For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
- BSB For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
- NKJV For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
- NASB For He has not despised nor scorned the suffering of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
- NLT For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries 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
God did not despise or hide from the afflicted one but heard his cry. This is the heart of the psalm's testimony: God answers suffering faith.
Overview
This verse gives the reason for praise: Yahweh has not turned away from the affliction of the lowly but has listened. It answers the earlier sense of forsakenness, affirming that God's apparent silence was not abandonment. The cross shows the fullest expression of this truth, for the Father heard the Son and vindicated him, assuring all who suffer that God does not despise their cries.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Heb 5:7Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
- Isa 50:6–9I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
- Ps 116:3–6The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
- Ps 118:5I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
- Ps 69:29–34But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
- Ps 34:6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- Luke 23:46And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
- Ps 22:6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
- Ps 69:17And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
- Ps 22:2O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
- Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:24 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.