Psalms 22:20

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the L ORD : and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the L ORD 's: and he is the governor among the nations. 29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

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), where David, as a type of Christ, complains of the very calamitous condition he was in upon many accounts. He complains, and mixes comforts with his complaints; he complains (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

Deliver my soul from the sword,....

"Deliver my soul from the sword." By the sword is probably meant entire destruction, which as a man he dreaded; or perhaps he sought deliverance from the enemies around him, who were like a sharp and deadly sword to him. The Lord had said, "Awake, O sword, " and now from the terror of that sword the Shepherd would fain be delivered as soon as justice should see fit. "My darling from the power of the dog." Meaning his soul, his life, which is most dear to every man.

"Deliver my soul from the sword." By the sword is probably meant entire destruction, which as a man he dreaded; or perhaps he sought deliverance from the enemies around him, who were like a sharp and deadly sword to him. The Lord had said, "Awake, O sword, " and now from the terror of that sword the Shepherd would fain be delivered as soon as justice should see fit. "My darling from the power of the dog." Meaning his soul, his life, which is most dear to every man. The original is, "my only one, " and therefore is our soul dear, because it is our only soul. Would that all men made their souls their darlings, but many treat them as if they were not worth so much as the mire of the streets. The dog may mean Satan, that infernal Cerberus, that cursed and cursing cur; or else the whole company of Christ's foes, who though many in number were as unanimous as if there were but one, and with one consent sought to rend him in pieces. If Jesus cried for help against the dog of hell, much more may we. Cave canem, beware of the dog, for his power is great, and only God can deliver us from him. When he fawns upon us, we must not put ourselves in his power; and when he howls at us, we may remember that God holds him with a chain.

The crucified Son of David continues to pour out his complaint and prayer. We need much grace that while reading we may have fellowship with his sufferings. May the blessed Spirit conduct us into a most clear and affecting sight of our Redeemer's woes.

Deliver my soul from the sword - Deliver נפשי naphshi, my life; save me alive, or raise me again. My darling - יחידתי 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.

Deliver my soul from the sword - The word soul here means life, and denotes a living person. It is equivalent to “deliver me.” “The sword” is used to denote an instrument of death, or anything that pierces like a sword. Compare 2Sa 11:24-25. As applied to the Saviour here, it may mean those extreme mental sufferings that were like the piercing of a sword. My darling - Margin, “my only one.” Prof. Alexander, “my lonely one.” DeWette, my life. The Hebrew word - יחיד yâchı̂yd - means “one alone, only,” as of an only child; then one alone, as forsaken, solitary, wretched, Psa 25:16; Psa 68:6; then it means one only, the only one, in the sense of “most dear, darling.” Here, according to Gesenius (Lexicon), it is used poetically for life, as being something most dear, or as denoting all that we have, and, therefore, most precious. Compare Job 2:4. This is the most probable interpretation here, as it would thus correspond with the expression in the first part of the verse, “deliver my soul.” From the power of the dog - Margin, as in Hebrew, from the hand. The enemy is represented, as in Psa 22:16, as a “dog” (see the notes on that verse); and then that enemy is spoken of as inflicting death by his hand. There is a little incongruity in speaking of a “dog” as having hands, but the image before the mind is that of the enemy with the character of a dog, and thus there is no impropriety in using in reference to him the language which is commonly applied to a man.