Faith is not the absence of pain; faith is bringing pain into the presence of God

This is such a raw passage. David starts with anguish, but even in the anguish he is still talking to God. That matters.

Psalm 22:1–5 holds two things at once:

Real abandonment-feeling

David says, “Why have You forsaken me?” He is not pretending. He feels unheard, unrested, and far from rescue. Verse 2 makes that even clearer: he cries in the day and at night, and still feels no answer.

Real faith

Then verse 3 turns: “Yet You are holy.” He does not say God has changed. He says, in effect, even though I feel abandoned, I know who You are. Then he remembers the history of God’s faithfulness: “our fathers trusted… You delivered them.”

That tension is one of the most important lessons in the psalm:

faith is not the absence of pain; faith is bringing pain into the presence of God.

A few deeper observations:

1. Lament is biblical.

These verses give language for seasons when God feels silent. Scripture does not shame that experience. It gives it words.

2. Feelings are spoken, but God’s character stays central.

David says what he feels, but he does not let his feelings define God. “Yet You are holy” is the anchor.

3. Memory helps faith survive silence.

David looks backward to endure the present. He remembers what God has done before, even when he cannot yet see what God is doing now.

4. This psalm also points to Jesus.

Jesus quotes Psalm 22:1 on the cross. So this is not only David’s suffering language; it becomes Messiah language too. That means when you pray these words, you are praying words Jesus Himself entered into.

A simple way to pray this passage:

“God, I feel far from relief, and I do not understand Your silence. Yet You are holy. You have been faithful before. Help me trust You here too.”

A reflection question for you:

Where in your life do you most relate to verse 2 right now—crying out and feeling like heaven is quiet?