To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

PSALMS 22:1KJV
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Psalms 22:1 (KJV)

What does Psalms 22:1 mean?

Psalms 22:1 describes David crying out to God in deep distress, feeling abandoned and unheard in his suffering. The verse captures a moment of intense anguish, where David questions why God seems distant and unresponsive to his desperate prayers.

In this verse, David is speaking directly to God, expressing his pain and confusion. The setting is one of personal crisis, where David feels completely alone and wonders why God, whom he trusts, appears to have left him without help. This honest outpouring sets the tone for the rest of the psalm, which continues to wrestle with feelings of abandonment and the hope for deliverance.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 22:1

  • God (אֵל, El): This word for God emphasizes might and strength. David uses it twice, highlighting both his relationship with God and his sense of loss when that strength seems absent.
  • Forsaken (עָזַב, azav): This word means to leave or abandon. David’s use of it shows the depth of his feeling that God has left him alone in his suffering.
  • Roaring (שְׁאָגָה, she’agah): This word refers to a loud, anguished cry, like a lion’s roar. It paints a vivid picture of David’s emotional state—his prayers are not quiet or polite, but desperate and raw.

Why Psalms 22:1 matters

  • This verse helps clear up the idea that faithful people never struggle with doubt or deep pain; even David, called a man after God’s own heart, openly voices his confusion and distress to God.
  • Psalms 22:1 is famously echoed by Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), connecting David’s experience of abandonment to later moments of suffering and making this psalm especially significant in both Jewish and Christian traditions.
  • The verse sets the stage for the rest of the psalm, which moves from despair to renewed trust, showing that honest lament can be part of a faithful relationship with God.

Where else these words appear

“Aijeleth” Hebrew H365 · used in 3 verses

  • Proverbs 5:19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
  • Jeremiah 14:5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.

“roaring” Hebrew H7581 · used in 7 verses

  • Job 3:24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
  • Psalms 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
  • Ezekiel 19:7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

“Shahar” Hebrew H7837 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
  • Job 3:9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
  • Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

“Psalm” Hebrew H4210 · used in 57 verses

  • Psalms 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
  • Psalms 39:1 To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
  • Psalms 79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.