Psalms 22:1

Psalm 22 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ²  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ³ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ⁴ 

Matthew 27:46

27:46 At ⁵  about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, ⁶  “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁷ 

Hebrews 5:7

5:7 During his earthly life ⁸  Christ ⁹  offered ¹⁰  both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.

¹ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

² tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

³ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

⁴ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Grk “with a loud voice, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 22:1.

⁸ tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”

⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.