Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 22:3
But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
3. An appeal to God’s moral character, as the Holy One of Israel. The Heb. word for holy is derived from a root signifying separation. It characterises God negatively, as separate from the limitations and imperfections of the world and man; and positively, it comes to express the essential nature of God in its moral aspect, as pure, righteous, faithful, supremely exalted. In virtue of His holiness he cannot be false to His covenant. Cp. Habakkuk’s plea (Hab 1:12); and for another side of the truth, Isa 5:16.
O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel ] Rather as R.V. marg., O thou that art enthroned upon the praises of Israel: a bold adaptation of the phrase that sittest enthroned upon the cherubim (2Sa 6:2; 2Ki 19:15; Psa 80:1; Psa 99:1). The praises of Israel, ascending like clouds of incense, form as it were the throne upon which Jehovah sits. They are a perpetual memorial of His mighty acts in times past (Exo 15:11; Psa 78:4; Isa 63:7); and surely He cannot have ceased to give occasion for those praises ( Psa 22:25)! The P.B.V. is based on an untenable construction of the words, in its rendering, And thou continuest holy, O thou worship of Israel, and it takes praises of Israel to mean God Himself as the object of Israel’s praises.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But thou art holy – Thou art righteous and blameless. This indicates that the sufferer had still unwavering confidence in God. Though his prayer seemed not to be heard, and though he was not delivered, he was not disposed to blame God. He believed that God was righteous, though he received no answer; he doubted not that there was some sufficient reason why he was not answered. This is applicable, not only to the Redeemer, in whom it was most fully illustrated, but also to the people of God everywhere. It expresses a state of mind such as all true believers in God have – confidence in him, whatever may be their trials; confidence in him, though the answer to their prayers may be long delayed; confidence in him, though their prayers should seem to be unanswered. Compare the notes at Job 13:15.
O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel – That dwellest where praise is celebrated; that seemest to dwell in the midst of praises. The language here refers to the praises offered in the tabernacle or temple. God was supposed to dwell there, and he was surrounded by those who praised him. The sufferer looks upon him as worshipped by the multitude of his people; and the feeling of his heart is, that though he was himself a sufferer – a great and apparently unpitied sufferer – though he, by his afflictions, was not permitted to unite in those lofty praises, yet he could own that God was worthy of all those songs, and that it was proper that they should be addressed to him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 22:3
But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
A habitation of God
There is ordinarily something like a proportion maintained between the power of a monarch and the splendour of his palace. If you visit countries you will generally find that the mightier the king and the more extended his sway the more sumptuous are the royal residences. And the criterion is altogether a just one; for we have a full right to expect that the residence of the monarch will be a kind of index of his might; that in proportion to the largeness of his revenues and the extent of his dominion will be the magnificence of architecture and the richness of decoration which distinguish his mansion from those of his subjects. The house is, indeed, in most cases throughout society, the sign of the means of its inhabitant; it grows loftier than before, and is furnished in a more costly style as a man advances in the world and gathers to himself more of opulence and influence. There will be exceptions to every such rule; but these will ordinarily be in cases of meanness and penuriousness. But there is a King whose empire is all space, and whose subjects all that breathe. What shall be a fitting palace for Him? How shall the rule we have laid down be proved applicable in the instance of our Maker? It must fail, because nothing, oven of His own workmanship, can bear any proportion with Him. Solomon said, The heaven, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain Thee. And when we go on to speak of churches, we are compelled to finish Solomons sentence and say, How much less this house which I have built. And yet as that temple, so churches may be properly styled–houses of God. He abides in them as He abides not in any other structure. And they ought to be beautiful. It is no good sign when palaces are more and more costly, and churches less and less noble. If God is to have a house at all, that house should be the noblest that we have the power of rearing; bearing such proportion as our ability can effectuate, to the greatness of the Being who is to show Himself within its walls. Otherwise, if our churches be inferior to our other structures, less splendid in design, less rich in architecture, we give the strongest of all possible proofs that we are less disposed to do honour to God than to ourselves; that we think the curtains good enough for the ark, and reserve the cedar for our own habitation. It was not thus with our ancestors, whom we are ready enough to accuse of superstition, but in whom there must have been better and loftier feelings. Witness the cathedrals which yet crest our land; mightier and more sumptuous, as they ought to be, than even our palaces. Tell me not that a mere dark superstition actuated the men who designed and executed these sublime edifices. The long-drawn aisles, the fretted reels, the dim recesses, the soaring spires, all witness that the architect had grand thoughts of God, and strove to embody them in combinations of the wood and the stone, even as the poet his conceptions in the melodies of verse, or the orator his in the majesty of eloquence. It is a cold and withered piety which catches no inspiration from the structure. And there must, we believe, have been lofty and ardent piety in those who could plan structures that thus seem to furnish instances of their piety to successive generations. The cathedral, with its awe-inciting vastness, its storied windows, its mellowed light, its deepened shadows, appears to me like the rich volume of some old divine: I gather from the work the mind of the author, and it is a mind which has grown great in musing upon God. But we have another cathedral to throw open before you, another dwelling place of Deity, not builded up of the stars which God originally wrought into His pavilion, nor yet of the marble and the cedar, which we ourselves may work into sumptuous edifices. Listen to our text. How is God therein addressed? O Thou, that inhabitest the praises of Israel. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks, and He it is who directs attention to the structure, declaring that it has not only been reared, but is actually inhabited by God. For though Israel be only the Church, and every member of that Church have been born in sin and shapen in iniquity, I find no less a Being than the Redeemer Himself, and that too in His last moments, when trial was before Him in all its severity, addressing His Father as Thou who inhabitest the praises of Israel. Now, is there any proportion here between the house and the inhabitant? Here is a cathedral built of human praises. Why should it be a cathedral in any sense worthy of God, or one within which God might be expected to dwell? You tell me that very rich and acceptable must be the thanksgiving of angels; burning and beautiful creatures, who spend existence in magnifying the Being by whom it was bestowed. Who doubts it! But they have only to thank God for creation. Their praise must be like that of Adam, whilst he was yet in innocence, and paradise in loveliness; whose morning and evening hymn spoke glowingly of a glorious Benefactor. And I can thank God for creation. The angels song is mine, though mine belongs not to the angel. But I have to thank God for more than creation, for more than life. I have to thank Him for a second creation, for life out of death; and angels must yield to me here. If, then, sanctuaries are to be builded of praise, who shall be the architects of that in which Deity may be most expected to take up His abode? Behold the structures. Yonder is that which unfallen creatures are roaring; and very noble and brilliant is the fabric. How lofty those columns, which are formed out of anthems that commemorate the inaccessible majesties of Godhead! How solemn those dim recesses, where mention is made of the mysteries of the Divine nature! How rich that roof, which is wrought out of melodies which hymn the goodness of the universal Parent! But now turn to that which fallen creatures build. It is based on the Rock of Ages; the sure foundation stone, which God Himself laid in Zion. And its walls, what are they but the celebration of attributes, which would have been comparatively hidden if not discovered in redemption? Its pillars, what but song upon song, each witnessing to perfections which could not show themselves in an unstained creation! Its aisles, what but prolonged choruses, telling out, till lost in the depths of eternity, the marvels of a work which even cherubim and seraphim had failed to imagine! And what its domes, its pinnacles, its spires, but soaring notes which bear aloft the stupendous truth, that He who is to everlasting could die, and that He who was from everlasting could be born; that God became man, and that man may now rise into fellowship with God! Ah! this is the cathedral. This could never have been built had not God come out from the secrecies of His magnificence, and thrown open depths in Himself which the most penetrating intelligence could never have explored. There is not a stone in this which may not be said to have been hewn by Himself out of the unfathomable mine of His perfections; there is not a niche which is not filled with a brighter image of Deity than the universe could have furnished had there never been transgression; there is not an altar on which burns not a more brilliant fire than could have been kindled had not the flame of Gods wrath against sin been quenched in the blood of Gods only begotten Son. And Christ, as He hung upon the Cross and contemplated the effects of the work which He was then bringing to a close, must have looked on wondrous structures, each of loftiest architecture and splendid ornament–the regenerated earth, the universe no longer defiled by one dark spot; but He knew that His work was to be preeminently illustrious, and the source of the highest glory of all to our Creator. Upon this, therefore, might He be expected to fasten; and though all orders of being were before Him, eager to build their Maker a house–angel and archangel, from whose swelling choir started, as by enchantment, a thousand ethereal temples–who shall marvel that He selected us the feeble, us the sinful, and knowing that He was making us heirs of God, yea, joint heirs with Himself, left us to rear a sanctuary which should be more honoured than any other; addressing Himself thus with His dying breath to His Father–O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel? (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou art holy, i. e just and true in all thy ways, and therefore hearing prayers, and keeping thy covenant; a true lover of holiness, and of all holy men. This he adds, either,
1. To aggravate his misery, that such a God should neglect and forsake him. Or rather,
2. To strengthen his faith, and to enforce his prayers, and prevail with God, for the honour of his holy name, to hear and help him.
That inhabitest the praises of Israel; either,
1. That dwellest in thy tabernacle and ark, which is called Israels glory, 1Sa 4:21, and the place where God was praised, Isa 64:11. Or,
2. That receivest and rightly possessest the praises of Israel, whom the people are perpetually praising for one mercy or another; and therefore I trust I also shall have occasion to praise thee. But because this Hebrew verb, when it is used transitively, and is taken for inhabiting, is generally, as far as I have observed, construed with a preposition, which here it is not, this verse may seem to be better rendered thus, as it is by divers learned men, But thou abidest, or perseverest, or continuest to be (as this verb is used, Psa 9:7; 55:19; 102:12)
holy, ( notwithstanding thy present neglect of my prayers and miseries,) O the praises, or, O thou who art the praises, (or, and the praises, i.e. the great cause and object of the praises,) of Israel, i. e whom Israel solemnly and usually praised, Deu 10:21; Jer 17:14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Still he not only refrainsfrom charging God foolishly, but evinces his confidence in God byappealing to Him.
thou art holyorpossessed of all the attributes which encourage trust, and the rightobject of the praises of the Church: hence the sufferer need notdespair.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But thou [art] holy,…. Which may be considered either as an argument with his God, why he should hear and answer him, since he is holy, just, and faithful; he has promised, when any call upon him in a day of trouble, he will hear and answer them, and will be glorified by them; this Christ did, and therefore pleads his faithfulness to his promise: or rather a reason quieting him under divine desertion, and a sense of divine wrath, that God was righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works; and that whereas he was the surety of his people, and had all their sins on him, it was perfectly agreeable to the holiness and justice of God to treat him in the manner he did; yea, it was done to declare his righteousness, that he might appear to be just, while he is the justifier of him that believes in him;
[O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel; either the place where Israel offered the sacrifices of praise to God, the tabernacle or temple, the house of prayer and praise in which Jehovah dwelt: or the true Israel of God praising him, who are formed for himself, and called by his grace to show forth his praises; among whom he takes up his residence: or else the praises themselves; and so the phrase denotes God’s gracious acceptance of them, and well pleasedness in them, signified by his inhabiting of them, and the frequent and constant ascription of them to him: and perhaps respect may be had chiefly to the praises of his people for providing such a Saviour for them, settling him in the fulness of time, and not sparing him, but delivering him up into the hands of justice and death for them; and for giving all things freely with him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 22:4-6) The sufferer reminds Jahve of the contradiction between the long season of helplessness and His readiness to help so frequently and so promptly attested. opens an adverbial clause of the counterargument: although Thou art…Jahve is , absolutely pure, lit., separated (root , Arab. qd , to cut, part, just as tahur , the synonym of kadusa , as the intransitive of tahara = abada , to remove to a distance, and pure, clean, radically distinct from p-rus, goes back to to sever), viz., from that which is worldly and common, in one word: holy. Jahve is holy, and has shown Himself such as the of Israel solemnly affirm, upon which or among which He sits enthroned. are the songs of praise offered to God on account of His attributes and deeds, which are worthy of praise (these are even called in Psa 78:4; Exo 15:11; Isa 63:7), and in fact presented in His sanctuary (Isa 64:10). The combination (with the accusative of the verbs of dwelling and tarrying) is like , Psa 99:1; Psa 80:2. The songs of praise, which resounded in Israel as the memorials of His deeds of deliverance, are like the wings of the cherubim, upon which His presence hovered in Israel. In Psa 22:5, the praying one brings to remembrance this graciously glorious self-attestation of God, who as the Holy One always, from the earliest times, acknowledged those who fear Him in opposition to their persecutors and justified their confidence in Himself. In Psa 22:5 trust and rescue are put in the connection of cause and effect; in Psa 22:6 in reciprocal relation. and are only distinguished by the harder and softer sibilants, cf. Psa 17:13 with Psa 116:4. It need not seem strange that such thoughts were at work in the soul of the Crucified One, since His divine-human consciousness was, on its human side, thoroughly Israelitish; and the God of Israel is also the God of salvation; redemption is that which He himself determined, why, then, should He not speedily deliver the Redeemer?
3. Yet thou art holy. In the Hebrew, it is properly, And thou art holy: but the copula ו , vau, ought, without doubt, to be rendered by the adversative particle yet. Some think that the eternal and immutable state of God is here set in opposition to the afflictions which David experienced; (504) but I cannot subscribe to this opinion. It is more simple and natural to view the language as meaning, that God has always shown himself gracious to his chosen people. The subject here treated is not what God is in heaven, but what he has shown himself to be towards men. It may be asked, whether David, in these words, aggravates his complaint, by insinuating that he is the only person who obtains nothing from God? or whether, by holding up these words as a shield before him, he repels the temptation with which he was assailed, by exhibiting to his view this truth, that God is the continual deliverer of his people? I admit that this verse is an additional expression of the greatness of David’s grief; but I have no doubt, that in using this language he seeks from it a remedy against his distrust. It was a dangerous temptation to see himself forsaken by God; and, accordingly, lest by continually thinking upon it, he should nourish it, he turned his mind to the contemplation of the constant evidences afforded of the grace of God, from which he might encourage himself, in the hope of obtaining succor. He, therefore, not only meant to ask how it was that God, who had always dealt mercifully with his people, should now, forgetting as it were his own nature, thus leave a miserable man without any succor or solace; but he also takes a shield with which to defend himself against the fiery darts of Satan. He calls God holy, because he continues always like himself. He says that he inhabiteth the praises of Israel; because, in showing such liberality towards the chosen people, as to be continually bestowing blessings upon them, he furnished them with matter for continued praise and thanksgiving. Unless God cause us to taste of his goodness by doing us good, we must needs become mute in regard to the celebration of his praise. As David belonged to the number of this chosen people, he strives, in opposition to all the obstacles which distrust might suggest as standing in the way, to cherish the hope that he shall at length be united to this body to sing along with them the praises of God.
(504) As ישב, yashab, not only signifies to inhabit, but also to remain or continue, (see Psa 102:13,) Hammond thinks this last is the meaning here, and renders the word, “But thou remainest or continuest to be holy, O thou, the praises of, or who art the praises of Israel, that is, the object of all their praises; or more simply, But thou remainest holy, the praises of Israel.”
(3) But.In spite of his seeming desertion the poet still believes Jehovah is the God of the covenantstill the Holy One in whom His people could trust.
The phrase inhabiting the praises of Israel, recalls the more usual thou that dwellest between the cherubims (1Sa. 4:4; 2Sa. 6:2; Psa. 80:1; Psa. 99:1, where see Note). But the idea here is more spiritual. The ever-ascending praises of His people become a throne for the Divine King, and take the place of the outstretched wings of the cherubim. Perhaps there is a reminiscence of Exo. 15:11-12. This explanation is at once more literal and better than the Rabbinical, enthroned as the praises. (Comp. Aquila: as the hymns.)
3. Thou art holy Faith strengthens itself (Psa 22:3-5) in the reflection, God is holy, and in the retrospect, Our fathers (the fathers of the nation) trusted; they cried, and were delivered. His must be a righteous cause which derives support from the holiness and covenant faithfulness of God.
Inhabitest the praises of Israel Sittest enthroned over the praises of Israel.
‘But You are holy, O You Who inhabits the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You. They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered. They trusted in You, and were not put to shame.’
At no stage did Jesus lose confidence in the Father as the Deliverer of Israel. Even on the cross He could declare God’s faithfulness to His people, despite the fact that He Himself was unheard. For God was surrounded by the praises of Israel because of what He had done for them. They had trusted and had been delivered. They had cried and they had been delivered. They had trusted in Him and had not needed to be ashamed of the fact, because God had answered them. That was why He could reach out to the dying brigand. But it made Him also aware of how much this was not happening for Him. For Him no prayer for deliverance would be heard. No cry would be heeded. He must tread the way of suffering alone, for there was no other way.
Psa 22:3. But thou art holy, &c. But notwithstanding thou dost not hear me at present, I am persuaded that thou wilt do so; for thou art holy, &c. good and gracious; the divinity that dwellest where the praises and homages of Israel have been always offered for mercies granted unto them.
This is a sweet verse. Jesus proclaimeth the holiness of God the Father in the midst of his sufferings. As the sinner’s surety, he bore the whole weight of sin, and the punishment due to it, Oh! how precious is the holiness of God, beheld in this point of view! It is a glorious part of Jehovah’s character, that he will by no means clear the guilty, Exo 34:7 . And rather than this holiness of God shall be slighted, the Surety shall suffer, shall die. Reader, do you enter into the precious apprehension of this blessed truth? Do you behold Jesus, and Jesus as your Surety, taking all your guilt, and all the curse due to the sinner, upon him, because of God’s broken law, and thus expiating both the sin and punishment by the sacrifice of himself? Do you see this, believe in this, and feel your interest in it? If so, surely you will admire and adore God’s holiness, and humbly adopt the same words as your Saviour did, and cry out, Thou, Lord, art holy; O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel!
Psa 22:3 But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Ver. 3. But thou art holy ] And therefore to be sanctified in righteousness, Isa 5:16 , whatever betide me or my prayers. I also will trust and try thee to the uttermost, for thou waitest to be gracious; and being a God of judgment, thou best understandest when and how to dispense and deal forth thy favours to thy suppliants, Isa 30:18 . And if I ask good things of thee and miss, it is because I ask amiss, Jas 4:3 . If I be straitened, it is not in thee, but in mine own bowels. They that have conduit water come into their houses, if no water come, they conclude not the spring to be dry, but the pipes to be stopped or broken. If prayer speed not, we must be sure the fault is not in God, but in ourselves; were we but ripe for mercy he is ready to extend it to us, and even waits for the purpose.
O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel But Thou. And yet Thou. Compare Psa 22:9 and Psa 22:19. Note the emphasis.
holy. See note on Exo 3:6. Here = the Divine attribute.
inhabitest the praises. “Praises” put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for the Sanctuary, where the praises were offered. The various readings and renderings arise from trying to make sense, not seeing this figure of speech. Compare Psa 80:1; Psa 99:1.
Psa 22:3-5
Psa 22:3-5
“But thou art holy.
O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee:
They trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered:
They trusted in thee, and were not put to shame.”
Our Saviour’s example in this pleading that God had indeed heard and answered the prayers of “the fathers,” is a strong argument that in our own prayers, we should recall and recite in God’s presence the occasions upon which he has already heard and answered our petitions.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 22:3. Inhabitest is used in the sense of dwelling in a certain place or in some special surroundings. The verse means that God continually dwells in the midst of the praises of his people Israel.
Psa 22:4. Fathers refers to the ancient ancestors of the race. The history shows that in proportion as they put their trust in the Lord they were delivered from the grasp of their enemies.
Psa 22:5. Trusting in God was manifested when the people made their prayer unto him. Not confounded means they were not disappointed or confused.
But: Psa 145:17, Isa 6:3, Rev 4:8
that: Psa 50:23, Psa 65:1, Deu 10:21
Reciprocal: Exo 15:2 – song Son 2:14 – for sweet Rev 15:4 – thou only
Psa 22:3. But thou art holy But notwithstanding thou dost not answer me at present, I am persuaded that thou wilt do so, for thou art holy, good, and gracious; O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel That dwellest in the place where the praises of Israel have always been offered for mercies granted unto them: or, who receivest and rightly possessest the praises of Israel; whom thy people are perpetually praising for one mercy or another; and therefore, I trust I also shall have occasion to praise thee.
22:3 But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the {c} praises of Israel.
(c) He means the place of praising, even the tabernacle or else it is so called, because he gave the people continuous opportunity to praise him.
In spite of God’s silence, David’s confidence in Him was strong because he knew God is holy, set apart from all the idols as the only true and living God. Furthermore, God was still Israel’s real King enthroned in heaven and praised by His people for who He is.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)