Why Have You Forsaken Me?
PSALM 22 [†] u My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so v far from saving me, from the words of my w groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by x day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
z enthroned on a the praises [1] of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they b cried and were rescued;
in you they c trusted and were not put to shame.
6[†] But I am d a worm and not a man,
e scorned by mankind and f despised by the people.
7 All who see me g mock me;
they make mouths at me; they h wag their heads;
8[^] i “He trusts in the LORD; let him j deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he k delights in him!”
9[†] Yet you are he who l took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from m my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not n far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is o none to help.
12[†] Many bulls encompass me;
p strong bulls of q Bashan surround me;
13 they r open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am s poured out like water,
and all my bones are t out of joint;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is w dried up like a potsherd,
and my x tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For y dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers z encircles me;
they have a pierced my hands and feet [2]—
17[†] I can count all my bones—
they b stare and gloat over me;
18[^][†] c they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19[†] But you, O LORD, n do not be far off!
O you my help, d come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of e the dog!
21 Save me from f the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued [3] me from the horns of g the wild oxen!
22[^][†] h I will tell of your name to my i brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who j fear the LORD, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, k glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of l the afflicted,
and he has not m hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he n cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great o congregation;
my p vows I will q perform before those who fear him.
26 r The afflicted [4] shall s eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD!
May your hearts t live forever!
27[^] All u the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all v the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For w kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All x the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall y bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not z keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming a generation;
31 they shall b come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet c unborn,
that he has done it.
A Psalm of David.