Psalm 22, 23, and 24 form a trilogy of Christ the Shepherd. Here in Psalm 22, the Good Shepherd dies for the sheep. This is the first of what is called the “Passion Psalms” since they deal with the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In Psalm 23, the Great Shepherd lives for the sheep and cares for them and in 24, the Chief Shepherd returns in glory to reward His sheep for their service.

For the director of music. To [the tune of] “The Doe of the Morning.”

A psalm of David.



22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

you are the praise of Israel.

4 In you our fathers put their trust;

they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved;

in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

There is an amazing point to be noted here: even though it was written by David, by his own account (in the Kings and Chronicles stories), the LORD NEVER abandoned him. Quite the contrary, the Lord never left his side. This Psalm is written from the perspective of a criminal!

A Prayer in Time of Distress

Feeling Abandoned (verses 1-5)

· Anyone who’s read the New Testament (or came to HIStory) would be immediately transported to Jesus hanging on the cross when during the three hours of darkness, Jesus cried out.

o Matt 27:45-46, NIV From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, c lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”