LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? - Messiah's cry on the cross (Psalms 22:1). Our sins were the cause; the time of deliverance was not yet, because not yet had the penalty been fully paid. 'Although these lamentations at first sight express pain without consolation, they nevertheless contain tacit prayers. For he does not proudly contend with God, but mournfully desires some remedy to his calamities' (Calvin).