Forsaken, did you cry aloud
Psalm 22

My first metrical version of Psalm 22 has a more literal approach than the one displayed here (see Why have you abandoned me? - Jubilate). The substance of that one is clearly prophetic, but it does not mention Christ by name. Later I became familiar with Isaac Watts’s psalm versions and greatly admired them, including the way he often took a New Testament perspective. This second lyric was written after a church Bible study which came as part of a series on Messianic Psalms. It was given by the minister, who explained this amazing passage of scripture in a very helpful way. All the pronouns of response were originally personal - I/me throughout, but these soon became we/us from verse 3 onwards so that the whole congregation of a local church might sing the lyric. I now offer a slight change in the wording of the penultimate line (otherwise printed as “Jesus, you rescued us from hell” ) which I hope may be acceptable, widening the relevance of the hymn’s final statement. The aim is to put greater emphasis on the saving power of Christ for all who put their trust in him. I had already been advised that the original wording could appear to refer to a past event instead of a future expectation, and no straight-forward correction had occurred to me that would fit the metrical limitations. However, while this alternative may be preferred in some churches, I do understand that in others it may well be thought better to keep the original line.

This text is the first of a trilogy (Psalms 22, 23, 24) for which Gill Berry composed new tunes soon after I wrote the words. The unaltered text of “Forsaken, did you cry aloud?” is interlined with the score as published by Praise Trust, no. 1041, and is well worth investigating: it is produced together with sheet music, instrumental parts and a full MP3 recording of the music: Forsaken, did you cry aloud? | Praise!.