Later text
Psalms 22:1BSB
For the choirmaster. To the tune of "The Doe of the Dawn." A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Intertextuality Pair
Echo
Later text
Psalms 22:1BSB
For the choirmaster. To the tune of "The Doe of the Dawn." A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Earlier text
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."
Psalm 22:1 cries "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me (עֲזַבְתָּנִי, azavtani)?" — a lament of experienced divine abandonment. Deuteronomy 31:6 declares the opposite: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified... for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you (לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ, lo yarpekha velo ya'azvekka)." The shared root עזב (azav, "forsake/abandon") creates a stark contrast: Moses promises God will never forsake His people, yet the psalmist experiences precisely that forsakenness. The connection highlights the anguished theological paradox — the righteous sufferer feels abandoned by the God who promised never to abandon.
▸ My God My God Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me