The Psalm of the Cross
(Matthew 27:32–56; Mark 15:21–41; Luke 23:26–43; John 19:16–30)
1Unto the end. For the tasks of early morning. A Psalm of David. O God, my God, look upon me. Why have you forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my offenses.
2My God, I will cry out by day, and you will not heed, and by night, and it will not be foolishness for me.
3But you dwell in holiness, O Praise of Israel.
4In you, our fathers have hoped. They hoped, and you freed them.
5They cried out to you, and they were saved. In you, they hoped and were not confounded.
6But I am a worm and not a man: a disgrace among men, and an outcast of the people.
7All those who saw me have derided me. They have spoken with the lips and shook the head.
8He has hoped in the Lord, let him rescue him. Let him save him because he chooses him.
9For you are the one who has drawn me out of the womb, my hope from the breasts of my mother.
10I have been thrown upon you from the womb; from the womb of my mother, you are my God.
11Do not depart from me. For tribulation is near, since there is no one who may help me.
12Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have besieged me.
13They have opened their mouths over me, just like a lion seizing and roaring.
14And so, I have been poured out like water, and all my bones have been scattered. My heart has become like wax, melting in the midst of my chest.
15My strength has dried up like clay, and my tongue has adhered to my jaws. And you have pulled me down, into the dust of death.
16For many dogs have surrounded me. The council of the malicious has besieged me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
17They have numbered all my bones. And they have examined me and stared at me.
18They divided my garments among them, and over my vestment, they cast lots.
19But you, O Lord, do not take your help far from me; be attentive to my defense.
20O God, rescue my soul from the spear, and my only one from the hand of the dog.
21Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humility from the horns of single-horned beast.
22I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the Church, I will praise you.
23You who fear the Lord, praise him. All the offspring of Jacob, glorify him.
24May all the offspring of Israel fear him. For he has neither spurned nor despised the pleas of the poor. Neither has he turned his face away from me. And when I cried out to him, he heeded me.
25My praise is with you, within a great church. I will pay my vows in the sight of those who fear him.
26The poor will eat and be satisfied, and those who yearn for the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will live forever and ever.
27All the ends of the earth will remember, and they will be converted to the Lord. And all the families of the Gentiles will adore in his sight.
28For the kingdom belongs to the Lord, and he will have dominion over the Gentiles.
29All the fat of the earth have gnashed their teeth, and they have adored. In his sight, they will fall down, all those who descend to the ground.
30And my soul will live for him, and my offspring will serve him.
31There will be announced for the Lord a future generation, and the heavens will announce his justice to a people who will be born, whom the Lord has made.
