| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 To the Overseer, on 'The Hind of the Morning.' A Psalm of David. |
My God, my God – Jews read from Psalm 22 and cried aloud these words at the wailing place in Jerusalem. C275*
Forsaken me – There came a time when the gate of earth and the door of heaven were both closed to Jesus. He hung suspended between the earth and heaven; he had given up earth at his consecration, and now the door of heaven was also closed. R4529:5*
Such a dark moment might be permitted to even the most worthy followers of the Lamb. F143
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| My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring |
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| 2 My God, I call by day, and Thou answerest not, And by night, and there is no silence to me. |
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| 3 And Thou [art] holy, Sitting the Praise of Israel. |
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| 4 In Thee did our fathers trust they trusted, And Thou dost deliver them. |
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| 5 Unto Thee they cried, and were delivered, In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed. |
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| 6 And I [am] a worm, and no man, A reproach of man, and despised of the people. |
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| 7 All beholding me do mock at me, They make free with the lip shake the head, |
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| 8 'Roll unto Jehovah, He doth deliver him, He doth deliver him, for he delighted in him.' |
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| 9 For thou [art] He bringing me forth from the womb, Causing me to trust, On the breasts of my mother. |
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| 10 On Thee I have been cast from the womb, From the belly of my mother Thou [art] my God. |
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| 11 Be not far from me, For adversity is near, for there is no helper. |
None to help – Pray, pleading our need. R5380:5*
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| 12 Many bulls have surrounded me, Mighty ones of Bashan have compassed me, |
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| 13 They have opened against me their mouth, A lion tearing and roaring. |
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| 14 As waters I have been poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels. |
It is melted – As every particle of the meat offering was exposed to the fire. R84:2*
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| 15 Dried up as an earthen vessel is my power, And my tongue is cleaving to my jaws. |
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| 16 And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet. |
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| 17 I count all my bones they look expectingly, They look upon me, |
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| 18 They apportion my garments to themselves, And for my clothing they cause a lot to fall. |
Part my garments – Minutely fulfilled. R1394:5, R3370:3
Little did the soldiers think, as they divided his garments, that they were fulfilling prophecy. R3901:5
Upon my vesture – Symbolizing the righteousness of Christ, which can be appropriated only as a whole. R2474:1
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| 19 And Thou, O Jehovah, be not far off, O my strength, to help me haste. |
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| 20 Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one. |
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| 21 Save me from the mouth of a lion: And from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me! |
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| 22 I declare Thy name to my brethren, In the midst of the assembly I praise Thee. |
Unto my brethren – The Little Flock, the Bride class. R5007:1
Who have received the spirit of adoption. E109
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| 23 Ye who fear Jehovah, praise ye Him, All the seed of Jacob, honour ye Him, And be afraid of Him, all ye seed of Israel.
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That fear the LORD – Perfect love casts out slavish, but not reverential, fear. R2289:4
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| 24 For He hath not despised, nor abominated, The affliction of the afflicted, Nor hath He hidden His face from him, And in his crying unto Him He heareth. |
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| 25 Of Thee my praise [is] in the great assembly. My vows I complete before His fearers. |
My vows before them – Nothing in the Scriptures intimates that our Vow to the Lord must be kept secret. Indeed, our baptismal vow we are required to symbolize or profess publicly. R4266:4
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| 26 The humble do eat and are satisfied, Praise Jehovah do those seeking Him, Your heart doth live for ever. |
The meek shall eat – The table of the Lord has been spread for his Church from the very beginning of the Gospel age, and has always been supplied with meat in season. R1899:2
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| 27 Remember and return unto Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all families of the nations, |
Shall remember – The resurrected ones shall have personalities identical to those with which they went into the grave, able to recall their former degraded conditions. R360:5, R604:3*
Turn unto the LORD – In due time. (1 Tim 2:4) SM311:1
The Christian church has been right in believing in the eventual conversion of the world, but it is the work of the Kingdom and not of the Gospel age. HG14:2
All the kindreds – Including those who have perished from the earth, for the Scriptures assure us of the awakening of all the sleeping millions of earth's population. HG434:2
Worship before thee – "All nations shall come and worship before thee" (Rev 15:4); the ultimate result of the work of Christ. R99:2*
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| 28 For to Jehovah [is] the kingdom, And He is ruling among nations. |
Kingdom Is the LORD'S – The conversion of the world is not due while the devil is "the prince of this world." R532:4, R256:4, R321:1, R5:2
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| 29 And the fat ones of earth have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust, And he [who] hath not revived his soul. |
Keep alive his own soul – The soul can be destroyed by its Creator. R1882:1; HG334:5
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| 30 A seed doth serve Him, It is declared of the Lord to the generation. |
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| 31 They come and declare His righteousness, To a people that is borne, that He hath made! |
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