For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Parallel translations
- WEB For 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?
- KJV My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
- NKJV My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
- NASB My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my help are the words of my groaning.
- NLT My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David cries out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'-an anguished plea of feeling abandoned in suffering. Jesus quoted these very words on the cross.
Overview
This opening of the great psalm of suffering expresses profound desolation, yet still clings to God in faith ('My God'). David's experience of seeming abandonment becomes, by the Spirit's design, a prophetic portrait of the Messiah. Jesus cried these words from the cross (Matt 27:46), so that Christians read this psalm as one of the clearest Old Testament foreshadowings of his atoning death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Mark 15:34At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- Matt 27:46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- Heb 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Ps 22:16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
- Job 3:24I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.
- Ps 43:1–5Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
- Ps 10:1Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
- Luke 24:44Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
- Ps 31:14–16But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- 1 Sam 12:22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Ps 22:11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
- Heb 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Ps 71:11saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”
- Ps 32:3–4When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Isa 46:13I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.
- Ps 42:1–2For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
- Ps 16:1A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Luke 22:44And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Ps 38:8I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
- Isa 59:11We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
- Ps 26:9Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 22:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.