For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,..

Psalm 22:24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,.... That is, Christ, who was afflicted by men, both by their tongues, and by their hands; by devils, by the temptations of Satan for Christ suffered being tempted, though he was not overcome; and by his attacks upon him, both in the garden and on the cross; and by the Lord himself, Jehovah his Father, who laid on him the iniquity and chastisement of his people, bruised him, and put him to grief; awoke the sword of justice against him, and spared him not: his afflictions were many, both in body and soul; in body, being scourged, buffeted, bruised, pierced, racked, and tortured on the cross; in soul, being made exceeding sorrowful, and an offering for sin; sustaining his Father's wrath, and seeking and enduring affliction by the rod of it; see Isaiah 53:4; now, though his afflictions and sufferings were despised by men, and he was despised and abhorred on account of them; yet not by his Father, he took pleasure in them, and in him as suffering for his people; not simply considered, as if he delighted in his sufferings as such, but as they were agreeable to his counsel and covenant, and brought about the salvation of his chosen ones: he accepted them in the room and stead of his people; the sacrifice of Christ was of a sweet smelling savour to him; he was well pleased with his righteousness, his law being magnified and made honourable by it; and his death was precious in his sight, being the propitiation for the sins of his people; so far was he from despising and abhorring the afflictions of his son. And this is mentioned as a reason or argument for praise and thanksgiving in them that fear the Lord; since God has looked upon the redemption price his Son has paid for them sufficient; has not despised, but accepted of it as the ransom of their souls: some render the words, "the prayer of the afflicted"; so the Targum, and the Septuagint version, and the versions that follow that; which agrees with the next words: neither hath he hid his face from him; when men did, as ashamed of him, Isaiah 53:3; for though he forsook him for a while, and in a little wrath hid his face from him for a moment, that he might bear the whole curse of the law for us; yet he returned again, and did not hide his face from him for even; but when he cried unto him, he heard; cried not only on account of his crucifiers, that God would forgive them; but on account of himself, that he would not be afar off from him; that he would take his spirit or soul into his hands, into which he committed it; that he would deliver him from the power of death and the grave, and loose their bands; in all which he was heard, Hebrews 5:7. John Gill

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