Psalms 22:1

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ²  a psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ³  I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ⁴ 

1Sa 12:22; Job 3:24; Ps 16:1; Ps 22:11; Ps 22:16; Ps 26:9; Ps 31:14-16; Ps 32:3,4; Ps 37:28; Ps 38:8; Ps 42:1,2; Ps 43:1-5; Ps 71:11; Isa 46:13; Isa 59:11; Mt 27:46; Mr 15:34; Lu 22:44; Lu 24:44; Heb 5:7; Heb 13:5

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.