All Psalms
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Why Jesus quoted Psalm 22. On the cross He sang the first line of a song every child knew. Read why it matters →
Why Jesus Quoted This Song
Psalm 22 and Psalm 110 are among the psalms the New Testament quotes most.
When Jesus hung on the cross, dying for your sins, He cried out the opening line of a song His people knew by heart: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
In His world the Scriptures were not only read; they were sung. Israel was commanded to teach God’s words to its children and to put them in a song so they would never forget (Deuteronomy 6:7; 31:19). The psalms were the songs of the Temple, the festivals and the home.
So when Jesus cried out that first line, everyone standing at the cross who knew the song knew how it went on: the mocking crowd, “they pierced my hands and my feet,” the soldiers casting lots for His clothes. And they knew how it ended: “He has done it!”
He was not telling the world that God had abandoned Him. He was pointing to the whole psalm and saying: this is about Me. I am the Messiah.
Hear Psalm 22 and read it in Hebrew and English →
Paul Whitehorn
About these songs. They are a summary and a commentary on the Psalms, not a word-for-word translation. Read what these songs are →
What These Songs Are, and What They Are Not
These songs are not a word-for-word translation of the Psalms. They were never meant to be. Nor do they try to capture every idea in every psalm. In a song, that would be impossible.
What we have done is capture the essence of each psalm: what matters most in it. Think of each song as a summary. Think of it as a cheat sheet. The purpose of the psalm is still being met. God's word to mankind is still being heard.
Behind many of these lines is word research: deep study of the meaning of the Hebrew. So where a line sounds different from your translation, and you think it is wrong, study it. We believe you will find that the essence of what we sing is true.
The truth is that no one can set the Psalms to music without also becoming a commentator. That is what this is. It is a modern commentary on the Psalms: not only the Psalms themselves, and not only the Psalms being sung. So do not think that every word of the psalm is here. It is not. Read the psalm itself, in full.
Why do this at all? Because we believe God intended humanity to be surrounded by His word. This was always the entertainment He wanted us to have: not hours of television, not a day lost in a phone looking at nonsense. The blessed man of Psalm 1 meditates on God's word day and night. How can we meditate on His word if we do not surround ourselves with it?
As ministers, our first responsibility is to share God's word with people. That is what these songs are for.
Paul Whitehorn
