Holy Week | Psalm 22:1-11 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
Psalm 22 by Greg LaFollette

Lyrics:
My God my God why have you forsaken me
My God my God why have you forsaken me
You promised me that you would never leave

I'm crying out but you are not listening
I'm crying out but you withhold your peace from me
You promised me that you would never leave

He trusts in the Lord all the mockers say
So let God deliver him since he loves him

My God my God why have you forsaken me
My God my God why have you forsaken me
You promised me that you would never leave
You promised me that you would never leave
You promised me that you would never leave

Let God deliver him since he loves him

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

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

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
(Psalm 22:1-11 ESV)

Musical Reflection:
O Sacred Head Now Wounded by Hans Leo Hassler

Reflection Notes:
This tune by Hassler is most famously set with the text “O Sacred, Now Wounded;” the most common harmonization was popularized by J.S. Bach in his St. Matthew Passion. It conveys the pathos of Christ’s death with deep sincerity.

Prayer:
I have no other helper than you,
no other father, no other redeemer, no other support. I pray to you.
Only you can help me.
My present misery is too great.
Despair grips me,
and I am at my wits’ end.
I am sunk in the depths,
and I cannot pull myself up or out.
If it is your will, help me out of this misery.
Let me know that you are stronger
than all misery and all enemies.
O Lord, if I come through this,
please let the experience
contribute to my and my brothers’ blessing.
You will not forsake me; this I know.
Amen.
(A prayer from a young Ghanian Christian. Taken from I Lie on My Mat and Pray.)