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1My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?[#sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).]
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.
2My God, I cry out during the day,
but you do not answer,
and during the night my prayers do not let up.
3You are holy;
you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.
4In you our ancestors trusted;[#tn Heb “fathers.”]
they trusted in you and you rescued them.
5To you they cried out, and they were saved;
in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.
6But I am a worm, not a man;[#tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.; #tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).; #tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.]
people insult me and despise me.
7All who see me taunt me;[#tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”]
they mock me and shake their heads.
8They say,[#tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.]
“Commit yourself to the Lord !
Let the Lord rescue him!
Let the Lord deliver him, for he delights in him.”
9Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb[#tn Or “the one who pulled me.” The verb is derived from either גָחָה (gakhah; see HALOT 187 s.v. גחה) or גִּיחַ (giyakh; see BDB 161 s.v. גִּיחַ) and seems to carry the nuance “burst forth” or “pull out.”]
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
10I have been dependent on you since birth;[#tn Heb “upon you I was cast from [the] womb.”]
from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.
12Many bulls surround me;[#sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.]
powerful bulls of Bashan hem me in.
13They open their mouths to devour me[#tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”; #tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).]
like a roaring lion that rips its prey.
14My strength drains away like water;[#tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”]
all my bones are dislocated;
my heart is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
15The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery;[#tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.]
my tongue sticks to my gums.
You set me in the dust of death.
16Yes, wild dogs surround me –[#tn Or “for.”]
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet.
17I can count all my bones;[#tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.]
my enemies are gloating over me in triumph.
18They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;
they are rolling dice for my garments.
19But you, O Lord , do not remain far away!
You are my source of strength! Hurry and help me!
20Deliver me from the sword![#tn Or “my life.”]
Save my life from the claws of the wild dogs!
21Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,[#sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).]
and from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered me!
22I will declare your name to my countrymen![#tn Or “brothers,” but here the term does not carry a literal familial sense. It refers to the psalmist’s fellow members of the Israelite covenant community (see v. 23).]
In the middle of the assembly I will praise you!
23You loyal followers of the Lord , praise him![#tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.]
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him!
24For he did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed;[#tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”; #sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.]
he did not ignore him;
when he cried out to him, he responded.
25You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly;[#tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”]
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord ’s loyal followers.
26Let the oppressed eat and be filled![#sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord !
May you live forever!
27Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him![#tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.]
Let all the nations worship you!
28For the Lord is king[#tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”]
and rules over the nations.
29All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[#tn Heb “fat [ones].” This apparently refers to those who are healthy and robust, i.e., thriving. In light of the parallelism, some prefer to emend the form to יְשֵׁנֵי (yÿsheney, “those who sleep [in the earth]”; cf. NAB, NRSV), but דִּשְׁנֵי (dishney, “fat [ones]”) seems to form a merism with “all who descend into the grave” in the following line. The psalmist envisions all people, whether healthy or dying, joining in worship of the Lord.; #tn Heb “eat and worship.” The verb forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [ו] consecutive) are normally used in narrative to relate completed actions. Here the psalmist uses the forms rhetorically as he envisions a time when the Lord will receive universal worship. The mood is one of wishful thinking and anticipation; this is not prophecy in the strict sense.]
all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.
30A whole generation will serve him;[#tn Heb “offspring.”]
they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord.
31They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[#tn Heb “his righteousness.” Here the noun צִדָקָה (tsidaqah) refers to the Lord’s saving deeds whereby he vindicates the oppressed.]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.