Christianity
Psalms 22Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
Summary
Psalm 22 begins with the anguished cry My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, and describes a sufferer mocked by onlookers, surrounded by enemies likened to bulls and dogs, his strength poured out and his garments divided by lot. Midway it turns to praise, declaring that God has heard, and ends with all nations and future generations worshiping the LORD. Traditionally ascribed to David, it is central to Christian accounts of the crucifixion.
Key verse
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
Psalms 22:1
Themes
- Abandonment
- Suffering
- Deliverance
- Universal Praise
Text
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
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.
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.
Across traditions
Christianity
Matthew 27: The Cry from the CrossMatthew 27:46 records Jesus crying the opening words of Psalm 22 in a Semitic form, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, and the scene includes mocking and the dividing of garments described in the psalm.
Christianity
John 19: They Parted My RaimentJohn 19:24 quotes Psalm 22:18 as fulfilled when soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothing.
Judaism
Tehillim 22 in the JPS 1917 TanakhJewish tradition reads the psalm as the voice of a persecuted righteous person or of the people of Israel, and the Talmud links it to Queen Esther's plea before the king.
Questions about Psalms 22
Why did Jesus quote Psalm 22 on the cross?
Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 record him praying its first line. Christians note that the psalm moves from abandonment to vindication, and many read the citation as invoking the whole psalm.
What does they pierced my hands and my feet mean in Psalm 22:16?
The KJV follows the Septuagint. The traditional Hebrew text reads like a lion at my hands and my feet, and the JPS 1917 translates it that way. Christians read the verse as foretelling crucifixion.