Psalms 22:22-25

22:22 I will declare your name to my countrymen!

In the middle of the assembly I will praise you!

22:23 You loyal followers of the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him!

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed;

he did not ignore him;

when he cried out to him, he responded.

22:25 You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.


tn Or “brothers,” but here the term does not carry a literal familial sense. It refers to the psalmist’s fellow members of the Israelite covenant community (see v. 23).

tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.

tn Heb “fear him.”

tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

tn Heb “heard.”

tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”

tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.