Psa 22:3-5, 9-11, 19-21 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 3. But thou art holy ] Though I be not heard, even while I cry earnestly, yet I cannot impute any fault or unkindness to my Maker; for thou art holy , and canst do nothing but what is right . This is the language of profound resignation, in trials the most difficult to be borne. Inhabitest the praises of Israel. ] Thou dwellest in the sanctuary where the praises, thanksgivings, and sacrifices of thy people are continually offered.

‏ Psalms 22:3-5

Verse 3. But thou art holy] Though I be not heard, even while I cry earnestly, yet I cannot impute any fault or unkindness to my Maker; for thou art holy, and canst do nothing but what is right. This is the language of profound resignation, in trials the most difficult to be borne.

Inhabitest the praises of Israel.] Thou dwellest in the sanctuary where the praises, thanksgivings, and sacrifices of thy people are continually offered.

Verse 4. Our fathers trusted in thee] David is supposed to have been, at the time of composing this Psalm, at Mahanaim, where Jacob was once in such great distress; where he wrestled with the angel, and was so signally blessed. David might well allude to this circumstance in order to strengthen his faith in God. I am now in the place where God so signally blessed the head and father of our tribes. I wrestle with God, as he did; may I not expect similar success?

Verse 5. They cried unto thee] So do I. THEY were delivered; so may I. THEY trusted in thee; I also trust in thee. And were not confounded; and is it likely that I shall be put to confusion?

‏ Psalms 22:9-11

Verse 9. But thou art he that took me out of the womb] Thou hast made me; and hast guided and defended me from my earliest infancy.

Verse 11. Be not far from me; for trouble is near] A present God is a present blessing. We always need the Divine help; but more especially when troubles and trials are at hand.

‏ Psalms 22:19-21

Verse 19. Be not thou far from me] In the first verse he asks, Why hast thou forsaken me? Or, as if astonished at their wickedness, Into what hands hast thou permitted me to fall? Now he prays, Be not far from me. St. Jerome observes here, that it is the humanity of our blessed Lord which speaks to his divinity. Jesus was perfect man; and as man he suffered and died. But this perfect and sinless man could not have sustained those sufferings so as to make them expiatory had he not been supported by the Divine nature. All the expressions in this Psalm that indicate any weakness, as far as it relates to Christ, (and indeed it relates principally to him,) are to be understood of the human nature; for, that in him God and man were united, but not confounded, the whole New Testament to me bears evidence, the manhood being a perfect man, the Godhead dwelling bodily in that manhood. Jesus, as MAN, was conceived, born, grew up, increased in wisdom, stature, and favour with God and man; hungered, thirsted, suffered, and died. Jesus, as GOD, knew all things, was from the beginning with God, healed the diseased, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead; calmed the raging of the sea, and laid the tempest by a word; quickened the human nature, raised it from the dead, took it up into heaven, where as the Lamb newly slain, it ever appears in the presence of God for us. These are all Scripture facts. The man Christ Jesus could not work those miracles; the God in that man could not have suffered those sufferings. Yet one person appears to do and suffer all; here then is GOD manifested in the FLESH.

O my strength] The divinity being the power by which the humanity was sustained in this dreadful conflict.

Verse 20. Deliver my soul from the sword] Deliver naphshi, my life; save me alive, or raise me again.

My darling] yechidathi, my only one. The only human being that was ever produced since the creation, even by the power of God himself, without the agency of man. ADAM the first was created out of the dust of the earth; that was his mother; God was the framer. ADAM the second was produced in the womb of the virgin; that was his mother. But that which was conceived in her was by the power of the Holy Ghost; hence the man Christ Jesus is the ONLY Son of God; God is his Father, and he is his ONLY ONE.

Verse 21. Save me from the lion's mouth] Probably our Lord here includes his Church with himself. The lion may then mean the Jews; the unicorns, remin (probably the rhinoceros,) the Gentiles. For the unicorn, See Clarke on Nu 23:22. There is no quadruped or land animal with one horn only, except the rhinoceros; but there is a marine animal, the narwhal or monodon, a species of whale, that has a very fine curled ivory horn, which projects from its snout. One in my own museum measures seven feet four inches, and is very beautiful. Some of these animals have struck their horn through the side of a ship; and with it they easily transfix the whale, or any such animal. The old Psalter says, "The unicorn es ane of the prudest best that es, so that he wil dye for dedeyn if he be haldyn ogayn his wil."