George Hutcheson, 1657.
Verse 18. "And cast lots upon my vesture." Trifling as this act of
casting the lot for our Lord's vesture may appear, it is most significant.
It contains a double lesson. It teaches us how greatly that seamless shirt
was valued; how little he to whom it had belonged. It seemed to say, this
garment is more valuable than its owner. As it was said of the thirty
pieces of silver, "A goodly price at which I was prized at of them;" so may
we say regarding the casting of the lot, "How cheaply Christ was held!"
John Stevenson.
Verse 20. "My darling" had better be rendered "my lonely, or solitary
one." For he wishes to say that his soul was lonely and forsaken by all,
and that there was no one who sought after him as a friend, or cared for
him, or comforted him: as we have it, Psalm 142:4, "Refuge failed me; no one
cared for my soul; I looked on my right hand, but there was no one who would
know me;" that is, solitude is of itself a certain cross, and especially so
in such great torments, in which it is most grievous to be immersed without
an example and without a companion. And yet, in such a state, everyone of
us must be, in some suffering or other, and especially in that of death; and
we must be brought to cry out with Psalm 25:16, "Turn thee unto me, and have
mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted."
Martin Luther.
Verse 20. "The dog." It is scarcely possible for a European to form an
idea of the intolerable nuisance occasioned in the villages and cities of
the East, by the multitudes of dogs that infest the streets. The natives,
accustomed from their earliest years to the annoyance, come to be regardless
of it; but to a stranger, these creatures are the greatest plague to which
he is subjected; for as they are never allowed to enter a house, and do not
constitute the property of any particular owner, they display none of those
habits of which the domesticated species among us are found susceptible, and
are destitute of all those social qualities which often render the dog the
trusty and attached friend of man. . . . The race seems wholly to
degenerate in the warm regions of the East, and to approximate to the
character of beasts of prey, as in disposition they are ferocious, cunning,
bloodthirsty, and possessed of the most insatiable voracity: and even in
their very form there is something repulsive; their sharp and savage
features; their wolf-like eyes; their long hanging ears; their straight and
pointed tails; their lank and emaciated forms, almost entirely without a
belly, give them an appearance of wretchedness and degradation, that stands
in sad contrast with the general condition and qualities of the breed in
Europe. . . . These hideous creatures, dreaded by the people for their
ferocity, or avoided by them as useless and unclean, are obliged to prowl
about everywhere in search of a precarious existence. . . . They generally
run in bands, and their natural ferocity, inflamed by hunger, and the
consciousness of strength, makes them the most troublesome and dangerous
visitors to the stranger who unexpectedly finds himself in their
neighbourhood, as they will not scruple to seize whatever he may have about
him, and even, in the event of his falling, and being otherwise defenceless,
to attack and devour him. . . These animals, driven by hunger, greedily
devour everything that comes in their way; they glut themselves with the
most putrid and loathsome substances that are thrown about the cities, and
of nothing are they so fond as of human flesh, a repast, with which the
barbarity of the despotic countries of Asia frequently supplies them, as the
bodies of criminals slain for murder, treason, or violence, are seldom
buried, and lie exposed till the mangled fragments are carried off by the
dogs.
From "Illustrations of Scripture, by the late Professor George Paxton,
D.D., revised and enlarged by Robert Jamieson," 1843.
Verse 21. "Save me from the lion's mouth." Satan is called a lion, and
that fitly; for he hath all the properties of the lion: as bold as a lion,
as strong as a lion, as furious as a lion, as terrible as the roaring of a
lion. Yea, worse: the lion wants subtlety and suspicion; herein the devil
is beyond the lion. The lion will spare the prostrate, the devil spares
none. The lion is full and forbears, the devil is full and devours. He
seeks all; let not the simple say, He will take no notice of me; nor the
subtle, He cannot overreach me; nor the noble say, He will not presume to
meddle with me; nor the rich, He dares not contest with me; for he seeks to
devour all. He is our common adversary, therefore let us cease all quarrels
amongst ourselves, and fight with him.
Thomas Adams.
Verse 21. "Save me . . . from the horns of the unicorns." Those who
are in great trouble from the power or cruelty of others, often cry out to
their gods, "Ah! save me from the tusk of the elephant! from the mouth of
the tiger and the tusks of the boar, deliver me, deliver me!" Who will save
me from the horn of the K�ndam?" This animal is now extinct in these
regions, and it is not easy to determine what it was; the word in the Sathur
— Agar�the —is rendered "jungle cow."
Joseph Roberts.
Verse 21. "The horns of the unicorns." On turning to the Jewish Bible
we find that the word (Heb.) is translated as buffalo, and there is no doubt
that this rendering is nearly the correct one, and at the present day
naturalists are nearly agreed that the re�m of the Old Testament must have
been now the extinct urus. . . . The presence of these horns affords a
remarkable confirmation to a well-known passage in Julias Caesar's familiar
"Commentaries." "The uri are little inferior to elephants in size
("magnitudine paulo infra elephantos;") "but are bulls in their nature,
color, and figure. Great is their strength, and great their swiftness; nor
do they spare man or beast when they have caught sight of them."
J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S., in "Bible Animals." 1869.
Verse 22. "I will declare thy name unto my brethren." Having thus
obtained relief from the oppressive darkness, and regained conscious
possession of the joy and light of his Father's countenance, the thoughts
and desires of the Redeemer flow into their accustomed channel. The glory
of God in the salvation of his church.
John Stevenson.
Verse 22. "My brethren." This give evidence of the low condescension
of the Son of God, and also of the high exaltation of sons of men; for the
Son of God to be a brother to sons of men is a great degree of humiliation,
and for the sons of men to be made brethren with the Son of God is a high
degree of exaltation; for Christ's brethren are in that respect sons of God,
heirs of heaven, or kings, not earthly, but heavenly; not temporary, but
everlasting kings. . . . This respect of Christ to his brethren is a great
encouragement and comfort to such as are despised and scorned by men of this
world for Christ's professing of them.
William Gouge.
Verse 24. "For he hath not despised nor abhorred the prayer of the poor,
neither hath he hid his face from me; but when I cried unto him, he heard
me." Let him, therefore, that desires to be of the seed of Israel, and to
rejoice in the grace of the gospel, become poor, for this is a fixed truth,
our God is one that has respect unto the poor! And observe the fulness and
diligence of the prophet. He was not content with having said "will not
despise," but adds, "and will not abhor;" and, again, "will not turn away
his face;" and again, "will hear." And then he adds himself as an example,
saying, "When I cried," as our translation has it. As if he had said,
"Behold ye, and learn by my example, who have been made the most vile of all
men, and numbered among the wicked; when I was despised, cast out, rejected,
behold! I was held in the highest esteem, and taken up, and heard. Let not
this state of things, therefore, after this, my encouraging example,
frighten you; the gospel requires a man to be such a character before it
will save him. These things, I say, because our weakness requires so much
exhortation, that it might not dread being humbled, nor despair when
humbled, and thus might, after the bearing of the cross, receive the
salvation.
Martin Luther.
Verse 25. "My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation," etc.
The joy and gratitude of our adorable Lord rise to such a height at this
great deliverance, his heart so overflows with fresh and blessed
consciousness of his heavenly Father's nearness, that he again pours forth
the expression of his praise. By its repetition, he teaches us that this is
not a temporary burst of gratitude, but an abiding determination, a full and
settled resolution.
John Stevenson.
Verse 25. "In the great congregation." Saints are fittest witnesses of
sacred duties. That which, in Psalm 116:14, is implied under this particle
of restraint, "his," in "the presence of all his people," is in Psalm 22:25,
more expressly noted by a more apparent description, thus: "I will pay my
vows before them that fear him." None but true saints do truly fear God.
1. This property of God's people, that they fear the Lord, showeth that
they will make the best use of such sacred, solemn duties performed in their
presence. They will glorify God for this your zeal; they will join their
spirits with your spirit in this open performance of duty; they will become
followers of you, and learn of you to vow and pay unto the Lord, and that
openly, publicly. 2. As for others, they are no better than such hogs and
dogs as are not meet to have such precious pearls and holy things cast
before them, lest they trample them under their feet.
William Gouge.
Verse 26. "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the
Lord that seek him; your heart shall live for ever." A spiritual banquet
is prepared in the church for the "meek" and lowly in heart. The death of
Christ was the sacrifice for sin; his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is
drink indeed. The poor in spirit feed on this provision, in their hearts by
faith, and are satisfied; and thus, whilst they "seek" the Lord, they
"praise" him also, and their "hearts" (or souls), are preserved unto
eternal life.
Practical Illustrations of the Book of Psalms," 1826.
Verse 26. "The meek." Bonaventure engraved this sweet saying of our
Lord, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart," in his study. O that
this saying was engraved upon all your foreheads, and upon all your hearts!
Charles Bradbury.
Verse 26. "They shall praise the Lord that seek him; your heart shall
live for ever." Now, I would fain know the man that ever went about to
form such laws as should bind the hearts of men, or prepare such rewards
as should reach the souls and consciences of men! Truly, if any mortal man
should make a law that his subjects should love him with all their hearts
and souls, and not dare, upon peril of his greatest indignation, to
entertain a traitorous thought against his royal person, but presently
confess it to him, or else he would be avenged on him, he would deserve to
be more laughed at for his pride and folly, than Xerxes for casting his
fetters into the Hellespont, to chain the waves into his obedience; or
Caligula, that threatened the air, if it durst rain when he was at his
pastimes, who durst not himself so much as look into the air when it
thundered. Certainly a madhouse would be more fit for such a person than a
throne, who should so far forfeit his reason, as to think that the thoughts
and hearts of men were within his jurisdiction.
William Gurnall.
Verse 26. "Your heart," that is, not your outward man, but the hidden
man of the heart (Ezekiel 36:26); the new man which is created after the
image of God in righteousness and true holiness, "shall live for ever."
The life which animates it is the life of the Spirit of God.
John Stevenson.
Verse 27. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the