221 To the chief Musician. Upon Aijeleth-Shahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou] far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning? 2 My God, I cry by day, and thou answerest not; and by night, and there is no rest for me: 3 And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers confided in thee: they confided, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they confided in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying:] 8 Commit it to Jehovah—let him rescue him; let him deliver him, because he delighteth in him! 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me trust, upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 22:1-10
Commentary on Psalm 22:1-10
(Read Psalm 22:1-10)
The Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets, testifies in this psalm, clearly and fully, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. We have a sorrowful complaint of God's withdrawings. This may be applied to any child of God, pressed down, overwhelmed with grief and terror. Spiritual desertions are the saints' sorest afflictions; but even their complaint of these burdens is a sign of spiritual life, and spiritual senses exercised. To cry our, My God, why am I sick? why am I poor? savours of discontent and worldliness. But, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" is the language of a heart binding up its happiness in God's favour. This must be applied to Christ. In the first words of this complaint, he poured out his soul before God when he was upon the cross, Matthew 27:46. Being truly man, Christ felt a natural unwillingness to pass through such great sorrows, yet his zeal and love prevailed. Christ declared the holiness of God, his heavenly Father, in his sharpest sufferings; nay, declared them to be a proof of it, for which he would be continually praised by his Israel, more than for all other deliverances they received. Never any that hoped in thee, were made ashamed of their hope; never any that sought thee, sought thee in vain. Here is a complaint of the contempt and reproach of men. The Saviour here spoke of the abject state to which he was reduced. The history of Christ's sufferings, and of his birth, explains this prophecy.