My God, my God, I cry to Thee;
O why hast Thou forsaken me?
Afar from me, Thou dost not heed,
Though day and night for help I plead.

But Thou art holy in Thy ways,
Enthroned upon Thy people’s praise;
Our fathers put their trust in Thee,
Believed, and Thou didst set them free.

They cried, and, trusting in Thy Name,
Were saved, and were not put to shame;
But in the dust mine honor lies,
While all reproach and all despise.

My words a cause for scorn they make,
The lip they curl, the head they shake,
And, mocking, bid me trust the Lord
Till He salvation shall afford.

My trust on Thee I learned to rest
When I was on my mother’s breast;
From birth Thou art my God alone,
Thy care my life has ever known.

O let Thy strength and presence cheer,
For trouble and distress are near;
Be Thou not far away from Me,
I have no source of help but Thee.

Unnumbered foes would do me wrong,
They press about me, fierce and strong,
Like beasts of prey, their rage they vent,
My courage fails, my strength is spent.

Down unto death Thou leadest me,
Consumed by thirst and agony;
With cruel hate and anger fierce
My helpless hands and feet they pierce.

While on my wasted form they stare,
The garments torn from me they share,
My shame and sorrow heeding not,
And for my robe they cast the lot.

O Lord, afar no longer stay;
O Thou my Helper, haste, I pray;
From death and evil set me free;
I live, for Thou didst answer me.

I live and will declare Thy fame
Where brethren gather in Thy Name;
Where all Thy faithful people meet,
I will Thy worthy praise repeat.

Now let our mournful songs record
The dying sorrows of our Lord,
When He complained in tears and blood,
As one forsaken of his God.

The Jews beheld Him thus forlorn,
And shake their heads, and laugh in scorn:
“He rescued others from the grave;
Now let him try himself to save.

“This is the man did once pretend
God was his Father and his Friend;
If God the blessèd loved him so,
Why doth He fail to help him now?”

Barbarous people! cruel priests!
How they stood round like savage beasts!
Like lions gaping to devour,
When God had left Him in their power.

They wound His head, His hands, His feet,
Till streams of blood each other meet;
By lot His garments they divide,
And mock the pangs in which He died.

But God, the Father, heard His cry;
Raised from the dead, He reigns on high;
The nations learn His righteousness,
And humble sinners taste His grace.

O God, my God, wherefore dost Thou
Forsake me utterly?
And helpest not when I do make
My great complaint and cry?

To Thee, my God, e’en all day long
I do both cry and call;
I cease not all the night, and yet
Thou hearest not at all.

But Thou that in Thy holy place
For evermore dost dwell;
Thou art the joy, the comfort, and
Glory of Israel:

And Him in Whom our fathers old
Had all their hope and stay;
Who, when they put their trust in Thee,
Delivered’st them alway.

They were preservèd ever when
They called upon Thy Name;
And for the faith they had in Thee,
They were not put to shame.

But I am now become more like
A worm than to a man,
An outcast, whom the people scorn
With all the spite they can.

All men despise as they behold
Me walking on the way:
They grin, make mouths, and nod their heads,
And on this wise do say.

This man did glory in the Lord,
His favor and His love:
Let Him redeem and help him now,
His pow’r if he will prove.

But from the prison of the womb
I was by Thee released;
Thou didst preserve me still in hope,
Whilst I did suck the breast:

I was committed from my birth
With Thee to have abode;
Since I came from my mother’s womb,
Thou hast been still my God.

Then, Lord, depart not now from me
In this my present grief,
Since I have none to be my help,
My succor and relief.

For many bulls do compass me,
That be full strong of head;
Yea, bulls so fat, as though they had
In Basan field been fed.

They gape upon me greedily,
As though they would me slay;
Much like a lion roaring out,
And ramping for his prey.

But I drop down like water shed,
My joints in sunder break,
My heart doth in my body melt
Like wax, I am so weak.

My strength doth like a potsherd dry,
My tongue it cleaveth fast
Unto my jaws, and I am brought
To dust of death at last.

For many dogs do compass me,
In council they do meet,
Conspiring still against my life,
Piercing my hands and feet.

I was tormented so that I
Might all my bones have told,
Whilst they do look and stare at me,
When they do me behold.

My garments they divided have
In parts among them all;
And for my coat they did cast lots
To whom it should befall.

Therefore, I pray Thee, be not far
From me at my great need,
But rather, since Thou art my strength,
To help me, Lord, make speed:

And from the sword save Thou my soul
By Thy might and Thy pow’r,
And ever keep my darling dear
From dogs that would devour;

And from the lion’s mouth that would
Me all in sunder tear;
From ’midst the horns of unicorns,
O Lord, Thou didst me hear.

When shall I to my brethren all
Thy Majesty record,
And in Thy church shall praise the Name
Of Thee the living Lord.

All ye that fear Him, praise the Lord,
Thou, Jacob, Him adore,
And all ye seed of Israel,
Fear Him for evermore.

For He despiseth not the poor,
He hideth not away
His countenance when they do call,
But hears them when they pray,

Among the folk that fear the Lord,
I will therefore proclaim
Thy praise, and keep my promise made
For setting forth Thy Name.

The poor shall eat and be sufficed;
Such as their minds do give
To seek the Lord, and praise His Name,
Their hearts shall ever live.

The coasts of all the earth shall praise
The Lord, and seek His grace;
The heathen folk shall worship all
Before His blessèd face.

The kingdoms of the heathen folk
The Lord shall have therefore;
And he shall be their Governor
And King for evermore.

The rich men of His goodly gifts
Shall taste and feed also,
And in His presence worship Him,
And bow their knees full low.

And all that shall go down to dust,
Of life by Him shall taste;
A seed shall serve and worship Him,
Till time away shall waste.

They shall declare and plainly show
His truth and righteousness,
Unto a people yet unborn,
Who shall His Name confess.

Why has my God my soul forsook,
Nor will a smile afford?
Thus David once in anguish spoke,
And thus our dying Lord.

Though ’tis Thy chief delight to dwell
Among Thy praising saints,
Yet Thou canst hear a groan as well,
And pity our complaints.

Our fathers trusted in Thy Name,
And great deliverance found;
But I’m a worm, despised of men,
And trodden to the ground.

Shaking the head, they pass me by,
And laugh my soul to scorn;
“In vain he trusts in God,” they cry,
“Neglected and forlorn.”

But Thou art He Who formed my flesh
By Thine almighty Word;
And since I hung upon the breast,
My hope is in the Lord.

Why will my Father hide His face,
When foes stand threatning round,
In the dark hour of deep distress,
And not a helper found?

Behold Thy darling left among
The cruel and the proud,
As bulls of Bashan, fierce and strong,
As lions roaring loud.

From earth and hell My sorrows meet
To multiply the smart;
They nail My hands, they pierce My feet,
And try to vex My heart.

Yet if Thy sovereign hand let loose
The rage of earth and hell,
Why will my heav’nly Father bruise
The Son He loves so well?

My God, if possible it be,
Withhold this bitter cup
But I resign my will to Thee,
And drink the sorrows up.

My heart dissolves with pangs unknown,
In groans I waste my breath;
Thy heavy hand has brought Me down
Low as the dust of death.

Father, I give My Spirit up,
And trust it in Thy hand;
My dying flesh shall rest in hope,
And rise at Thy command.