Old Testament

Psalms 22

Desolation, Praise, and Universal Reign

6 passages

Overview

Psalm 22 traces a sweeping arc from the sufferer's anguished cry of abandonment—understood in Catholic tradition as the prayer of Christ crucified, whose mockery, bodily dissolution, and the casting of lots for his garments are described with prophetic precision—through a sudden pivot to communal praise and eucharistic satisfaction, and finally to a vision of all nations and all generations turning to Yahweh through the redemptive suffering of the righteous one.

Passages

1–5The Cry of Abandonment and the God of the Fathers 6–11The Suffering Servant: Mocked, Yet Held Since Birth 12–18The Agony of the Body: Surrounded, Broken, and Stripped 19–21The Desperate Petition: A Plea for Rescue 22–26Praise Breaks Forth: Proclamation in the Assembly 27–31Universal and Eternal Reign: All Nations and All Generations

Study Resources

Psalms 22

¹For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. My 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.

Psalms 21 Psalms 23