Discovery BoxPsalms 22:1 
ContextFor the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” 2 a psalm of David.
22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 3
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. 4
Psalms 39:12
Context39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 5
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 6
Psalms 55:1
ContextFor the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song 8 by David.
55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!
Do not ignore 9 my appeal for mercy!
1 sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.
2 tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.
3 sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).
4 tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.
5 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
6 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.
7 sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.
8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
9 tn Heb “hide yourself from.”
