Psalm 22: My God, my God
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My God, my God why have You left me standing here alone?
So far away You cannot hear these whispers of my groan,
The words of my complaint don’t even penetrate the sky;
O Lord, why do You disregard my cry?
Enthroned within a symphony of lofty songs of praise
You are the One our fathers learnt to trust in former days
If then for solemn penitence You opened wide Your ear
Cannot my prayer induce You to draw near?
“Like a worm, my soul is spurned by all men everywhere”,
So said the Saviour of the world to those who stood and stared;
If blindly we refuse to find that Man of Calvary
We’ll never know true life and liberty.
But You are He who rescued me while yet I was unborn;
You purified and sanctified my breathless, unseen form.
Attend to me and hear this plea from deep within my heart,
For mighty bulls would tear my limbs apart.
Provoking groans my bones, beneath the trembling of my skin
Are crippled by anxiety and bitter suffering,
While vicious hounds my feet surround with hatred in their stare
And meanly pass around my clothes to wear.
Hasten with Your help and strength, come near to me, O Lord;
Save me from the lion’s mouth, come neutralise their sword.
In former days You were always attentive to my cry,
And so today upon You I rely.
With joy in the assembly of Your saints I will declare
The greatness of Your name and Your dominion everywhere
Till all the clans of Abraham with noble songs of praise
Together celebrate Your wondrous ways!
Then families of every nation in their tribe and tongue
Will see at last, with holy joy, the Father’s kingdom come;
As generations come and go His truth they shall proclaim
And glory in Messiah’s holy reign!
Steve Layfield
