My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 22:1
Psalm 21 [10.] You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from among the children of men.
For they intended evil against you.
They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
For you will make them turn their back,
when you aim drawn bows at their face.
Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength,
so we will sing and praise your power.
Psalm 22 [1.] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer;
in the night season, and am not silent.
But you are holy,
you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in you.
They trusted, and you delivered them.
They cried to you, and were delivered.
They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All those who see me mock me.
They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
“He trusts in Yahweh;
let him deliver him.
Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
But you brought me out of the womb.
You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.
Psalm 22 [10.] I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb.
You are my God since my mother bore me.
Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near.
For there is no one to help.
Meaning:
Psalm 22 is a psalm of David, written “For the Chief Musician”. It begins with one of the most anguished cries in the Bible and ends with praise that reaches the ends of the earth. Its opening words are famous because Jesus prayed them from the cross: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).
- “My God, my God”
Even in his distress the psalmist calls God “my God”, and he says it twice. This is not the cry of an unbeliever who has given up on God, but of a believer who holds on to God while feeling abandoned. The relationship is still there; it is the sense of God’s presence and help that seems to be missing.
- “why have you forsaken me?”
David felt that God had left him to his enemies. The following lines describe his situation: “All those who see me mock me” (Psalm 22:7-8), and later, “They divide my garments among them” (Psalm 22:18). The question “why?” is honest. Scripture does not forbid God’s people from bringing their confusion and pain to him. Lament is a form of prayer, and it is spoken to God, not about him.
- “Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?”
The psalmist has been crying day and night without any answer he can see. The word “groaning” suggests the deep, almost wordless cry of someone in great pain. Yet he goes on to remember that God is holy and that “Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.” Remembering God’s past faithfulness gives him a foothold in the darkness.
- Fulfilled in Jesus
When Jesus cried these words on the cross, he was doing more than quoting a psalm. He was bearing the sin of the world, and in that hour he experienced the separation from God that sin brings. Paul writes, “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:21). By praying the first line of Psalm 22, Jesus also pointed to the whole psalm, which moves from suffering to victory: “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you” (Psalm 22:22).
The Significance of Psalm 22:1
- Honest prayer in dark times
Believers sometimes feel that God is far away. This psalm gives words for such times and shows that it is not faithless to ask God “why?”. Jesus himself “offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears” (Hebrews 5:7).
- Forsaken so that we would not be
Jesus was forsaken on the cross so that those who trust in him will never be forsaken by God. His cry of abandonment is the price of our acceptance.
Cross-References:
Mark 15:34: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus prayed this verse from the cross.
Psalm 22:18: "They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing." The same psalm fulfilled at the crucifixion.
Psalm 22:22: "I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you." The psalm turns from suffering to praise.
2 Corinthians 5:21: "For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf;" Why Jesus experienced abandonment.
Conclusion: Psalm 22:1 is the cry of a believer who feels abandoned by God yet still calls him “my God”. David’s words became the prayer of Jesus on the cross, where he bore our sin and experienced the depth of separation from God. The psalm shows that honest lament is a form of faith, and because it moves on to praise, it reminds us that forsakenness was not the end for Jesus, nor will it be for those who trust in him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible