Did the Father literally abandon Jesus on the cross? Study Psalm 22 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · PSALM 22 — THE FORSAKEN SUFFERER AND THE WORLDWIDE PRAISE TO COME
Jesus truly entered God-forsakenness as sin-bearer and righteous sufferer, yet the Trinity was not divided and the Son continued addressing “my God.” The psalm itself moves toward heard prayer and vindication.
That reading has strong ancient support from the Septuagint and some Hebrew evidence, while the standard Masoretic vocalization reads “like a lion.” The issue should be acknowledged; Christian fulfillment does not rest on concealing it.
David wrote from real suffering through the Spirit. The pattern and wording exceeded his narrated experience and reached a fulfillment the New Testament identifies in Jesus; full authorial foresight of every detail is not required.
Jesus' opening quotation evokes the whole lament, and the narrated mockery and divided garments deliberately show Him as its righteous sufferer. The psalm's movement to proclamation and nations also interprets what follows the cross.
The phrases are not linguistically identical, and John does not explicitly cite Psalm 22:31 there. They share a meaningful theme of completed divine work, but the connection should not be overstated as a direct quotation.
The gospel outcome gathers every social condition. The prosperous cannot preserve their own life, and the afflicted are fed; all bow as dependents before the King.
Genre: individual lament turning to thanksgiving, with royal and messianic significance. Superscription: “To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.” “The Doe of the Dawn” was probably a known tune or musical designation; allegorical interpretations are possible devotionally but cannot be established from the heading. No event in David's life is identified. The first-person suffering is genuinely Davidic, but several details go beyond any narrated incident and converge remarkably in Jesus' crucifixion: the opening cry, mockery of trust, divided garments, bodily exposure, thirst-like dryness, and international aftermath. The New Testament does not merely borrow isolated phrases; it presents Jesus as the righteous Davidic sufferer whose deliverance creates worldwide praise. English Psalm 22 corresponds to Psalm 21 in the Septuagint and Vulgate because those traditions combine Hebrew Psalms 9–10. Verse numbering can also differ slightly where traditions count headings.
Psalm 22 offers a cumulative rather than single-word case for messianic fulfillment. Its Davidic sufferer experiences mockery of trust, bodily collapse, public exposure, divided garments, rescue, congregational proclamation, and worldwide worship. The verse 16 variant is real and should be presented candidly; the Septuagint predates Christianity, and the larger convergence remains even if one follows “like a lion.” Transparent textual criticism protects interpretation from depending on a claim the manuscripts do not allow scholars to state simplistically.
This study preserves the hard questions, explanations, context, apologetic note, and references from Dr. Shallua's Commentary.