Psalms 22:20 - Exposition

Deliver my soul from the sword. "The sword" symbolizes the authority of the Roman governor—that authority by which Christ was actually put to death. If he prayed, even on the cross, to be delivered from it, the prayer must have been offered with the reservations previously made in Gethsemane, "If it be possible" ( Matthew 26:39 ); "If thou be willing" ( Luke 22:42 ); "Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." The human will in Christ was in favour of the deliverance; the Divine will, the same in Christ as in his Father, was against it. My darling—literally, my only one —from the power of the dog. By "my darling" there is no doubt that the soul is intended, both here and in Psalms 35:17 . It seems to be so called as the most precious thing that each man possesses (see Matthew 16:26 ). "The dog" is used, not of an individual, but of the class, and is best explained, like the "dogs" in Psalms 35:16 , of the executioners.