My Father, Why so Far?
For the director of music, to the tune of "The Doe of the Dawn." A psalm of David.
A sufferer mocked as a worm, bones out of joint, hands and feet pierced, clothes gambled away — yet held by the Father who has been his since the womb. The cry is never withdrawn; it turns into praise reaching the ends of the earth.
22 1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my groans of anguish? a a v1 Jesus prayed the opening words of this psalm from the cross. The whole psalm is his — moving from forsaken agony to the worship of all nations.
2My Father, I cry out by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I find no rest.
3Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not ashamed.
6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8He trusts in God; let God rescue him. Let our Father deliver him, since our Father delights in him.
9Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust at my mother's breast. 10From birth I was entrusted to you; from my mother's womb you have been my Father.
11Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13Like roaring lions tearing their prey, they open their mouths wide against me. 14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it melts within me. 15My strength is dried up like sun-baked clay, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16Dogs surround me; a band of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. b b v16 Written a thousand years before crucifixion was practiced, these details — pierced hands and feet, and the divided garments that follow — were fulfilled at the cross of Jesus. 17I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18They divide my garments among them and throw dice for my clothing.
19But you, my Father, do not be far off; you are my strength—come quickly to help me. 20Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21Rescue me from the mouth of the lion; from the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me. c c v21 The psalm's turning point: the sudden past tense — "you have answered me" — signals confident faith that God has already responded.
22I will declare your name to my brothers; in the assembly I will praise you. d d v22 The New Testament puts this verse on Jesus' lips — the risen Son declaring the Father's name among the brothers and sisters he is not ashamed to call his own. 23You who fear our Father, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
25From you comes my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear him I will fulfill my vows. 26The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek our Father will praise him—may your hearts live forever!
27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to our Father, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him. 28For kingship belongs to our Father, and he rules over the nations.
29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30Offspring will serve him; future generations will be told about the Sovereign Father. 31They will come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for our Father has done this.
