Psalm 22

From Suffering to Praise

For the choir director: according to “The Deer of the Dawn.” A psalm of David.

1My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Why are you so far from my deliverance

and from my words of groaning?

2My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

by night, yet I have no rest.

3But you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4Our ancestors trusted in you;

they trusted, and you rescued them.

5They cried to you and were set free;

they trusted in you and were not disgraced.

6But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by people.

7Everyone who sees me mocks me;

they sneer and shake their heads:

8“He relies on the Lord;

let him save him;

let the Lord rescue him,

since he takes pleasure in him.”

9It was you who brought me out of the womb,

making me secure at my mother’s breast.

10I was given over to you at birth;

you have been my God from my mother’s womb.

11Don’t be far from me, because distress is near

and there’s no one to help.

12Many bulls surround me;

strong ones of Bashan encircle me.

13They open their mouths against me —

lions, mauling and roaring.

14I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are disjointed;

my heart is like wax,

melting within me.

15My strength is dried up like baked clay;

my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

You put me into the dust of death.

16For dogs have surrounded me;

a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;

they pierced my hands and my feet.

17I can count all my bones;

people look and stare at me.

18They divided my garments among themselves,

and they cast lots for my clothing.

19But you, Lord, don’t be far away.

My strength, come quickly to help me.

20Rescue my life from the sword,

my only life from the power of these dogs.

21Save me from the lion’s mouth,

from the horns of wild oxen.

You answered me!

22I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters;

I will praise you in the assembly.

23You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

All you descendants of Israel, revere him!

24For he has not despised or abhorred

the torment of the oppressed.

He did not hide his face from him

but listened when he cried to him for help.

25I will give praise in the great assembly

because of you;

I will fulfill my vows

before those who fear you.

26The humble 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 you,

28for kingship belongs to the Lord;

he rules the nations.

29All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;

all those who go down to the dust

will kneel before him —

even the one who cannot preserve his life.

30Their descendants will serve him;

the next generation will be told about the Lord.

31They will come and declare his righteousness;

to a people yet to be born

they will declare what he has done.