Prayers, Songs, Praises: Psalm 22:1-18

From Suffering to Praise
For the choir director: according to “The Deer of the Dawn.” A psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?
2 My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
by night, yet I have no rest.
3 But you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you;
they trusted, and you rescued them.
5 They cried to you and were set free;
they trusted in you and were not disgraced.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer [Lit separate with the lip] and shake their heads:
8 “He relies on [Or Rely on] the Lord;
let him save him;
let the Lord rescue him,
since he takes pleasure in him.”

9 It was you who brought me out of the womb,
making me secure at my mother’s breast.
10 I was given over to you at birth;[Lit was cast on you from the womb]
you have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Don’t be far from me, because distress is near
and there’s no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me;
strong ones of Bashan encircle me.
13 They open their mouths against me—
lions, mauling and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced [Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read me; like a lion] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.

CSB