221 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
221 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
221 God, God . . . my God! Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?
221 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Deer of the Dawn.' A Psalm of David. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
221 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
561 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
561 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;
561 Take my side, God - I'm getting kicked around, stomped on every day.
561 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.' A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me.
561 OÂ God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long.
(Read Psalm 56:1-7)
Be merciful unto me, O God. This petition includes all the good for which we come to throne of grace. If we obtain mercy there, we need no more to make us happy. It implies likewise our best plea, not our merit, but God's mercy, his free, rich mercy. We may flee to, and trust the mercy of God, when surrounded on all sides by difficulties and dangers. His enemies were too hard for him, if God did not help him. He resolves to make God's promises the matter of his praises, and so we have reason to make them. As we must not trust an arm of flesh when engaged for us, so we must not be afraid of an arm of flesh when stretched out against us. The sin of sinners will never be their security. Who knows the power of God's anger; how high it can reach, how forcibly it can strike?
601 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
601 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.
601 God! you walked off and left us, kicked our defenses to bits And stalked off angry. Come back. Oh please, come back!
601 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'Lily of the Testimony.' A Michtam of David. For teaching. When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again!
601 You have rejected us, OÂ God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor.
(Read Psalm 60:1-5)
David owns God's displeasure to be the cause of all the hardships he had undergone. And when God is turning his hand in our favour, it is good to remember our former troubles. In God's displeasure their troubles began, therefore in his favour their prosperity must begin. Those breaches and divisions which the folly and corruption of man make, nothing but the wisdom and grace of God can repair, by pouring out a spirit of love and peace, by which only a kingdom is saved from ruin. The anger of God against sin, is the only cause of all misery, private or public, that has been, is, or shall be. In all these cases there is no remedy, but by returning to the Lord with repentance, faith, and prayer; beseeching him to return to us. Christ, the Son of David, is given for a banner to those that fear God; in him they are gathered together in one, and take courage. In his name and strength they wage war with the powers of darkness.
801 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
801 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
801 Listen, Shepherd, Israel's Shepherd - get all your Joseph sheep together. Throw beams of light from your dazzling throne
801 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Lilies.' A Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
801 Please listen, OÂ Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph's descendants like a flock. OÂ God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory
(Read Psalm 80:1-7)
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace. If he is really angry at the prayers of his people, it is because, although they pray, their ends are not right, or there is some secret sin indulged in them, or he will try their patience and perseverance in prayer. When God is displeased with his people, we must expect to see them in tears, and their enemies in triumph. There is no salvation but from God's favour; there is no conversion to God but by his own grace.
1001 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
1001 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
1001 On your feet now - applaud God!
1001 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
1001 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
An exhortation to praise God, and rejoice in him.
This song of praise should be considered as a prophecy, and even used as a prayer, for the coming of that time when all people shall know that the Lord he is God, and shall become his worshippers, and the sheep of his pasture. Great encouragement is given us, in worshipping God, to do it cheerfully. If, when we strayed like wandering sheep, he has brought us again to his fold, we have indeed abundant cause to bless his name. The matter of praise, and the motives to it, are very important. Know ye what God is in himself, and what he is to you. Know it; consider and apply it, then you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in his worship. The covenant of grace set down in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, with so many rich promises, to strengthen the faith of every weak believer, makes the matter of God's praise and of his people's joys so sure, that how sad soever our spirits may be when we look to ourselves, yet we shall have reason to praise the Lord when we look to his goodness and mercy, and to what he has said in his word for our comfort.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 22:1
Commentary on Psalm 22:1-10
(Read Psalm 22:1-10)
The Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets, testifies in this psalm, clearly and fully, the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. We have a sorrowful complaint of God's withdrawings. This may be applied to any child of God, pressed down, overwhelmed with grief and terror. Spiritual desertions are the saints' sorest afflictions; but even their complaint of these burdens is a sign of spiritual life, and spiritual senses exercised. To cry our, My God, why am I sick? why am I poor? savours of discontent and worldliness. But, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" is the language of a heart binding up its happiness in God's favour. This must be applied to Christ. In the first words of this complaint, he poured out his soul before God when he was upon the cross, Matthew 27:46. Being truly man, Christ felt a natural unwillingness to pass through such great sorrows, yet his zeal and love prevailed. Christ declared the holiness of God, his heavenly Father, in his sharpest sufferings; nay, declared them to be a proof of it, for which he would be continually praised by his Israel, more than for all other deliverances they received. Never any that hoped in thee, were made ashamed of their hope; never any that sought thee, sought thee in vain. Here is a complaint of the contempt and reproach of men. The Saviour here spoke of the abject state to which he was reduced. The history of Christ's sufferings, and of his birth, explains this prophecy.