Psalm of the Cross

(Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-30)

1{To the chief Musician. Upon Aijeleth-Shahar. A Psalm of David.} My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou] far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning?

2My God, I cry by day, and thou answerest not; and by night, and there is no rest for me:

3And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel.

4Our fathers confided in thee: they confided, and thou didst deliver them.

5They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they confided in thee, and were not confounded.

6But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people.

7All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying:]

8Commit it to Jehovah -- let him rescue him; let him deliver him, because he delighteth in him!

9But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me trust, upon my mother's breasts.

10I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly.

11Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12Many bulls have encompassed me; Bashan's strong ones have beset me round.

13They gape upon me with their mouth, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my palate; and thou hast laid me in the dust of death.

16For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

17I may count all my bones. They look, they stare upon me;

18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19But thou, Jehovah, be not far [from me]; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog;

21Save me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me.

22I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and revere him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him: but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25My praise is from thee, in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise Jehovah that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee:

28For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations.

29All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, and he that cannot keep alive his own soul.

30A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

31They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done [it].