Psalms 22
Psalms 22:1-31 (NLT)
1 For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.” My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them.
5 They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
6 But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the LORD? Then let the LORD save him! If the LORD loves him so much, let the LORD rescue him!”
9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.
11 Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.
12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
13 Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.
14 My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me.
15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
17 I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.
18 They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.
19 O LORD, do not stay far away! You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
20 Save me from the sword; spare my precious life from these dogs.
21 Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.
22 I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.
23 Praise the LORD, all you who fear him! Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob! Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help.
25 I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the LORD will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
27 The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
28 For royal power belongs to the LORD. He rules all the nations.
29 Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust.
30 Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
31 His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.
True life and gratification are found and kept in the presence of the Father, and this passage is a wonderful expression of the desperation for that presence mirrored in Jesus’ last words. The “man after God’s own heart” continues exalting the reality of that presence that is a reality beyond his perception of it, causing it to rise to its place above the sense of desperation. It’s so wonderful that those moments of apparent solitude and void can be filled with the renewed realization of who He has been all along, the Greater One who will never leave or forsake, gratifying and supplying far beyond hope and imagination. In the declarations of what He’s been faithful to do and in the proclamations of what He is yet to perform by His grace and mercy, there is comfort to the soul in a blessed return to awareness of that presence that occupies His praises. For us, there is also this blessed seal of assurance by that Spirit that’s come to reside inside, always providing access to the Holy of Holies by the blood for those who will go. Never need be alone.