Why Have You Forsaken Me?

For the choir director. According to [†]Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.

1My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

[†]Far from my salvation are the words of my [†]groaning.

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

And by night, but [†]I have no rest.

3Yet You are holy,

[†]Enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

4In You our fathers trusted;

They trusted and You rescued them.

5To You they cried out and were granted escape;

In You they trusted and were not [†]disappointed.

6But I am a worm and not a man,

A reproach of men and despised by the people.

7All who see me mock me;

They [†]smack their lip, they wag their head, saying,

8“[†]Commit yourself to Yahweh; let Him rescue him;

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

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

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

10Upon You I was cast from [†]birth;

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

11Be not far from me, for [†]distress is near;

For there is none to help.

12Many bulls have surrounded me;

Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

13They open wide their mouth at me,

As a lion that tears and roars.

14I am poured out like water,

And all my bones are out of joint;

My heart is like wax;

It is melted within [†]me.

15My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;

And You lay me [†]in the dust of death.

16For dogs have surrounded me;

[†]A band of evildoers has encompassed me;

[†]They pierced my hands and my feet.

17I count all my bones.

They look, they stare at me;

18They divide my garments among them,

And for my clothing they cast lots.

19But You, O Yahweh, be not far off;

O my Strength, hasten to my help.

20Deliver my [†]soul from the sword,

My only life from the [†]power of the dog.

21Save me from the mouth of the lion;

From the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me.

22I will surely recount Your name to my brothers;

In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

23You who fear Yahweh, praise Him;

All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him,

And stand in awe of Him, all you seed of Israel.

24For He has not despised and He has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;

And He has not hidden His face from him;

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

25Of You is my praise in the great assembly;

I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.

26The [†]afflicted will eat and be satisfied;

Those who seek Him will praise Yahweh.

May your heart live forever!

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

And all the families of the nations will worship before [†]You.

28For the kingdom is Yahweh’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 will bow before Him,

Even he who [†]cannot keep his soul alive.

30Their seed will serve Him;

It will be recounted about the Lord to the coming generation.

31They will come and will declare His righteousness

To a people who will be born, that He has done it.