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v1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
v2
My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
v3
But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
v4
Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
v5
They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
v6
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
v7
All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
v8
“He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”
v9
But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.
v10
I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
v11
Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
v12
Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
v13
They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
v14
I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.
v15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
v16
For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
v17
I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
v18
They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
v19
But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help. Hurry to help me!
v20
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
v21
Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me1 from the horns of the wild oxen.
v22
I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.
v23
You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
v24
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.
v25
My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
v26
The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
v27
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
v28
For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.
v29
All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
v30
Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
v31
They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
← Psalm 21 | Psalm | Psalm 23 →
My Notes
Footnotes
Footnotes
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“you have rescued me”: notice this is past tense. You have rescued me. The speaker laments His current predicament, and yet here He says that He has already been rescued by His God. How is this? This psalm mentions nothing before this verse of God already delivering the speaker, and yet here He has already delivered the Speaker. How can someone speak of something as if it already happened, when it clearly has not already happened? The answer is, it must be something that is inevitable. “God will rescue Me.” the Speaker is saying. “In fact, He always was going to rescue me. He planned to save me from before even the beginning of time and creation. He is absolutely trustworthy, and would not, and could not break His word.” It is only then, when such rescue is inevitable, that we could say “He has rescued me” even before it has been done. ↩