Psalms 22:1-31·~1 min

The Psalm of the Cross

The psalm begins with the raw question of why God seems far away despite relentless cries by day and night. Yet even within that pain the singer remembers that God is holy and that the fathers trusted him and were delivered.

F¹or the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. ²I cry out by day, O my God, ³Yet You are holy, ⁴In You our fathers trusted; ⁵They cried out to You and were set free;

The sufferer is mocked as less than human, scorned for trusting the LORD, and surrounded by enemies pictured as bulls, lions, and dogs. His body is poured out, his strength fails, his bones are exposed, and even his garments are divided as if he were already finished.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man, ⁷All who see me mock me; ⁸“He trusts in the LORD, ⁹Yet You brought me forth from the womb; ¹⁰From birth I was cast upon You; ¹¹Be not far from me, ¹²Many bulls surround me; ¹³They open their jaws against me ¹⁴I am poured out like water, ¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd, ¹⁶For dogs surround me; ¹⁷I can count all my bones; ¹⁸They divide my garments among them

Against that encircling danger the singer pleads that the LORD not remain far off, but come quickly to rescue him from sword, dog, lion, and wild ox. The cry narrows to pure dependence on God's intervention at the edge of death.

¹⁹But You, O LORD, be not far off; ²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword, ²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion;

Deliverance breaks through and the speaker vows to declare God's name in the assembly, calling the LORD's people to praise him because he has not hidden his face from the afflicted one. The poor are invited to eat, be satisfied, and live in renewed praise before God.

²²I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; ²³You who fear the LORD, praise Him! ²⁴For He has not despised or detested ²⁵My praise for You resounds in the great assembly; ²⁶The poor will eat and be satisfied;

The final movement widens from Israel's assembly to the ends of the earth, where nations, the living, and future generations alike will worship because dominion belongs to the LORD. A people not yet born will hear of his righteousness and will be told that he has acted decisively.

²⁷All the ends of the earth ²⁸For dominion belongs to the LORD ²⁹All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; ³⁰Posterity will serve Him; ³¹They will come and proclaim His righteousness

Section summaryThe psalm opens with the cry of abandonment and moves through memories of God's faithfulness, the humiliation of mockers, the violence of enemies, and the wasting weakness of near death. From that extremity comes a plea for deliverance, and once answered the song widens into praise in the assembly, worship among the nations, and proclamation to future generations that the LORD has done it.

Role in the chapterThis single section gives the Psalter one of its fullest movements from dereliction to praise. It teaches that the deepest suffering may still be spoken directly to God, and that divine deliverance does not end in private relief but in public worship, global hope, and generational testimony.