Psalm 22

For the choir director. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A psalm of David.

1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You are far from rescuing me, far from the words of my roaring.

2My God, I call by day, and you give no answer; by night as well, and there is no stillness for me.

3Yet you are holy; you sit enthroned upon Israel’s praises.

4Our ancestors put their trust in you; they trusted, and you brought them to safety.

5They cried to you and found escape; they trusted in you and were not disgraced.

6But I am a worm and not a man, an object of human scorn, looked down on by the people.

7All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and shake their heads.

8“Commit yourself to Yahweh! Let Yahweh rescue him; let him deliver him, since he delights in him!”

9Yet it was you who drew me from the womb; you made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

10I have been cast on you since birth; ever since my mother bore me, you have been my God.

11Do not stay far from me, because trouble is close and no one is here to help.

12Many bulls have closed in around me; mighty bulls of Bashan hem me in.

13They open their mouths wide against me, like a lion tearing its prey and roaring.

14Like water I am poured out, and all my bones have pulled apart; my heart has turned soft like wax, melting away inside me.

15My strength is dry as a broken piece of pottery, and my tongue clings to my palate; you set me down in the dust of death.

16For dogs have closed in around me; a gang of evildoers has surrounded me; they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17I can number all my bones; they watch, and they feast their eyes on me.

18They divide my garments among themselves, and over my clothing they cast lots.

19But you, Yahweh, do not keep your distance! You who are my strength, hurry to my aid!

20Deliver my life from the sword, my only life from the paw of the dog.

21Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me.

22I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the middle of the assembly I will praise you.

23Praise him, you who fear Yahweh! All you offspring of Jacob, give him glory, and all you offspring of Israel, hold him in awe!

24For he did not despise or loathe the misery of the one in need; he did not hide his face from him, and when he cried out to him, he listened.

25You are the source of my praise in the great assembly; I will pay what I vowed in front of those who fear him.

26The humble will eat their fill; those who seek him will give Yahweh praise. May your hearts live on forever!

27All the ends of the earth will call it to mind and return to Yahweh; all the clans of the nations will bow low before you.

28For royal power belongs to Yahweh; he is ruler over the nations.

29All the well-fed of the earth will eat and bow down; all who descend to the dust will kneel before him, the ones who cannot preserve their own lives.

30Offspring will serve him; people will tell the next generation about the Lord.

31They will come and make his righteousness known to a people still to be born: he has done this!