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You asked

what was the common understanding of psalm 22 in first century judaism beyond its opening line?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Psalm 22:1-5

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

This psalm is a lament, attributed to David, that expresses deep anguish and a feeling of abandonment by God, quickly moving into a remembrance of God's past faithfulness to the people of Israel. It was composed long before the first century, likely for public or private worship.

What does it mean to voice deep distress while also remembering a history of divine faithfulness?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Psalm 13:1-6

    Another psalm of lament that moves from desperate questioning to renewed trust in God's steadfast love.

  • Lamentations 3:19-24

    This prophetic book expresses profound suffering and yet finds hope in God's mercies that are 'new every morning'.

  • Job 1:20-22

    Job, in extreme suffering, mourns deeply but still worships God without cursing him.

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