Psalms 22

For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

“He trusts in the LORD. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”

But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.

I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.

I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.

They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

But don’t be far off, LORD. You are my help. Hurry to help me!

Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.

You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the LORD who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

For the kingdom is the LORD’s. He is the ruler over the nations.

All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.

Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter is a profound lament that moves from deep despair to triumphant praise, expressing the anguish of one utterly abandoned and surrounded by enemies, yet who clings to trust in God’s holiness and faithfulness. It captures both the agony of suffering and the certainty of divine deliverance, culminating in a promise to proclaim God’s name and righteousness to future generations.

Flow.

Begins with a cry of abandonment, questioning God’s silence in the face of relentless suffering (vv. 1–2).
Shifts to affirm God’s holiness and the faithfulness of past generations, contrasting their deliverance with the speaker’s present anguish (vv. 3–11).
Intensifies in describing physical agony and mockery, using vivid imagery of violence and death, including piercing and division of garments (vv. 12–18).
Turns decisively toward hope, calling on God for deliverance and culminating in a vow to declare God’s name and righteousness to the assembly and the nations (vv. 19–31).

Connections.
Following chapter 21, which celebrates God’s deliverance of the king and His enthronement in strength, this psalm plunges into the suffering that precedes glory, revealing the cost of divine faithfulness. The cry of abandonment and the details of cruciform agony prepare the reader to understand the depth of the Messiah’s humiliation, which chapter 23 will meet with pastoral reassurance and the restoration of the soul. The movement from lament to universal praise in this psalm sets the stage for the crescendo of worship that marks the later psalms.

What it teaches.
The psalm teaches that profound suffering does not mean divine absence, for even in forsakenness, the afflicted one calls upon the holy God who dwells in the praises of Israel. It affirms that God hears the cry of the humble and does not despise their affliction (WCF 8.5; HC LD 16), and that deliverance belongs to the Lord, who raises the soul from death to praise. The detailed description of suffering—pierced hands and feet, divided garments, mockery—points beyond the immediate context to the sufferings of Christ, fulfilling the pattern of the righteous sufferer to whom the promises of salvation and universal worship are applied ( cited in HC LD 31; WCF 7.3, 8.6). The final declarations of global worship and God’s eternal dominion reflect the surety of His kingdom (WCF 12.1; LD 52).

Apply.
When trust is tested by silence and pain, the righteous cry to God as their only help and go on to proclaim His faithfulness where others may see only abandonment.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.