Text: Psalms 22:1
OT Text Referred to: Deuteronomy 31:8
Subject: Divine abandonment (C)
Source: Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): Contrast
Anchor Text: Psalm 22 — My God My God Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me
Significance: Psalm 22:1's cry of forsakenness (עֲזַבְתָּנִי, azavtani, from עזב) stands in deliberate tension with Deuteronomy 31:8: "The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you (לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ)." Moses's farewell promise specifically to Joshua assures divine presence and non-abandonment using the same root עזב. The psalmist's anguished "why?" presupposes this very promise — the question "why have You forsaken me?" only has force if God pledged never to do so. The contrast is the heart of the psalm's theological crisis: experienced absence in the face of promised presence.