Psalms 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
English Standard Version (ESV)
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What's easy to miss here is how the Psalmist calls God "my God" twice before lamenting being forsaken. This isn't just a cry of despair; it's the sound of faith wrestling with immense suffering, clinging to God even when He feels absent. It shows that deep spiritual struggle often involves holding onto our relationship with God even in the darkest moments.
This psalm begins with a cry of intense anguish from someone feeling utterly abandoned by God. The speaker is in deep distress, surrounded by overwhelming troubles, and questions why God seems so distant and unresponsive to their desperate pleas and cries. This opening sets the stage for the entire psalm, which moves from profound suffering and lament to confident trust and ultimate deliverance.
In the depths of abandonment, David cries out to God, yet still calls Him 'my God.' How can these seemingly opposite realities exist together?
This verse is a profound expression of spiritual struggle, where faith and despair wrestle. David feels utterly forsaken, questioning God's distance from his salvation and his cries. Yet, the repetition of 'My God, my God' is not a sign of fading faith, but its very anchor.
Faith's Anchor in Despair
David pleads, 'Why are you so far from saving me?' What does this 'distance' mean when help is desperately needed?
The phrase 'so far from helping me' and 'from the words of my groaning' paints a picture of God's perceived absence. It's not just about God not intervening, but about the feeling that God is out of reach, unable to hear or act.
The Gap Between Feeling and Reality
Understand the original words
Eli · Hebrew Noun
In Hebrew, God (Elohim) refers to the Supreme Being, the Creator and Judge. It conveys His power, authority, and sovereignty over all creation, and when used in personal possessive, signifies a covenant relationship.
azavtani · Hebrew Verb
To leave, abandon, or desert. Biblically, it signifies a sense of being left without aid, protection, or the manifest presence of God, often felt by the believer during extreme suffering.
sha'agati · Hebrew Noun
An inarticulate cry of pain or distress. It represents the raw, internal lament of one suffering deeply and longing for God's intervention.
This passage directly quotes Jesus on the cross, showing the profound fulfillment of the Psalm's cry in the ultimate suffering servant.
Isaiah 49:14This verse from Isaiah echoes the sentiment of abandonment, portraying Zion feeling forsaken by God, highlighting this as a recurring theme of God's people in distress.
Job 30:19-20Job expresses a similar feeling of being cast down by God and crying out without receiving an answer, demonstrating the depth of anguish when God seems distant.
Psalms 88:14This psalm also records a desperate plea to God, asking why He hides His face and expresses a lifelong affliction, paralleling the feeling of being forsaken in Psalm 22.
Hebrews 5:7This New Testament passage describes Jesus offering 'prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears,' to Him who was able to save Him from death, directly linking to the 'groaning' and desperate appeals in Psalm 22.
ellicottPsalms 22:1: "To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?"
(1) My God, my God. —Heb., Eli, Eli, lama azavtanî, where the Targum paraphrases sabbacthani, the form used by our Saviour on the cross. (See Notes, N. T. Comm., Matthew 27:46 ; Mark 15:34 .) The LXX. and Vulgate insert “look upon me.” (Comp. English Prayer Book version.) For the despairing tone comp. Psalm…
calvinPsalms 22:1-2: "<> My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?"
My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou far from my help, and from the words of my roaring? 2. O my God! I cry in the day-time, [498] but thou hearest not: and in the night-season, and there is no silence to me.
My God! The first verse contains two remarkable sentences, which, although apparently contrary to each other, are yet ever enterin…
What's easy to miss here is how the Psalmist calls God "my God" twice before lamenting being forsaken. This isn't just a cry of despair; it's the sound of faith wrestling with immense suffering, clinging to God even when He feels absent. It shows that deep spiritual struggle often involves holding onto our relationship with God even in the darkest moments.
This psalm begins with a cry of intense anguish from someone feeling utterly abandoned by God. The speaker is in deep distress, surrounded by overwhelming troubles, and questions why God seems so distant and unresponsive to their desperate pleas and cries. This opening sets the stage for the entire psalm, which moves from profound suffering and lament to confident trust and ultimate deliverance.
This psalm begins with a cry of intense anguish from someone feeling utterly abandoned by God. The speaker is in deep distress, surrounded by overwhelming troubles, and questions why God seems so distant and unresponsive to their desperate pleas and cries. This opening sets the stage for the entire psalm, which moves from profound suffering and lament to confident trust and ultimate deliverance.
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"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?" — What's easy to miss here is how the Psalmist calls God "my God" twice before lamenting being forsaken. This isn't just a cry of despair; it's the sound of faith wrestling with immense suffering, cl…
