‏ Psalms 22

Psalm 22

For the leader; set to ‘Deer of the Dawn’. A psalm of David.

1 My God, my God, why have you left me,
gone afar from my cry, from the words of my roaring?
2I cry in the day-time, but you do not answer;
even in the night I am never still.

3Yet you, O Lord, are the Holy One,
throned on the praises of Israel.
4In you our ancestors trusted,
they trusted and you did deliver them.
5They cried to you, and found safety,
in you did they trust and were not put to shame.

6But I am a worm, not a person;
insulted by others, despised by the people.
7All who see me mock me,
with mouths wide open and wagging heads:
8“He committed himself to the Lord; let him save him.
Let him rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him.”

9But you drew me from the womb,
made me trustfully lie on my mother’s breast.
10On your care was I cast from my very birth,
you are my God from my mother’s womb.
11Be not far from me, for trouble is nigh,
and there is none to help.

12I am circled by many bulls,
beset by the mighty of Bashan,
13who face me with gaping jaws,
like ravening roaring lions.
14Poured out am I like water,
and all my bones are loosened.
My heart is become like wax,
melted within me.

15My palate is dry as a sherd,
my tongue sticks to my jaws;
in the dust of death you lay me.
16For dogs are round about me,
a band of knaves encircles me,
gnawing my hands and my feet.
17I can count my bones, every one.
As for them, they feast their eyes on me.
18They divide my garments among them,
and over my raiment cast lots.

19But you, O Lord, be not far,
O my strength, hasten to help me.
20Deliver my life from the sword
my life from the power of the dogs.
21Save me from the jaws of the lion,
from the horns of the wild oxen help me.

22I will tell of your fame to my kindred,
and in the assembly will praise you.
23Praise the Lord, you who fear him.
All Jacob’s seed, give him glory.
All Israel’s seed, stand in awe of him.

24For he has not despised nor abhorred
the sorrow of the sorrowful.
He hid not his face from me,
but he listened to my cry for help.

25Of you is my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26The afflicted will eat to their heart’s desire,
and those who seek after the Lord will praise him.
Lift up your hearts forever.
27All will call it to mind, to the ends of the earth,
and turn to the Lord;
and all tribes of the nations will bow down before you.
28For the kingdom belongs to the Lord:
he is the Lord of the nations.
29To him will bow down all who sleep in the earth,
and before him bend all who go down to the dust,
and those who could not preserve their lives.
30My descendents will tell of the Lord
to the next generation;
31they will declare his righteousness
to people yet to be born:
He has done it.