Verse 22
22. I will declare thy name unto my brethren A sudden break in the connexion, and an abrupt opening of the final division of the psalm are apparent. From the deepest dejection and peril the tone and theme are changed to thanksgiving, hope, and triumph. Prophetically, the former part describes the passion; that which follows, the triumphs of the Redeemer after the resurrection. The transition point is found in the words, (Psalms 22:21,) “Thou hast heard me.” Certainly the answer to his prayer intervenes between Psalms 22:21-22. Bishop Horsley and others read it thus:
21. Save me from the mouth of the lion, And from the horns of the unicorns.
22. Thou hast heard me. I will declare thy name, etc.
The same sudden answers to prayer, marked by abrupt transitions, elsewhere occur. Psalms 6:8; Psalms 20:5; Psalms 28:6; Psalms 60:6.
Unto my brethren Historically applied, these words are remarkable. David, though cut off from his people and exiled, still counts himself in the brotherhood of the saints, to whom his first thought is to divulge the glad tidings. But, prophetically, these are the words of Christ to his disciples, thus quoted in Hebrews 2:11. Christ calls his disciples “brethren,” (John 20:17,) and “friends,” (John 15:15,) and he alone reveals the Father to us.
Congregation The word commonly used to denote the general assembly, or collective whole, of the covenant people. In Psalms 22:25 called the “great congregation,” and defined as “them that fear God.” The quotation of this, in Hebrews 2:12, is made verbally from the Septuagint, where εκκλησια is the common Greek word for קהל , ( congregation,) as it is in the New Testament for Church. See on Psalms 35:10; Psalms 35:18
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