20 Deliver my soul from the sword, 

my life from the power of the dog! 

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion, 

my afflicted soul from the horns of the wild oxen! 

Deliver my soul from the sword, cannot mean just any sword. Swords take lives not souls. This must be referring to the sword of God, that flaming sword of His divine wrath, which is the word of God. [Gen. 3:24; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 19:15] As our Lord hung there dying His personal human fear was that all the sin of the world that was being laid upon Him might not be forgotten.

Save me from the mouth of the lion, is a reference to our oldest enemies Satan, who prowls like a roaring lion. [1Pet. 5:8] Here it is, in the fullness of time, or the mo’ad that the original promise is fulfilled, as Messiah’s own death destroys Satan’s kingdom and his claim to it.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:15

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; John 14:30

FYI: If you are reading the King James Version it is a unicorn that afflicts His soul. [See Also: Unicorns in the Bible]

It is the children of Israel that are the horns of the wild oxen.

God brings them out of Egypt; they have as it were the horns of the wild ox. Num. 23:22

Their rejection of Messiah truly afflicted His soul as just before His arrest He had stated.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Matt. 23:37