1My Mighty God, My Mighty God, why have You forsaken Me, and are far from My deliverance, and from the words of My groaning? 2O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer; and in the nighttime, and am not silent. 3But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. 5They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed. 6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, 8He trusted on Jehovah; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him! 9For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts. 10I was cast upon You from the womb; You are My Mighty God from My mother's belly. 11Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is no one to help. 12Many bulls have encircled Me; strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me. 13They have gaped at Me with their mouths, like a tearing and roaring lion. 14I am poured out like water, and all My bones are separated; My heart is like wax, it has melted within Me. 15My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; and You have brought Me into the dust of death. 16For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked have enclosed Me. They have pierced My hands and My feet. 17I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18They divide My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing. 19But You, O Jehovah, be not far from Me; O My Strength, make haste to help Me! 20Deliver My soul from the sword, My only one from the hand of the dog. 21Deliver Me from the lion's mouth; from the horns of the oryx. You have answered Me. 22I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. 23You who fear Jehovah, praise Him! All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him all you seed of Israel! 24For He has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried out to Him, He heard. 25My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will make good My vows before those who fear Him. 26The lowly shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Jehovah shall praise Him; your heart shall live forever. 27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall bow down before You. 28For the kingdom is Jehovah's; and He rules over the nations. 29All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, for no one can keep alive his own soul. 30A seed shall serve Him; it shall be recounted of Jehovah to the coming generation. 31They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness to a people that shall yet be born, that He has done this.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 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 (
John 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. (Psa. 22:1-31)
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.
2 The long distress is evinced by--
am not silent--literally, "not silence to me," either meaning, I continually cry; or, corresponding with "thou hearest not," or answerest not, it may mean, there is no rest or quiet to me.
3 Still he not only refrains from charging God foolishly, but evinces his confidence in God by appealing to Him.
thou art holy--or possessed of all the attributes which encourage trust, and the right object of the praises of the Church: hence the sufferer need not despair.
4 Past experience of God's people is a ground of trust. The mention of "our fathers" does not destroy the applicability of the words as the language of our Saviour's human nature.
6 He who was despised and rejected of His own people, as a disgrace to the nation, might well use these words of deep abasement, which express not His real, but esteemed, value.
7 For the Jews used one of the gestures (
Matt 27:39) here mentioned, when taunting Him on the cross, and (
Matt 27:43) reproached Him almost in the very, language of this passage.
shoot out--or, "open."
the lip--(Compare
Ps 35:21).
8 trusted on the Lord--literally, "rolled"--that is, his burden (
Ps 37:5;
Pro 16:3) on the Lord. This is the language of enemies sporting with his faith in the hour of his desertion.
9 Though ironically spoken, the exhortation to trust was well founded on his previous experience of divine aid, the special illustration of which is drawn from the period of helpless infancy.
didst make me hope--literally, "made me secure."
11 From this statement of reasons for the appeal, he renews it, pleading his double extremity, the nearness of trouble, and the absence of a helper.
12 His enemies, with the vigor of bulls and rapacity of lions, surround him, eagerly seeking his ruin. The force of both figures is greater without the use of any particle denoting comparison.
14 Utter exhaustion and hopeless weakness, in these circumstances of pressing danger, are set forth by the most expressive figures; the solidity of the body is destroyed, and it becomes like water; the bones are parted; the heart, the very seat of vitality, melts like wax; all the juices of the system are dried up; the tongue can no longer perform its office, but lies parched and stiffened (compare
Gen 49:4;
2Sam 14:14;
Ps 58:8). In this, God is regarded as the ultimate source, and men as the instruments.
15 the dust of death--of course, denotes the grave. We need not try to find the exact counterpart of each item of the description in the particulars of our Saviour's sufferings. Figurative language resembles pictures of historical scenes, presenting substantial truth, under illustrations, which, though not essential to the facts, are not inconsistent with them. Were any portion of Christ's terrible sufferings specially designed, it was doubtless that of the garden of Gethsemane.
16 Evildoers are well described as dogs, which, in the East, herding together, wild and rapacious, are justly objects of great abhorrence. The last clause has been a subject of much discussion (involving questions as to the genuineness of the Hebrew word translated "pierce)" which cannot be made intelligible to the English reader. Though not quoted in the New Testament, the remarkable aptness of the description to the facts of the Saviour's history, together with difficulties attending any other mode of explaining the clause in the Hebrew, justify an adherence to the terms of our version and their obvious meaning.
17 His emaciated frame, itself an item of his misery, is rendered more so as the object of delighted contemplation to his enemies. The verbs, "look" and "stare," often occur as suggestive of feelings of satisfaction (compare
Ps 27:13;
Ps 54:7;
Ps 118:7).
18 This literally fulfilled prediction closes the sad picture of the exposed and deserted sufferer.
19 He now turns with unabated desire and trust to God, who, in His strength and faithfulness, is contrasted with the urgent dangers described.
20 my soul--or self (compare
Ps 3:2;
Ps 16:10).
my darling--literally, "my only one," or, "solitary one," as desolate and afflicted (
Ps 25:16;
Ps 35:17).
21 Deliverance pleaded in view of former help, when in the most imminent danger, from the most powerful enemy, represented by the unicorn or wild buffalo.
the lion's mouth--(Compare
Ps 22:13). The lion often used as a figure representing violent enemies; the connecting of the mouth intimates their rapacity.
22 He declares his purpose to celebrate God's gracious dealings and publish His manifested perfections ("name,"
Ps 5:11), &c., and forthwith he invites the pious (those who have a reverential fear of God) to unite in special praise for a deliverance, illustrating God's kind regard for the lowly, whom men neglect [
Ps 22:24]. To hide the face (or eyes) expresses a studied neglect of one's cause, and refusal of aid or sympathy (compare
Ps 30:7;
Isa 1:15).
25 My praise shall be of thee--or, perhaps better, "from thee," that is, God gives grace to praise Him. With offering praise, he further evinces his gratitude by promising the payment of his vows, in celebrating the usual festival, as provided in the law (
Deut 12:18;
Deut 16:11), of which the pious or humble, and they that seek the Lord (His true worshippers) shall partake abundantly, and join him in praise [
Ps 22:26]. In the enthusiasm produced by his lively feelings, he addresses such in words, assuring them of God's perpetual favor [
Ps 22:26]. The dying of the heart denotes death (
1Sam 25:37); so its living denotes life.
27 His case illustrates God's righteous government. Beyond the existing time and people, others shall be brought to acknowledge and worship God; the fat ones, or the rich as well as the poor, the helpless who cannot keep themselves alive, shall together unite in celebrating God's delivering power, and transmit to unborn people the records of His grace.
30 it shall be accounted to the Lord for, &c.--or, "it shall be told of the Lord to a generation." God's wonderful works shall be told from generation to generation.
31 that he hath done this--supply "it," or "this"--that is, what the Psalm has unfolded.