Do not forsake me, O LORD; be not far from me, O my God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t forsake me, Yahweh. My God, don’t be far from me.
- KJV Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.
- NKJV Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me!
- NASB Do not abandon me, Lord; My God, do not be far from me!
- NLT Do not abandon me, O Lord. Do not stand at a distance, my God.
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 pleads with the Lord not to forsake him or stand far off. In his isolation he clings to God's nearness.
Overview
Having lost human support, David appeals to the covenant God who promises never to abandon His own. The repetition intensifies his urgency. This cry for God's presence is answered finally in Christ, who was forsaken so that we never would be (Hebrews 13:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 22:19But You, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
- Ps 22:24For 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.
- Ps 22:11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
- Ps 35:21–22They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
- Ps 22:1For 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?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 38:21 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.