Isai. 26. 11. al. 4. 1. Job 18. 17, 19. Matt. 2. 8, 16: 21. 46. Job. 16. 12. Lam. 3. 12. 1 Chron. 29. 11. Rev. 18. 20. 9 Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven in time of thy wrath: the Lord shall destroy them in his displeasure, and the fire shall consume them. 10 Their fruit shalt thou root out of the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. 11 For they intended mischief against thee, and imagined such a device, as they are not able to perform. 12 Therefore shalt thou put them to flight; and the strings of thy bow shalt thou make ready against the face of them. 13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength; so will we sing, and praise thy power. Evening Prayer. PSALM XXII. How minutely and pathetically soever David may in this Psalm have portrayed his own sorrows, there can be no doubt, that every thing, which he has here written, more exactly agrees with the circumstances and effect of our Saviour's existence in the flesh. It must be considered, therefore, as referring almost entirely to Him; and, as comprising a most full and clear prophecy, not only of His sufferings, but of the propagation of His gospel. Besides, the writers of the New Testament agree in this opinion; and Christ himself, as if deigning to confirm it by anticipation, repeated part of the first verse, if not the whole Psalm, whilst hanging on the cross. Hab. 1. 12, 13. Lam. 3. 8, 44. MY Y God, my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? and art so far from my health [helping me], and from the words of my complaint? 20 my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season also I take no rest [am not silent]. plain by fire, shall ascend up to heaven, like the smoke of "a burning fiery furnace." Gen. xix. 28. Rev. xiv. 11. But a furnace was occasionally employed as an emblem of bondage and affliction. Deut. iv. 20. -The fire. Either the divine anger, or the retribution, which that anger will hereafter heap upon the wicked. Deut. iv. 24: xxxii. 22. 13 Be thou exalted, &c. Do thou, O Lord, exert thy resistless might, and prove thyself superior to all who oppose thee, that I and my people, who trust in Thee rather than in our own power, may have ample cause to shew forth thy glory. Psalm xLvi. 10. 2 I take no rest. David may mean, either that, during the night, 3 And [But] thou continuest holy, O thou worship of Israel. 4 Our fathers hoped in thee; they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They called upon thee, and were holpen: they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded. Isai. 6. 3. Rev. 4. 8. Gen. 32. 9, &c. 1 Sam. 7. 9, &c. Isai. 49. 23. 53.3. 6 But, as for me, I am a worm, and no man; Isai. 41. 14: a very scorn of men, and the out-cast of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying, 8 He trusted in God, that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he will have [delight in] him. 9 But thou art he, that took me out of my mother's womb: thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother's breasts. 10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born: thou art my God even from my mother's womb. 11 O go not from me; for trouble is hard at hand, and there is none to help me. 12 Many oxen are come about me: fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side. 13 They gape upon me with their mouths, as it were a ramping and a roaring lion. 1 Gen. 50. 20. Matt. 27. 39, &c. Ps. 71. 5. Isai. 46. 3, 4. Luke 2. 52. John 16. 32. Mark 15. 1, &c. Job 16. 10, 11 Lam. 2. 16. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my Job 2. 13. he does not discontinue his mournful cries; or, that they remain unheeded, since he then obtains no relief. 3 And thou continuest holy. Nevertheless, in thy treatment of me, thou must be acknowledged to be holy and righteous; for the course of thy providence, whatever it be, no one can justly blame. Psalm Li. 4: LXXvii. 13.- -Thou worship, &c. Thou, who, from thy unvarying protection of the Israelites, art the sole object of their daily worship and praise. Deut. x. 21. Jer. xvii. 14. So Christ is styled the glory of Israel, Luke ii. 32. 5 Confounded. This is a word of very frequent occurrence in the scriptures. It signifies the shame and "confusion of face," which become the lot of those, who have found their fondly cherished hopes come to nought. Job vi. 20. Psalm xLiv. 16. 12 Fat bulls, &c. The enemies of David are declared to be as furious and as formidable as the large bulls, fed in the rich pastures and fertile soil of Bashan. Ezek. xxxix. 18. Amos iv. 1. 14 I am poured out, &c. As water poured upon the ground, instead of keeping together, flows immediately in every direction, so I also D 2 Cor. 12. 10. John 19. 28. Matt. 2. 16. Luke 11. 53, 54. John 19. 34: 20. 25. Mark 15. 24. Ps. 10. 1: 38. 22. Zech. 13. 7. John 14. 30. 2 Tim. 4. 17. bones are out of joint; my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums; and thou shalt bring me into the dust of death. 16 For many dogs are come about me, and the council [assembly] of the wicked layeth siege against me. 17 They pierced my hands and my feet: I may tell all my bones: they stand staring and looking upon me: 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: thou art my succour, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion's mouth: thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the uni corns. have no consistency: my bones are without strength, and my bodily frame, being unequal to any kind of exertion, scarcely possesses power even to sustain itself: my spirit too is so completely depressed by pain and grief, that my heart fails me, and may almost be said to be dissolved, like wax melting before the fire. Job xxiii. 16. Mic. i. 4. 15 A potsherd. The proper meaning of this word is, of course, a fragment of a broken pot; but here it would seem to imply the pot itself, when whole; for David compares himself to an earthen vessel, which has been dried and baked in the furnace, until there is no longer any moisture in it. Prov. xvii. 22. The same thing occurs, Isai. XLV. 9.- -My tongue, &c. Through the dryness of my mouth, my tongue has no ability to move itself freely, or to assist me in expressing my sorrows.- -Thou shalt bring me, &c. If I do not speedily obtain relief, I shall be brought down to the grave. 16 Many dogs. See on Psalm Lix. 6. 17 I may tell, &c. By reason of my lean and emaciated condition, (which intense grief has occasioned,) my bones stand out so prominently, that I am able even to number them up. The for 18 My garments—my vesture. See on Psalm xxxiv. 20. mer of these words, though in the plural (see on Psalm LXXviii. 65), denotes the large, loose, outward garment, worn by the eastern nations, as a covering over the rest of their raiment during the day, but which they frequently used to sleep under at night. The latter appears to refer to the inner garment, or vest, worn close to the body. 20 My soul. See on Psalm vii. 2. The life is again called the darling, or the dear life, Psalm xxxv. 17. 21 Thou hast heard me. David begins, as usual, confidently to anticipate relief. The unicorns. Our translators certainly meant the 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren; | John 20. 17. in the midst of the congregation will I praise Heb. 2. 12. thee. 23 O praise the Lord, ye that fear him: magnify [glorify] him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and fear him, all ye seed of Israel; 24 For he hath not despised, nor abhorred, the low estate of the poor [afflicted]: he hath not hid his face from him, but, when he called unto him, he heard him. 25 My praise is [shall be] of thee in the great congregation: my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him. 26 The poor [meek] shall eat, and be satisfied: they, that seek after the Lord, shall praise him: your heart shall live for ever. 27 All the ends of the world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him. Luke 2. 20. Rom. 1. 4. Heb. 5. 7. Ps. 66. 12. Lev. 7. 16. 1 Thess. 1. 9. Rev. 15. 4. rhinoceros, which has generally but a single horn, arising, in agreement with its name, from the nose. The word "horns," therefore, they probably considered to be only another instance of a plural put for a singular; unless, indeed, they were aware, that a species of this animal really did exist, having two horns, a longer and a shorter, one behind the other. 22 Thy name. As the gracious and mighty Jehovah. See on Psalm v. 12. My brethren. Those, who, like myself, worship thee" in spirit and in truth." But Christ was, in reality, and above all others, "the firstborn among many brethren." Rom. viii. 29. 23 Ye that fear him. See on Psalm cxv. 11. We have here the form of words, in which David purposes publicly to incite "the congregation" to acknowledge Jehovah's goodness towards himself. 25 My vows. The sacrifices, which, during my late distress, I promised to offer.- -Him. See similar instances of a change of person, Psalm xvi. 6: Lxviii. 18: cxvi. 15. In consequence of the frequent recurrence of this change, it has been suggested, that the Hebrew writers may possibly have deemed it an elegance. 26 The poor shall eat, &c. The poor (in spirit) shall be invited to partake of my " sacrifices of thanksgiving," and shall also be permitted to satiate their hunger by eating of them. Ver. 29.- -Your heart, &c. Having just said, that the pious would praise God for his late mercies towards himself; and perceiving that they were now assembled, in order to join in the sacrificial feast, he exhorts them, with this friendly salutation, to take lasting comfort from his own example, and thence learn, that Jehovah never would desert his faithful servants. live" has a similar signification, Psalm Lxix. 33. 1 Thess. iii. 8. 27 Shall remember themselves, &c. Shall call to mind the various "To Zech. 14. 9. Ps. 45. 13. Phil. 2. 10, 11. Matt. 3. 9. Ps. 102. 18. Rom. 3. 22. 28 For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the people [nations]. 29 All such, as be fat upon earth, have eaten, and worshipped. 30 All they, that go down into the dust, shall kneel before him; and no man hath quickened [can keep alive] his own soul. 31 My seed shall serve him: they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation. 32 They shall come, and the heavens shall declare his righteousness unto a people, that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made. blessings, which they have received from the Lord, together with the wondrous works, which they know him to have performed in defence of his chosen people; and, throwing away their idols (Isai. ii. 20), shall humbly desire to be numbered, as proselytes, among His worshippers. 28 The kingdom. The superintendence and direction of the whole world. Obad. 21. 29 All such, as be fat, &c. David speaks under the influence of a prophetic spirit, as if "the fulness of the Gentiles" had already come in (Rom. xi. 25), and as if all the rich and powerful upon earth had, even in his time, and in the Christian sense, made a covenant with God with sacrifice. Psalm L. 5. Not every victim was wholly consumed on the altar; sometimes only a part was there burnt, the remainder being eaten by the priests and the party offering. See on Psalm cxvi. 12. 30 All they that go down, &c. All mortals, without exception, will, some time or another, come and worship at his altar, conscious that their animal life, in its origin and preservation, but much more the life of their souls, depends on Him only. 31 My seed, &c. My descendants, that is, my spiritual offspring, all who possess my faith and piety, will be accounted sacred to the Lord, a chosen generation, a peculiar people," in the Messiah. 1 Pet. ii. 9. 66 32 They shall come, &c. Generation after generation shall arise and pass away (see on Psalm xxxi. 5), until, at length, "in the fulness of time," the Messiah will be born into the world, when the heavens will announce God's truth and faithfulness in calling the gentiles according to his promise, to all, who obey that calling, and are thus begotten by him again unto a lively hope (1 Pet. i. 3). Under the word 66 heavens,” (which exists not in the original,) a reference may have been designed by our old translators to the various methods employed by the Deity, whose dwelling-place is in heaven, to spread abroad among the heathen the accomplishment of his merciful plan for man's redemption. Psalm xcviii. 3. Or, the angels are, perhaps, intended, those heavenly messengers, who really were sent down to announce to the Jewish nation the advent of the Messiah. Luke i. 11, 26: ii. 9, 13. See on Psalm xcvii. 6. |