“They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 22:13 Mean?
Psalm 22 — the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross — describes enemies who "gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion." The image is visceral: mouths wide open, roaring with aggression, ready to devour. These aren't civilized opponents — they're predators, and David is prey.
The word "gaped" (patsah) means to open wide, to split open. The enemies' mouths are stretched to maximum, like a lion preparing to consume. The sound is as important as the sight — they're roaring, making the noise of a predator closing in. This is intimidation through overwhelming aggression.
Christian tradition reads this psalm as prophetic — David's experience foreshadowing Christ's passion. The gaping mouths become the crowd at the cross, the Sanhedrin's accusations, the mockery of the soldiers. What David experienced as personal persecution, Jesus experienced as cosmic redemption. The imagery serves both historical and prophetic purposes.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever faced opposition that felt less like disagreement and more like a predator attack?
- 2.How does knowing this psalm is quoted by Jesus on the cross connect your suffering to His?
- 3.The psalm starts with abandonment and ends with worship. Where are you in that arc right now?
- 4.What gives you the ability to hold on through the roaring until the praise comes?
Devotional
Open mouths. Roaring. The posture of predators about to consume their prey. David describes his enemies not as people who disagree with him but as lions closing in for the kill. There's no reasoning with a roaring lion. There's no diplomatic solution to open jaws.
This is what certain kinds of opposition feel like — not a debate but an attack. Not an argument but a mauling. If you've ever been in a situation where the people against you weren't interested in dialogue but in destruction, David's image captures the experience. They opened their mouths as wide as they could and roared.
The psalm that contains this verse is the one Jesus spoke from the cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The gaping mouths that surrounded David surrounded Jesus. The predatory crowd that wanted David consumed wanted Jesus destroyed. Your experience of being attacked connects to a line that runs through David, through Jesus, through everyone who has ever been the target of devouring hostility.
The psalm doesn't end with the lions. It ends with worship, with testimony, with God being praised among the nations. The open mouths don't get the last word. They never do. The roaring is temporary; the praise is permanent.
What roaring is surrounding you right now? And can you hold on long enough for the psalm to reach its ending?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
They gaped upon me with their mouths,.... Either by way of derision and contempt, Job 16:10; or belching out blasphemy…
They gaped upon me with their mouths - Margin, as in Hebrew, “opened their mouths against me.” That is, they opened…
In these verses we have Christ suffering and Christ praying, by which we are directed to look for crosses and to look up…
They gaped&c. R.V., they gape upon me with their mouths (Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46); like a lion roaring as it prepares to…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture