The Bible — World English Bible
Psalm 22
In brief
Psalm 22 begins with the cry that Jesus takes up on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David describes a man mocked, surrounded by enemies and exhausted, who nevertheless remembers God's faithfulness to his fathers. At verse 22, the prayer turns into public praise, and the psalm opens onto all the nations. The New Testament sees in it echoes of Christ's passion: the mockery, the garments cast for by lot.
According to its title, Psalm 22 is by David and was sung to the tune Doe of the Dawn, probably the name of a melody. The title gives no circumstance: we do not know which episode David has in mind, and the suffering described seems to go beyond what we know of his life. It is a lament that turns into praise: the cry of verses 1 to 21 gives way to thanksgiving in the assembly, then to a vision of all the nations turned toward God. The gospels come back to it several times in the story of the cross, and Jesus cried out its first verse. In the Hebrew text and in some Bibles, the title counts as a verse of its own and the numbering is shifted by one: the dividing of the garments, verse 18 here, is numbered 19 there. Today Christians reread it during Holy Week, and on the nights when God seems silent.
The chapter in 4 parts
1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
2My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
3But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
4Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
5They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
8“He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
9But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
10I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
11Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
12Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
14I am poured out like water. 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. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
16For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
17I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
18They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
19But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help. Hurry to help me!
20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
21Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
23You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
25My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
26The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
28For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.
29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
30Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
31They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
Understanding Psalm 22 verse by verse
v. 1-2My God, why have you forsaken me: a cry with no answer
The psalm opens with the rawest cry in the Bible: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” David does not say that God does not exist, he speaks to him. He says my God, twice, and it is precisely because he counts on him that his silence hurts so much. He cries out by day and by night, with no answer and no rest. About a thousand years later, on the cross, Jesus takes up these words in Aramaic: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). Christians understand this cry in several ways. For many, Jesus truly bore the abandonment that human sin deserved; others stress that by quoting the beginning of the psalm, he was calling to mind all that follows, up to the deliverance. The two readings often meet. This cry gives you permission: you can tell God you no longer understand him, without ceasing to call him my God.
v. 3-5Yet you are the Holy One: the memory of the fathers
In the middle of the complaint, one word changes direction: “But you are holy.” David does not deny what he feels, but he sets it against what he knows about God. God is enthroned in the praises of Israel, as if the songs of his people formed his throne. Then David remembers: our fathers trusted in you, they cried out and were saved, they were not put to shame. God's faithfulness in history becomes a support when present experience is dark. It is not yet the answer, but it is a solid handhold. When you feel nothing anymore, you can lean on what God did for others before you, and on what he did for you at the cross.
v. 6-8A worm and not a man: the righteous mocked
The contrast is stark. The fathers were delivered, and yet “I am a worm, and no man.” David feels crushed, despised, reduced to nothing. Those who see him mock him, they insult him with their lips and shake their heads, and they sneer: let him trust in the Lord, let the Lord deliver him, since he delights in him. The mockery targets his faith itself. The gospel of Matthew reports almost the same gestures and the same words at the foot of the cross: the passersby shook their heads, and the leaders said that Jesus had trusted in God, so let God deliver him if he wanted him (Matthew 27:39-43). Without realizing it, perhaps, the mockers were echoing the words of the psalm. If people mock your faith, remember that Jesus knew this contempt, and that he did not return insult for insult.
v. 9-11From my mother's womb, you have been my God
Facing the mockers who sneer at God's love for him, David answers with his own story. It was God who brought him into the world, who kept him safe as a tiny baby in his mother's arms. “You are my God since my mother bore me”: his relationship with God does not date from yesterday, it is older than his memories. Hence the prayer of verse 11: do not be far from me when trouble is near and no one comes to help. This is a prayer you can make your own when you feel alone. Your life began under God's gaze, and he has not let go of you since, even in the hours when you did not feel him.
v. 12-15Surrounded and drained of strength down to the dust
David describes his enemies as beasts: many bulls, the strong bulls of Bashan, a region known for its powerful herds, and a lion that tears its prey and roars. Then he describes his own body giving way: he is poured out like water, his bones are out of joint, his heart melts like wax. His strength is dried up like a piece of broken pottery, his tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth. He goes all the way: “You have brought me into the dust of death.” This is the language of someone who feels himself dying. Many Christian readers recognize in it the exhaustion of a crucified man and connect the parched tongue with Jesus' cry, I am thirsty (John 19:28), even though the gospel does not quote this verse. The psalm hides nothing of the body's suffering, and God is not ashamed of it.
v. 16-18Pierced hands and feet, garments divided by lot
The enemies become dogs, a gang of evildoers on the prowl. Then comes verse 16: “They have pierced my hands and feet.” The Hebrew word is disputed: the traditional Hebrew text can be read as like a lion, my hands and my feet, while the ancient Greek translation and a manuscript found in the Judean desert support the sense of piercing. Christians often see the crucifixion here, but the New Testament does not quote this verse, and it is wiser not to rest everything on a single word. The man is exposed, he could count his bones, and people stare at him. Verse 18, on the other hand, is clearly quoted: the soldiers divide Jesus' garments and cast lots for his seamless tunic, and John writes that this happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled (John 19:23-24, see also Matthew 27:35). The condemned man has nothing left, and yet nothing escapes God.
v. 19-21Do not be far off: the cry that turns into trust
After describing his distress, David returns to direct prayer and takes up the words of verse 11: do not be far off. He says to God, “You are my help,” he who has no strength left. He asks to be protected from the sword, the dogs, the lion's mouth, the horns of the wild oxen: the same threats as before, named this time in a prayer. In Hebrew, verse 21 ends with a short word that several translations render as you have answered me, while others, like the one on this page, say you have rescued me. This is the turning point of the psalm: nothing has yet changed on the outside, but David knows he has been heard. The cry of the beginning receives its answer here. For Jesus, the Father's answer came on Easter morning. For you, honest prayer, even desperate prayer, remains a road to God, not a way of drifting from him.
v. 22-26I will declare your name: praise in the assembly
The tone changes completely: “I will declare your name to my brothers.” The one who cried out alone finds himself in the middle of the assembly, telling what God has done. The letter to the Hebrews puts this verse in the mouth of Jesus, who is not ashamed to call those he saves brothers (Hebrews 2:11-12). Verse 24 gives the reason for the praise: God has neither scorned nor despised the affliction of the afflicted, he has not hidden his face from him, he listens when he cries out. What David lived as abandonment was not the last word. Then he pays his vows before those who fear God, and the poor are invited to a meal: “The humble shall eat and be satisfied.” Many Christians see here a picture of the table Jesus opens to all. Your pain is not despised by God either.
v. 27-31All the nations and the generations to come
The end of the psalm reaches far beyond David. The ends of the earth will turn to the Lord, all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for the kingdom belongs to him. The mighty and the dying alike, those who go down to the dust, will bow. Then the gaze moves to future generations: people will tell those who come after about the Lord, and they will declare his righteousness to a people not yet born. The psalm that began with an abandoned man ends with the whole world learning what God has done. In Hebrew, it closes with a brief phrase, he has done it. Some compare it with the last cry of Jesus, it is finished (John 19:30), though the gospel itself does not make the link. We can at least say this: the gospel proclaimed to the nations, all the way to you today, is the continuation of this psalm.
How to pray Psalm 22
When to pray this psalm
- When it feels as if God is silent and your prayers go unanswered.
- At night, when distress keeps you from finding rest.
- When people mock your faith or you feel looked down on because of it.
- During an illness or a pain that wears you out, to tell God what you are really going through.
- During Holy Week, to meditate on the sufferings of Jesus on the cross.
- After a deliverance, to tell others what God has done for you.
A prayer inspired by Psalm 22
My God, my God, there are days when I no longer understand you. I cry out by day, and it feels as if you do not answer; at night, I find no rest. I tell you this frankly, because you are still my God. Yet you are the Holy One, and you delivered those who trusted in you before me. From my mother's womb you have been my God: do not be far from me now that trouble is near. You see what surrounds me, what drains my strength, what mocks my faith. Lord Jesus, you cried out these words on the cross, you were mocked, stripped and pierced for me: you know what I am going through. Hurry to help me, you who are my strength. I believe that you do not despise the affliction of the afflicted and that you listen when they cry out. One day I will declare your name to my brothers and tell what you have done. Until that day, I hold on to you. Amen.
Key verses
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
David expresses the feeling of abandonment without hiding it. Jesus takes up these words on the cross, which links his sufferings to this psalm.
All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
The mockery described here, the shaking of heads and the jeers, is close to what is reported around the cross. The gospels see an echo in it.
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
The turning point of the psalm: God has not despised the affliction of the afflicted, and he listens when he cries to him. The prayer had not fallen into emptiness.
For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.
The psalm ends on the Lord's reign over the nations. From a personal complaint, we arrive at a universal hope.
Bible verses to meditate on
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What the sermons say
Frequently asked questions about Psalm 22
What does Psalm 22 mean?
Psalm 22 is a prayer of distress that ends in praise. David feels abandoned, mocked and surrounded, but he recalls that God has always delivered his fathers. From verse 22, the prayer becomes a promise of public praise, and the psalm announces that all the nations will turn to the Lord.
Why does Jesus quote Psalm 22 on the cross?
Jesus takes up the first verse of the psalm on the cross. For Christians, he identifies with the suffering of the righteous described by David, and the psalm also announces the deliverance that follows. Several details of the gospels, such as the dividing of the garments, recall this text.
Who wrote Psalm 22, and when?
The title attributes it to David and mentions the tune Doe of the Dawn. No specific event is named: the text describes an extreme suffering that goes beyond the known episodes of his life, which is why Christians also see in it an announcement of the passion of Christ.
How can I pray or meditate on Psalm 22?
When you feel abandoned, use the first part to tell God what you feel, without censoring yourself. Then read verse 24 and the verses that follow to remind yourself that God hears. Finish with praise. The psalm teaches that we can complain to God and stay attached to him.
Articles quoting Psalm 22
World English Bible translation — public domain.