Psalm 21 (22)
For the End, concerning help in the morning; a psalm by David.

O God, my God, hear me; why have You forsaken me?
The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation.
O my God, I will cry out by day, but
You will not hear me;
And by night, but not for a lack of understanding in me.
But You dwell among the saints,
O praise of Israel.
Our fathers hoped in You;
They hoped in You, and You delivered
Them.
They cried out to You and were
Saved;
They hoped in You and were not
Ashamed.
But I am a worm, and not a man;
A reproach of man and despised by
The people.
All who see me mock me;
They speak with their lips and shake
Their head,
Saying, “He hoped in the Lord, let
Him rescue him;
Let Him save him since He delights in
Him.”
For You are He who drew me from the womb,
My hope from my mother’s breasts;
I was cast upon You from the womb,
From my mother’s womb You are my God.
Do not stand off from me, for
Affliction is near.
There is no one to help.
Many young bulls surrounded me;
Fat bulls encircled me.
They opened their mouths against
Me
Like a raging and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are shattered;
My heart is like wax, melting into my
Stomach,
My strength is dried up like an
Earthen vessel;
My tongue cleaves to my throat;
And You led me into the dust of death.
For many dogs surrounded me;
An assembly of evildoers enclosed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I numbered all my bones,
And they look and stare at me.
They divided my garments among themselves,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
But You, O Lord, do not remove Your
Help from me;
Attend to my aid.
Deliver my soul from the sword
And my only-begotten from the hand
Of the dog;
Save me from the lion’s mouth,
My humiliation from the horns of the
Unicorns.
I will declare Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the church I will sing
To You.
You who fear the Lord, praise Him.
All you seed of Jacob, glorify Him;
Fear Him, all you seed of Israel.
For He has not despised nor scorned
The beggar’s supplication.
Nor has he turned away his face from me;
And when I cried out to Him, He heard me.
My praise is from You in the great church;
I will pay my vows before those who
Fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be well-filled,
And those who seek Him will praise
The Lord;
Their hearts will live unto ages of ages.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord;
And all families of the Gentiles shall worship before You,
For the kingdom is the Lord’s;
And He is the Master of the
Gentiles.
All the prosperous of the earth ate
And worshiped;
All going down into the earth shall bow down before Him,
And my soul lives with Him.
And my seed shall serve Him;
The coming generation shall be told of the Lord,
And they will declare His
Righteousness
To a people who will be born, because the Lord made them.

Commentary from the Orthodox Study Bible

Ps 21 is a prophesy of the Lord’s death and resurrection, and of His Church. Thus, this psalm may be outlined as follows: (1) the resurrection; (2) the crucifixion; (3) the church.
Christ is the end and he was resurrected early in the morning. The New Testament quotes several verses from this psalm in relation to the Crucifixion.

Comments

This psalm took me an entire day to type. I kept getting distracted. But by the grace of God, I finished it. It includes [doorbell rang and a good friend showed up! Continuing two hours later] the passages about casting lots for clothes so that suddenly the reader realizes this is about Jesus and the crucifixion. My trials are intense but I am not literally being crucified. Jesus, you know the struggle of this life. Help us.

And God hears us. We think about how God has helped our family in the past. God hears people calling out to Him. God, hear us now, Lord. You created us, you sustained us, and you continue to take care of us now.

Today, we visited a playground where I played as a kid. It is amazing to me that God made me in my mother’s womb and then He created my daughter in mine. Now, my girl plays on the same playground where I played when I was in fourth grade. That is amazing to me. As my mom prayed for me, I now pray for my daughter. God, thank you for your blessings!