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Psalm Twenty-two
New King James Version (NKJV)
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
JewishF7Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abendana in loc. interpreters, is the
name of a musical instrument; to which our version inclines; and a learned JewF8Leo
Mutinens. Shilte Hagibborim, fol. 5. 1. says, it is the instrument which the
mourning women used on account of distress which was sudden, not known till it
came, as a man does not think of the morning till he sees it.
"Aijeleth" with him has the signification of mourning, as
"Eli" in Joel 1:8; and "Shahar", as in Isaiah 47:11; so אלית
and אליית are used in the MisnahF9Misn.
Celim, c. 15. 6. & 16. 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. for a
mourning woman; and with others it is the beginning of a song to the tune of
which the psalm was setF11Aben Ezra in loc. but I rather think the
words express the subject matter of the psalm, and that they may be rendered,
concerning "Aijeleth Shahar"; which signify, either according to the
Chaldee paraphrase, "the daily morning sacrifice"; or, as some Jewish
writersF12Vide Kimchium & Abendauam in loc. observe, the
"morning star"; or, according to the Septuagint, "the morning
help"F13So Menachem in Jarchi, and others in Kimchi &
Abendana in loc. ; or rather "the morning hind"; or "hind of the
morning": but who should be designed hereby is the question. The Jews
would have any rather than the Messiah; some say EstherF14R. R. in
Jarchi in loc. , who so seasonably and readily appeared for the Jews in
distress, and was the means of their deliverance; but there is not one word in
the psalm that agrees with her; and there are some things which were manifestly
spoken of a man, and not a woman, Psalm 22:8; others say DavidF15In
Kimchi in loc. , when he fled from Saul, or, as others, from Absalom: but the
disjointing the bones of this person, the piercing his hands and feet, parting
his garments, and casting lots on his vesture, mentioned in Psalm 22:14; were never fulfilled in him.
OthersF16Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. would have the congregation
of Israel in captivity intended; but it is plain that a single person is spoken
of throughout; and he is manifestly distinguished from others, from his
brethren, from the congregation, from the seed of Jacob and Israel, Psalm 22:22; and, indeed, no other than the
Messiah can be meant: and of this there ought to be no doubt with Christians,
when Psalm 22:1 is compared with Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:8 with Matthew 27:43; Psalm 22:18 with Matthew 27:35; Psalm 22:22 with Hebrews 2:12; and the Jews themselves
sometimes say, that by "Aijeleth Shahar" is meant the ShechinahF17Zohar
in Lev. fol. 5. 4. & Imre Binah in ib. , or the divine Majesty; and in what
way soever these words are rendered, they agree with Christ: he is the antitype
of "the daily morning sacrifice", the Lamb of God, who continually
takes away the sin of the world; and very fitly is he so called in the title of
a psalm which speaks so much of his sufferings and death, which are a
propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of his people; he is "the bright and
morning star", Revelation 22:16; the dayspring from on
high, the sun of righteousness, and light of the world: he had "morning
help" in his very infancy, when his life was sought for by Herod; and had
early and seasonable help and assistance in the acceptable time, and in the day
of salvation, and early in the morning was he raised from the dead, and had
glory given him: but as the words are better rendered "the morning
hind", this suits with Christ, who is frequently compared to a roe or a
young hart, Song of Solomon 2:9; and he may be compared
to a "hind" for its lovingness to its mate and young, Proverbs 5:19; the love of Christ to his
church and people being very strong and affectionate, and passing knowledge;
and also for its loveliness and goodliness, Genesis 49:21; Christ being exceeding
amiable and lovely, and fairer than the children of men; likewise for its
gentleness and harmlessness, Christ being meek and lowly, holy and harmless;
and for its antipathy to serpents, there being an enmity between Christ, the
seed of the woman, and the serpent and his seed; for its being hunted by dogs,
as Christ was by Herod, by the Scribes and Pharisees, by Judas, and the band of
soldiers; see Psalm 22:16; for its being fit for food, Deuteronomy 14:5; and as it is said to be
the fitter for being hunted, Christ's flesh being meat indeed, and the more
suitable to faith, as being sacrificed for us; and for its long life it is said
to have, Christ, though once dead, being alive again, and living for evermore;
to which may be added its great swiftness, expressive of the readiness of
Christ to comply with his Father's proposals and do his will; to come into this
world in the fulness of time, and set about the work he came to do; to deliver
up himself into the hands of his enemies, and lay down his life for his people;
and of his haste to help them in distress, and visit them with his gracious
presence, and to appear a second time to them unto salvation. He may be called
the hind of "the morning", looking lovely and beautiful as the
morning, and swift and cheerful as the hind when it rises from its rest, and
runs its course; or because of his being hunted in the morning of his infancy
by Herod; or because it was early in the morning the chief priests consulted to
take away his life; and as early also he rose from the dead, when God made his
feet like hinds feet, and set him on his high places, Psalm 18:33. The ancient Christian writers
generally understood it of Christ wholly. Justin MartyrF18Dialog cum
Tryphone, p. 325. says, the whole psalm is spoken of Christ; and Tertullian
observesF19Adv. Judaeos, c. 10. , that it contains the whole
passion, or all the sufferings of Christ. The late Mons. FourmontF20In
hunc Psalm. M. S. penes me, fol. 8. 9. , the elder, professor of the Oriental
languages in the university of Paris, has a very singular notion, that this
psalm was written by Jeremiah, when he was drawn up from the dungeon, and is a
history of his life and sufferings, in which he was a type of Christ.
Psalm 22:1 My
God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping
Me, And from the words of My groaning?
YLT
1To the Overseer, on `The
Hind of the Morning.' -- A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring?
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 to him, believed in him, loved him, and was obedient to
him as such; and here expresses his faith of interest in him, when he hid his
face from him, on account of which he expostulates with him thus, "why
hast thou forsaken me?" which is to be understood, not as if the
hypostatical or personal union of the divine and human natures were dissolved,
or that the one was now separated from the other: for the fulness of the
Godhead still dwelt bodily in him; nor that he ceased to be the object of the
Father's love; for so he was in the midst of all his sufferings, yea, his
Father loved him because he laid down his life for the sheep; nor that the
principle of joy and comfort was lost in him, only the act and sense of it; he
was now deprived of the gracious presence of God, of the manifestations of his
love to his human soul, and had a sense of divine wrath, not for his own sins,
but for the sins of his people, and was for a while destitute of help and
comfort; all which were necessary in order to make satisfaction for sin: for as
he had the sins of his people imputed to him, he must bear the whole punishment
of them, which is twofold the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense;
the former lies in a deprivation of the divine presence, and the latter in a
sense of divine wrath, and both Christ sustained as the surety of his people.
This expostulation is made not as ignorant of the reason of it; he knew that as
he was wounded and bruised for the sins of his people, he was deserted on the
same account; nor as impatient, for he was a mirror of patience in all his
sufferings; and much less as in despair; for, in these very words, he strongly
expresses and repeats his faith of interest in God; see Psalm 22:8; and also Isaiah 50:6. But this is done to set forth
the greatness and bitterness of his sufferings; that not only men hid their
faces from him, and the sun in the firmament withdrew its light and heat from
him, but, what was most grievous of all, his God departed from him. From hence
it appears that he was truly man, had an human soul, and endured sorrows and
sufferings in it; and this may be of use to his members, to expect the hidings
of God's face, though on another account; and to teach them to wait patiently
for him, and to trust in the Lord, and stay themselves upon their God, even
while they walk in darkness and see no light;
why art thou so far from
helping me? or from my salvation; from saving and delivering him out of his
sorrows and sufferings? not that he despaired of help; he firmly believed he
should have it, and accordingly had it: but he expostulates about the deferring
of it. He adds,
and from the words of
my roaring? which expresses the vehemency of his spirit in crying to God,
the exceeding greatness of his sorrows, and his excruciating pains and
sufferings: this is what the apostle means by his "strong crying and
tears", Hebrews 5:7; or "the words of my
roaring are far from my salvation"; there is a great space or
interval between the one and the other, as GussetiusF21Comment. Ebr.
p. 788. observes.
Psalm 22:2 2 O My God, I cry in the
daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.
YLT
2My God, I call by day, and
Thou answerest not, And by night, and there is no silence to me.
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, Hebrews 5:7;
and in the night season: in the night in which he
was in the garden, sorrowing and praying, the night in which he was betrayed
and was apprehended; and though the natural desires of his human soul were not
heard and answered, that the cup might pass from him, yet his prayer in
submission to the will of God was: moreover, the daytime and night season may
design the incessant and continual prayer of Christ; he prayed always, night
and day:
and am not silent; but continue to pray, though as yet
seemingly not heard and answered; or there is "no silence to me"F23לא דמיה לי
"non est silentium mihi", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius &
Tremellius; "intermissio", Cocceius; "quies", Gejerus;
"cessatio, quies, aut silentium", Michaelis. ; that is, no rest from
sorrow and pain; or "no likeness to me"F24"Non est
mihi similitudo", Gussetius, p. 193. , there are none like me, no sorrow
like my sorrow, as in Lamentations 1:12.
Psalm 22:3 3 But You are holy, Enthroned
in the praises of Israel.
YLT
3And Thou [art] holy,
Sitting -- the Praise of Israel.
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 therefore pleads his faithfulness to his promise: or
rather a reason quieting him under divine desertion, and a sense of divine
wrath, that God was righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works; and
that whereas he was the surety of his people, and had all their sins on him, it
was perfectly agreeable to the holiness and justice of God to treat him in the
manner he did; yea, it was done to declare his righteousness, that he might
appear to be just, while he is the justifier of him that believes in him;
O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel; either the place where
Israel offered the sacrifices of praise to God, the tabernacle or temple, the
house of prayer and praise in which Jehovah dwelt: or the true Israel of God
praising him, who are formed for himself, and called by his grace to show forth
his praises; among whom he takes up his residence: or else the praises
themselves; and so the phrase denotes God's gracious acceptance of them, and
well pleasedness in them, signified by his inhabiting of them, and the frequent
and constant ascription of them to him: and perhaps respect may be had chiefly
to the praises of his people for providing such a Saviour for them, settling
him in the fulness of time, and not sparing him, but delivering him up into the
hands of justice and death for them; and for giving all things freely with him.
Psalm 22:4 4 Our fathers trusted in
You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
YLT
4In Thee did our fathers
trust -- they trusted, And Thou dost deliver them.
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, Romans 9:5; these, as they were sojourners,
and went from place to place, especially the patriarchs, and were often in
trouble and distress, when they called upon the Lord, looked to him, and put
their trust and confidence in him; not in themselves, their own wisdom, riches,
and strength, nor in others, in any mere creature, nor in any outward thing, or
arm of flesh, but in the Lord Jehovah, in whom is everlasting strength; they
believed in the power of God, that he was able to help and deliver them, and
they had faith in him that he would; they depended upon his word and promise,
and were persuaded he would never suffer his faithfulness to fail; they
committed themselves to the Lord, and stayed themselves upon him;
they trusted; this is repeated not only for the sake of emphasis,
pointing out something remarkable and commendable, and for the greater
certainty of it, more strongly confirming it; or to observe the many that put
their trust in the Lord, the numerous instances of confidence in him; but also
to denote the constancy and continuance of their faith, they trusted in the
Lord at all times;
and thou didst deliver them; out of the hands of all
their enemies, and out of all their sorrows and afflictions; instances of which
we have in the patriarchs, and in the people of Israel when brought out of
Egypt, and through the Red sea and wilderness, and in the times of the judges,
when they were distressed by their neighbours, and God sent them a deliverer
time after time.
Psalm 22:5 5 They cried to You, and
were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
YLT
5Unto Thee they cried, and
were delivered, In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed.
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 voice is heard, as in Moses, Exodus 14:15; but oftener vocal prayer, put
up in times of distress, and denotes the vehemency of trouble, and eagerness of
desire to be heard and relieved; and this cry was from faith, it followed upon
and was accompanied with trusting in the Lord; it was the prayer of faith,
which is effectual and availeth much, and issued in deliverance;
they trusted in thee, and were not confounded: or ashamed;
neither of the object of their trust, the living God, as those who trust in
graven images; so Moab was ashamed of Chemosh, Jeremiah 48:13; nor of their hope and trust
in him, it being such as makes not ashamed, Psalm 119:116, Romans 5:5; nor of the consequences of it;
When men trust in anything and it fails them, and they have not what they
expect by it, they are filled with shame and confusion, Isaiah 30:2; but they that trust in the
Lord are never confounded, or made ashamed; their expectations do not perish:
now Christ mentions this case of his ancestors as a reason of the praises of
Israel, which they offered up to God for deliverances, and which he inhabited, Psalm 22:3; as also by way of encouragement
to himself in his present circumstances, that though the Lord was at a distance
from him, and seemed not to regard him and his cries, yet that he would deliver
him; and likewise as an argument with God that he would do so, since it had
been his wonted way and method with his fathers before; moreover he may take
notice of it in order to represent his own forlorn, uncomfortable, and
deplorable condition, which was abundantly worse than theirs, and the reverse
of it, as it seemed at present.
Psalm 22:6 6 But I am a worm,
and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
YLT
6And I [am] a worm, and no
man, A reproach of man, and despised of the people.
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 nature, in his humiliation; nor to express his humility, and
the mean thoughts he had of himself, as David, his type, calls himself a dead
dog, and a flea, 1 Samuel 24:14; but on account of the
opinion that men of the world had of him; so Jacob is called "a
worm", Isaiah 41:14; not only because mean in his
own eyes, but contemptible in the eyes of others. The Jews esteemed Christ as a
worm, and treated him as such; he was loathsome to them and hated by them;
everyone trampled upon him and trod him under foot as men do worms; such a
phrase is used of him in Hebrews 10:29; there is an agreement in
some things between the worm and Christ in his state of humiliation; as in its
uncomeliness and disagreeable appearance; so in Christ the Jews could discern
no form nor comeliness wherefore he should be desired; and in its weakness, the
worm being an impotent, unarmed, and defenceless creatures, hence the Chaldee
paraphrase renders it here "a weak worm"; and though Christ is the
mighty God, and is also the Son of Man whom God made strong for himself, yet
mere was a weakness in his human nature and he was crucified through it, 2 Corinthians 13:4; and it has been
observed by some, that the word תולעת here used
signifies the scarlet worm, or the worm that is in the grain or berry with
which scarlet is dyed; and like, is scarlet worm did our Lord look, when by way
of mockery be was clothed with a scarlet robe; and especially when he appeared
in his dyed garments, and was red in his apparel, as one that treadeth in the
wine fat; when his body was covered with blood when he hung upon the cross,
which was shed to make crimson and scarlet sins as white as wool. When Christ
says he was "no man", his meaning is, not that he was not truly and
really man, for he assumed a true body and a reasonable soul; he partook of the
same flesh and blood with his children, and was in all things made like unto
his brethren, excepting sin; but that he was a man of no figure, he bore no
office, and had no title of honour; he was not a Rabbi, nor a member of the
Jewish sanhedrim; he had no share of government, either in the civil or
ecclesiastic state; he was a carpenter's son, and a carpenter; nor was he
treated as a man, but in the most inhuman manner; he was despised and rejected
of men, he was called a madman, and said to have a devil;
a reproach of men; he was reproached by men, as if he had been
the worst of men; the reproaches of God and of his people all fell on him,
insomuch that his heart was broken with them; see Psalm 69:7; and it was reckoned a reproach
to men to be seen in his company, or to be thought to belong to him, and be a
disciple of his; hence some, who believed he was the Messiah, yet would not
confess him, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, John 12:42;
and despised of the people; rejected with contempt
as the Messiah, refused with scorn as the stone of Israel, disallowed of men,
and set at nought by them; by "the people" are meant the people of
the Jews, his own people and nation; which contempt of him they signified both
by gestures and words, as in the following verses.
(When
the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young,
she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and
permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her
body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their
own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the
surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the
commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted.F24Dr. Henry
Morris, "Biblical Basis for Modern Science", p. 73. Baker Book House,
1985. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious
blood that he might "bring many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10)! He died for us, that we
might live through him! Psalm 22:6 describes such a worm and gives
us this picture of Christ. (cf. Isaiah 1:18) Editor.)
Psalm 22:7 7 All those who see Me
ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
YLT
7All beholding me do mock at
me, They make free with the lip -- shake the head,
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 persons must be excepted, as John the beloved disciple, the mother
of our Lord, Mary Magdalene, and some other women, who stood afar off beholding
him;
they shoot out the lip; or "open with the
lip"F25יפטירו בשפה
"hiatum fecerunt labiis suis", Grotius; "they make a mow with
their lip", Ainsworth. ; they made mouths at him, they put out their lips,
or gaped upon him with their mouths, and in a way of sport and pastime made
wide mouths and drew out their tongues, as in Job 16:10;
they shake the head, saying; in a way of scorn and
derision, as in Lamentations 2:15. This was fulfilled in
the Jews, Matthew 27:39.
Psalm 22:8 8 “He trusted[b] in the Lord, let Him
rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
YLT
8`Roll unto Jehovah, He doth
deliver him, He doth deliver him, for he delighted in him.'
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 trusted; but his confidence was a well grounded one, though jeered at by
these men, and he was delivered in the Lord's own time and way from all his
enemies, and out of all his troubles;
let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him; this is
another ironical sarcastic flout, not at God, but at Christ, and at his
profession of trust in God, his claim of interest in his favour, and of
relation to him as being the Son of his love, in whom he was well pleased; he
always was the delight of his Father; he expressed his well pleasedness in him
at his baptism, and transfiguration on the mount; he took pleasure in him while
he was suffering and dying in the room and stead of his people; and he
delivered him, raised him from the dead, and brought him into a large place,
because he delighted in him, Psalm 18:19; These very words were said by
the Jews concerning Christ, as he hung upon the cross, Matthew 27:43.
Psalm 22:9 9 But You are He who
took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
YLT
9For thou [art] He bringing
me forth from the womb, Causing me to trust, On the breasts of my mother.
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 overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and which was necessary to preserve
his human nature from the contagion of sin, common to all that descend from
Adam by ordinary generation; that so that individual of human nature might be
proper to be united to the Son of God, and that it might be a fit sacrifice for
the sins of men; but otherwise in all other things, sin only excepted, he was
made like unto us; and it is a clear case, that his mother bore him the usual
time, and went with him her full time of nine months, as women commonly do; see
Luke 1:56; and it is as evident that he was
born and brought forth in the same manner other infants are, seeing he was
presented, to the Lord in the temple, and the offering was brought for him
according to the law respecting the male that opens the womb, Luke 2:22; and the phrase that is here used
is expressive of the common providence of God which attends such an event,
every man being as it were midwifed into the world by God himself; see Job 10:18; though there was, no doubt, a
peculiar providence which attended the birth of our Lord, and makes this
expression more peculiarly applicable to him; since his mother Mary, when her
full time was come, was at a distance from the place of her residence, was in
an inn, and in a stable there, there being no room for her in the inn, and so
very probably had no women about her to assist her, nor any midwife with her;
and there was the more visible appearance of the hand of God in this affair,
who might truly be said to take him out of the womb:
thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts; which may be
understood of the expectation and hope, common to infants, which have not the
use of reason, with all creatures, whose eyes wait upon the Lord, and he gives
them their meat in due season; and here may regard the sudden and suitable
provision of milk in the mother's breast, to which there is in the infant a
natural desire, and an hope and expectation of. The words may be rendered, as
they are by some, "thou didst keep me in safety", or make me safe and
secureF26מבטיחי "tu me tutum
fecisti", Cocceius; so Michaelis. , when I was "upon my mother's
breast": this was verified in Christ at the time Herod sought to take away
his life; he was then in his mother's arms, and sucked at her breast; when the
Lord in a dream acquainted Joseph with Herod's design, and directed him to flee
with the young child and his mother into Egypt, where they were kept in safety
till the death of Herod. This sense of the words frees them from a difficulty,
how the grace of hope, or of faith and confidence, can, in a proper sense, be
exercised in the infant state; for though the principle of grace may be
implanted so early, yet how it should be exercised when there is not the due
use of reason is not easy to conceive; if, therefore, the words are taken in
this sense, the meaning must be, that he was caused to hope as soon as he was
capable of it, which is sometimes the design of such a phrase; see Job 31:18; unless we suppose something
extraordinary in Christ's human nature, which some interpreters are not willing
to allow, because he was in all things like unto us excepting sin; but I see
not, that seeing the human nature was an extraordinary one, was perfectly holy
from the first of it, the grace of God was upon it as soon as born, and it was
anointed with the Holy Ghost above its fellows, why it may not be thought to
exercise grace in an extraordinary manner, so early as is here expressed,
literally understood.
Psalm 22:10 10 I was cast upon You from
birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God.
YLT
10On Thee I have been cast
from the womb, From the belly of my mother Thou [art] my God.
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 directed to, commit him to the care and protection of God: the sense is,
that the care of him was committed to God so early; and he took the care of him
and gave full proof of it:
thou art my God from my mother's belly: God was his
covenant God from everlasting, as he loved his human nature, chose it to the
grace of union, and gave it a covenant subsistence; but he showed himself to be
his God in time, and that very early, calling him from the womb, and making
mention of his name from his mother's belly, and preserving him from danger in
his infancy; and it was his covenant interest in God, which, though mentioned
last, was the foundation of all his providential care of him and goodness to
him. Now all these early appearances of the power and providence of God, on the
behalf of Christ as man, are spoken of in opposition to the scoffs and flouts
of his enemies about his trust in God, and deliverance by him, and to encourage
his faith and confidence in him; as well as are so many reasons and arguments
with God yet to be with him, help and assist him, as follows.
Psalm 22:11 11 Be not far from Me, For
trouble is near; For there is none to help.
YLT
11Be not far from me, For
adversity is near, for there is no helper.
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
Christ, and he was filled with a sense of divine wrath, and with sorrow and
distress; and also of his powerful and assisting presence which he had
promised, and Christ expected, and believed he should have, as he had: the
reasons for it follow:
for trouble is near; Satan was marching
towards him with his principalities and powers, to attack him in the garden and
on the cross; Judas, one of his own disciples, was at hand to betray him; a
multitude with swords and staves were about to seize him; the sins and
chastisement of his people were just going to be laid upon him; the sword of
justice was awaked against him, ready to give the blow; the hour of death was
near, he was brought to the dust of it, as in Psalm 22:15. A second reason is given,
for there is none to help; none among his
disciples: one of them was to betray him, another to deny him, and all to
forsake him and flee from him, as they did; nor any among the angels in heaven;
for though they ministered to him in the wilderness, and strengthened him in
the garden, there were none near him on the cross, that it might be manifest
that salvation was wrought out alone by him, Isaiah 63:5; and, indeed, if any of these
had been willing to have helped him, it was not in their power to do it, none
but God could; and therefore he applies to him, who had promised and was as
good as his word, Isaiah 49:8.
Psalm 22:12 12 Many bulls have surrounded
Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
YLT
12Many bulls have surrounded
me, Mighty ones of Bashan have compassed me,
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, Psalm 2:1; and for their pushing at him
with their horns of power and authority, and for their trampling him under
their feet, his person and offices; these compassed him about at his
apprehension, arraignment, trial, and condemnation; and there were many of them
to one child, Jesus:
strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round; Bashan was a
very fruitful country, in which cattle of various sorts, and bulls among the
rest, were fed and fattened; see Deuteronomy 32:14; bulls are noted for
their strength in other writersF1"Fortes tauri", Virgil.
Georgic. l. 1. v. 65. Ovid. Metamorph. l. 9. Fab. 1. . Hence great men, who
abounded in riches and power, and used them to the oppression of the poor, are
compared to the kine of Bashan, Amos 4:1; and a very fit name this was for
the kings and princes of the earth; for Caiaphas, Annas, and the chief priests,
that lived upon the fat of the land, who beset Christ around, and employed all
their power and policy to take him and bring him to death; nor is it unusual
with Heathen writersF2Homer. Iliad. 2. v. 48. Horat. Satyr. l. 1.
Satyr. 3. v. 110. to compare great personages to bulls.
Psalm 22:13 13 They gape at Me with
their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
YLT
13They have opened against me
their mouth, A lion tearing and roaring.
Verse 13
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 prey and rejoices, Amos 3:4; and being in such hands, and
encompassed about with such enemies, as Christ was in the garden, in the high
priest's hall, and in Pilate's judgment hall, is a third reason or argument
used by him with God his Father, to be near to him and not far from him.
Psalm 22:14 14 I am poured out like
water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted
within Me.
YLT
14As waters I have been
poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like
wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels.
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 that account, sweat in great abundance came from all parts
of his body, and not only stood in large drops, but fell to the ground like
great drops of blood; so that his body was all covered with water, or rather
seemed to be dissolving into water, or else to the quantity of tears he shed
both there and elsewhere; his sorrow was great even unto death, which vented
itself in floods of tears; his prayers were offered up with strong crying and
tears; his head was, as Jeremiah wished his might be, as waters, and his eyes a
fountain of tears, yea, his whole body seemed to be bathed with them: or else
to the shedding of his blood, and the pouring out his soul unto death for his
people, which was voluntarily done by himself, or by his enemies; which they
shed like water, and made no account of it, Psalm 79:3. Some have thought this respects
the opinion some had of him, even some of his own disciples, when he was dead;
all their hopes of his being their Redeemer and Saviour being gone, he was as
water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up; see 2 Samuel 14:14; but rather the phrase
intends his being quite dispirited, his heart failing, his soul sorrowful unto
death, his hands feeble, his knees weak like water, and he just ready to faint
and die; see Joshua 7:5, Ezekiel 7:17;
and all my bones are out of joint; not through the stretching
of his body on the cross, which seems to be designed in Psalm 22:17; but as it is with persons in a
panic, their joints seem to be loosed, and their bones parting asunder, their
legs tremble, no member can perform its office, but as if everyone was
dislocated and out of its place; see Psalm 6:2;
my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels; as wax melts
before the fire, so did the heart of Christ at the wrath and fury of God, which
was poured forth like fire upon him; and which he had a sense of, when in the
garden and on the cross, bearing the sins of his people, and sustaining the
punishment due unto them for it was not because of his enemies, nor merely at
the presence of God, and his righteous judgments, which is sometimes the case;
see 2 Samuel 17:10; but at the apprehension of
divine wrath, and feeling the same, as the surety of his people; and what an
idea does this give of the wrath of God! for if the heart of Christ, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, melted at it, what heart can endure, or hands be strong,
when God deals with them in his wrath? Ezekiel 22:14.
Psalm 22:15 15 My strength is dried up
like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the
dust of death.
YLT
15Dried up as an earthen
vessel is my power, And my tongue is cleaving to my jaws.
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 fear of danger and death, and at crucifixion; or this was
occasioned by the inward sorrow and distress of his mind, which affected his
body and dried his bones, as a broken spirit is said to do, Proverbs 17:22; and chiefly it was brought
upon him through the sense he had the wrath of God, which like fire dried up
his strength, just as a potsherd burnt in a furnace; which expresses his
dolorous sufferings, which were typified by the passover lamb being roasted
with fire, and the manna being baked in pans;
and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; so that he could not, or
rather would not, speak; this phrase sometimes signifying silence, Job 29:10, Ezekiel 3:26. Thus Christ answered not a
word to the charges of the false witnesses before the high priest, nor to the
accusations of the chief priests and elders before Pilate; nor did he open his
mouth, when he was led to be crucified, neither against the law and justice of
God, nor against his people for whom he suffered, nor against his enemies who
used him cruelly; when he was reviled he reviled not again; but rather this was
occasioned by thirst, through the violent fever that was upon him; see Lamentations 4:4; Hence, when he hung upon
the cross, he said, "I thirst", John 19:28;
and thou hast brought me into the dust of death; meaning
either death itself, which brings to the dust, and which is signified in this
psalm by going down to it, Psalm 22:29; or the grave, where the body
crumbles into dust, and where it is covered with dust, and therefore is said to
sleep in the dust of the earth, Daniel 12:2; and accordingly the Targum
renders it here, "thou hast shut me up in the house of the grave":
now Christ both died and was laid in the grave, though he did not lie there so
long as to corrupt and decompose, yet he might be truly said to be laid in the
dust: and this is attributed to God, to his counsel, disposal, and Providence;
and even whatever was done to Christ antecedent to his death, and which led on
to it, were what God's hand and counsel had determined to be done; and though
it was with wicked hands the Jews took Christ and used him in the manner after
related, and crucified and slew him, he was delivered to them by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God; and by these he was delivered
into the hands of justice, and brought to death itself, Acts 2:23.
Psalm 22:16 16 For dogs have surrounded
Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced[c] My hands
and My feet;
YLT
16And to the dust of death
thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have
compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet.
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 chiefly intended, whom the Jews used to call dogs, Matthew 15:26; these assembled together in
Pilate's hall and surrounded Christ, and made sport with him; to these were
committed the execution of him, they crucified him, and sat around him watching
him while on the cross, as they also did when in the grave: some have thought
the dregs of the Jewish people are designed, the common people, such as Job
says he would not set with the dogs of his flock, Job 30:1; who encompassed Christ on the
cross, wagging their heads at him; though I see not but that all of them, even
the chief among them, the high priest, sanhedrim, Scribes, and Pharisees, may
be intended; who are so called because of their impurity in themselves; for
their avarice and covetousness, being greedy dogs that could never have enough;
and for their impudence, calumnies, malice, and envy, against Christ: the
allusion seems to be to hunting dogs, who, when they have got the creature they
have been in pursuit of, surround it and fall upon it. Christ, in the title of
this psalm, is called Aijeleth Shahar, "the morning hind", who was
hunted by the Jews, and at last surrounded and taken by them;
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me; the Jewish
sanhedrim, the chief priests and elders, who assembled together to consult his
death, before whom he was brought when taken; and in, the midst of whom he was
set and examined, and by them unanimously condemned; and who, notwithstanding
all their pretensions to religion, were a set of wicked men: and also the whole
congregation of the Jews, the body of the people, who were united in their
request for his crucifixion and death; and who in great numbers got together,
and in a circle stood around him when on the cross, insulting him;
they pierced my hands and my feet; by nailing them to the
cross, which, though not related by the evangelists, is plainly suggested in John 20:25; and is referred to in other
passages of Scripture, Zechariah 12:10; and clearly points at the
kind of death Christ should die; the death, of the cross, a shameful and
painful one. In this clause there is a various reading; in some copies in the
margin it is, "as a lion my hands and my feet", but in the text,
"they have dug" or "pierced my hands and my feet"; both are
joined together in the Targum, "biting as a lion my hands and my
feet"; as it is by other interpretersF3Amamae Antibarb. Bibl. p.
743. ; and SchultensF4Origin. Heb. l. 1. c. 12. s. 8. Vid. Jacob.
Alting. Dissert. Philolog. 5. s. 27-34. retains the latter, rendering the
preceding clause in connection with it thus,
"the
assembly of the wicked have broken me to pieces, as a lion, my hands and my
feet.'
In
the Targum, in the king of Spain's Bible, the phrase, "as a lion", is
left out. The modern Jews are for retaining the marginal reading, though
without any good sense, and are therefore sometimes charged with a wilful and
malicious corruption of the text; but without sufficient proof, since the
different reading in some copies might be originally occasioned by the
similarity of the letters י and ו;
and therefore finding it in their copies, or margin, sometimes כארו, and sometimes כארי, have
chose that which best suits their purpose, and is not to be wondered at;
however, their "masoretic" notes, continued by them, sufficiently
clear them from such an imputation, and direct to the true reading of the
words; in the small Masorah on the text it is observed that the word is twice
used as here pointed, but in two different senses; this is one of the places;
the other is Isaiah 38:13; where the sense requires it
should be read "as a lion": wherefore, according to the authors of
that note, it must have a different sense here, and not to be understood of a
lion; the larger Masorah, in Numbers 24:9; observes the word is to be
found in two places, in that place and in Psalm 22:16; and adds to that, it is
written כארו, "they pierced"; and Ben
Chayim confirmsF5In Maarcath א, fol. 10.
2. ad Calc. Buxtorf. Bibl. this reading, and says he found it so written it,
some correct copies, and in the margin כארי; and so
it is written in several manuscripts; and which is confirmed by the Arabic,
Syriac, Ethiopic, Greek, and Vulgate Latin versions; in which it is rendered,
"they dug my hands and my feet"; and so took it to be a verb and not
a noun: so Apollinarius in his metaphrase; and which is also confirmed by the
points; though taking כארי for a participle, as the
Targum, that reading may be admitted, as it is by some learned menF6Pocock.
Miscell. c. 4. p. 59, 60. Pfeiffer. Exercitat. 8. s. 37. Carpzov. Critic. Sacr.
p. 838, 839. Alting. ut supra. (Dissert. Philolog. 5.) s. 48, 49. , who render
it "digging" or "piercing", and so has the same sense,
deriving the word either from כאר or כור, which signify to dig, pierce, or make hollow; and
there are many instances of plural words which end in י,
the מ omitted, being cut off by an apocope; see 2 Samuel 23:8; and either way the words are
expressive of the same thing, and manifestly point to the sufferings of Christ,
and that kind of death he should die, the death of the cross, and the nailing
of his hands and feet to it, whereby they were pierced. This passage is
sometimes applied by the JewsF7Pesikta in Yalkut, par. 2. fol. 56.
4. themselves to their Messiah.
Psalm 22:17 17 I can count all My bones. They
look and stare at Me.
YLT
17I count all my bones --
they look expectingly, They look upon me,
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 and started out; so that, could he have seen them, he
might have told them, as they might be told by the spectators who were around
him; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render
it, "they have numbered all my bones"; that is, they might have done
if: the Targum is, "I will number all the scars of my members", made
by the blows, scourges, and wounds he received;
they look and stare upon me; meaning not his bones,
but his enemies; which may be understood either by way of contempt, as many
Jewish interpreters explain it: so the Scribes and elders of the people, and
the people themselves, looked and stared at him on the cross, and mocked at
him, and insulted him; or by way of rejoicing, saying, "Aha, aha, our eye
hath seen", namely, what they desired and wished for, Psalm 35:21; a sight as was enough to have
moved an heart of stone made no impression on them; they had no sympathy with
him, no compassion on him, but rejoiced at his misery: this staring agrees with
their character as dogs.
Psalm 22:18 18 They divide My garments
among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
YLT
18They apportion my garments
to themselves, And for my clothing they cause a lot to fall.
They part my garments among them,.... Such as died the
death of the cross were crucified nakedF8Vid Lipsium de Cruce, l. 2.
c. 7. p. 81. , 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;
and cast lots on my vesture; which was a seamless
coat, wove from the top to the bottom; and therefore, not willing to rend it,
they cast lots upon it who should have it; all this was exactly fulfilled in
Christ, John 19:23.
Psalm 22:19 19 But You, O Lord, do not be far
from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
YLT
19And Thou, O Jehovah, be not
far off, O my strength, to help me haste.
But be not thou far from me, O Lord,.... See Gill on Psalm 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 arm shall strengthen, Psalm 80:17; and therefore he addresses him
in this manner here, saying,
haste thee to help me; his help was alone in
God his strength; there were none that could help him but he, and he seemed to
stand afar off from helping him, Psalm 22:1; and his case being so
distressed, as is represented in the preceding verses, it required haste.
Psalm 22:20 20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
YLT
20Deliver from the sword my
soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one.
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 Psalm 17:12; or any instrument of violence,
as the iron bar with which the legs of the malefactors crucified with him were
broken, which he escaped; and the spear which pierced his side, after he had
commended his soul or spirit into the hands of his Father; or a violent death; for
though his death had the appearance of one, he was taken in a violent manner,
and condemned to be put to death, and was crucified, yet his life was not taken
away by men; he laid it down, and gave up his breath himself;
my darling from the power of the dog, or "my
only one"F9יחייתד "unicam
meam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Tiguriue version, Cocceius,
Junius & Tremellius. ; meaning his life or soul, as before; so called, not
because there is but one soul in the body, but because it was dear and valuable
to him; and hence we render it "darling", an only one being usually
the darling of its parents; so a man's life is dear to him, all that he has
will he give for it, Job 2:4. Christ's life was a more precious
life than any man's, and peculiarly his own, in such sense as another man's, is
not his own; and his soul also was an only one, it was not polluted with
original sin, as the souls of other men are; it was pure and holy: the word
here used is sometimes rendered "desolate" and "solitary";
see Psalm 25:16; and it may have this sense
here, and be translated "my lonely" or "solitary one"F11"Solitariam
meam", Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. ; he being forsaken by
God, and deserted by his disciples; his soul was in darkness, sorrow, and
distress, wherefore he prays it might be delivered "from the power of the dog";
either Satan is so called for his malice and envy, who had put it into the
heart of Judas to betray him, and had filled the Pharisees with envy at him,
and who through it delivered him to Pilate; or the impure, cruel, and wicked
Roman soldiers, and in short all his crucifiers; called in the plural number
"dogs"; see Gill on Psalm 22:16.
Psalm 22:21 21 Save Me from the lion’s
mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.
YLT
21Save me from the mouth of a
lion: -- And -- from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me!
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; so rulers and civil magistrates, who are cruel and unmerciful, are compared
to lions, Proverbs 28:15;
for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns; some read
this as a prayer like the former, "hear thou me"F12עניתני "exaudi me", Muis, Gejerus, Michaelis. ,
&c. that is, deliver me; but according to our version it expresses what God
had done, that he had heard him and saved him; and is used as a reason or
argument with him that he would regard also his other petitions: or it may have
respect to what follows, that since God had heard him, and delivered him out of
the hands of his most powerful enemies, therefore he would declare his name and
praise him; for the unicorn being a very strong creature, and its strength
lying much in its horn, with which it pushes and does mischief; see Numbers 23:22. Christ's strong and potent
enemies are intended here; such as Satan and his principalities and powers, the
sanhedrim of the Jews, Herod, Pontius Pilate, and others, from whose power he
was freed when raised from the dead. According to PlinyF13Nat. Hist.
l. 8. c. 21. , the monoceros, or unicorn, is the fiercest of wild beasts; in
its body like a horse, it has the head of an hart and feet of an elephant, the
tail of a bear, makes a great bellowing; has one black horn rising up in the
middle of the forehead, of two cubits long; it is denied that it was ever taken
alive, which agrees with Job 39:9; See Gill on Job 39:9 and See Gill on Job 39:10.
Psalm 22:22 22 I will declare Your name
to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
YLT
22I declare Thy name to my
brethren, In the midst of the assembly I praise Thee.
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 believe on him, John 7:3; nor those more remotely related
to him, as all the Jews, who were his brethren and kinsmen also according to
the flesh; to these indeed he came and preached, but they received him not; but
rather his apostles, whom he called his brethren, even after his resurrection,
and to whom he appeared and declared the name of God, Matthew 28:10; and the five hundred
brethren by whom he was seen at once may be also included; and even all true
believers in him, who through his incarnation, being their "goel" and
near kinsman, stands in such a relation to them, and through their adoption
into his Father's family, his Father being their Father, and his God their God;
which is manifested in regeneration, and evidenced by their doing the will of
God, which is believing in Christ, Matthew 12:49. By the "name" of
God is meant, not anyone of the names by which he is known, as God Almighty,
Jehovah, &c. if any of these could be thought to be designed, the New
Testament name and title of God as the Father of Christ would bid fair for it;
but rather the perfections of God, which appear in Christ, and were glorified
in the work of redemption; or God himself; or else his Gospel, Acts 9:15; and which Christ declared and
manifested to his disciples, both before and after his resurrection, John 17:6; which latter seems here to be
referred unto;
in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee; meaning not
the congregation of the Jews, their synagogue, or temple, where he often
attended on public worship, and preached and praised the Lord; but rather the
company of his disciples, among whom he sung an hymn the night he was betrayed,
and with whom he conversed by times for forty days after his resurrection:
unless the general assembly and church of the firstborn in heaven is intended,
in the midst of which he praised the Lord, when he ascended on high, led
captivity captive, and received gifts for men; though it seems best to
understand this of the church of God, particularly among the Gentiles, under
the Gospel dispensation, where Christ in his members sings the praise of
electing, redeeming, and calling grace; see Psalm 18:49; compared with Romans 15:9. This is a proof of singing of
psalms and hymns in Gospel churches, and of its being a duty to be publicly
performed by the members of them, who may expect the presence of Christ in the
midst of his church, seeing he here promises to be there: these words are
applied to Christ in Hebrews 2:12.
Psalm 22:23 23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All
you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of
Israel!
YLT
23Ye who fear Jehovah, praise
ye Him, All the seed of Jacob, honour ye Him, And be afraid of Him, all ye seed
of Israel.
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 interpretersF14Midrash Tillim, Jarchi &
Aben Ezra, in loc. ; but all the people of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, who
have the grace of filial and godly fear put into their hearts, with which they
worship God, and walk before him in all holy conversation; which is not a fear
of wrath, or a distrust of divine goodness; but is a reverential affection for
God, and is consistent with the greatest degree of faith, the strongest
expressions of spiritual joy and holy courage: it includes the whole worship of
God, internal and external; and such who have it in their hearts, and before
their eyes, are called upon by Christ to praise the Lord for him, for the
unspeakable gift of his love; that he has not spared his son, but delivered him
up for them, to undergo so much sorrow, and such sufferings as before related,
to obtain salvation for them; and that he has delivered him out of them, raised
him from the dead, and has given him glory;
all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; not the
natural, but spiritual seed of Jacob, who walk in the steps of the faith of
that man of God; these are exhorted to glorify the Lord with their bodies and
spirits, which are his, being redeemed with the precious blood of Christ; by
believing in him, glorying in him, and offering praise unto him;
and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel; who are the
same with the seed of Jacob, Jacob and Israel being two names of the same
person; and design not Israel according to the flesh, but according to the
Spirit; the whole Israel of God, the all spiritual seed of Israel, who are
justified in Christ, and are saved in him; they are the same with them that
fear the Lord, and are here stirred up to exercise the grace of fear upon him;
to fear him only, and not men, though ever so mighty and powerful, as before
described in Psalm 22:12; and that not only because of
his power and greatness; but because of his grace and goodness, as shown forth
in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 22:24 24 For He has not despised
nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from
Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
YLT
24For He hath not despised,
nor abominated, The affliction of the afflicted, Nor hath He hidden His face
from him, And in his crying unto Him He heareth.
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 the garden and on the cross; and by the Lord himself, Jehovah his
Father, who laid on him the iniquity and chastisement of his people, bruised
him, and put him to grief; awoke the sword of justice against him, and spared
him not: his afflictions were many, both in body and soul; in body, being
scourged, buffeted, bruised, pierced, racked, and tortured on the cross; in
soul, being made exceeding sorrowful, and an offering for sin; sustaining his
Father's wrath, and seeking and enduring affliction by the rod of it; see Isaiah 53:4; now, though his afflictions
and sufferings were despised by men, and he was despised and abhorred on
account of them; yet not by his Father, he took pleasure in them, and in him as
suffering for his people; not simply considered, as if he delighted in his
sufferings as such, but as they were agreeable to his counsel and covenant, and
brought about the salvation of his chosen ones: he accepted them in the room
and stead of his people; the sacrifice of Christ was of a sweet smelling savour
to him; he was well pleased with his righteousness, his law being magnified and
made honourable by it; and his death was precious in his sight, being the
propitiation for the sins of his people; so far was he from despising and
abhorring the afflictions of his son. And this is mentioned as a reason or
argument for praise and thanksgiving in them that fear the Lord; since God has
looked upon the redemption price his Son has paid for them sufficient; has not
despised, but accepted of it as the ransom of their souls: some render the
words, "the prayer of the afflicted"; so the Targum, and the Septuagint
version, and the versions that follow that; which agrees with the next words:
neither hath he hid his face from him; when men did,
as ashamed of him, Isaiah 53:3; for though he forsook him for
a while, and in a little wrath hid his face from him for a moment, that he
might bear the whole curse of the law for us; yet he returned again, and did
not hide his face from him for even;
but when he cried unto him, he heard; cried not
only on account of his crucifiers, that God would forgive them; but on account
of himself, that he would not be afar off from him; that he would take his
spirit or soul into his hands, into which he committed it; that he would
deliver him from the power of death and the grave, and loose their bands; in
all which he was heard, Hebrews 5:7.
Psalm 22:25 25 My praise shall be
of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
YLT
25Of Thee my praise [is] in
the great assembly. My vows I complete before His fearers.
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation,.... Or,
"my praise is from thee"F15מאתך παρα σου, Sept. "a
te", Pagninus, Montanus, Rivetus, Cocceius, Ainsworth. ; 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 salvation and deliverance of him, and
resurrection from the dead, and exaltation of him, were the occasion and matter
of it: the place where Christ determined to praise the Lord is "the great
congregation"; either his apostles, who, though a little flock, yet, on
account of their extraordinary office and gifts, and peculiar privileges, were
the greatest congregation that ever was in the world; or the five hundred
brethren to whom Christ appeared at once after his resurrection; or else the whole
church under the Gospel dispensation; in the midst of which Christ is, and who
in the members of it praises the name of the Lord; and this especially will
have its accomplishment at the latter day, when great multitudes will be
converted, and the voice of praise and thanksgiving will be among them, Revelation 7:9;
I will pay my vows before them that fear him; either those
which he made in the council and covenant of grace, when he engaged to become a
surety for his people, to assume their nature, to suffer and die for them, to
redeem them from sin and misery, and bring them nigh to God, and save them with
an everlasting salvation; all which he has openly done; see Psalm 31:19; or those which he made in Psalm 22:21; that he would declare the name
of the Lord unto his brethren, and sing praise unto him in the midst of the
church; compare with this Psalm 116:12.
Psalm 22:26 26 The poor shall eat and be
satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your
heart live forever!
YLT
26The humble do eat and are
satisfied, Praise Jehovah do those seeking Him, Your heart doth live for ever.
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
acquainted with their impotency and inability to do any good thing of
themselves, ascribe all to the grace of God, and have no dependence on anything
done by them; who are willing to be instructed and reproved by the meanest
saint; are not easily provoked to wrath; patiently bear indignities and
affronts, and are gentle unto all men: these shall "eat" the fat and
drink the sweet of Christ the bread of lift; they shall eat of his flesh by
faith, which is meat indeed; they shall find the word, and eat it; feed on the
wholesome words of Christ, the words of faith and good doctrine, and shall be
"satisfied", or "filled": other food is not satisfying; it
proves gravel, ashes, and wind; it is not bread, and satisfies not; but such as
hunger and thirst after Christ and his righteousness, and are poor in their own
eyes, meek and humble; these are filled with good things to satisfaction, Matthew 5:6; Jarchi interprets these words
of the time of the redemption and the days of the Messiah;
they shall praise the Lord that seek him; in Christ,
with their whole heart; who being filled by him and satisfied, bless the Lord
for their spiritual food and comfortable repast, as it becomes men to do for
their corporeal food, Deuteronomy 8:10;
your heart shall live for ever; this is an address of
Christ to them that fear the Lord, the seed of Jacob and Israel; the meek ones,
and that seek the Lord, his face and favour, and who eat and are satisfied;
signifying, that they should be revived and refreshed, should be cheerful and
comfortable; should live by faith on Christ now, and have eternal life in them;
and should live with him for ever hereafter, and never die the second death.
Psalm 22:27 27 All the ends of the world Shall
remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.[d]
YLT
27Remember and return unto
Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all
families of the nations,
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 have
forgotten, and against whom they have sinned, how great and how good he is;
they shall be put in mind of their sins and iniquities committed against him,
and call to mind their latter end; and consider, that after death will come
judgment to which they must be brought; they shall be apprised of the grace and
goodness of God in Christ, in providing and sending him to be the Saviour of
lost sinners, by his sufferings and death, at large described in this psalm;
which will encourage them to turn unto the Lord, since they may hope for full
pardon of sin, through his blood and sacrifice; and to turn from their idols,
and from all their evil ways, and from all dependence on themselves or on
creatures, to trust in and serve the living God in faith and fear; which
turning is usually brought about under and by the ministry of the word; which
is appointed to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God; and has this effect when it is attended with the Spirit and power of
God; for conversion is not the work of man, neither of ministers nor of men
themselves, but of God, in which men are at first passive; they are turned, and
then, under the influence of grace, become active, and turn to the Lord, by
believing in him, and so cleave unto him: and likewise remembrance of the above
things is not owing to themselves, but to the Spirit of God, who puts them into
their minds; and which is very necessary and essential to conversion, even as a
remembrance of past things is necessary to a restoration after backslidings,
which is a second conversion;
and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee; not only
externally, by praying before the Lord, and attending on his word and
ordinances; but internally, in spirit and in truth, which worshippers the Lord
seeks; such spiritual worship being suitable to his nature, and such
worshippers believers in him are; this must be understood of some of all
nations, kindred and tongues, whom Christ has redeemed by his blood, and calls
by his grace; see Zechariah 14:16.
Psalm 22:28 28 For the kingdom is
the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.
YLT
28For to Jehovah [is] the
kingdom, And He is ruling among nations.
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 shoulders during the Old Testament dispensation; when he came
into this world, he came as a King; though his kingdom being not of this world,
it came not with observation; but upon his ascension to heaven, whither he went
to receive a kingdom and return, he was made or declared Lord and Christ, and
was exalted as a Prince, as well as a Saviour; and in consequence of his being
set down at the right hand of God, he sent forth the rod of his strength, his
Gospel, into the Gentile world, which was succeeded to the conversion of
multitudes of them, among whom he has had a visible kingdom and interest ever
since; and which will more abundantly appear in the latter day, when he shall
be King over all the earth; and now this is a reason why so many, in the
distant parts of the world, and among all the kindreds of the nations, shall
remember, turn to him, and worship him;
and he is the Governor among the nations; he rules in
the hearts of some by his Spirit and grace, and over others with a rod of iron.
Psalm 22:29 29 All the prosperous of the
earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before
Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
YLT
29And the fat ones of earth
have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust,
And he [who] hath not revived his soul.
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 in riches; see Psalm 78:31; the phrase may design such who
are in prosperous circumstances in their souls, in spiritual things, in faith,
comfort, and spiritual joy, Psalm 92:14; but the former sense is best:
Jarchi inverts the words, "they shall eat", that is, the meek shall
eat, "all the fat of the earth, and worship"; which may be understood
of the spiritual blessings of grace, which converted persons shall feed and
live upon, Psalm 63:5; the allusion may be to the fat
parts of the earth, and what grows thereon, made so by ashes, which the word
used has the signification of; for some lands are fattened by ashes being
strewed upon themF16"Effoetos cinerem immundum jactare per
agros", Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 79. ; but rather the rich and great men
of the earth are intended, who yet are but dust and ashes. They
shall eat, and worship; for as, in the first
times of the Gospel, not many mighty and noble were called, yet some were; so
more especially, in the latter day, many of this sort will be called, even
kings and queens; who will not live upon their titles of honour, their grandeur
and glory, but upon Christ and his Gospel, and will fall down before him, and
serve and worship him; see Psalm 72:10;
all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him; such as are
in mean circumstances of life; so that both rich and poor shall serve him; or
who are mean in their own eyes, sit in the dust of self-abhorrence, and put
their mouths in the dust, are in a low condition, out of which the Lord raises
them, Psalm 113:7. The Targum paraphrases it,
"who go down to the house of the grave"; that is, the dead; and then
the sense is, that Christ is the Lord, both of the dead and living, and that
those that are under the earth, and are reduced to dust, as well as they that
live and are fat upon it, shall bow the knee to Christ, when raised again, who
is the Judge of quick and dead; see Romans 14:9, Philemon 2:10;
and none can keep alive his own soul; as no man can
quicken himself when dead in trespasses and sins; so when he is made alive, he
cannot preserve his life, nor nourish himself, nor make himself lively and
comfortable, nor cause his heart to live, as in Psalm 22:26; but by eating the flesh, and
drinking the blood of Christ, feeding and living upon him by faith: though some
take the sense to be, that such as are before described as converted persons,
will not seek to save their lives, but will freely lay them down and part with
them for Christ's sake; but rather the meaning is, that so universal will the
kingdom of Christ be, as that high and low, rich and poor, will be bowing to
him; whoever are his enemies, and will not have him to rule over them, will be
brought before him and slain, and none of them will be able to save themselves;
so the Targum, "he will not quicken", or "keep alive, the soul
of the wicked"; or as Jarchi interprets it,
"he
will have no mercy on them, to keep their souls alive from hell.'
Psalm 22:30 30 A posterity shall serve
Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
YLT
30A seed doth serve Him, It
is declared of the Lord to the generation.
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 express the duration of it: and this
"seed" either means Christ's seed; so the Septuagint version, and
others that follow it, render it, "my seed"; the spiritual seed and
offspring of Christ, which the Father has given him, and which shall endure for
ever, Isaiah 53:10; or else the church's seed,
which comes to the same thing; not the natural seed of believers, but a
succession of godly men in the church, who are born in her, and nursed up at
her side; see Isaiah 59:21; such shall, and do, in every
age serve Christ, willingly and cheerfully, in righteousness and true holiness,
without slavish fear, and yet with reverence and godly fear. The Chaldee
paraphrase is, "the seed of Abraham shall serve before him"; but this
seed designs not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also, and chiefly;
it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation; of his
people, his children whom he accounts of, reckons, and esteems as such; or the
seed shall be reckoned to the Lord, as belonging to him, "unto
generation"; that is, in every generationF17לדור
"in quacunque generatione", Noldius, p. 236. No. 1076. , throughout
all ages, to the end of time; so the Targum, "to an after
generation"; or "a generation to come".
Psalm 22:31 31 They will come and declare
His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.
YLT
31They come and declare His
righteousness, To a people that is borne, that He hath made!
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, either the faithfulness
of God, in fulfilling his promises; especially those which respect the mission
of Christ, and salvation by him, as Zacharias did, Luke 1:68; or rather the righteousness of
Christ, which is revealed in the Gospel, and makes a most considerable part of
the declaration of it, and is published by Gospel ministers in all ages, as the
only justifying righteousness before God: and that
unto a people that shall be born; in successive
generations; that shall be brought upon the stage of time and life; or that
shall be born again; for to such only, in a spiritual and saving way, is the
righteousness of Christ declared, revealed, and applied, by the blessed Spirit,
through the ministry of the word: it is added,
that he hath done this; wrought this
righteousness; so Jarchi; that is, is the author of it; is become the end of
the law for it; has finished it, and brought it in; or else all the great
things spoken of in this psalm, relating to the Messiah, his sufferings, death,
and resurrection, and the calling of the Gentiles; all which are the Lord's doings,
and are what is declared in the Gospel: the Targum is, "the miracles which
he hath done"; the Septuagint version, and those that follow it, connect
this clause with the preceding thus, "to a people that shall be born, whom
the Lord hath made"; made them his people, created them in Christ, and
formed them for himself.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)