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Psalms 22

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The Cry of Abandonment 1–10

1
To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? ​
2
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. ​
3
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. ​
4
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. ​
5
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. ​
7
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ​
8
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. ​
9
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. ​
10
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

Surrounded by Enemies and Suffering 11–21

11
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. ​
12
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. ​
13
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14
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. ​
15
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. ​
16
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. ​
17
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. ​
19
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. ​
20
Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. ​

Vow to Praise and Universal Deliverance 22–31

22
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. ​
23
Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. ​
24
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. ​
25
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. ​
27
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. ​
28
For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. ​
29
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. ​
30
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. ​
31
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 22

Verse 1

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? — Christ cried these words from the cross (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34); Matthew writes 'Eli, Eli' and Mark 'Eloi, Eloi'. Azab is to leave or relinquish. 'Roaring' (sheagah) comes from the verb for a lion's roar, the verb used of the lion in v.13.

Verse 2

thou hearest not — The verb is anah, to answer. The cry rises 'in the daytime' and 'in the night season' without a reply, and the same verb stands in v.21, 'thou hast heard me', where the lament turns. 'Not silent' (dumiyah) is stillness: he does not stop calling.

Verse 3

inhabitest the praises of Israel — Yashab is to sit or dwell, so the LORD is pictured as seated amid his people's praise ('He is thy praise', Deut 10:21). 'Holy' is qadosh, the word of the seraphim's cry in Isa 6:3. The next verses name the fathers who trusted him.

Verse 4

Our fathers trusted — Batach, to trust, is said three times in vv.4–5 and again in v.9 ('make me hope'). 'Deliver' (palat) is the verb the mockers repeat in v.8. The pattern was set at the sea: 'stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD' (Ex 14:13).

Verse 6

I am a worm, and no man — Tola is the crimson grub, from which scarlet dye was made (the 'scarlet' of Ex 25:4); the LORD calls Israel 'thou worm Jacob' (Isa 41:14). 'Despised' is bazah, the verb of v.24, 'he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted'.

Verse 7

they shoot out the lip, they shake the head — The Gospels record the gesture at the cross: 'they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads' (Matt 27:39). 'Laugh me to scorn' is laag, to deride. Ps 109:25 has the same shaking of the head: 'they shaked their heads'.

Verse 8

He trusted on the LORD — Galal is to roll, as a burden is rolled on the LORD in Ps 37:5, 'Commit thy way unto the LORD'. At the cross the words return almost as written: 'He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him' (Matt 27:43). 'Deliver' (palat) is the verb of v.4.

Verse 9

took me out of the womb — Gachach is to gush forth or draw out: the LORD is named as the one who brought him to birth, as in Ps 71:6, 'thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels'. 'Make me hope' is batach, the trust of vv.4–5, held from his mother's breasts.

Verse 11

Be not far from me — The plea answers the 'so far' of v.1 (rachoq); here and in v.19 the verb is rachaq. 'Trouble' (tsarah) is the word of Ps 20:1, 'the day of trouble'. Heb 5:7 speaks of 'strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death'.

Verse 12

strong bulls of Bashan — Bashan was known for its cattle: 'rams of the breed of Bashan' (Deut 32:14), and Amos calls the oppressors 'kine of Bashan' (Amos 4:1). 'Strong' is abbir, mighty, and 'compassed' is sabab, the verb used of the dogs in v.16.

Verse 14

poured out like water — Shaphak is the verb for shedding blood (Gen 9:6, 'Whoso sheddeth man's blood'). 'Out of joint' is parad, to separate, and the heart 'melted' (masas) as the hearts of Israel's people did before Ai (Josh 7:5): 'melted, and became as water'.

Verse 15

my tongue cleaveth to my jaws — Dabaq is to cling, and the word for 'jaws' comes from the verb 'to take'. John records 'I thirst' on the cross (John 19:28). 'Potsherd' is cheres, a broken piece of pottery, and 'thou hast brought me' (shaphath) is to set or lay down, addressed to God.

Verse 16

they pierced my hands and my feet — Karah is to dig or bore. The 'dogs' (keleb) have 'compassed' him, the verb of the bulls in v.12. At the cross 'they crucified him' (Matt 27:35), and the risen Christ says 'Behold my hands and my feet' (Luke 24:39); John adds 'They shall look on him whom they pierced' (John 19:37).

Verse 18

They part my garments — The soldiers did this at the cross: 'they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled' (Matt 27:35). John separates the two acts: four parts for the garments, and lots for the seamless coat (John 19:23–24). 'Lots' (goral) is the word of Ps 16:5.

Verse 19

O my strength, haste thee to help me — Eyaluth, strength or protection, occurs only here. 'Haste thee' is chush, to hurry, and 'be not far' repeats the plea of v.11. The words open the last prayer before the turn at v.21.

Verse 21

the horns of the unicorns — Re'em is the wild bull, 'the strength of an unicorn' of Num 23:22. 'Thou hast heard me' is anah, the verb of v.2, where no answer came. 'Mouth' (peh) is the word for the open mouths of v.13. Paul uses the same figure: 'I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion' (2 Tim 4:17).

Verse 22

I will declare thy name unto my brethren — Hebrews 2:12 puts the verse in Christ's mouth, 'in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee', and says he 'is not ashamed to call them brethren' (Heb 2:11). 'Declare' is saphar, to recount; the lament gives way to praise in the congregation (qahal).

Verse 23

all ye the seed of Jacob — Jacob and Israel are two names for one people (Gen 32:28). Three commands follow: praise (halal), glorify (kabad, to honour) and fear (gur, to stand in awe). The call goes first to 'ye that fear the LORD', then to the whole seed.

Verse 24

hath not despised nor abhorred — Bazah, 'despised', is the verb of v.6, where he was 'despised of the people'. 'Hid his face' (sathar) answers the 'why hast thou forsaken me' of v.1, and 'he heard' is shama. Hebrews 5:7 says of Christ that he 'was heard in that he feared'.

Verse 26

The meek shall eat and be satisfied — Anav is the humble. After the vows of v.25 comes a meal, for a vow offering 'shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice' (Lev 7:16). 'Your heart shall live for ever' is echoed in Ps 69:32, 'your heart shall live that seek God'.

Verse 27

All the ends of the world — Zakar is to remember and shub to turn back. 'Kindreds' (mishpachah) is the word of Gen 12:3, 'all families of the earth', and 'ends' (ephes) is the word of Ps 2:8, 'the uttermost parts of the earth'. 'Worship' is shachah, to bow down.

Verse 28

the kingdom is the LORD'S — Meluchah is kingdom and mashal is to rule. Obadiah closes with the same words, 'the kingdom shall be the LORD'S' (Obad 1:21), and Zechariah promises 'the LORD shall be king over all the earth' (Zech 14:9). 'Among the nations' keeps the reach of v.27.

Verse 29

they that be fat upon earth — Dashen, fat, here the prosperous, comes from the root of 'anointest' in Ps 23:5. The meek eat in v.26, the rich eat here, and those who 'go down to the dust' bow with them: Paul speaks of 'things under the earth' at the name of Jesus (Phil 2:10).

Verse 30

A seed shall serve him — Zera is seed, the offspring who follow the suffering, as 'he shall see his seed' (Isa 53:10). 'Accounted' is saphar, the verb of 'declare' in v.22. To be counted to the Lord 'for a generation' (dor) is to be reckoned his own, as in Ps 87:6, 'The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people'.

Verse 31

a people that shall be born — Nagad is to declare openly, and 'righteousness' is tsedaqah. The telling passes to a people not yet born (yalad), as in Ps 78:6, 'the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children'. Paul speaks of 'the righteousness of God revealed' (Rom 1:17).