“Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 22:21 Mean?
"Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." The prayer shifts at the colon: the first half is petition (save me from the lion), and the second half is testimony (You have already heard me from the horns of the wild oxen). The cry for rescue is grounded in prior experience of rescue. Save me now — because You've saved me before.
The "lion's mouth" (pi aryeh — the mouth of the lion) represents imminent consumption: the lion has opened its jaws. The prey is about to be devoured. The danger isn't approaching. It's arrived. The mouth is open. The teeth are visible. The prayer is from inside the threat.
The "horns of the unicorns" (qarnei remim — the horns of the wild oxen) represent an equally lethal threat from which God has already delivered: the wild ox's horns could gore and kill. But God heard from between those horns — the previous rescue happened when death was equally certain. The past deliverance grounds the present plea.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What past deliverance gives you confidence to ask God for present salvation?
- 2.How does praying from 'inside the lion's mouth' differ from praying about distant threats?
- 3.What does the pivot from petition to testimony teach about how remembrance changes prayer?
- 4.What 'horns of the unicorns' has God already delivered you from — and does that ground your current cry?
Devotional
Save me from the lion's mouth — because You already saved me from the horns of the wild oxen. The prayer combines two things: present desperation and past testimony. I need You now. I know You've come through before. The rescue I'm asking for is consistent with the rescue You've already given.
The 'lion's mouth' isn't distant danger. It's the open jaws of a predator about to consume. David (and prophetically, Christ) prays from inside the threat — from the place where the lion's teeth are visible and the mouth is closing. The prayer isn't 'protect me from future danger.' It's 'save me from the danger that's about to eat me alive.'
The 'thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns' is the hinge: the prayer pivots from petition to testimony. Right in the middle of the desperate cry, David remembers: You've done this before. The wild ox had me between its horns — and You heard me. The previous rescue becomes the argument for the current one. Your track record is my confidence.
This pivot — from 'save me' to 'You have heard me' — is the turning point of Psalm 22. After this verse, the psalm shifts from lament to praise (verses 22-31). The remembrance of past deliverance opens the door to present hope. The testimony unlocks the praise.
What past deliverance — what 'horns of the unicorns' rescue — gives you confidence to ask God for present salvation?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Save me from the lion's mouth,.... Either the devil, who is as a roaring lion, whom Christ overcame both in the garden…
Save me from the lion’s mouth - His enemies represented as fierce and ravening lions, compare Psa 22:13, For thou hast…
In these verses we have Christ suffering and Christ praying, by which we are directed to look for crosses and to look up…
for thou hast heard me&c. Render, yea from the horns of the wild oxen thou hast answered me. A singularly bold and…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture