Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 18

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
My groaning does nothing to save me.
² My God, I call out by day, but you do not answer.
I call out by night, but there is no relief for me. ^[2]

³ Yet you are seated as the Holy One, praised by Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted.
They trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ They cried out to you, and they were rescued.
They trusted in you, and they were not disappointed.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me. They sneer.
They shake their heads.
⁸ They say, “Trust in the Lord.” ^[3]
“Let the Lord deliver him.
Let him rescue him, if he delights in him.” ^[4]

⁹ But you are the one who brought me out of the belly.
You made me trust when I was at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ I was cast on you from the womb.
From the belly of my mother you have been my God.
¹¹ Do not be distant from me, for distress is near,
and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me.
Strong bulls from Bashan encircle me.
¹³ Enemies open their mouths wide against me,
like a lion that tears its prey and roars.
¹⁴ Like water I am poured out.
All my bones are pulled apart.
My heart has become like wax.
It has melted in the middle of my chest.
¹⁵ My strength is dried up like broken pottery,
and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evil men has encircled me.
They have pierced ^[5] my hands and my feet.
¹⁷ I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me.
¹⁸ They divide my garments among them.
For my clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But you, O Lord, do not be distant.
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
²⁰ Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of the dog.
²¹ Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me. ^[6]

Footnotes

1. Psalm 22:1 This may be the name of the tune. An alternate reading is help at dawn.
2. Psalm 22:2 Or I am never silent
3. Psalm 22:8 Literally roll [your troubles] to the Lord
4. Psalm 22:8 The first part of the quotation is addressed to the suffering Messiah. The second part is addressed to their fellow mockers, so they are marked as two separate quotations.
5. Psalm 22:16 The reading they have pierced is found in some Hebrew manuscripts, including one of the oldest, as well as in other ancient versions. Most Hebrew manuscripts read like a lion instead of a verb.
6. Psalm 22:21 Or answer me