reading ]
MY STRENGTH IS DRIED UP LIKE A POTSHERD,.... The radical moisture of his body was dried up through his loss of blood and spirits, and through the violent fever upon him, brought on him by his being hurried from court to court; and which generally attends persons under a panic, in consternation and f... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR DOGS HAVE COMPASSED ME,.... By whom are meant wicked men, as the following clause shows; and so the Chaldee paraphrase renders it, "the wicked who are like to many dogs"; and to these such are often compared in Scripture, Matthew 7:6; and it may be the Roman soldiers, who were Gentiles, may be c... [ Continue Reading ]
I MAY TELL ALL MY BONES,.... For what with the stretching out of his body on the cross, when it was fastened to it as it lay on the ground, and with the jolt of the cross when, being reared up, it was fixed in the ground, and with the weight of the body hanging upon it, all his bones were disjointed... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY PART MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM,.... Such as died the death of the cross were crucified naked h, and their clothes were the perquisites of the executioners; there were four soldiers concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, and these parted his garments into four parts, and everyone took his part; A... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BE NOT THOU FAR FROM ME, O LORD,.... Psalms 22:11; O MY STRENGTH; Christ as God is the mighty God, the Almighty; as Mediator, he is the strength of his people; but, as man, God is his strength; he is the man of his right hand, whom he has made strong for himself, and whom he has promised his a... [ Continue Reading ]
DELIVER MY SOUL FROM THE SWORD,.... Wicked men, whose tongues were as a sharp sword, reproaching and blaspheming him, and bearing false witness against him; and crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him", Luke 23:21; see Psalms 17:12; or any instrument of violence, as the iron bar with which the legs o... [ Continue Reading ]
SAVE ME FROM THE LION'S MOUTH,.... Either the devil, who is as a roaring lion, whom Christ overcame both in the garden and on the cross, and destroyed him and his works; or all his wicked enemies, especially the most powerful of them, who were in greatest authority, as the chief priests and elders;... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL DECLARE THY NAME UNTO MY BRETHREN,.... Not those who were more nearly related to him according to the flesh; for though there were some who believed in him, and to whom he declared the name of God, as James and Joses, and Judas and Simon, Matthew 13:55; yet there were others that did not beli... [ Continue Reading ]
YE THAT FEAR THE LORD, PRAISE HIM,.... By whom are meant, not the proselytes among the Gentiles, as distinct from the Jews, which is the sense of some Jewish interpreters n; but all the people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, who have the grace of filial and godly fear put into their hearts, with w... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE HATH NOT DESPISED NOR ABHORRED THE AFFLICTION OF THE AFFLICTED,.... That is, Christ, who was afflicted by men, both by their tongues, and by their hands; by devils, by the temptations of Satan for Christ suffered being tempted, though he was not overcome; and by his attacks upon him, both in... [ Continue Reading ]
MY PRAISE [SHALL BE] OF THEE IN THE GREAT CONGREGATION,.... Or, "my praise is from thee" o; not that he should have praise of God, as he had, when he was received up into heaven, and set down at the right hand of God; but that God should be the object of his praise, as he was the cause of it; his sa... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEEK SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED,.... Such who, being made thoroughly sensible of sin, look upon themselves the chief of sinners, and the least of saints; and being truly convicted of the insufficiency of their own righteousness, wholly trust to and rely on the righteousness of Christ; and, being... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE ENDS OF THE WORLD SHALL REMEMBER AND TURN UNTO THE LORD,.... That is, all the elect of God among the Gentiles, who live in the farthermost parts of the world, for whom Christ is appointed to be their salvation, and whom he calls to look to him for it; these shall remember the Lord whom they... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE KINGDOM [IS] THE LORD'S,.... Not the kingdom of nature and providence, though that is the Lord Christ's; but the kingdom of grace, the mediatorial kingdom: this was Christ's by the designation and constitution of his Father from eternity; the government of the church was always upon his shou... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL [THEY THAT BE] FAT UPON EARTH,.... Rich men, who abound in worldly substance, are in very flourishing and prosperous circumstances, of whom for the most part this is literally true; yea, by these sometimes are meant princes, rulers, the chief among the people in power and authority, as well as i... [ Continue Reading ]
A SEED SHALL SERVE HIM,.... That is, Christ shall always have a seed to serve him in every age; a remnant according to the election of grace; see Romans 9:29; so that as the former verses speak of the amplitude of Christ's kingdom, through the calling of the Gentiles, these words and the following e... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL COME,.... One generation after another; there shall always be a succession of regenerate persons, who shall come to Christ, and to his churches; and a succession of Gospel ministers among them, who shall come forth, being sent and qualified by Christ; AND SHALL DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS,... [ Continue Reading ]