Psalms 22:7 Meaning and Explanation
“All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Mockery can become communal violence even when no weapon is raised. The crowd in Psalm 22 uses faces, bodies, and words to isolate an afflicted worshiper. The verse teaches readers to recognize ridicule as morally serious and to hear the later Gospel accounts of Jesus' passion against this lament.
The psalmist describes a crowd turning another person's suffering and trust into public entertainment through laughter, gestures, and contemptuous speech.
The Context of Psalms 22:7
The speaker has cried to God by day and night and remembered how the ancestors trusted the LORD and were delivered. His present experience appears to contradict that memory: he feels dehumanized and despised. Verses 7-8 describe onlookers laughing, curling the lip, shaking the head, and sarcastically telling him to let the LORD rescue him. He answers by remembering God's care from the womb and pleading for nearness as danger closes in. The psalm later announces deliverance in the congregation and foresees the nations worshiping the LORD. Matthew and Mark echo these gestures and words at Jesus' crucifixion.
What Does Psalms 22:7 Mean?
'All they that see me' presents mockery as a public atmosphere. Laughter gathers a crowd around someone else's vulnerability and signals which person may be treated without sympathy. To 'shoot out the lip' depicts a scornful facial gesture, while shaking the head communicates dismissal and moral superiority. These actions can look small to participants, yet together they deny fellowship and intensify suffering. The psalm notices bodies as well as sentences because contempt is communicated through tone, posture, imitation, images, and shared amusement. God hears the cruelty hidden inside what spectators call a joke.
The following line shows that the crowd targets the sufferer's trust in God. Their sarcasm turns faith into evidence against him: if the LORD delighted in him, surely he would already be safe. That reasoning confuses delayed deliverance with divine rejection. Psalm 22 refuses the conclusion. The speaker continues praying, remembers God's lifelong care, and eventually declares that the LORD did not hide His face from the afflicted. Faith may be ridiculed precisely when circumstances give no visible confirmation, yet lament keeps addressing God until the apparent silence gives way to testimony.
At the cross, passersby wag their heads and religious leaders mock Jesus' trust in God. The evangelists use Psalm 22 to show that His disgrace stands within Israel's prayer and that hostile interpretation cannot tell the truth about His relationship with the Father. Jesus' resurrection overturns the crowd's verdict. Readers should resist using present weakness as proof of divine disfavor, while still discerning each claim truthfully. The crucified Messiah trains His people to stand near the humiliated, resist spectator cruelty, and await God's judgment rather than joining the safest crowd.
Bible Verses Related to Psalms 22:7
“I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.”
- Psalm 109:25
“And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,”
- Matthew 27:39
“And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.”
- Luke 23:35
“For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.”
- Psalm 22:24
Where Psalms 22:7 Echoes in Scripture
Psalm 109:25 says the sufferer became a reproach and that observers shook their heads when they looked upon him. The repeated gesture shows how public scorn can compound affliction, while both prayers place final judgment and rescue in God's hands.
How to Apply Psalms 22:7 Today
Audit the ways you participate in ridicule: laughter, reaction icons, reposts, nicknames, edited clips, private group messages, or silence when a crowd targets someone. Stop sharing humiliation as entertainment and do not infer that a person's hardship proves God's rejection. When safe, interrupt the mockery, restore accurate context, and speak to the targeted person with respect. Communities should make confession possible without making cruelty recreational. If you are being mocked, bring the scene to God in detail and seek trustworthy companions who can help you remain grounded in truth.
Reflection & Prayer
When have you joined a crowd's contempt because it felt socially safe? Pray: LORD, guard my face, speech, and laughter from cruelty. Give me courage to stand beside the shamed, patience when faith is mocked, and confidence that Your judgment is truer than a crowd's verdict. Amen.