To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, a Psalm of David. The only thing observable in the title of this psalm is the sense of the words "Aijeleth Shahar", left untranslated; which, according to some of the Jewish interpreters, is the name of a musical instrument; to which our version inclines; and a learned Jew says, it is the instrument which the mourning women used on account of distress which was sudden, not known till it came, as a man does not think of the morning till he sees it.
"Aijeleth" with him has the signification of mourning, as "Eli" in Joe 1:8; and "Shahar", as in Isa 47:11; so tyla and tyyla are used in the Misnah for a mourning woman; and with others it is the beginning of a song to the tune of which the psalm was set but I rather think the words express the subject matter of the psalm, and that they may be rendered, concerning "Aijeleth Shahar"; which signify, either according to the Chaldee paraphrase, "the daily morning sacrifice"; or, as some Jewish writers observe, the "morning star"; or, according to the Septuagint, "the morning help" ; or rather "the morning hind"; or "hind of the morning": but who should be designed hereby is the question.
The Jews would have any rather than the Messiah; some say Esther , who so seasonably and readily appeared for the Jews in distress, and was the means of their deliverance; but there is not one word in the psalm that agrees with her; and there are some things which were manifestly spoken of a man, and not a woman, Ps 22:8; others say David , when he fled from Saul, or, as others, from Absalom: but the disjointing the bones of this person, the piercing his hands and feet, parting his garments, and casting lots on his vesture, mentioned in Ps 22:14; were never fulfilled in him.
Others would have the congregation of Israel in captivity intended; but it is plain that a single person is spoken of throughout; and he is manifestly distinguished from others, from his brethren, from the congregation, from the seed of Jacob and Israel, Ps 22:22; and, indeed, no other than the Messiah can be meant: and of this there ought to be no doubt with Christians, when Ps 22:1 is compared with Mt 27:46; Ps 22:8 with Mt 27:43; Ps 22:18 with Mt 27:35; Ps 22:22 with Heb 2:12; and the Jews themselves sometimes say, that by "Aijeleth Shahar" is meant the Shechinah , or the divine Majesty; and in what way soever these words are rendered, they agree with Christ: he is the antitype of "the daily morning sacrifice", the Lamb of God, who continually takes away the sin of the world; and very fitly is he so called in the title of a psalm which speaks so much of his sufferings and death, which are a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of his people; he is "the bright and morning star", Re 22:16; the dayspring from on high, the sun of righteousness, and light of the world: he had "morning help" in his very infancy, when his life was sought for by Herod; and had early and seasonable help and assistance in the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation, and early in the morning was he raised from the dead, and had glory given him: but as the words are better rendered "the morning hind", this suits with Christ, who is frequently compared to a roe or a young hart, So 2:9; and he may be compared to a "hind" for its lovingness to its mate and young, Pr 5:19; the love of Christ to his church and people being very strong and affectionate, and passing knowledge; and also for its loveliness and goodliness, Ge 49:21; Christ being exceeding amiable and lovely, and fairer than the children of men; likewise for its gentleness and harmlessness, Christ being meek and lowly, holy and harmless; and for its antipathy to serpents, there being an enmity between Christ, the seed of the woman, and the serpent and his seed; for its being hunted by dogs, as Christ was by Herod, by the Scribes and Pharisees, by Judas, and the band of soldiers; see Ps 22:16; for its being fit for food, De 14:5; and as it is said to be the fitter for being hunted, Christ's flesh being meat indeed, and the more suitable to faith, as being sacrificed for us; and for its long life it is said to have, Christ, though once dead, being alive again, and living for evermore; to which may be added its great swiftness, expressive of the readiness of Christ to comply with his Father's proposals and do his will; to come into this world in the fulness of time, and set about the work he came to do; to deliver up himself into the hands of his enemies, and lay down his life for his people; and of his haste to help them in distress, and visit them with his gracious presence, and to appear a second time to them unto salvation.
He may be called the hind of "the morning", looking lovely and beautiful as the morning, and swift and cheerful as the hind when it rises from its rest, and runs its course; or because of his being hunted in the morning of his infancy by Herod; or because it was early in the morning the chief priests consulted to take away his life; and as early also he rose from the dead, when God made his feet like hinds feet, and set him on his high places, Ps 18:33.
The ancient Christian writers generally understood it of Christ wholly. Justin Martyr says, the whole psalm is spoken of Christ; and Tertullian observes , that it contains the whole passion, or all the sufferings of Christ.
The late Mons. Fourmont , the elder, professor of the Oriental languages in the university of Paris, has a very singular notion, that this psalm was written by Jeremiah, when he was drawn up from the dungeon, and is a history of his life and sufferings, in which he was a type of Christ.
Jarchi, Kimchi, & Abendana in loc. Leo Mutinens. Shilte Hagibborim, fol. 5. 1. Misn. Celim, c. 15. 6. & 16. 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Aben Ezra in loc. Vide Kimchium & Abendauam in loc. So Menachem in Jarchi, and others in Kimchi & Abendana in loc.
R. R. in Jarchi in loc. In Kimchi in loc. Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. Zohar in Lev. fol. 5. 4. & Imre Binah in ib. Dialog cum Tryphone, p. 325. Adv. Judaeos, c. 10. In hunc Psalm. M. S. penes me, fol.
8. 9.Ver. 1. My God, my God,.... God is the God of Christ as he is man; he prepared a body for him, an human nature; anointed it with the oil of gladness; supported it under all its sorrows and sufferings, and at last exalted it at his own right hand:, and Christ behaved towards him as his covenant God; prayed to him, believed in him, loved him, and was obedient to him as such; and here expresses his faith of interest in him, when he hid his face from him, on account of which he expostulates with him thus, "why hast thou forsaken me?"
which is to be understood, not as if the hypostatical or personal union of the divine and human natures were dissolved, or that the one was now separated from the other: for the fulness of the Godhead still dwelt bodily in him; nor that he ceased to be the object of the Father's love; for so he was in the midst of all his sufferings, yea, his Father loved him because he laid down his life for the sheep; nor that the principle of joy and comfort was lost in him, only the act and sense of it; he was now deprived of the gracious presence of God, of the manifestations of his love to his human soul, and had a sense of divine wrath, not for his own sins, but for the sins of his people, and was for a while destitute of help and comfort; all which were necessary in order to make satisfaction for sin: for as he had the sins of his people imputed to him, he must bear the whole punishment of them, which is twofold the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense; the former lies in a deprivation of the divine presence, and the latter in a sense of divine wrath, and both Christ sustained as the surety of his people.
This expostulation is made not as ignorant of the reason of it; he knew that as he was wounded and bruised for the sins of his people, he was deserted on the same account; nor as impatient, for he was a mirror of patience in all his sufferings; and much less as in despair; for, in these very words, he strongly expresses and repeats his faith of interest in God; see Ps 22:8; and also Isa 50:6.
But this is done to set forth the greatness and bitterness of his sufferings; that not only men hid their faces from him, and the sun in the firmament withdrew its light and heat from him, but, what was most grievous of all, his God departed from him.
From hence it appears that he was truly man, had an human soul, and endured sorrows and sufferings in it; and this may be of use to his members, to expect the hidings of God's face, though on another account; and to teach them to wait patiently for him, and to trust in the Lord, and stay themselves upon their God, even while they walk in darkness and see no light;[why art thou so] far from helping me?
or from my salvation; from saving and delivering him out of his sorrows and sufferings? not that he despaired of help; he firmly believed he should have it, and accordingly had it: but he expostulates about the deferring of it.
He adds,[and from] the words of my roaring? which expresses the vehemency of his spirit in crying to God, the exceeding greatness of his sorrows, and his excruciating pains and sufferings: this is what the apostle means by his "strong crying and tears", Heb 5:7; or "the words of my roaring [are] far from my salvation"; there is a great space or interval between the one and the other, as Gussetius observes.
Comment. Ebr. p.