Psalms 22:1

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

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Title.

Psalms 22 THE That question mentioned , is very proper here. Of whom speaketh the prophet this (Psalm)? of himself, or of some other man? It is confessed that David was a type of Christ, and that many Psalms, or passages of the Psalms, though properly and literally understood of David, yet had a further and mystical reference to Christ, in whom they were accomplished. But there are some other Psalms, or passages in the Psalms, as also some chapters or passages in other prophets, especially in Isaiah, who lived not very long after David, which either by those sacred penmen, or at least by the Holy Ghost inspiring them, which is one and the same thing, were directly, primarily, and immediately intended for, and areproperly and literally to be understood of, the Messias; though withal there may be some respect and allusion to the state of the penman himself, who being a type of Christ, it is not strange if there be many resemblances between them. And this seems to be the state of this Psalm, which is understood of the Messias by the Hebrew doctors themselves, and by Christ himself, and by his apostles, as we shall see. And there are many passages in it, which are most literally accomplished in him, and cannot in a tolerable sense be understood of any other, as we shall see in the particular verses. And therefore I doubt not that David, though he had an eye to his own condition in divers passages here used, yet was carried forth by the Spirit of prophecy beyond himself, and unto Christ, to whom alone it truly and fully agrees. Aijeleth Shahar; or, the hind of the morning, to note that the person here designed was like a hind, comely and meek, and every way lovely, but withal persecuted by wicked men, and that oftentimes is in the morning, when she comes out of her lurking and lodging place, and when the hunters use to go abroad to their work. Or this was the title of some musical instrument, or tune, or song, which was usually sung in the morning. The prophet, as a type of Christ, complaineth that God had forsaken him, , and heard not his prayers, . He showeth that he heard his fathers, and delivered them, ; but owns himself a worm, , and the reproach of men, . He showeth the language of the enemy against him; yet his trust is in God, . He calleth all Israel to praise him, . He showeth the happiness of the meek, ; and of all the Gentiles, . My God; whom, notwithstanding thy forsaking me, I heartily love, and in whom I trust; who art my Friend and Father, though now thou frownest upon me. My God; the repetition notes the depth of his distress, which made him cry so earnestly, and the strugglings of his faith with his fears and sorrows. Why hast thou forsaken me, i.e.

Psalms 22:1 « To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. » My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou so] far from helping me, [and from] the words of my roaring?Upon Aijeleth Shahar] On, The morning hart or stag; such a one as the huntsman severs out in the morning from the rest, to hunt for that day. It showeth, saith one, David’ s and Christ’ s early and incessant persecution and hunting (by those dogs, Psalms 22:16) till they came to their kingdoms. David had his share of sharp afflictions, doubtless, when he penned this psalm: witness that graphic description of his greatest grief in all parts and powers of body and soul, Psalms 22:14-16, &c. But his mind and thoughts were by God’ s Holy Spirit carried out to Christ’ s most dolorous and inexpressible sufferings; to the which all his were but as flea bitings, as the slivers or chips of Christ’ s cross; and this was no small mitigation of his misery. When the Jews offered our Saviour gall and vinegar he tasted it, but would not drink. The rest he left for his people, and they must pledge him, filling up that which is behind of his sufferings, Colossians 1:24, though for a different end, as for exercise, example, trial, witness of truth, &c. Ver. 1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? David had prayed, "O forsake me not utterly," Psalms 119:8. In part and for a time be knew God might forsake him, to his thinking at least. But what saith Austin? Non deserit Deus etiamsi descrere videatur; non deserit etiamsi deserat, God forsaketh not his, though he seem sometimes to do so; he leaveth them sometimes, but forsaketh them never; as in an eclipse, the earth lacks the light of the sun, but not the influence thereof. David could at the same time call God his God thrice over, which are words of faith, and do plainly evince that this desertion under which he groaned was neither absolute nor real, but only that he was in a great distress and perplexity; so that he did believe, and yet not believe (Plato, though a heathen, could say that a man may do so). See the like Psalms 31:22 Jonah 2:4; see the note there. Our Saviour, in his deepest distress on the cross, when coping and conflicting with the wrath of his heavenly Father, who (beside the wrath of men and rage of devils in that three hours’ darkness especially) fought against him with his own bare hand, he suffered more than can be imagined, took up this pathetic exclamation, and, as some think, repeated this whole psalm. Then it was that he felt in soul and body the horror of God’ s displeasure against sin, for which he had undertaken.

(1) My God, my God.—Heb., Eli, Eli, lama azavtanî, where the Targum paraphrases sabbacthani, the form used by our Saviour on the cross. (See Notes, N. T. Comm., Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34.) The LXX. and Vulgate insert “look upon me.” (Comp. English Prayer Book version.) For the despairing tone comp. Psalms 80:14. It suits the whole of pious Israel in her times of trouble even better than any individual. The second part of the verse is obscure from its lyric conciseness, but the Authorised Version has given the meaning, though sacrificing the rhythm— “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, Far from my aid, from the words of my groaning?” i.e., far from listening to the words that escape me only in groans. Roaring.—A word used generally of a lion (Isaiah 5:29; comp. Judges 14:5); but also of a man (Psalms 38:9). Hitzig’s conjecture, “from my cry,” instead of “from my help,” is very plausible, since it makes the parallelism complete and involves a very slight change. The LXX. and Vulg. have “the words of my offences.”

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

1–10. The pleading cry of the forsaken and persecuted servant of God.

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.

1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me—The quotation of these words by Matthew (Matthew 27:46) and Mark (Mark 15:34) decides their application to Christ.