Psalm 22 [MT 23]

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Psalms 22:1] And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [Psalms 22:1] Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

It is to impel us to ask why the Father forsook him, that he says, “Why have you forsaken me?” The answer is, to ransom the whole human race, buying them with him precious blood from their former slavery to their invisible tyrants, the unclean demons and the rulers and spirits of evil. And the Father forsook him for another reason, namely, that the love of Christ himself for people might be set forth. For no one had power over his life, but he gave it willingly for people, as he teaches us himself in the words, “No one takes my life from me: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

Proof of the Gospel 10:8.495-96

It was not he who was forsaken, either by the Father or by his own Godhead, as some have thought, as if it were afraid of the passion and therefore withdrew itself from him in his sufferings (for who compelled him either to be born on earth at all or to be lifted up on the cross?). But … he was in his own person representing us. For we were the forsaken and the despised, but now by the sufferings of him who could not suffer, we have been taken up and saved. Similarly, he makes his own our folly and our transgressions and says what follows in the psalm, for it is very evident that the twenty-second refers to Christ.

On the Son, Theological Oration 4(30).5

Seeing, then, that he took on himself a soul he also took the affections of a soul, for God could not have been distressed or have died in respect of his being God.… As being man, therefore, he speaks, bearing with him my terrors, for when we are in the midst of dangers we think ourself abandoned by God. As man, therefore, he is distressed, as man he weeps, as man he is crucified.

Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.7.56

"O God, my God, look upon me, why have You forsaken me far from my salvation?" [Psalm 22:1]. Far removed from my salvation: for "salvation is far from sinners." "The words of my sins." For these are not the words of righteousness, but of my sins. For it is the old man nailed to the Cross that speaks, ignorant even of the reason why God has forsaken him: or else it may be thus, The words of my sins are far from my salvation.

Exposition on Psalm 22

We confess that he, the Son begotten of God the Father and only-begotten God, though being incapable of suffering according to his own nature, suffered in his own flesh for our sake, according to the Scriptures. And he made his own the sufferings of his own flesh in his crucified body impassibly, for by the grace of God and for the sake of all he tasted death by having surrendered to it his own body although by nature he was life and was himself the resurrection. In order that by his ineffable power, after having trampled on death in his own flesh first, he might become “the firstborn from the dead” and “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” and in order that he might prepare the way for the rise to immortality for the nature of people, by the grace of God, as we said just now, for the sake of all he tasted death, but on the third day he came back to life after despoiling hell.

Letter 17:11

Just as the one who was a fount of righteousness assumed our sin, and the one who was an ocean of blessing accepted a curse lying on us and scorning shame endured a cross, so too he uttered the words on our behalf.

Commentary on the Psalms 22:3

In the preceding psalms, the tribulation that David endured from his son and from Saul seems to have been treated first; but here, in the third decade, the persecution he suffered from the entire people is addressed, who rejected him at Saul's command. This Psalm is therefore divided into three parts. In the first, the tribulation is narrated. In the second, a prayer is poured out to God for deliverance; in the third, a thanksgiving is offered. The second begins at Ps. 24: "To you, O Lord, I have lifted up"; the third at "Bring to the Lord," Ps. 28. Regarding the first, he does two things. First, he sets forth the tribulation; second, he shows how he is helped by God in tribulation, at Ps. 22: "The Lord rules me." As was said above, just as in other prophets, so here certain things then present are treated insofar as they were a figure of Christ and pertained to the prophecy itself. And therefore sometimes certain things are set down that pertain to Christ, which exceed, as it were, the capacity of the historical accounts. And among other things, this Psalm especially treats of the passion of Christ. And therefore its literal sense pertains to Christ. Hence he specifically spoke this Psalm during the passion when he cried out, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," which is the same as "My God, my God," etc., as this Psalm begins. And therefore, although this Psalm may be said figuratively of David, it is nevertheless specifically referred to Christ in its literal sense. And at the Synod of Toledo, a certain Theodore of Mopsuestia, who expounded this psalm literally of David, was condemned, both for this and for many other things; and therefore it must be expounded of Christ. It should be known, moreover, that five Psalms treat at length of the passion of Christ, of which this Psalm is the first. The others touch upon the passion of Christ more briefly. The second is "Judge, O Lord, those who harm me," Ps. 34. The third is "Hear, O God, my prayer, and do not despise my supplication." The fourth, Ps. 68: "Save me, O God, for the waters have entered in." The fifth, Ps. 108: "O God, do not be silent about my praise." And this is on account of the five wounds of Christ, or on account of the five sheddings of blood. And there is one manner of proceeding in all of them, because they begin with lamentation and end with the salvation of peoples, since from the passion salvation was brought about for all people. Jerome's title is: "For the choirmaster, for the deer of the morning." In our text: "For the choirmaster, for the assumption, or for the doe of the morning." In this Psalm the passion of Christ is principally treated. Secondly, the resurrection is touched upon in it, because through it the passion is made intelligible, and the passion is ordered toward the resurrection -- just as if I should say, "this man has been freed," it shows that he was a slave. Therefore this Psalm belongs to David, that is, to Christ. And it is "for the assumption," that is, the resurrection, and this was in the morning; hence "for the doe," that is, for human nature, or "for the deer of the morning," that is, Christ: Ps. 107: "I will arise at dawn." This title, however, refers to when David went as a fugitive and was hiding in the wilderness like a deer. Hence he said above, Ps. 17: "And he made my feet like those of deer." Therefore on account of that tribulation which prefigured the passion of Christ, this Psalm is given its title. In this way, however, it is better referred to Christ, so that by the deer is understood the human nature in Christ, because a deer passes through thornbushes without injury to its feet; so Christ passed through this present life without any defilement of himself. Likewise, a deer leaps most excellently: so Christ ascended from the pit of death to the glory of the resurrection. And therefore he is called a deer, and he is called "of the morning" because he rose at that time. This Psalm is divided into three parts. In the first, a complaint is set forth. In the second, a narration of the passion, at "But I am a worm." In the third, a petition for deliverance is placed, at "But you, O Lord, do not remove your help far from me." Regarding the first, he does three things. First, the complaint or question is set forth. Second, an exposition of the complaint is given, at "Far from my salvation." Third, the reason for complaining is given, at "But you dwell in the holy place." This is the translation of the Septuagint. In the Greek and in the Hebrew, however, "look upon me" is not found; rather it reads: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Because Christ spoke these words on the cross; but "look upon me" was inserted. Therefore the petition is set forth when he says, "My God, my God." Moreover, "God" is repeated twice for greater certainty: Gen. 41: "That you saw the same thing a second time pertaining to the same matter is a sign of its certainty." "Look upon me," that is, have mercy on me: Ps. 24: "Look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am alone," etc. "Why have you forsaken me?" These were the words of Christ on the cross. From these words, however, Arius took occasion for his error: namely, that in the death of Christ the divinity was separated from the humanity. Hence, according to him, the Lord complains about this, saying, "Why have you forsaken me?" But this is erroneous. It should be known, however, that someone is said to be forsaken by God when God is not present to him, as he seems to be present when he protects him and fulfills his petition: Jer. 20: "The Lord God is with me as a mighty warrior; therefore those who persecute me shall fall and shall be weak." And because Christ was not freed from bodily suffering when he was in his passion, in this respect he is said to have been forsaken for a time, that is, exposed to suffering: Rom. 8: "He did not spare his own Son," etc. Likewise that petition, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," as stated in Mt. 26, does not seem to have been fulfilled, because it was according to the flesh: Is. 54: "For a moment and briefly I forsook you," that is, I exposed you to suffering; "and with great mercies I will gather you," namely, in the resurrection. And therefore he says, "Why have you forsaken me?" That is, "Why have you exposed me to suffering?" "Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions." Here the complaint or question is expounded. And first in general. Second in particular, at "My God, I will cry out." He says therefore, "You have forsaken me." And this, because the words of my transgressions are far from my salvation, that is, from the salvation of me, a true man, insofar as I have a human nature: Ps. 118: "Salvation is far from sinners." And these words -- namely "forsaken," and "far," and "why" -- do not seem to be the words of a just man or of justice, but seem to be words of my transgressions, that is, of a sinful man; that is, they show me to be not just, but a sinner. Hence Christ spoke these words in the person of the sinner, or of the Church. And this is one of the rules set forth above at the beginning of the Psalter: that the things which pertain to the members, Christ says of himself, because Christ and the Church are, as it were, one mystical body; and therefore they speak as one person, and Christ transforms himself into the Church, and the Church into Christ: Rom. 12: "We, being many, are one body in Christ." In the members of Christ, that is, in the Church, there are transgressions or sins. But in the head, that is, in Christ, there is no transgression, but only the likeness of transgression: Rom. 8: "God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and concerning sin condemned sin": 2 Cor. 5: "Him who knew no sin he made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ." Now Christ, when the passion was imminent, prayed, "Father, if it be possible, let this pass," etc., Mt. 26. But these words of Christ praying can be expounded in two ways. In one way, so that Christ uttered them as bearing the person of the weak who are in the Church, because it was to happen that some weak members of his, when suffering was imminent for them, would be afraid. In another way, that he uttered this petition bearing the role of the weak flesh in Christ, which naturally fears and flees death. What he asked, therefore -- to be delivered -- was a word either of the members in whom transgression is found, or of the flesh of Christ in which there is the likeness of transgression or sin. And therefore he says "words" by which he asked to be delivered, which are "of my transgressions," that is, of the faithful, for whose transgressions I suffer; or they are of the weak flesh which has the likeness of transgression: "far from" bodily "salvation," because the cup, or the suffering, does not pass from me as I asked; as if to say, I do not obtain the salvation I intend if my petition, which I make, were to be heard, "Father, let this cup pass from me." And therefore Jerome's text has, "Far from my salvation are the words of my groaning." Augustine expounds it differently in the Book on the Grace of the New Testament: these words by which I ask to be freed from suffering and complain that I have been abandoned to suffering are far from my salvation, which according to my divinity I ought to bring about. Mt. 1: "He himself shall save his people from their sins." And he assigns the reason why he was forsaken: for there is a twofold salvation -- one bodily, which is common to men and beasts: Ps. 35: "Men and beasts you will save, O Lord." The other is spiritual and eternal; and this belongs properly to Christ: hence he says "my," because the salvation of the new testament was brought about through Christ: Is. 45: "Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation." And these differ, because the first was sought in the old testament, while the second is sought in the new. Why then was he left capable of suffering? Because he came in the new testament. And these words which he spoke here are "far from my salvation," the spiritual one, because they are for bodily salvation. "Far." Christ speaks in the person of sinners, who are sometimes forsaken by God on account of sins. Hence he says, the words of my transgressions, that is, of sinners, are far from salvation, the spiritual kind, because this is the reason why sinners are not saved -- because they are sinners: Jn. 9: "God does not hear sinners." Or according to Augustine, he speaks, "from me," as if by forsaking me you have made me far from my salvation, that is, bodily salvation: and these words are "of my transgressions."

Exposition on the Psalms of David

He is surely showing his surprise here that the Father does not hear him; he regards it as something strange and unusual. But the Father reserved his hearing until the fit time that he should be heard. That time was the hour of dawn, of the resurrection from the dead, when to him it could be more justly said than to any, “In a time accepted I heard you, and in a day of salvation I succored you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Proof of the Gospel 10:8.496

My God, I will cry unto You in the daytime, and You will not hear [Psalm 22:2]. My God, I will cry unto You in the prosperous circumstances of this life, that they be not changed; and You will not hear, because I shall cry unto You in the words of my sins. "And in the night-season, and not to my folly." And so in the adversities of this life will I cry to You for prosperity; and in like manner You will not hear. And this You do not to my folly, but rather that I may have wisdom to know what You would have me cry for, not with the words of sins out of longing for life temporal, but with the words of turning to You for life eternal.

Exposition on Psalm 22

"My God." These things are pursued in particular. By day and night we can understand two things. In one way, literally, temporal day and night, and thus "to cry out" means to cry out continually; hence he says, "You will not hear"; as if to say: although I cry out continually, I am nevertheless not heard. Jerome's text has, "and by night, and there is no silence for me," as if I do not cease praying day and night. In another way, by "day" is understood prosperity, and by "night" adversity. And according to Augustine, words that are said for bodily salvation are made "by day" for prosperous things, and "by night," so that adversity might be taken away. Therefore Christ cries out "by day," when he is in prosperity, and is not heard, because he asks that he not perish; and "by night," so that adversity might be removed, and it is not removed. But against this it is said of Christ (Heb. 5) that he was heard, etc. And it must be said that prayer is an act of reason: hence every prayer of Christ proceeding from the judgment of reason was heard. It is otherwise with prayer expressing the weakness of a passible nature and the proper movement of the members, because he himself did not wish it to be heard: Jn. 12: "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say, Father?" etc. And why he was not heard in prosperous and adverse things, he shows: "and not to foolishness for me," because this petition does not pertain to the salvation of the new testament, which I intend, which is eternal salvation; but it pertains to the salvation of the old testament. So that you may learn this wisdom, know that temporal salvation does not pertain to the new testament, but to the old. This is the wisdom that is foolishness before men: 1 Cor. 4: "We are fools for Christ's sake": 1 Cor. 1: "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" etc.

Exposition on the Psalms of David

"But You dwell in the holy place, O Thou praise of Israel" [Psalm 22:3]. But You dwell in the holy place, and therefore will not hear the unclean words of sins. The "praise" of him that sees You; not of him who has sought his own praise in tasting of the forbidden fruit, that on the opening of his bodily eyes he should endeavour to hide himself from Your sight.

Exposition on Psalm 22

"But you." Above, the question of Christ inquiring into the cause of his passion was set forth; here, however, he shows that such a question is reasonable, and that it is reasonable that he was forsaken. And first he says this is wonderful on God's part. Second, he shows this from ancient experience, at "In you our fathers hoped." What is said here is referred to the foregoing in three ways, according to three expositions. One is that he is far from temporal salvation, and thus this division was made. Hence that is wonderful on God's part for two reasons. The first is that God dwells in the saints and yet does not defend them: Judg. 6: "If the Lord is with us, why have all these evils overtaken us? Where are his wonders which our fathers told us of?" And therefore he says, "But you dwell in the holy place": Jer. 14: "You are in our midst, O Lord," but he especially dwells in Christ. The other reason is that whatever good we have is entirely for the praise of God. And therefore, if things go well for us, God is better praised by us. And therefore it follows, "the praise of Israel": Jer. 17: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise." According to another exposition: "Why have you forsaken me?" Namely because the words of my transgressions are far from my salvation, spiritually; but I cry out for temporal salvation. But you, who dwell in the holy place, so as to be the praise of Israel, will not hear, because you do not hear when one does not cry out for spiritual salvation. Or according to the third exposition, so that Christ speaks in the person of the sinner: as if to say, therefore you are far from my salvation, because you do not dwell in sinners, but in the holy place.

Exposition on the Psalms of David

Those Psalms in which Christ appears as the sufferer are very much easier. And it is here too that the second meaning is most inevitable. If Christ 'tasted death for all men', became the archetypal sufferer, then the expressions of all who ever suffered in the world are, from the very nature of things, related to His. Here (to speak in ludicrously human terms) we feel that it needed no Divine guidance to give the old texts their second meaning but would rather have needed a special miracle to keep it out. In Psalm 22, the terrible poem which Christ quoted in His final torture, it is not 'they pierced my hands and my feet', striking though this anticipation must always be, that really matters most. It is the union of total privation with total adherence to God, to a God who makes no response, simply because of what God is: 'and thou continuest holy'. All the sufferings of the righteous speak here.

Reflections on the Psalms, Chapter 12: Second Meanings in the Psalms

"Our Fathers hoped in You." All the righteous, namely, who sought not their own praise, but Yours. "They hoped in You, and You delivered them" [Psalm 22:4].

Exposition on Psalm 22

4–5

"In you." Here another reason is given, drawn from the ancient custom and experience by which the holy fathers were freed from tribulations when they called upon God -- as is evident from Ex. 14, that they were freed from the persecution of the Egyptians; and concerning Susanna, who was freed from the unjust sentence of the elders, Dan. 13; and Daniel, who was freed from the mouth or the den of lions, Dan. 14. How then have I been forsaken by you and not freed from suffering? He therefore does two things regarding this. First, he makes mention of the evil of bodily affliction. Second, of the evil of confusion. As for deliverance from the first evil, they did two things. First, they hoped in him; hence he says, "In you," not in the world, "our fathers hoped": Is. 26: "You have hoped in the Lord through eternal ages, in the Lord God, mighty forever," etc. "And you delivered them"; and this is the fruit of hope, because "you delivered them." Second, they cried out; hence he says, "To you they cried out," from great affection of heart, "and they were saved": Ps. 119: "To the Lord when I was troubled I cried out," etc. As for the second evil, namely confusion, he says, "In you they hoped, and they were not confounded." But against this: Dan. 3: "There is no confusion for those who trust in you": Rom. 5: "Hope does not confound." It must be said that the fathers pertained to the old testament in which temporal goods were given; and therefore, to show that divine providence also disposes temporal things, he frees them even with temporal deliverance. But Christ promises and bestows spiritual things; and to show that temporal things are to be despised and eternal things hoped for, he did not will temporal deliverance according to reason. And yet some in the new testament were freed by temporal deliverances, and in the old testament some were instructed by spiritual afflictions, to show that God is the author of both testaments.

Exposition on the Psalms of David

"They cried unto You, and were saved." They cried unto You, not in the words of sins, from which salvation is far; and therefore were they saved. "They hoped in You, and were not confounded" [Psalm 22:5]. "They hoped in You," and their hope did not deceive them. For they placed it not in themselves.

Exposition on Psalm 22

6–8

For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp of pride or arrogance, although He might have done so, but in a lowly condition, as the Holy Spirit had declared regarding Him. For He says, "Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared [our message] in His presence: He is, as it were, a child, and like a root in thirsty ground; He has no form nor glory, yea, we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but His form was without eminence, yea, deficient in comparison with the [ordinary] form of men. He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities, and is in sorrow for our sakes; yet we supposed that [on His own account] He was exposed to labour, and stripes, and affliction. But He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; [every] man has wandered in his own way; and the Lord has delivered Him up for our sins, while He in the midst of His sufferings opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away; who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of my people was He brought down to death. And I will give the wicked for His sepulchre, and the rich for His death, because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him by stripes. If you make an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to relieve Him of the affliction of His soul, to show Him light, and to form Him with understanding, to justify the Just One who ministers well to many; and He Himself shall carry their sins. On this account He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and for their sins was He delivered." [Isaiah 53:1-12] And again He says, "I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All that see me have derided me; they have spoken with their lips; they have wagged their head, [saying] He hoped in God, let Him deliver Him, let Him save Him, since He delights in Him." [Psalm 22:6-8] You see, beloved, what is the example which has been given us; for if the Lord thus humbled Himself, what shall we do who have through Him come under the yoke of His grace?

Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 16

Wonder not if this was said of and fulfilled by the passion of the Savior, for even now he is a reproach among all people who have not yet received faith in him!

Proof of the Gospel 10:8.499

By the word worm did the Spirit foreshow him in a parable, because his generation was without marriage.

Hymns on the Nativity 1

He became all these things so that he might dull the sting of our death, that he might take away our state of slavery, that he might wipe away our curses, sins and reproaches.

Letter 46: To Sabinus

"But I am a worm, and no man" [Psalm 22:6]. But I, speaking now not in the person of Adam, but I in My own person, Jesus Christ, was born without human generation in the flesh, that I might be as man beyond men; that so at least human pride might deign to imitate My humility. "The scorn of men, and outcast of the people." In which humility I was made the scorn of men, so as that it should be said, as a reproachful railing, "Be His disciple:" [John 9:28] and that the people despise Me.

Exposition on Psalm 22

Understand your God. That is what he is, this one so great and so small, “a worm and no man,” and yet through him humankind was made.

Sermon 380:2

I am like a worm, he is saying, seen to be worthless and become a laughingstock. Now, some claimed that by “worm” is suggested also the birth from a virgin, as it is not by intercourse that it comes into existence; but I believe only lowliness is indicated here.

Commentary on the Psalms 22:6

6–7

"But I." Here he sets forth his passion. And first he proposes the confusion that he suffered. Second, he expounds it, at "All who see me." Third, he assigns its cause, at "For you are." The first part can be read in two ways. In one way, so that first he proposes the likeness of the confusion, and second he expounds the reproach. He says therefore: they were delivered, but I was not freed from confusion; rather I was so vilely trampled upon as if I were a worm and not a man: Job 25: "Man is rottenness, and the son of man a worm": Lam. 3: "I have become a derision to all the people, their song all day long." And he explains how: "a reproach of men, and the outcast of the people": Mt. 27: "Those passing by blasphemed him, 'Ha! You who would destroy the temple.' And those who were crucified reviled him. 'He saved others; he cannot save himself.'" And Jn. 19: "Weaving a crown of thorns," etc. And therefore, "I have become a reproach of men," in their words, as has been said, "and the outcast of the people," because they despised him, and because, having rejected him, they asked for Barabbas, Mt. 27. Lam. 3: "You have made me an outcast in the midst of the peoples." In a second way, so that it pertains to Christ's dignity: for a worm is not generated from intercourse, but from the earth, by the heat of the heavenly sun alone. "For he was like the most tender worm of wood," as it is said in 2 Sam. 23; so Christ was born from the Virgin by the operation of the Holy Spirit alone: Ps. 84: "The Lord will give kindness, and our land will yield its fruit." Therefore he says, "But I am a worm and not a man," that is, not merely a man, but also God. Or otherwise, according to Augustine: by "man" is understood the old man, namely Adam, who was a man in such a way that he was not the son of man. By "worm" is understood Christ, who was a man in such a way that he was the son of man, that is, of the Virgin. Therefore he says, "I am a worm and not a man," that is, not one rejoicing in temporal things, but the son of man rejoicing in spiritual things. "The outcast of the people" -- this remains unchanged. Next he sets forth the derision: and first he shows how it was universal; second, how it was manifold. That it was universal he shows when he says, "All who see me have derided me": Jer. 20: "All day long everyone mocked me," because both the people and the rulers did so. And this distribution, "all," is understood of the entire people, namely the wicked. That the mockery was manifold he shows: because it was in words; hence he says that "they spoke with their lips": Mt. 27: "Those passing by blasphemed him": Is. 57: "Whom have you mocked? Against whom have you opened your mouth wide and stuck out your tongue?": Wis. 2: "If he is truly the Son of God, he will receive him." Likewise in deeds: "And they shook their heads": Mt. 27: "Shaking their heads" (namely in derision) "saying, 'He saved others,'" etc.

Exposition on the Psalms of David