But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O Lord
Christ betook himself to prayer in these circumstances, and not
to railing and reviling again: he applied to his divine Father,
and committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, and prayed
both for himself and for his enemies too: and this he did
[in] an acceptable time;
or "a time of good will" F3; which was the time of his
sufferings and death; so called, because the good will and
pleasure of God was seen therein; in not sparing his Son, his own
and only begotten Son, his beloved Son, and delivering him up to
justice and death for the worst of sinners; and because at this
time the good will of God was done: Christ laid down his life by
the commandment of his Father, offered himself a sacrifice by the
will of God, and hereby the law of God was fulfilled, justice
satisfied, and the work of man's redemption finished; which was
the pleasure of the Lord, that prospered in his hands; and
therefore this must be an acceptable time to God. The sufferings
of Christ were well pleasing to him; the sacrifice of Christ was
for a sweet smelling savour; the righteousness of Christ was
acceptable to him, the law being magnified and made honourable by
it: peace was now made by the blood of his cross; the perfections
of God were glorified, his purposes executed, his promises
fulfilled, his covenant confirmed, and his people saved; and so a
proper time for the Mediator to offer up his supplications and
prayers, in which he was heard, as appears from ( Isaiah 49:8 ) ;
O God, in the multitude of thy mercy;
these words, according to the accents in the Hebrew text, should
be rendered in connection with the preceding words, thus: "in the
time of good will, O God"; or "in the time of the good will of
God, through the multitude of thy mercy"; and then the sense is,
that the acceptable time was owing to the greatness of divine
mercy; it was from hence that the dayspring from on high visited
men; or Christ came in the flesh, and suffered in the room and
stead of sinners; in which there was a wonderful display of the
abundant mercy of God to men; for otherwise there was none shown
to the surety and Saviour; he was not spared, but delivered up;
and then it follows,
hear me, in the truth of thy salvation;
or "because of", or "by thy true salvation" F4; that
which God contrived in council, and secured in covenant, and sent
his Son to effect, and which he is become the author of, is a
true and real salvation; not figurative and shadowy, as the
salvation of Israel out of Egypt and Babylon were: or because of
the truth and faithfulness of God, who had promised salvation to
the Messiah, that he should be carried through his sufferings, be
raised from the dead, and be crowned with glory and honour; and
therefore he prays he might be heard on this account, and his
prayer follows, and the several petitions in it.