For the director of music. A psalm of David to the tune of ‘The Doe of the Morning.’
1My God, my God, why have you deserted me? Why do you seem so far away when I need you to save me? Why do you seem so far away that you can’t hear my groans?2My God, I cry out in the daytime. But you don’t answer. I cry out at night. But you don’t let me sleep.3But you rule from your throne as the Holy One. You are the God Israel praises.4Our people of long ago put their trust in you. They trusted in you, and you saved them.5They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you, and you didn’t let them down.6Everyone treats me like a worm and not a man. They hate me and look down on me.7All those who see me laugh at me. They shout at me and make fun of me. They shake their heads at me.8They say, ‘He trusts in the LORD. Let the LORD help him. If the LORD is pleased with him, let him save him.’9But you brought me out of my mother’s body. You made me trust in you even when I was at my mother’s breast.10From the time I was born, you took good care of me. Ever since I came out of my mother’s body, you have been my God.11Don’t be far away from me. Trouble is near, and there is no one to help me.12Many enemies are all around me. They are like strong bulls from the land of Bashan.13They are like roaring lions that tear to pieces what they kill. They open their mouths wide to attack me.14My strength is like water that is poured out on the ground. I feel as if my bones aren’t connected. My heart has turned to wax. It has melted away inside me.15My mouth is dried up like a piece of broken pottery. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You bring me down to the edge of the grave.16A group of sinful people has closed in on me. They are all around me like a pack of dogs. They have pierced my hands and my feet.17Everyone can see all my bones right through my skin. People stare at me. They laugh when I suffer.18They divide up my clothes among them. They cast lots for what I am wearing.19LORD, don’t be so far away from me. You give me strength. Come quickly to help me.20Save me from being killed by the sword. Save the only life I have. Save me from the power of those dogs.21Save me from the mouths of those lions. Save me from the horns of those wild oxen.22I will announce your name to my people. I will praise you among those who are gathered to worship you.23You who have respect for the LORD, praise him! All you people of Jacob, honour him! All you people of Israel, worship him!24He has not forgotten the one who is hurting. He has not turned away from his suffering. He has not turned his face away from him. He has listened to his cry for help.25Because of what you have done, I will praise you in the whole community of those who worship you. In front of those who respect you, I will keep my promises.26Those who are poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the LORD will praise him. May their hearts be filled with new hope!27People from one end of the earth to the other will remember and turn to the LORD. The people of all the nations will bow down in front of him.28The LORD is King. He rules over the nations.29All rich people of the earth will feast and worship God. All who go down to the grave will kneel in front of him. Those who cannot keep themselves alive will kneel.30Those who are not yet born will serve him. Those who are born later will be told about the Lord.31And they will tell people who have not yet been born, ‘The Lord has done what is right!’
Psalm 22
English Standard Version
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
1To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (Job 3:24; Ps 22:11; Ps 32:3; Ps 38:8; Isa 59:11; Mt 27:46; Mr 15:34; Heb 5:7)2O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. (Ps 88:1)3Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[1] of Israel. (Le 19:2; Ps 9:11; Ps 9:14; Ps 65:1; Ps 80:1; Ps 99:1; Ps 102:21; Ps 147:12)4In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.5To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. (Jud 3:9; Ps 25:2; Ps 31:1; Ps 71:1; Isa 49:23; Ro 9:33)6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. (Job 25:6; Ps 69:19; Ps 109:25; Isa 41:14; Isa 49:7; Isa 53:3)7All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; (2Ki 19:21; Ps 44:14; Ps 109:25; Isa 37:22; La 2:15; Mt 27:39; Mr 15:29; Lu 23:35)8“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Ps 18:19; Ps 37:5; Ps 91:14; Pr 16:3; Mt 3:17; Mr 1:11; Lu 3:22)9Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. (Ps 71:6)10On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. (Isa 46:3; Isa 49:1; Ga 1:15)11Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. (2Ki 14:26; Ps 10:1; Ps 22:1; Ps 107:12; Isa 63:5)12Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; (Ps 68:30; Am 4:1)13they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. (Job 16:10; Ps 35:21; La 2:16; La 3:46)14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; (Jos 2:11; Job 23:16; Ps 68:2; La 2:11; Da 5:6; Na 2:10)15my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. (Job 29:10; Pr 17:22; Joh 19:28)16For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet[2]— (Ps 88:17; Zec 12:10; Mt 27:35; Mr 15:24; Lu 23:33; Lu 24:40; Joh 19:23; Joh 19:37; Joh 20:25; Php 3:2; Re 22:15)17I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; (Lu 23:35)18they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Mt 27:35; Lu 23:34; Joh 19:24)19But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! (Ps 22:11; Ps 38:22)20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! (Php 3:2; Re 22:15)21Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued[3] me from the horns of the wild oxen! (Nu 23:22; 2Ti 4:17)22I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: (Ps 102:21; Mt 28:10; Joh 17:6; Joh 20:17; Ro 8:29; Heb 2:12)23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! (Ps 50:15; Ps 50:23; Ps 135:20)24For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. (Job 13:24; Ps 10:1; Ps 13:1; Isa 53:4; Isa 53:7; Heb 5:7)25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. (Le 7:16; Ps 35:18; Ps 40:9; Ps 50:14; Ps 66:13; Ps 111:1; Jon 2:9)26The afflicted[4] shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! (Ps 69:32; Isa 25:6; Isa 65:13; Joh 6:51)27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. (Ps 2:8; Ps 67:7; Ps 96:7)28For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. (Ps 47:8; Ob 1:21; Zec 14:9)29All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. (Ps 45:12; Ps 72:9; Eze 18:27; Php 2:10)30Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; (Ps 48:13; Ps 71:18)31they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. (Ps 78:6; Ps 86:9; Ps 102:18; Isa 60:3)