Psalms22
New International Version
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!
Study
Psalms 22Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 22. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Complaints of discouragement. (1–10). With prayer for deliverance. (11–21). Praises for mercies and redemption. (22–31).
vv1-10
The Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets, testifies in this psalm, clearly and fully, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. We have a sorrowful complaint of God's withdrawings. This may be applied to any child of God, pressed down, overwhelmed with grief and terror. Spiritual desertions are the saints' sorest afflictions; but even their complaint of these burdens is a sign of spiritual life, and spiritual senses exercised. To cry our, My God, why am I sick? why am I poor? savours of discontent and worldliness. But, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” is the language of a heart binding up its happiness in God's favour. This must be applied to Christ. In the first words of this complaint, he poured out his soul before God when he was upon the cross, Mt 27:46. Being truly man, Christ felt a natural unwillingness to pass through such great sorrows, yet his zeal and love prevailed. Christ declared the holiness of God, his heavenly Father, in his sharpest sufferings; nay, declared them to be a proof of it, for which he would be continually praised by his Israel, more than for all other deliverances they received. Never any that hoped in thee, were made ashamed of their hope; never any that sought thee, sought thee in vain. Here is a complaint of the contempt and reproach of men. The Saviour here spoke of the abject state to which he was reduced. The history of Christ's sufferings, and of his birth, explains this prophecy.
vv11-21
In these verses we have Christ suffering, and Christ praying; by which we are directed to look for crosses, and to look up to God under them. The very manner of Christ's death is described, though not in use among the Jews. They pierced his hands and his feet, which were nailed to the accursed tree, and his whole body was left so to hang as to suffer the most severe pain and torture. His natural force failed, being wasted by the fire of Divine wrath preying upon his spirits. Who then can stand before God's anger? or who knows the power of it? The life of the sinner was forfeited, and the life of the Sacrifice must be the ransom for it. Our Lord Jesus was stripped, when he was crucified, that he might clothe us with the robe of his righteousness. Thus it was written, therefore thus it behoved Christ to suffer. Let all this confirm our faith in him as the true Messiah, and excite our love to him as the best of friends, who loved us, and suffered all this for us. Christ in his agony prayed, prayed earnestly, prayed that the cup might pass from him. When we cannot rejoice in God as our song, yet let us stay ourselves upon him as our strength; and take the comfort of spiritual supports, when we cannot have spiritual delights. He prays to be delivered from the Divine wrath. He that has delivered, doth deliver, and will do so. We should think upon the sufferings and resurrection of Christ, till we feel in our souls the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.
vv22-31
The Saviour now speaks as risen from the dead. The first words of the complaint were used by Christ himself upon the cross; the first words of the triumph are expressly applied to him, Heb 2:12. All our praises must refer to the work of redemption. The suffering of the Redeemer was graciously accepted as a full satisfaction for sin. Though it was offered for sinful men, the Father did not despise or abhor it for our sakes. This ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving. All humble, gracious souls should have a full satisfaction and happiness in him. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness in Christ, shall not labour for that which satisfies not. Those that are much in praying, will be much in thanksgiving. Those that turn to God, will make conscience of worshipping before him. Let every tongue confess that he is Lord. High and low, rich and poor, bond and free, meet in Christ. Seeing we cannot keep alive our own souls, it is our wisdom, by obedient faith, to commit our souls to Christ, who is able to save and keep them alive for ever. A seed shall serve him. God will have a church in the world to the end of time. They shall be accounted to him for a generation; he will be the same to them that he was to those who went before them. His righteousness, and not any of their own, they shall declare to be the foundation of all their hopes, and the fountain of all their joys. Redemption by Christ is the Lord's own doing. Here we see the free love and compassion of God the Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, for us wretched sinners, as the source of all grace and consolation; the example we are to follow, the treatment as Christians we are to expect, and the conduct under it we are to adopt. Every lesson may here be learned that can profit the humbled soul. Let those who go about to establish their own righteousness inquire, why the beloved Son of God should thus suffer, if their own doings could atone for sin? Let the ungodly professor consider whether the Saviour thus honoured the Divine law, to purchase him the privilege of despising it. Let the careless take warning to flee from the wrath to come, and the trembling rest their hopes upon this merciful Redeemer. Let the tempted and distressed believer cheerfully expect a happy end of every trial.
Key Words
נָצַח: properly, to glitter from afar, i.e. to be eminent (as a superintendent, especially of the Temple services and its music); to be permanent
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
אַיֶּלֶת: a doe
שַׁחַר: dawn (literal, figurative or adverbial)
מִזְמוֹר: properly, instrumental music; by implication, a poem set to notes
דָּוִד: David, the youngest son of Jesse
אֵל: strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity)
מָה: properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses
עָזַב: to loosen, i.e. relinquish, permit, etc.
רָחוֹק: remote, literally or figuratively, of place or time; specifically, precious; often used adverbially (with preposition)
Cross References
Psalms 22Our Lord's exact words on the cross, directly quoting this verse during His passion.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The chief priests mockingly repeat the exact taunts prophesied in verse 8.
Supported by JFB
The soldiers cast lots for Christ's garments, directly fulfilling verse 18.
Supported by JFB
Detailed fulfillment of parting garments and casting lots for the seamless coat.
Supported by JFB
Directly quotes verse 22, applying it to Christ declaring the Father's name to His brethren.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Passersby wagged their heads, matching the precise mocking gestures of verse 7.
Supported by JFB
Prophetic parallel of looking upon the pierced Messiah; links to the piercing of hands and feet.
Christ's strong crying and tears in the days of His flesh parallel the 'roaring' in prayer.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Messianic prophecy of being despised and rejected of men, matching 'a reproach of men'.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the language of God holding the psalmist up from the womb.
Supported by JFB
Identifies the rich pastures of Bashan, explaining the figure of 'strong bulls of Bashan'.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The rulers derided Him saying 'let him save himself', fulfilling the mocking.
Supported by JFB
Christ's sorrowful soul in Gethsemane matches the poured-out water and melting heart.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Christ's cry 'I thirst' fulfills the parched tongue and dried-up strength.
Prophecy of the sword awaking against the Shepherd, echoing 'Deliver my soul from the sword'.
Uses the same self-deprecating 'worm' comparison in expressing deep human abasement.
Verbal parallel where mockers open their mouths wide against the sufferer.
Supported by JFB
Christ's marred visage parallels the physical emaciation and public staring of verse 17.
Satan depicted as a roaring lion seeking to devour, echoing 'the lion's mouth'.
Parallels declaring righteousness and praising God in the great congregation.
Fulfills 'a seed shall serve him' through Christ seeing His offspring after His soul's travail.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Verbal link: 'commit' (literally 'roll' in Hebrew) matches the mockers' words in verse 8.
Supported by JFB
Verbal echo of hearts 'melting and becoming as water' in times of extreme distress.
Risen Christ calls His disciples 'my brethren', matching the post-deliverance vow.
Echoes the global worship and turning of the nations to the Lord.