Psalm 22:1-10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:2

Verse 2 2.O my God! I cry in the day-time. In this verse the Psalmist expresses the long continuance of his affliction, which increased his disquietude and weariness. It was a temptation even still more grievous, that his crying seemed only to be lost labor; for, as our only means of relief under our calamities is in calling upon God, if we derive no advantage from our prayers, what other remedy remains for us? David, therefore, complains that God is in a manner deaf to his prayers. When he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:3

Verse 3 3.Yet thou art holy. In the Hebrew, it is properly, And thou art holy: but the copula ו , vau, ought, without doubt, to be rendered by the adversative particle yet. Some think that the eternal and immutable state of God is here set in opposition to the afflictions which David experienced; (504) but I cannot subscribe to this opinion. It is more simple and natural to view the language as meaning, that God has always shown himself gracious to his chosen people. The subject here treated is... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:4

Verse 4 4.Our fathers trusted in thee. Here the Psalmist assigns the reason why God sitteth amidst the praises of the tribes of Israel. The reason is, because his hand had been always stretched forth to preserve his faithful people. David, as I have just now observed, gathers together the examples of all past ages, in order thereby to encourage, strengthen, and effectually persuade himself, that as God had never cast off any of his chosen people, he also would be one of the number of those for... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:6

Verse 6 6.But I am a worm, and not a man. David does not murmur against God as if God had dealt hardly with him; but in bewailing his condition, he says, in order the more effectually to induce God to show him mercy, that he is not accounted so much as a man. This, it is true, seems at first sight to have a tendency to discourage the mind, or rather to destroy faith; but it will appear more clearly from the sequel, that so far from this being the case, David declares how miserable his condition... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:7

Verse 7 7.All those who see me mock at me, etc., (505) This is an explanation of the preceding sentence. He had said that he was an object of scorn to the lowest of men, and, as it were, to the refuse of the people. He now informs us of the ignominy with which he had been treated, — that not content with opprobrious language, they also showed their insolence by their very gesture, both by shooting out their lips, (506) and by shaking their heads. As the words which we renderthey thrust out the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:8

Verse 8 How severe a temptation this must have been to David every man may judge from his own experience. But by the remedy he used he afforded a proof of the sincerity of his confidence: for unless he had had God as the undoubted witness and approver of the sincerity of his heart, he would never have dared to come before him with this complaint. Whenever, therefore, men charge us with hypocrisy, let it be our endeavor that the inward sincerity of our hearts may answer for us before God. And... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 22:9

Verse 9 9.Surely thou. David again here raises a new fortress, in order to withstand and repel the machinations of Satan. He briefly enumerates the benefits which God had bestowed upon him, by which he had long since learned that he was his father. Yea, he declares that even before he was born God had shown towards him such evidence of his fatherly love, that although now overwhelmed with the darkness of death, he might upon good ground venture to hope for life from him. And it is the Holy... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 22:1

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Not a cry of despair, but a cry of loving faith, " My God, my God—Why hast thou for a time withdrawn thyself?" It is remarkable that our Lord's quotation of this passage does not follow exactly either the Hebrew or the Chaldee paraphrase—the Hebrew having 'azabthani for sabacthani , and the Chaldee paraphrase metul ma for lama. May we not conclude that it is the thought, and not its verbal expression by the sacred writers, that is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 22:1-10

The cry of despair struggling with the cry of faith. The writer was' apparently an exile, still in the hands of his heathen captors. His extreme peril, the obloquy and scorn to which he was exposed as a professed worshipper of Jehovah, his imminent death, are touched on with a tenderness and a power which have made the language familiar to us in another application—as used by Christ in the agonies of the cross. It is the cry of despair struggling with the cry of faith. I. THE CRY ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 22:1-31

The psalm is composed, manifestly, of two portions—the complaint and prayer of a sufferer ( Psalms 22:1-21 ), and a song of rejoicing after deliverance ( Psalms 22:22-31 ). According to some critics, the first of these two portions is also itself divided into two parts—each consisting of two strophes ( Psalms 22:1-10 and Psalms 22:12-21 ), which are linked together by a single ejaculatory verse ( Psalms 22:11 ). A further analysis divides each of the three strophes of ten verses... read more

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