Chú giải Kinh Thánh

The Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets, testifies in this psalm, as clearly and fully as any where in all the Old Testament, "the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow" (1Pe 1:11); of him, no doubt, David here speaks, and not of himself, or any other man. Much of it is expressly applied to Christ in the New Testament, all of it may be applied to him, and some of it must be understood of him only. The providences of God concerning David were so very extraordinary that we may suppose there were some wise and good men who then could not but look upon him as a figure of him that was to come. But the composition of his psalms especially, in which he found himself wonderfully carried out by the spirit of prophecy far beyond his own thought and intention, was (we may suppose) an abundant satisfaction to himself that he was not only a father of the Messiah, but a figure of him. In this psalm he speaks, I. Of the humiliation of Christ (Ps 22:1-21), where David, as a type of Christ, complains of the very calamitous condition he was in upon many accounts. 1. He complains, and mixes comforts with his complaints; he complains (Ps 22:1,2), but comforts himself (Ps 22:3-5), complains again (Ps 22:6-8), but comforts himself again, Ps 22:9,10. 2. He complains, and mixes prayers with his complaints; he complains of the power and rage of his enemies (Ps 22:12,13,16,18), of his own bodily weakness and decay (Ps 22:14,15,17); but prays that God would not be far from him (Ps 22:11,19), that he would save and deliver him, Ps 22:19-21. II. Of the exaltation of Christ, that his undertaking should be for the glory of God (Ps 22:22-25), for the salvation and joy of his people (Ps 22:26-29), and for the perpetuating of his own kingdom, Ps 22:30,31. In singing this psalm we must keep our thoughts fixed upon Christ, and be so affected with his sufferings as to experience the fellowship of them, and so affected with his grace as to experience the power and influence of it.

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 Psalm 3:1-8. 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 the authors of the psalms themselves; and it is not absolutely known by whom they were prefixed. Of course there is no certain evidence that they were attached to the psalms by an inspired writer. Still they are to be presumed to be correct unless there is some clear evidence to the contrary. In this case there seems to be none. There is nothing in the psalm itself that is inconsistent with the supposition, and there are no historical evidences in the case which would make it necessary for us to set the title aside. The affixing of this title to the psalm undoubtedly implies that it wits the prevailing opinion, at the time when the collection of Psalms was made, that this was a psalm of David. Rosenmuller indeed doubts this; but he assigns no historical reasons for the doubt. Hitzig supposes that the author was Jeremiah, on the ground, as he says, that it is "in the broad and flowing style" of Jeremiah, but this is mere conjecture.

It is not necessary, however, to suppose that David, though he was the author of the psalm, refers to himself. If it be admitted that he was inspired, or even if "this" should be doubted, it would still be an open question to whom the psalm refers - whether to himself as an individual; - whether to an "imaginary" sufferer, designing to illustrate the feelings of piety in a time of sorrow; whether to the people of God, considered collectively; or whether to the Messiah. The mere fact of the "authorship" of the psalm determines none of these questions.

It is not known, and it cannot now be determined, on what occasion the psalm was written. It is expressive of the feelings of a pious sufferer, - of one who appears to be forsaken by God and by man. Perhaps there may have been occasions in the life of David to which the expressions in the psalm may have been applicable; but if so, it is impossible now to determine on which "one" of these trials of his life the psalm was composed. There is no one period in which, from the historical records of his life, we could be able to make out all the circumstances which are mentioned in the psalm. There are, however, expressions in it which in their intensity, as expressing wretchedness and woe, seem to go beyond anything that occurred in his experience, and which lead naturally to the question whether he did not refer to some other than himself.

II. "The contents of the psalm." Various divisions of the psalm have been proposed, but there are no "marked" and "prominent" divisions in the psalm itself. Hengstenberg, and after him Prof. Alexander, divide it into three parts, or strophes,

Under great affliction and distress, the psalmist prays unto God, Psalm 22:1-3; appeals to God's wonted kindness in behalf of his people, Psalm 22:4, Psalm 22:5; relates the insults that he received, Psalm 22:6-8; mentions the goodness of God to him in his youth, as a reason why he should expect help now, Psalm 22:9-11; details his sufferings, and the indignities offered to him, Psalm 22:12-18, prays with the confidence of being heard and delivered, Psalm 22:19-24; praises God. and foretells the conversion of the nations to the true religion, Psalm 22:25-31.

The title of this Psalm, To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David, has given rise to many conjectures. The words אילת השחר aiyeleth hashshachar are translated in the margin, "the hind of the morning;" but what was this? Was it the name of a musical instrument? or of a tune? or of a band of music? Calmet argues for the last, and translates "A Psalm of David, addressed to the Musicmaster who presides over the Band called the Morning Hind." This is more likely than any of the other conjectures I have seen. But aiyeleth hashshachar may be the name of the Psalm itself, for it was customary among the Asiatics to give names to their poetic compositions which often bore no relation to the subject itself. Mr. Harmer and others have collected a few instances from D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale. I could add many more from MSS. in my own collection: - thus Saady calls a famous miscellaneous work of his Gulisstan, "The Country of Roses," or, "The Rose Garden:" and yet there is nothing relative to such a country, nor concerning roses nor rose gardens, in the book. Another is called Negeristan, "The Gallery of Pictures;" yet no picture gallery is mentioned. Another Beharistan, "The Spring Season;" Bostan, "The Garden;" Anvar Soheely, "The Light of Canopus;" Bahar Danush, "The Garden of Knowledge;" Tuhfit Almumeneen, "The Gift of the Faithful," a treatise on medicine; Kemeea lsadut, "The Alchymy of Life;" Mukhzeen al Asrar, "The Magazine of Secrets;" Sulselet al Zahab, "The Golden Chain;" Zuhfit al Abrar, "The Rosary of the Pious:" Merat al Asrar, "The Mirror of Secrets;" Durj al Durar, "The most precious Jewels" Deru Majlis, "The Jewel of the Assembly;" Al Bordah, "The Variegated Garment;" a poem written by Al Basiree, in praise of the Mohammedan religion, in gratitude for a cure which he believed he received from the prophet who appeared to him in a dream. The poem is written in one hundred and sixty-two couplets, each of which ends with mim, the first letter in the name of Mohammed.

Scarcely one of the above titles, and their number might be easily trebled, bears any relation to the subject of the work to which it is prefixed, no more than Aijeleth Shahar bears to the matter contained in the twenty-second Psalm. Such titles are of very little importance in themselves; and of no farther use to us than as they serve to distinguish the different books, poems, or Psalms, to which they are prefixed. To me, many seem to have spent their time uselessly in the investigation of such subjects. See my note on 2 Samuel 1:18 (note).

On the subject of the Psalm itself, there is considerable diversity of opinion:

1. Some referring it all to David;

2. Others referring it all to Christ; and,

3. Some, because of the application of several verses of it to our Lord in his sufferings, take a middle way, and apply it primarily to David, and in a secondary or accommodated sense, to Christ.

Of this opinion was Theodore of Mopsuestia. who gave a very rational account of his own plan of interpretation; for which he was condemned by the second council of Constantinople or fifth Ecumenic council. Grotius and others have nearly copied his plan; and I think, with a little correction, it is the only safe one. That several parts of it relate to David, primarily, there is very little reason to doubt; that several passages may be applied by way of accommodation to our Lord, though originally belonging to and expressing the state of David, may be piously believed; and that it contains portions which are direct prophecies of our Lord's passion, death, and victory, appears too evident to be safely denied. On this plan I propose to treat it in the following paraphrase; keeping it as near to the Gospel standard as I can. Dr. Delaney supposes the Psalm to have been written by David when he was at Mahaniam, the very place where God appeared to Jacob in his distress. See Genesis 32:1-2. And on this supposition the third, fourth, and fifth verses may be easily and strikingly illustrated: Our fathers trusted in thee; why may not I? Thou didst deliver Them; why may not I expect deliverance also? They cried unto thee, trusted in thee, and were not confounded; I cry until thee, trust in thee; and why should I be confounded? For thou art the same God, thou changest not; and with thee there is no respect of persons. Thus David encouraged himself in the Lord; and these considerations helped to sustain him in his painful exercises and heavy distresses.

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 which our version inclines; and a learned Jew (h) 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 and are used in the Misnah (i) for a mourning woman; and with others it is the beginning of a song to the tune of which the psalm was set (k) 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 writers (l) observe, the "morning star"; or, according to the Septuagint, "the morning help" (m); 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 Esther (n), 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 David (o), 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. Others (p) 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 Shechinah (q), 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, Sol 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 Martyr (r) says, the whole psalm is spoken of Christ; and Tertullian observes (s), that it contains the whole passion, or all the sufferings of Christ. The late Mons. Fourmont (t), 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.

(g) Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abendana in loc. (h) Leo Mutinens. Shilte Hagibborim, fol. 5. 1.((i) Misn. Celim, c. 15. 6. & 16. 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (k) Aben Ezra in loc. (l) Vide Kimchium & Abendauam in loc. (m) So Menachem in Jarchi, and others in Kimchi & Abendana in loc. (n) R. R. in Jarchi in loc. (o) In Kimchi in loc. (p) Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. (q) Zohar in Lev. fol. 5. 4. & Imre Binah in ib. (r) Dialog cum Tryphone, p. 325. (s) Adv. Judaeos, c. 10. (t) In hunc Psalm. M. S. penes me, fol. 8. 9.

XXII.

The fact that Jesus uttered from His cross the words of bitter woe that begin this poem, have given and must ever give it a special interest and importance. It was natural that Christian sentiment should fasten lovingly on it, and almost claim it, not only as a record of suffering typical of our Lord’s suffering, but as actually in every detail prophetic of Him. But the signs of a true Messianic character of prophecy are to be looked for in moral likeness, not in accidental resemblances of situation, or coincidences of language, and in this sense Psalms 22 must ever be considered Messianic.

Nothing in David’s recorded life bears out the title. The identification of the sufferer with Jeremiah, though much more probable, is excluded by the joyous and hopeful tone of the conclusion of the poem. But is it an individual sufferer at all, and not rather suffering Israel whose profound misery in the first part, and whose happy restoration in the second, the poet depicts?

If such an interpretation suits the description of the suffering servant of Jehovah in Isa. Iii., 53, as many critics think (comp. Isaiah 49:3), it suggests itself for this psalm which has so many points of analogy with that passage (see Notes). The herds of wild beasts that surround the sufferer are more appropriate as a figure of hostile tribes than of personal enemies, and the vivid picture of suffering in Psalm 22:14-15 are not less applicable to the material condition of an oppressed nation than the description in Isaiah 1:5-6 is to the moral condition. (Comp. Isaiah 52:14.) Such a view certainly suits the conclusion of the psalm better than any other. The individual sufferer at all events there disappears, and his fortunes merge in those of the nation (notice the change to the plural in Psalm 22:26; Psalm 22:29), and the brilliant prospect of a time when the tale of God’s righteousness shall be handed down from generation to generation is that of the prophet who has mourned his country’s woes rather than his own, and has seen in faith the prayers of Israel heard, and the promises made to her amply performed.

Still, the strong personal tone in the opening of the poem suggests that this prophet was himself closely identified with the sufferings he depicts, and shared them not only in sympathy but in reality, and the great consensus of opinion looks for the author among the sufferers in the exile, and probably among the Levites. (See Note, Psalm 22:26.) The rhythm is irregular, suited to such a dirge.

Upon Aijeleth Shahar.—More correctly, upon Ayyeleth ha-shachar, i.e., upon the hind of the morning, a phrase which at once suggests either an instrument so named, or a particular tune to which the psalm was to be sung, as we might say, “to the tune of ‘As pants the hart.’ ” The latter is the view to which all the best commentators have now unanimously come. It is not worth while even to notice other conjectures.

The first and greatest of the ‘Passion Psalms,’ consecrated for us by our Lord’s appropriation of it to Himself. His utterance of the opening words of it upon the Cross has been thought with much probability to indicate that the whole Psalm was the subject of His meditations during those hours of agony. But this application and fulfilment does not exclude a primary and historical reference.

A. i. The Psalm opens with the agonised cry of a persecuted saint, who feels himself deserted by God (Psalm 22:1-2). He appeals to the character of God (Psalm 22:3) and to the experience of His mercy in past ages (Psalm 22:4-5), whereas he is the butt and victim of scornful persecutors (Psalm 22:6-8), though from his birth he has been dependent upon God (Psalm 22:9-10).

ii. He urges his plea for help (Psalm 22:11), describing alternately the virulence of his foes (Psalm 22:12-13; Psalm 22:16; Psalm 22:18), and the pitiable plight to which he is reduced (Psalm 22:14-15; Psalm 22:17). Still more earnestly he repeats his prayer (Psalm 22:19-21), till in an instant the certainty of deliverance flashes upon him (21 b).

B. i. The darkness of despair is past. He can look forward with confidence to the future. He avows his purpose to proclaim God’s goodness in a public act of thanksgiving (Psalm 22:22), calling upon all that fear Jehovah to join him in adoration (Psalm 22:23-24), and to share the blessings of the eucharistic feast (Psalm 22:25-26).

ii. And now a yet sublimer prospect opens to his view. Jehovah’s sovereignty will one day be universally recognised (Psalm 22:27-29); and His gracious Providence will be celebrated by all succeeding generations (Psalm 22:30-31).

The Psalm thus falls into two divisions, each of which is subdivided into two nearly equal parts.

A. Present needs. i. Plaintive expostulation (Psalm 22:1-10). ii. Prayer for deliverance (Psalm 22:11-21).

B. Future hopes. i. Thanksgiving for answered prayer (Psalm 22:22-26). ii. The extension of Jehovah’s kingdom (Psalm 22:27-31).

Commentators differ widely in their views of the scope, occasion, and date of the Psalm. The chief lines of interpretation may be termed the personal, the ideal, the national, and the predictive.

(1) The first impression produced by the Psalm is that it is a record of personal experience. The title ascribes it to David, and it has been variously supposed to reflect the circumstances of Saul’s persecution, or Absalom’s rebellion, or perhaps to gather into one focus all the vicissitudes of a life of much trial, or possibly to describe the fate he feared at some crisis rather than actual experiences. Delitzsch, who maintains the Davidic authorship, supposes it to have been written with reference to David’s narrow escape from Saul in the wilderness of Maon (1 Samuel 23:25 f.). But he admits that the history gives us no ground for supposing that David actually underwent such sufferings as are here described. There is, he thinks, an element of poetic hyperbole in the picture, which has been used by the Spirit of God with a prophetic purpose. The Psalm has its roots in David’s own experience, but its language reaches far beyond it to the sufferings of Christ.

Others have thought of Hezekiah, whose deliverance and recovery made an impression upon foreign nations (2 Chronicles 32:23); others, with more probability, of Jeremiah, with special reference perhaps to the situation described in ch. Psalm 37:11 ff.; others of some unknown poet of the Exile.

(2) But many features in the Psalm appear to transcend the limits of an individual experience. Hence some have seen in the speaker the ideal person of the righteous sufferer. The Psalm describes how the righteous must suffer in the world; how Jehovah delivers him in his extremity; how that deliverance redounds to His glory and the extension of His kingdom.

(3) From a somewhat similar point of view others have regarded the speaker as a personification of the Jewish nation in exile, persecuted by the heathen, apparently forsaken by Jehovah.

(4) Others again, concentrating their attention upon the striking agreement of the Psalm, even in minute details, with the facts of Christ’s Passion, have regarded it as wholly predictive.

Each of these lines of interpretation contains some truth; none is complete by itself. The intensely personal character of the Psalm bears witness that it springs from the experience of an individual life; yet it goes beyond an individual experience; the Psalmist is a representative character; he has absorbed into himself a real sense of the sufferings of others like himself, perhaps even of Israel as a nation; he interprets their thoughts; to some extent, secondarily at any rate, he is the mouthpiece of the nation. But the Psalm goes further. It is prophetic. These sufferings were so ordered by the Providence of God, as to be typical of the sufferings of Christ; the record of them was so shaped by the Spirit of God, as to foreshadow, even in detail, many of the circumstances of the Crucifixion; while the glorious hopes for the future anticipate most marvellously the blessed consequences of the Passion; ut non tam prophetia quam historia videatur (Cassiodorus). But the fulfilment far transcends the prophetic outline, and reveals (what in the Psalm is but hinted at, if so much as hinted at) the connexion of redemption with suffering.

It is impossible to speak definitely about the date and authorship of the Psalm. It is certainly difficult to connect it with what we know of David’s life; and we seem rather to be within the circle of prophetic thought out of which sprang the portrait of the suffering servant of Jehovah in the second book of Isaiah. The parallels with that book should be carefully studied. Yet the portrait there is more fully developed. The redemptive purpose of suffering is more explicitly realised. Here, though a glorious future succeeds the night of suffering, there is no organic connexion shewn between them.

The Psalm should be studied in the light of its fulfilment in regard both to its general drift and to particular allusions. The opening words were uttered by Christ upon the Cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). St John (John 19:24) expressly speaks of the partition of Christ’s garments by the soldiers as a fulfilment of Psalm 22:18 (cp. Matthew 27:35, where however the quotation is interpolated), Psalm 22:14 ff. are a startlingly graphic anticipation of the agonies of crucifixion, even to the piercing of the hands and feet. The mockery of the bystanders is described in the language of the Psalm, and the chief priests borrow it for their scoffing (Psalm 22:7 ff., cp. Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29 ff.; Luke 23:35 ff.). The words of thanksgiving (Psalm 22:22) are applied to Christ by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Psalm 2:12). The application of the concluding verses is obvious, though no actual reference is made to them in the N.T.

Yet it should be observed in how many points the type falls short of the fulfilment. It could not be otherwise. It is but one of many fragments of truth revealed beforehand which were to be summed up and receive their explanation in Christ.

Two points deserve special notice in connexion with the Messianic application of the Psalm. It contains no confession of sin; and it has none of the terrible imprecations which startle us in the kindred Psalms 69, 109.

The choice of the Psalm as a Proper Psalm for Good Friday needs no comment.

upon Aijeleth Shahar] Rather, set to Ayyéleth hash-Shahar, i.e. the hind of the morning, the title of some song to the melody of which the Psalm was to be sung, so called either from its opening words or from its subject. Cp. the title of Psalms 9. It is useless to speculate whether ‘the hind of the morning’ in this song meant literally the hind bestirring itself, or hunted, in the early morning, or figuratively, the morning dawn. The phrase is used in the Talmud for the first rays of the dawn, “like two horns of light ascending from the east,” but this later use can hardly determine its meaning here.

Explanations which regard the phrase as descriptive of the contents of the Psalm:—e.g. the hind as an emblem of persecuted innocence, the dawn as an emblem of deliverance:—must be rejected as contrary to the analogy of other titles.

The LXX renders, concerning the help that cometh in the morning, explaining ayyéleth by the similar word eyâlûth (strength or succour) in Psalm 22:19. The Targum connects it with the morning sacrifice, and paraphrases concerning the virtue of the continual morning sacrifice.

Ps 22:1-31.

The obscure words Aijeleth Shahar in this title have various explanations. Most interpreters agree in translating them by "hind of the morning." But great difference exists as to the meaning of these words. By some they are supposed (compare

Ps 9:1)

to be the name of the tune to which the words of the Psalm were set; by others, the name of a musical instrument. Perhaps the best view is to regard the phrase as enigmatically expressive of the subject--the sufferer being likened to a hind pursued by hunters in the early morning (literally, "the dawn of day")--or that, while hind suggests the idea of a meek, innocent sufferer, the addition of morning denotes relief obtained. The feelings of a pious sufferer in sorrow and deliverance are vividly portrayed. He earnestly pleads for divine aid on the ground of his relation to God, whose past goodness to His people encourages hope, and then on account of the imminent danger by which he is threatened. The language of complaint is turned to that of rejoicing in the assured prospect of relief from suffering and triumph over his enemies. The use of the words of the first clause of

Ps 22:1

by our Saviour on the cross, and the quotation of

Ps 22:18

by John

(Joh 19:24),

and of

Ps 22:22

by Paul

(Heb 2:12),

as fulfilled in His history, clearly intimate the prophetical and Messianic purport of the Psalm. The intensity of the grief, and the completeness and glory of the deliverance and triumph, alike appear to be unsuitable representations of the fortunes of any less personage. In a general and modified sense (see on

Ps 16:1),

the experience here detailed may be adapted to the case of all Christians suffering from spiritual foes, and delivered by divine aid, inasmuch as Christ in His human nature was their head and representative.

1. A summary of the complaint. Desertion by God, when overwhelmed by distress, is the climax of the sufferer's misery.

words of my roaring--shows that the complaint is expressed intelligently, though the term "roaring" is figurative, taken from the conduct of irrational creatures in pain.

According to this, each strophe, as Hengstenberg remarks, would consist of ten verses - with an intermediate verse between the 10th and the 12th Psalm 22:11 connecting the first and second parts. Prof. Alexander supposes that Psalm 22:21 is a connecting link also between the second and third parts.

This division, however, seems fanciful and arbitrary; and it will present a more simple and clear view of the psalm to regard it as embracing two main things: I. The condition of the sufferer; and II. His consolations or supports in his travels.

I. The condition of the sufferer. This consists of two parts:

(1) His sufferings as derived from God, or as they spring from God;

(2) as they are derived from men, or as they spring from the treatment which he receives from men.

(1) As they are derived from God, Psalm 22:1-2.

(a) He is forsaken of God, Psalm 22:1.

(b) He cries to him day and night (or continually), and receives no answer, Psalm 22:2.

His prayer seems not to be heard, and he is left to suffer apparently unpitied and alone.

(2) his sufferings as derived front men, as produced by the treatment which he received from men.

Here there are "five" specifications; "five" sources of his affliction and sorrow.

"First." He was despised, reproached, derided by them in the midst of his other sufferings, Psalm 22:6-8; especially his piety, or confidence in God was ridiculed, for it now seemed as if God had abandoned him.

"Second." His enemies were fierce and ravenous as strong bulls of Bashan, or as a ravening and roaring lion, Psalm 22:12-13.

"Third." His sufferings were intense, so that his whole frame was relaxed and prostrated and crushed; he seemed to be poured out like water, and all his bones were out of joint; his heart was melted like wax; his strength was dried up like a potsherd; his tongue clave to his jaws, and he was brought into the dust of death, Psalm 22:14-15.

"Fourth." His enemies pierced his hands and his feet, Psalm 22:16.

"Fifth." They stripped him of his raiment, and parted his garments among themselves, Psalm 22:18.

II. His consolations or supports in his trials. These are scattered through the psalm, and consist of the following things:

(l) His unshaken confidence in God as holy, Psalm 22:3.

(2) his faith in God as the hearer of prayer, and especially on the ground that he "had" heard prayer in times past, Psalm 22:4-5.

(3) The fact that he had been himself early devoted to God, and cast upon him as his Protector from very childhood, and trained up for him, Psalm 22:9-11.

(4) The anticipated cricket or result of what he was then suffering, or the things to be accomplished "by" his sufferings, Psalm 22:19-31. There are mainly "two" things implied here as to the anticipated result of his sufferings:

(a) The establishment of a great principle that would "encourage" the friends of God, or those whom the sufferer calls his "brethren," Psalm 22:22-26.

(b) The world would be converted as the result of his sufferings, and the kingdom of God would be set up everywhere among men, Psalm 22:27-31,

These views of the psalm are apparent on its time, or are such as are suggested by the analysis without reference to the inquiry who was the author, or to whom it refers. The analysis of the psalm, however, necessarily leads:

III. To the inquiry "to whom the psalm refers:"

(1) It refers to a sufferer, and it is designed to describe his condition and his feelings, when apparently forsaken by God and man. At the same time, he is a "pious" sufferer, or one who has real trust in God, though God "appears" to have forsaken him.

(2) There seems to be no reason to suppose that the psalm refers to David himself, or that he means to describe his own feelings and condition. He was indeed a sufferer; and he often refers to his own sufferings in the Psalms. It is true, also, that there are expressions in this psalm which would be applicable to him, or which might refer to his condition. But there are none which can be regarded as "exclusively" applicable to him, and there are some which could "not" be applied to him. Of the latter class are the expressions, "They pierced my hands and my feet," Psalm 22:16; "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture," Psalm 22:18. We know of no circumstances in the life of David to which these expressions would be applicable; we have no reason to suppose that there were any in which what is here said would have been literally true of him. On the other hand, this language cannot with propriety be regarded as "figurative," for we cannot conceive of any circumstances which would be described by such figures of speech. The whole east of the psalm, moreover, is different from those in which David refers to his own sufferings.

(3) The psalm refers to a case not then actually before the psalmist, but to some case that might or would occur, as an individual or as a representative case. So far as the mere "language" of the psalm is concerned, this might have been a case purely imaginary, and the design might have been to describe a pious sufferer who seemed to be forsaken both by God and man, or to illustrate the nature of true submission to God "in" such trials. In other words, it might have been a "supposed" case intended to show the nature of real religion under the severest forms of suffering; and, as a poet, the author of the psalm may have pictured to himself such an instance in order to show what the feelings of true piety would suggest in such circumstances, or what would be the effect of true religion then. It is true that this interpretation would not be quite obvious and natural, for we usually find such descriptions connected with real cases; but I am merely saying that "so far as the language of the psalm is concerned," if we had no other way to ascertain its meaning, this interpretation would be allowable - and if we could not attach the psalm properly to any real person, this explanation would be admissible. But in this case such an interpretation is unnecessary, for there "is" a real person to whom the language is applicable, and one to whom we may properly suppose an inspired writer would refer in the language which is used here.

(4) The psalm refers, therefore, I apprehend, originally and exclusively, to the Messiah. The proof of this is to be found in such circumstances as the following:

(a) Portions of it are expressly applied to him in the New Testament. The cry in Psalm 22:1, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is the very one used by the Redeemer when on the cross, Matthew 27:46. The language Psalm 22:8, "He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him," is the taunt which his enemies used as they passed by the cross, Matthew 27:43. The language Psalm 22:18, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture," is more than once expressly applied to him; and, in one instance, with the unequivocal statement that it was done "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," John 19:24. Compare Luke 23:34.

(b) We have evidence derived from the early Jewish interpreters. The modern Jews, indeed, affirm that it has no reference to the Messiah, for they reject the idea of a suffering Messiah altogether. Some of them suppose that it refers to David, and endeavor to find a fulfillment of it in his persecutions and trials. Others, as Kimchi and Jarchi, suppose that the psalm is applicable to the suffering Jewish people, and apply it to them in their trials and dispersions, as if "they" were forsaken of God. Some have supposed that it refers to the condition of the Jews in Babylon. But this was not the prevailing interpretation among the ancient Jewish interpreters. See Jo. H. Michaelis, Com. in Ps., p. 138; and Schottgen de Messia, pp. 232ff. It is true that the opinion of the ancient Jews does not "demonstrate" that the psalm refers to the Messiah; but the fact that they "held" that opinion is an important circumstance in showing what is its fair and obvious interpretation, for there was everything to induce "them" to reject this explanation. In general, the Jews who lived in the times referred to here were opposed to the idea of a suffering Messiah; and the fact that they admitted the applicability of the psalm to the Messiah must have embarrassed them not a little in their early controversies with Christians, for the carly Christians with one voice maintained that it referred to the Messiah, and that it was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. The correspondence between the psalm and his sufferings was one of the arguments on which they relied in proving that he was the Christ; and if the Jews admitted that the psalm had reference to the Messiah, they would find it hard to meet the force of this argument. Their admission, therefore, under these circumstances, that it referred to the Messiah, could have arisen only from the fair and obvious interpretation of the psalm which it was not easy to set aside.

(c) The internal character of the psalm shows that it refers to the Messiah. This will appear more conclusively in the course of the exposition, in the entire correspondence as will be seen there between the psalm and the sufferings of the Redeemer. It will be found that really of the expressions in the psalm are as applicable to him as they would be if they were "history" instead of "prophecy;" if they had been penned "after," instead of having been penned "before" his sufferings occurred. It is sufficient here to refer to the expressions in Psalm 22:1, note; Psalm 22:7-8, note; Psalm 22:16, note; and Psalm 22:18, note.

(d) There is no improbability in supposing that David here refers to the Messiah. It cannot be denied that there is, in the Old Testament, from some cause, a frequent reference to a personage who was expected to appear in future time, and who was called "the Messiah." And it cannot be denied that he is often represented as a sufferer, and that his humiliation and sufferings are often described. "Somehow," beyond all question, the Jewish writers had formed the conception of such a personage, and they exhaust the powers of their native tongue in their description of his person and his work. He was, in fact, their "hero;" he to whom they always looked, and on whom their descriptions usually terminated, wherever they began. Compare Isaiah 53:1-12, notes; and Daniel 9, notes. Now, if it be admitted that the Jewish writers were "inspired," and that this view of the Messiah had been furnished by the Spirit of inspiration, nothing is more natural than to expect to find such descriptions of the Messiah as occur in this psalm; and if it should be said that they were "not" inspired, and that this anticipation was wholly a poetic fiction - a matter of national vanity, - a mere favorite "idea" of the nation - nothing would even then be more natural than that there should be a frequent reference to this imaginary person in their writings; and nothing would be more probable than that we should find frequent reference to him in the writings of one who was so deeply imbued with the national spirit, and who occupied so high a position among the poets of the nation, as David. Inspired or uninspired, then, there is the strongest probability that there would be in their poetic writings such allusions to the Messiah as we have in this psalm.

An examination of the objections to the interpretation which refers the psalm to the Messiah, may be found in Hengstenberg's Christology, vol. i, pp. 145-147.

The title of the psalm is, "To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar." On the meaning of the expression "chief Musician," see the notes at the title to Psalm 4:1-8. The expression "Aijeleth Shahar" is rendered in the margin, "the hind of the morning." The word "Aijeleth" - אילת 'ayĕlĕth - means a "hind," and is used as a term of endearment toward a female, Proverbs 5:19. It is found in Genesis 49:21, "Naphtali is a "hind" let loose." Also in 2 Samuel 22:34; Job 39:1; Psalm 18:33; Sol 2:7; Sol 3:5; Habakkuk 3:19; in each of which places it is rendered in the singular "hind," and in the plural "hinds." The word "Shahar" - שׁחר shachar - means "the aurora, the dawn, the morning." "The phrase 'hind of the dawn' probably stands for the morning sun scattering his first rays upon the earth, as the Arabian poets call the rising sun "the gazelle," comparing his rays with the horns of that animal."

Gesenius, Lexicon - The image is one of gladness, "as if" the rays of the sun leaped and bounded over the hills with joyousness as the hart or hind does. But why such a title is given to this psalm can be only a matter of conjecture. It would seem most probable that these words were the beginning of some other psalm or hymn that was sung to a set piece of music, and that the design was, as indicated by this title, that this psalm was to be sung to the same tune. A tune might not improbably be known then, as it is in fact sometimes now, by the first or opening words of the piece which was commonly sung in that measure. Thus we have hynms so constantly sung to certain tunes that the mention of the first line would be a sufficient suggestion of the strain of music in which it was to be sung. It would be, for example, sufficient to say that it was to be sung to the same tune as "From Greenland's icy mountains;" or, "All hail the power of Jesus' name;" or, "I would not live alway." Other views of the meaning of the phrase may be seen in Rosenmuller, "Com. in loc." Rosenmuller himself adopts the views here expressed, and sustains his opinion by the authority of Bochart.

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 the psalm was designed to refer to him; though it must be admitted that this circumstance is no conclusive proof of such a design, since he might have used words having originally another reference, as best fitted to express his own sufferings. The language is abrupt, and is uttered without any previous intimation of what would produce or cause it. It comes from the midst of suffering - from one enduring intense agony - as if a new form of sorrow suddenly came upon him which he was unable to endure. That new form of suffering was the feeling that now he was forsaken by the last friend of the wretched - God himself. We may suppose that he had patiently borne all the other forms of trial, but the moment the thought strikes him that he is forsaken of God, he cries out in the bitterness of his soul, under the pressure of anguish which is no longer to be borne. All other forms of suffering he could bear. All others he had borne. But this crushes him; overpowers him; is beyond all that the soul can sustain - for the soul may bear all else but this. It is to be observed, however, that the sufferer himself still has confidence in God. He addresses him as his God, though he seems to have forsaken him: "My God; My God."

Why hast thou forsaken me? - Why hast thou abandoned me, or left me to myself, to suffer unaided and alone? As applicable to the Saviour, this refers to those dreadful moments on the cross when, forsaken by people, he seemed also to be forsaken by God Himself. God did not interpose to rescue him, but left him to bear those dreadful agonies alone. He bore the burden of the world's atonement by himself. He was overwhelmed with grief, and crushed with pain, for the sins of the world, as well as the agonies of the cross, had come upon him. But there was evidently more than this; "what" more we are unable fully to understand! There was a higher sense in which he was forsaken of God, for no mere physical sufferings, no pains of dying even on the cross, would have extorted this cry. If he had enjoyed the light of his Father's countenance; if these had been merely physical sufferings; if there was nothing else than what is apparent to our view in the record of those sufferings, we cannot suppose that this cry would have been heard even on the cross.

There is evidently some sense in which it was true that the dying Saviour was given up to darkness - to mental trouble, to despair, "as if" He who is the last hope of the suffering and the dying - the Father of mercies - had withdrawn from him; as if he were personally; a sinner; as if he were himself guilty or blameworthy on account of the sins for which he was making an expiation. In some sense he experienced what the sinner will himself experience when, for his own sins, he will be at last forsaken of God, and abandoned to despair. Every word in this wonderful exclamation may be supposed to be emphatic. "Why." What is the cause? How is it to be accounted for? What end is to be answered by it? "Hast thou." Thou, my Father; thou, the comforter of those in trouble; thou, to whom the suffering and the dying may look when all else fails. "Forsaken." Left me to suffer alone; withdrawn the light of thy countenance - the comfort of thy presence - the joy of thy manifested favor. "Me." Thy well-beloved Son; me. whom thou hast sent into the world to accomplish thine own work in redeeming man; me, against whom no sin can be charged, whose life has been perfectly pure and holy; why, now, in the extremity of these sufferings, hast thou forsaken me, and added to the agony of the cross the deeper agony of being abandoned by the God whom I love, the Father who loved me before the foundation of the world, John 17:24. There is a reason why God should forsake the wicked; but why should he forsake his own pure and holy Son in the agonies of death?

Why art thou so far from helping me? - Margin, from my salvation. So the Hebrew. The idea is that of one who stood so far off that he could not hear the cry, or that he could not reach out the hand to deliver. Compare Psalm 10:1.

And from the words of my roaring - The word used here properly denotes the roaring of a lion, Job 4:10; Isaiah 5:29; Zechariah 11:3; and then the outcry or the groaning of a person in great pain, Job 3:24; Psalm 32:3. It refers here to a loud cry for help or deliverance, and is descriptive of the intense suffering of the Redeemer on the cross. Compare Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46.