A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.

To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] Aijeleth Hashshahar (The Doe of the Dawn). A Psalm of David.

1[a]My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

2O my God, I call out by day, but You do not answer;

And by night, but I find no rest nor quiet.

3But You are holy,

O You who are enthroned in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].

4In You our fathers trusted [leaned on, relied on, and were confident];

They trusted and You rescued them.

5They cried out to You and were delivered;

They trusted in You and were not disappointed or ashamed.

6But I am [treated as] a worm [insignificant and powerless] and not a man;

I am the scorn of men and despised by the people.

7All who see me laugh at me and mock me;

They [insultingly] open their lips, they shake their head, saying,

8“He trusted and committed himself to the LORD, let Him save him.

Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

9Yet You are He who pulled me out of the womb;

You made me trust when on my mother’s breasts.

10I was cast upon You from birth;

From my mother’s womb You have been my God.

11Do not be far from me, for trouble is near;

And there is no one to help.

12Many [enemies like] bulls have surrounded me;

Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

13They open wide their mouths against me,

Like a ravening and a roaring lion.

14I am poured out like water,

And all my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax;

It is melted [by anguish] within me.

15My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery;

And my [dry] tongue clings to my jaws;

And You have laid me in the dust of death.

16For [a pack of] dogs have surrounded me;

A gang of evildoers has encircled me,

They pierced my hands and my feet.

17I can count all my bones;

They look, they stare at me.

18They divide my clothing among them

And cast lots for my [b]garment.

19But You, O LORD, do not be far from me;

O You my help, come quickly to my assistance.

20Rescue my life from the sword,

My only life from the paw of the dog (the executioner).

21Save me from the lion’s mouth;

From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.

22I will tell of Your name to my countrymen;

In the midst of the congregation I will praise You.

23You who fear the LORD [with awe-inspired reverence], praise Him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him.

Fear Him [with submissive wonder], all you descendants of Israel.

24For He has not despised nor detested the suffering of the afflicted;

Nor has He hidden His face from him;

But when he cried to Him for help, He listened.

25My praise will be of You in the great assembly.

I will pay my vows [made in the time of trouble] before those who [reverently] fear Him.

26The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;

Those who [diligently] seek Him and require Him [as their greatest need] will praise the LORD.

May your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,

And all the families of the nations will bow down and worship before You,

28For the kingship and the kingdom are the LORD’S

And He rules over the nations.

29All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;

All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,

Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

30Posterity will serve Him;

They will tell of the Lord to the next generation.

31They will come and declare His righteousness

To a people yet to be born--that He has done it [and that it is finished].

[a] 1 This psalm may have been prayed by Jesus when He was on the cross. It begins with, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” and ends with a thought of finality. The psalm is quoted in Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34; and alluded to in Matt 27:35, 39, 43 and John 19:23, 24, 28 as being fulfilled at Christ’s crucifixion.
[b] 18 A prophetic reference to the long, seamless shirt-like tunic worn by Jesus as an undergarment.