Psalm 22:1-31
Forsaken Yet Remembered
1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “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, so far from my words of groaning?
2I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.
3Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
5They cried out to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disappointed.
6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
7All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
8“He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”
9Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.
10From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
15My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
17I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.
18They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
19But You, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
21Save me from the mouth of the lion; at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!
22I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the assembly.
23You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All offspring of Israel, revere Him!
24For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
25My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.
26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!
27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
28For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.
29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
30Posterity will serve Him; they will declare the Lord to a new generation.
31They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn—all that He has done.
Berean Standard Bible
The psalm begins with the cry of someone who feels forsaken: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” David has called by day and by night without finding rest. Yet even in the cry he says “my God,” holding on to relationship while protesting the distance he feels.
The enemies mock him, telling him to let the LORD save him if God delights in him. Their cruelty presses on his faith. David remembers that his ancestors trusted and were delivered, but his own body feels like a worm rather than a man. Bulls, lions, and dogs surround him; the imagery makes fear almost physical.
The prayer turns when David asks God not to be far away and declares that God has answered him. He then promises to tell the coming generation what the LORD has done. The end looks toward worship among the nations: the afflicted will eat and be satisfied, and future generations will hear of God's righteousness. Lament travels toward testimony without pretending the suffering was small.
The Gospels place this psalm's opening cry and several of its images beside Jesus' crucifixion. That does not make David's anguish unreal or turn every detail into a prediction detached from its original prayer. It shows the depth of Christ's identification with suffering and the way His resurrection vindicates the hope that the psalm carries from abandonment toward worship.
How We Know
Matthew records Jesus crying the opening words of this psalm from the cross. John also connects the soldiers' division of His clothing with the psalm's language about garments. The Gospel writers use these details to identify Jesus with the righteous sufferer while preserving the psalm's movement from lament to the praise of God's people.
Questions
1 What does David cry at the beginning?
AnswerHe cries that God seems forsaken and distant even though he has called day and night.
2 How do the enemies treat him?
AnswerThey mock his trust in God and surround him like powerful animals waiting to destroy him.
3 What does David remember?
AnswerHe remembers that his ancestors trusted the LORD and were delivered, even while he feels abandoned.
4 What will future generations hear?
AnswerThey will hear of the LORD's righteousness and what He has done for His people.
What This Means for Us
The opening cry should not be edited out of Christian prayer. A person can feel abandoned and still address God as “my God.” Faith sometimes looks like refusing to stop speaking to the One who seems silent.
The psalm also shows that testimony should tell the truth about the valley before celebrating the view beyond it. Do not use another person's eventual praise to hurry them past present grief.
Prayer
My God, meet those who feel forsaken and cannot find rest. Stay near through mockery, fear, and silence, and in Your time turn honest lament into a testimony that does not erase the pain. Amen.