Psalms in Worship—Psalm 22 A Litany for One Psalm with Two Truths

Published March 26, 2026

Updated March 26, 2026

trees by streams of water
By Joyce Borger

Sometimes when we read a psalm, it can feel disorienting. Is the psalmist lamenting or praising God? Is this a psalm of doubt or faith? Psalm 22 is one such psalm. It opens with a despairing cry, questioning whether God has abandoned them, yet later it offers bold words of praise for a God who has done mighty things.

If we are honest, this is often our experience. Even as people of faith, there are moments when we wonder where God is. Why does God not intervene? Why does suffering continue unchecked?  And yet…we remember. We remember what God has done. We recall the times when God’s presence was felt unmistakably near, when help appeared in miraculous ways. We remember. 

And so, we trust. We trust that God is still present, even when that presence feels shrouded. While God may not act in the ways we expect, and though evil may seem relentless, we hold on to our hope born of faith that one day we will see that God was at work all along. We trust that God is sovereign and will ultimately be victorious—that indeed, our God “has done it”! 

Viewed in this light, even words of despair, when addressed to God, are words of faith. In our anguish, we turn and speak to God with raw honesty that flows unabated and unrestrained from the depths of our soul. We tell the truth of our pain while simultaneously holding to the truth of God’s faithfulness. These are not contradictions to resolve, but tensions to embrace. At times, we manage a tenuous balance, holding both doubt and faith with quiet defiance; at others, one truth seems to have the upper hand. And there are moments when, overcome by immense grief and despair, we rely on the Christian community to bear witness for us—to speak of God’s faithfulness and sing God’s praises on our behalf. 

Psalm 22 contains the words Christ had on his lips, flowing from deep within, as he was crucified on the cross. In that moment, we see these two truths embodied: the agony of feeling forsaken and the unshaken trust that God reigns and is worthy of praise. 

Whether you use Psalm 22 on Good Friday or at another occasion, this psalm offers a powerful opportunity for communal reflection. The following reading employs two voices to help bring out the dual truths contained within the one psalm. Encourage the readers not only to speak the words, but to inhabit them. How might they give voice to both truths?

Psalm 22 NRSVUE

Reader 1:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from helping me, 
from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
    and by night but find no rest.
 

Reader 2:

Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
 

Reader 1:

But I am a worm and not human,
    scorned by others and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they sneer at me; they shake their heads;
“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
    let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
 

Reader 2:

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
    you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you I was cast from my birth,
    and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
 

Reader 1:

Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is no one to help.

Many bulls encircle me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs are all around me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they bound my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
they divide my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
    O my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my life from the power of the dog!
    Save me from the mouth of the lion!
 

Reader 2:

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
    stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

For he did not despise or abhor
    the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me
    but heard when I cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
    May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.
 

Reader 1:

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    and I shall live for him.
 

Reader 2:

Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
    saying that 
 

Both

he has done it.
Revised Common Lectionary

Year A: Holy Week—Good Friday
Year B: Holy Week—Good Friday
Year C: Holy Week—Good Friday
Year B: Season after Pentecost—Proper 23 (28)
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Proper 7 (12)
Year B: Lent—Second Sunday in Lent
Year B: Easter—Fifth Sunday of Easter