Around the ninth hour Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which translates to, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

— The Story of Jesus 34.3 

[adapted from Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34]

No other Psalm is quoted more often in the New Testament than David’s anguished Psalm 22. Jesus quoted the first verse of the original Hebrew as he hung from the cross. Since the Psalms were not numbered in the first century, it’s possible that quoting the first line was a reference to the whole song.

My God, my God, why have you left me? The words I cry are far from my salvation. O my God, I call out by day, but you don’t answer, and by night, but I don’t have rest. Yet you are holy, you who are seated on Israel’s praise. Our fathers trusted you – they trusted you and you saved them. They called out to you and were saved. They trusted you and weren’t disappointed.

But I’m a worm not a man, the scorn of men and despised by people. All who see me mock me. They purse their lips and shake their head. “Roll (1) with the LORD. Let him rescue if he’s pleased with him.”

But you’re the one who burst me from the womb, and you made me trust while on my mother’s breasts. I’ve been thrown on you since birth; you’ve been my God since my mother’s womb.

Don’t be far from me, because trouble is near and there’s no one to help. Many bulls have turned around me, strong ones from Bashan (2) have surrounded me. They open their mouths wide like a ravenous roaring lion. I’m poured out like water and all my bones are separated. My heart is like wax, melted inside me. My strength is dried up like a clay pot and my tongue sticks to my jaw. You put me in the dirt of death. Dogs have turned around me, an assembly of evil has encircled me. They’ve pierced my hands and feet, and I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my coat among them and cast lots for my clothes.

But you, LORD, don’t be far. O my strength, hurry to help me. Rescue my soul from the sword and my only [life] from the hand (3) of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth. You answer me from the horns of aurochs.(4)

I’ll tell my brothers about your name, and I’ll praise you in the midst of the congregation. Praise the LORD, you who fear him. Honor him, all Jacob’s seed. Stay with him, all Israel’s seed. Because he hasn’t despised or detested the oppression of the poor. Nor has he hidden his face, but he heard when he called out.

My praise in the great congregation comes from you and I’ll fulfill my promises in front of those who fear him. The poor will eat and be satisfied and those who ask for him will praise the LORD. May your heart live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and return to the LORD and all the families of the nations will worship in front of you. Because the kingdom is the LORD’s and he rules nations. All the fat (5) on earth will eat and worship, and all who descend into the dirt will bow in front of him, even without a living soul. His seed will serve him and the Lord will be spoken of to the generations. They’ll come and announce his righteousness to a people yet to be born, that he has done it.

(1) The Hebrew word galal literally means “roll,” often used in the Old Testament as the word to denote moving a large stone aside. However, it has also been translated as “commit” when entrusting plans or a person to God. This coincidentally aligns with the modern slang usage of roll: to “roll with the LORD” essentially means to be faithful to him.

(2) The Old Testament records that when Israel was entering Canaan, Og the king of Bashan marched his army out against them. Israel, however, annihilated him and his people and conquered his land. Bashan and all the territory east of the Jordan River was then renamed Gilead.

(3) Yad is the Hebrew word for “hand.” As a symbol of strength, it also means “power.”

(4) The auroch was a type of wild cattle that once lived across Europe and Asia. They are now extinct; the last one died in the 1600s. They looked similar to modern bulls, with a large muscular body and massive horns pointing forward. Many Bibles translate the Hebrew term re’em as “wild ox.”

(5) In Hebrew, dashen means “fat.” When referring to people, it can also mean “prosperous.”

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