Was Jesus despairing?
Jesus is quoting from Psalm 22:1, a psalm that anyone brought up as a Jew would know. Psalm 22 begins with despairing words but then proceeds through a praise of God and expresses great hope and optimism in the saving power of the Lord. Jesus fulfilled Psalm 22 in many ways, and he was apparently trying to draw everyone's attention to that fact, just as he did in Luke 24:26-27. Here is the ending of the Psalm:
24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard. 25 My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise YHWH who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever. 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to YHWH. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For the kingdom is YHWH’s. He is the ruler over the nations. 29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. 31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it. Psalm 22:24-31WEB
It is a psalm of victory, not defeat.
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