Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 22:11
Be not far from me; for trouble [is] near; for [there is] none to help.
11. Be not far from me ] The expostulation of Psa 22:1 is turned into a prayer, again repeated in Psa 22:19. He urges his plea on the double ground that while Jehovah still stands afar off in seeming indifference, distress is close at hand, and there is no other helper to whom he can look.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11 21. The Psalmist pleads for help with intenser earnestness. The virulence of his foes increases. Strength and endurance are exhausted.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be not far from me – Do not withdraw from me; do not leave or forsake me.
For trouble is near – Near, in the sense that deep sorrow has come upon me; near, in the sense that I am approaching a dreadful death.
For there is none to help – Margin, as in Hebrew, not a helper. There were those who would have helped, but they could not; there were those who could have helped, but they would not. His friends that stood around the cross were unable to aid him; his foes were unwilling to do it; and he was left to suffer unhelped.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 22:11
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Help in trouble
In this Psalm a greater than David is here, even Christ. You cannot pay a visit to Calvary, while reading this Psalm, without being struck wire the record as giving a history of what subsequently took place in the sufferings and agony of our Lord.
I. First of all, let us look at the principle laid down–a mountains; yet when we approach them we find them to be mole hills, which we can easily step over with a little exercise of faith. But our precious Lord foreboded nothing but what He knew was near and would come to pass, and therefore when He cried out, Father, save Me from this hour, He immediately adds, For this cause came I to this hour; as if He withdrew the petition and would not escape the sorrow. But mark the most prominent feature of His distress was distress of soul. When we look at the fact that Divine wrath lay heavily upon His soul we wonder not that He cried out, Now am I troubled. And so there is distress of soul of which His disciples are the subjects.
1. In their first awakenings.
2. In their after conflicts.
3. But it is never, to the believer, judicial punishment as it was with Jesus. It was Divine wrath that lay upon Him.
4. And there were external assaults. The powers of darkness were let loose. His Church must expect the like. The world and the Church cannot agree, unless the Church will compromise her dignity, her purity, her spirituality, and cringe to the worlds carnal pursuits and carnal religion; then they may go on pretty well, hand in hand; but the curse of God will rest upon them both. A Christianity that brings you out from the world will be sure to bring upon you Satans rage and fiery darts and the worlds scorn. May you be able to make Moses choice, and choose rather to suffer affliction with, etc. Jesus told you it would be thus. Marvel not if the world hate you.
5. And the Church has yet another trouble near.
II. The appalling fact. There is none to help. Now this, so far as Christ is concerned, is a peculiar mercy. For if any had been with Him they would have shared the honour. And for us, too, it is often well that there should be none to help, for if there were we would turn to them and not to God.
III. The concentration of our expectations. For when all help is gone elsewhere there comes the cry, Be not Thou far from me. Oh! we live too low, we cleave to earth too much; but when we can soar, and mount as on eagles wings, gaze on the sun, and enjoy the smiling countenance of our covenant God, our troubles then are mere mole hills; if we look down on them at all we can hardly see them. (Joseph Irons.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Be not far from me; for trouble is near] A present God is a present blessing. We always need the Divine help; but more especially when troubles and trials are at hand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Be not far from me, to wit, as to affection and succour.
Trouble is near at hand, and ready to swallow me up; and therefore if thou dost not speedily deliver me, it will be too late; which is an argument that David oft useth, as Psa 6:5; 88:11, &c.
There is none to help; thy help therefore will be the more seasonable, because it is most hecessary, and thou wilt have the more of glory by it, because it will appear that it is thy work alone.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. From this statement ofreasons for the appeal, he renews it, pleading his double extremity,the nearness of trouble, and the absence of a helper.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be not far from me,…. Who had been so near unto him, as to take him out of the womb, and to take the care of him ever since; this is to be understood not with respect to the omnipresence of God, who is everywhere, and is not far from any of us; but of his presence, which was now withdrawn from Christ, and he was filled with a sense of divine wrath, and with sorrow and distress; and also of his powerful and assisting presence which he had promised, and Christ expected, and believed he should have, as he had: the reasons for it follow:
for trouble [is] near; Satan was marching towards him with his principalities and powers, to attack him in the garden and on the cross; Judas, one of his own disciples, was at hand to betray him; a multitude with swords and staves were about to seize him; the sins and chastisement of his people were just going to be laid upon him; the sword of justice was awaked against him, ready to give the blow; the hour of death was near, he was brought to the dust of it, as in
Ps 22:15. A second reason is given,
for [there is] none to help; none among his disciples: one of them was to betray him, another to deny him, and all to forsake him and flee from him, as they did; nor any among the angels in heaven; for though they ministered to him in the wilderness, and strengthened him in the garden, there were none near him on the cross, that it might be manifest that salvation was wrought out alone by him, Isa 63:5; and, indeed, if any of these had been willing to have helped him, it was not in their power to do it, none but God could; and therefore he applies to him, who had promised and was as good as his word, Isa 49:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Sufferings of the Messiah; The Messiah Supported in His Sufferings. | |
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21 Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
In these verses we have Christ suffering and Christ praying, by which we are directed to look for crosses and to look up to God under them.
I. Here is Christ suffering. David indeed was often in trouble, and beset with enemies; but many of the particulars here specified are such as were never true of David, and therefore must be appropriated to Christ in the depth of his humiliation.
1. He is here deserted by his friends: Trouble and distress are near, and there is none to help, none to uphold, v. 11. He trod the wine-press alone; for all his disciples forsook him and fled. It is God’s honour to help when all other helps and succours fail.
2. He is here insulted and surrounded by his enemies, such as were of a higher rank, who for their strength and fury, are compared to bulls, strong bulls of Bashan (v. 12), fat and fed to the full, haughty and sour; such were the chief priests and elders that persecuted Christ; and others of a lower rank, who are compared to dogs (v. 16), filthy and greedy, and unwearied in running him down. There was an assembly of the wicked plotting against him (v. 16); for the chief priests sat in council, to consult of ways and means to take Christ. These enemies were numerous and unanimous: “Many, and those of different and clashing interests among themselves, as Herod and Pilate, have agreed to compass me. They have carried their plot far, and seem to have gained their point, for they have beset me round, v. 12. They have enclosed me, v. 16. They are formidable and threatening (v. 13): They gaped upon me with their mouths, to show me that they would swallow me up; and this with as much strength and fierceness as a roaring ravening lion leaps upon his prey.”
3. He is here crucified. The very manner of his death is described, though never in use among the Jews: They pierced my hands and my feet (v. 16), which were nailed to the accursed tree, and the whole body left so to hang, the effect of which must needs be the most exquisite pain and torture. There is no one passage in all the Old Testament which the Jews have so industriously corrupted as this, because it is such an eminent prediction of the death of Christ and was so exactly fulfilled.
4. He is here dying (Psa 22:14; Psa 22:15), dying in pain and anguish, because he was to satisfy for sin, which brought in pain, and for which we must otherwise have lain in everlasting anguish. Here is, (1.) The dissolution of the whole frame of his body: I am poured out like water, weak as water, and yielding to the power of death, emptying himself of all the supports of his human nature. (2.) The dislocation of his bones. Care was taken that not one of them should be broken (John xix. 36), but they were all out of joint by the violent stretching of his body upon the cross as upon a rack. Or it may denote the fear that seized him in his agony in the garden, when he began to be sore amazed, the effect of which perhaps was (as sometimes it has been of great fear, Dan. v. 6), that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another. His bones were put out of joint that he might put the whole creation into joint again, which sin had put out of joint, and might make our broken bones to rejoice. (3.) The colliquation of his spirits: My heart is like wax, melted to receive the impressions of God’s wrath against the sins he undertook to satisfy for, melting away like the vitals of a dying man; and, as this satisfied for the hardness of our hearts, so the consideration of it should help to soften them. When Job speaks of his inward trouble he says, The Almighty makes my heart soft, Job xxiii. 16, and see Ps. lviii. 2. (4.) The failing of his natural force: My strength is dried up; so that he became parched and brittle like a potsherd, the radical moisture being wasted by the fire of divine wrath preying upon his spirits. Who then can stand before God’s anger? Or who knows the power of it? If this was done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (5.) The clamminess of his mouth, a usual symptom of approaching death: My tongue cleaveth to my jaws; this was fulfilled both in his thirst upon the cross (John xix. 28) and in his silence under his sufferings; for, as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, nor objected against any thing done to him. (6.) His giving up the ghost: “Thou hast brought me to the dust of death; I am just ready to drop into the grave;” for nothing less would satisfy divine justice. The life of the sinner was forfeited, and therefore the life of the sacrifice must be the ransom for it. The sentence of death passed upon Adam was thus expressed: Unto dust thou shalt return. And therefore Christ, having an eye to that sentence in his obedience to death, here uses a similar expression: Thou hast brought me to the dust of death.
5. He was stripped. The shame of nakedness was the immediate consequence of sin; and therefore our Lord Jesus was stripped of his clothes, when he was crucified, that he might clothe us with the robe of his righteousness, and that the shame of our nakedness might not appear. Now here we are told, (1.) How his body looked when it was thus stripped: I may tell all my bones, v. 17. His blessed body was lean and emaciated with labour, grief, and fasting, during the whole course of his ministry, which made him look as if he was nearly 50 years old when he was yet but 33, as we find, John viii. 57. His wrinkles now witnessed for him that he was far from being what was called, a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. Or his bones might be numbered, because his body was distended upon the cross, which made it easy to count his ribs. They look and stare upon me, that is, my bones do, being distorted, and having no flesh to cover them, as Job says (ch. xvi. 8), My leanness, rising up in me, beareth witness to my face. Or “the standers by, the passers by, are amazed to see my bones start out thus; and, instead of pitying me, are pleased even with such a rueful spectacle.” (2.) What they did with his clothes, which they took from him (v. 18): They parted my garments among them, to every soldier a part, and upon my vesture, the seamless coat, do they cast lots. This very circumstance was exactly fulfilled, Joh 19:23; Joh 19:24. And though it was no great instance of Christ’s suffering, yet it is a great instance of the fulfilling of the scripture in him. Thus it was written, and therefore thus it behoved Christ to suffer. Let this therefore confirm our faith in him as the true Messiah, and inflame our love to him as the best of friends, who loved us and suffered all this for us.
II. Here is Christ praying, and with that supporting himself under the burden of his sufferings. Christ, in his agony, prayed earnestly, prayed that the cup might pass from him. When the prince of this world with his terrors set upon him, gaped upon him as a roaring lion, he fell upon the ground and prayed. And of that David’s praying here was a type. He calls God his strength, v. 19. When we cannot rejoice in God as our song, yet let us stay ourselves upon him as out strength, and take the comfort of spiritual supports when we cannot come at spiritual delights. He prays, 1. That God would be with him, and not set himself at a distance from him: Be not thou far from me (v. 11), and again, v. 19. “Whoever stands aloof from my sore, Lord, do not thou.” The nearness of trouble should quicken us to draw near to God and then we may hope that he will draw near to us. 2. That he would help him and make haste to help him, help him to bear up under his troubles, that he might not fail nor be discouraged, that he might neither shrink from his undertaking no sink under it. And the Father heard him in that he feared (Heb. v. 7) and enabled him to go through with his work. 3. That he would deliver him and save him, Psa 22:20; Psa 22:21. (1.) Observe what the jewel is which he is in care for, “The safety of my soul, my darling; let that be redeemed from the power of the grave, Ps. xlix. 15. Father, into thy hands I commit that, to be conveyed safely to paradise.” The psalmist here calls his soul his darling, his only one (so the word is): “My soul is my only one. I have but one soul to take care of, and therefore the greater is my shame if I neglect it and the greater will the loss be if I let it perish. Being my only one, it ought to be my darling, for the eternal welfare of which I ought to be deeply concerned. I do not use my soul as my darling, unless I take care to preserve it from every thing that would hurt it and to provide all necessaries for it, and be entirely tender of its welfare.” (2.) Observe what the danger is from which he prays to be delivered, from the sword, the flaming sword of divine wrath, which turns every way. This he dreaded more than any thing, Gen. iii. 24. God’s anger was the wormwood and the gall in the bitter cup that was put into his hands. “O deliver my soul from that. Lord, though I lose my life, let me not lose thy love. Save me from the power of the dog, and from the lion’s mouth.” This seems to be meant of Satan, that old enemy who bruised the heel of the seed of the woman, the prince of this world, with whom he was to engage in close combat and whom he saw coming, John xiv. 30. “Lord, save me from being overpowered by his terrors.” He pleads, “Thou hast formerly heard me from the horns of the unicorn,” that is, “saved me from him in answer to my prayer.” This may refer to the victory Christ had obtained over Satan and his temptations (Matt. iv.), when the devil left him for a season (Luke iv. 13), but now returned in another manner to attack him with his terrors. “Lord, thou gavest me the victory then, give it me now, that I may spoil principalities and powers, and cast out the prince of this world.” Has God delivered us from the horns of the unicorn, that we be not tossed? Let that encourage us to hope that we shall be delivered from the lion’s mouth, that we be not torn. He that has delivered doth and will deliver. This prayer of Christ, no doubt, was answered, for the Father heard him always. And, though he did not deliver him from death, yet he suffered him not to see corruption, but, the third day, raised him out of the dust of death, which was a greater instance of God’s favour to him than if he had helped him down from the cross; for that would have hindered his undertaking, whereas his resurrection crowned it.
In singing this we should meditate on the sufferings and resurrection of Christ till we experience in our own souls the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
11. Depart not far from me. Here he employs another argument to induce God to show him mercy, alleging that he is sorely pressed and hemmed in by the greatest distress. He doubtless set before his eyes the office which the Scriptures every where attribute to God of succouring the miserable, and of being the more ready to help us the more we are afflicted. Even despair itself, therefore, served as a ladder to elevate his mind to the exercise of devout and fervent prayer. In like manner, the feeling we have of our afflictions should excite us to take shelter under the wings of God, that by granting us his aid, he may show that he takes a deep interest in our welfare.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
11. Contains two urgent reasons for immediate help.
None to help Hebrew, Because there is not a helper. See Isa 63:3; Isa 63:5. Luther strikingly observes, “that the more despised and forsaken a man is, the nearer and more gracious God is to him.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.’
So in His extremity He cried that God would not be too far from Him. For He was aware of what He must face, and that there was no one else to whom He could go for help. Chronologically this comes before Psa 22:1. And for a time the help was there until the darkness of the sin of the world descended. And then it seemed as though it had gone.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Sufferer’s Prayer For Deliverance And Provides A Description of His Predicament ( Psa 22:11-21 ).
That we are to see some of these descriptions as figurative comes out in Psa 22:21 where the psalmist sums all up by describing it as being saved from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild ox. He has a vivid imagination and knows much about the hunt and about the behaviour of wild beasts, and how they are treated in the hunt.
Psa 22:11
‘Do not be far from me, for trouble is near,
For there is none to help.’
Aware of trouble approaching the sufferer cries to God for help. In Psa 22:1 he had said that God was far from him. Now he pleads that it might not be so, for, if He is, he is lost. He confirms that he has nowhere else to turn and asks God ‘not to be far from Him’, for he is facing almost impossible dangers.
Psa 22:12-13
‘Many bulls have encompassed me,
Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gape on me with their mouth,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.’
His enemies are gathered against him on all sides. They are like bulls which have a tendency to gather around any strange object and can easily be moved to attack it. Yes, they are like the strongest of bulls, the strong bulls of Bashan, an area famous for its lush pastures (Deu 32:14; Amo 4:1). They are impenetrable. And their mouths are wide open to swallow him like the mouth of a ravening and roaring lion (see Psa 7:2). (This mixing of metaphors confirms that he as enemies in mind, not bulls). Perhaps some of his main enemies came from Bashan, east of Jordan in the north.
Psa 22:14
‘I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint,
My heart is like wax,
It is melted within me.’
This description is probably not to be taken literally, although he may well have been going through a bout of severe illness which made him feel totally out of sorts. ‘Poured out like water’ parallels the ‘melted wax’. He feels drained and empty, with his joints stiff and painful as if the bones were out of joint, and his innermost heart failing under the pressure. Compare Psa 6:2-3; Psa 6:6-7; Jos 7:5). But if he has just fled from a defeat it is always possible that he had suffered a fall in his eagerness to escape.
In his constant flight from Saul David may well have experienced such misery more than once. But this may have been a particularly bad experience.
For Jesus this did become literally true. Not only would He be physically drained and probably suffering from hypothermia in the hot sun, but crucifixion could literally take His bones out of joint and His sufferings would certainly affect His mental state and His emotions (His heart) so that they seemed like wax melted within Him.
Psa 22:15
‘My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws.’
The idea of the potsherd is probably of a pot that has been overheated and become so dried out that it has cracked and broken. The tongue cleaving to his jaws represented excessive thirst. So did the psalmist feel totally dried up, with his strength gone (see Psa 32:4). This may have been as a result of his illness, or the result of flight through hot, desert places, or both.
David may well have experienced such conditions as he fled through the desert to escape from Saul’s searchers, and had to hide in inhospitable places, especially if he was also ill at the time.
It was certainly Jesus’ experience on the cross to suffer excessive thirst, which He refused to quench until His work was done (Mat 27:34).
Psa 22:15-16
And you have brought me into the dust of death,
For dogs have encompassed me,
A company of evildoers have enclosed me,
They pierced my hands and my feet.’
It may be that the psalmist had been hunted down with dogs, dragged down into the dust to die, surrounded by those who hunted him, and had his hands and feet pierced by the spears of the hunters to render him helpless, or by the teeth of the dogs, only to be delivered at the last moment. But it may be that he is simply vividly describing the fate that he shortly envisages will be his unless some miracle happens, as he hears the baying of the dogs in the distance, and knows what they will do with any fugitive they catch, and is aware also of how men like his pursuers mutilate a man so that he can no longer harm them, cutting the tendons of hands and feet. A third alternative is that he is depicting his fate in picturesque terms take from his knowledge of the hunt.
This may have been true of any Davidic king fleeing for his life after a resounding defeat, but if this was David fleeing from Saul he would know that he was sufficiently feared as a warrior to warrant such particular attentions (compare Jdg 1:6-7).
Alternately the description of ‘the dogs’ may simply be metaphorical as a description of rabid humans. All were familiar with the packs of savage dogs that scavenged outside cities, and sometimes even within. They provided a fitting illustration of those whose hatred was so intense that they would literally snarl at him when they caught him.
And there is no more vivid way of describing the packs of evil men who had gathered to hunt Jesus down and see that He met the awful fate that they had planned for Him, than as a pack of mangy dogs. That such men gathered round Him and pierced His hands and His feet is without question.
‘You have brought me into the dust of death.’ This describes the final ignominy for a hunted man as he is finally caught and dragged down into the dust to die, whether literally or metaphorically. But here he sees himself as brought to this pass by God Himself. It was the will of YHWH to bruise him (Isa 53:10).
‘They pierced my hands and my feet.’ Unless an unknown verb or poetic form is in use the Massoretic Text has ‘like a lion (ca’ari) my hands and my feet’. ‘They pierced’ is ca’aru as suggested by LXX and other versions. But i and u (yod and waw) can be very similar in Hebrew copying and this may be a rare copying mistake in MT, so that LXX has preserved the true rendering. The original thought may then be that the dogs have bitten his hands and feet and pierced him with their teeth, or that the hunters have done it with spears and arrows. That it literally happened to Jesus we know through the nails on the cross.
The Targum has the conflated ‘biting like a lion’. It is, however, always possible that he is seen as being meted out the normal treatment for a lion when caught and kept alive. with its claws being broken by a hammer or extracted, thus signifying ‘they smashed/rendered useless/mangled my hands and my feet’. It may be significant that there is no reference to this phrase in the New Testament.
Psa 22:17
‘I may count all my bones,
They look and stare on me.’
He has been so hard-pressed, and so without solid food over so long a period, that he has been reduced to skin and bones. As they tear from him his rich clothing to share the spoils among them he is able to count all his ribs, while his adversaries stand around and stare at him in grim delight at how he has suffered.
Again there may be an element of exaggeration in this, and it is therefore quite likely that such words might have been found on the lips of David, especially if he was suffering from the nightmare of what might well shortly happen to him.
Of Jesus again the words were literally true. After His ill-treatment at the hands of Jewish leaders and Romans, being hung and distorted on a cross would make his bones clearly visible beneath His skin, as His adversaries stood around and stared.
Psa 22:18
‘They part my clothing among them,
And on my vesture do they cast lots.’
If the psalmist’s clothing was of rich quality they may well have stripped him and given him an old piece of cloth, even if his nakedness bothered them at all (see Isa 20:4). This would be their reward for capturing such an important prisoner.
We can well see that the thought of such ignominy would have been a nightmare to David, the practise possibly being well known to him as occurring among soldiers, and the mention of the vesture (the undergarment, a seamless tunic) stressing total nakedness. This method of sharing out the clothing of captives, which was both simple and practical, may well have been a practise continued through the centuries, although David might have been thinking of it as something that would occur after he had been killed. Stripping the dead after battle was common practise.
It specifically happened to Jesus on His death, and is claimed as the ‘filling full’ of prophecy (Joh 19:23-24).
Psa 22:19
‘But do not be far off, O YHWH,
O you, my succour, hasten to help me.’
So the sufferer turns to YHWH for help. God is his succour and he looks to Him for assistance. This would suggest that what he has described is simply near expectation, rather than what has actually happened, a vivid nightmare of what lay ahead if things did not change quickly. He still hoped to be delivered from the worst.
Psa 22:20
‘Deliver my soul from the sword,
My darling from the power of the dog.’
This is confirmed here by his hope to be delivered from the power of the dog (Psa 22:16). He wants to escape death by a sword and mauling by a dog. ‘My darling’. Literally ‘my only one’. He is thinking of his own unique life which is most precious to him, and dearer to him than almost anything else on earth.
Jesus’ deliverance would be by resurrection.
Psa 22:21
‘Save me from the lion’s mouth,
Yes, from the horns of the wild-oxen you have answered me.
So he puts in his final plea. Let him be saved from the lion’s mouth. The lion here may well be Saul. And then in the second part of the verse the whole spirit of the psalm changes, as he suddenly recognises that he will be saved indeed. He is about to be delivered from the horns of ‘the wild oxen’ because God has answered him.
Or we may render, ‘save me from the lion’s mouth, yes, from the horns of the wild oxen’ and then with sudden enlightenment – ‘You have answered me.’ Either way it is a switch that declares that God has heard his prayers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 22:11. For there is none to help See Isa 53:3; Isa 63:3. Joh 16:32.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 527
THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
Psa 22:11-21. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all mg bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd: and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws: and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord! O my Strength, haste thee to help me! Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lions mouth; for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
IN many parts of the Psalms there is a strong resemblance between Davids experience, and the experience of Davids Lord; so that the language used, may properly be applied to both. But in some parts David speaks in terms which are wholly inapplicable to himself, and can be understood only as referring to Christ. This is particularly the case with respect to some expressions in the psalm before us. That a greater than David is here, there can be no doubt. The writers of the New Testament quote many parts of it as literally fulfilled in Christ; in whom alone indeed the words which I have read had any appearance of accomplishment. We scruple not therefore to consider from them,
I.
The sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ
These are strongly marked,
1.
In his complaints
[Great was the number of his enemies, and most inveterate their rage against him. He compares them to fierce bulls, and savage lions, and ravenous dogs. Under the emblem of the fat bulls of Bashan, he represents the Jewish Governors both in church and state, whilst the populace, both of Jews and Gentiles, were like dogs, set on indeed by others, but actuated by their own native ferocity, and by an insatiable thirst for blood. All ranks of people combined against him; and not so much as one was found to administer comfort to him, or to assuage his anguish. Of this he complains as a great additional source of grief and sorrow; Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am roll of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none [Note: ver. 11. with Psa 69:20.].
Exceeding deep also and various were his sufferings. In his body he endured all that the most cruel adversaries could inflict. He complains that his frame was so emaciated that they might count all his bones; that his joints also were dislocated, and his hands and feet pierced with nails: and, to complete the scene, whilst he was suspended thus, a naked bloody spectacle upon the cross, some gazed upon him with a stupid unfeeling curiosity (they look and stare upon me); and others, with cruel indifference, amused themselves with casting lots upon his vesture.
Now in no sense whatever were these things at any time fulfilled in David. In relating them, he evidently personates the Messiah, in whom they were fulfilled with the minutest possible precision.
In his soul his sufferings were far deeper still. Before ever his body was touched, his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death [Note: Mat 26:38.]. And from whence did that anguish proceed but from the hand of the Father, who visited on turn the sins of the whole world [Note: Isa 53:10.]? Yes, this it was which then so oppressed and overwhelmed him: and at the same time all the hosts of hell assaulted him; for that was their hour, and the power of darkness. Under the pressure of these mental agonies, he was poured out like water, or rather, was consumed, as it were, by fire, as the burnt-offerings were, even with the fire of Gods wrath; insomuch that his heart was like melted wax in the midst of his bowels.]
Of his sufferings we may form a yet further judgment from,
2.
His supplications
[These were offered up in every diversified form, of renovated entreaty, and of urgent pleas: Be not thou far from me; haste thee to help me: deliver my soul from the sword; save me from the lions mouth; for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. Now these petitions, I apprehend, related chiefly, if not exclusively, to the sufferings of his soul. It was the Fathers sword that had now awaked against him, to smite him, and it was the roaring lion, even Satan, with all his hosts, that now sought to devour him. In the midst of these accumulated troubles, he felt above all, and deprecated most urgently, the hidings of his Fathers face: My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? O be not far from me, be not far from me, O Lord [Note: ver. 1, 11, 19.]! The plea, which in this extremity he offered, must not be overlooked; Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. At the time of his birth had the Father interposed to deliver him from the murderous rage of Herod; and on many occasions from the Jews who sought his life: and he requested that, if possible, and consistent with the Fathers purpose of saving a ruined world, the same protecting hand might be stretched out to save him now; and that the bitter cup, which he was drinking, might be removed from him. If however this could not be vouchsafed to him consistently with the end for which he had come into the world, he was content to drink the cup even to the dregs.
If now the Son of God himself was so pressed with his sufferings, that he besought his Father with strong crying and tears either to mitigate the anguish, or to uphold him under it, we can have no doubt but the distress exceeded all that language can express, or that any finite intelligence can adequately conceive.]
Now then ask yourselves, my Brethren, in reference to these sufferings, what should be,
II.
The feelings which they should excite in our bosom
If we beheld but a common man enduring excessive anguish both of body and mind, we could not but feel some measure of sympathy with him: and, if we ourselves had been the occasion of his sufferings, and he were bearing them willingly in our place and stead, we could not but take the liveliest interest in them, both in a way of grief, that we had brought them upon him, and in a way of gratitude to him for sustaining them in our behalf. But this Sufferer was none other than our incarnate God, who came down from heaven on purpose to bear our sins in his own sacred person, that he might deliver us from the condemnation due to them, and procure for us reconciliation with our offended God. Well then may we behold our Saviour,
1.
With the deepest humiliation for having occasioned him such anguish
[Had we never sinned, our adorable Lord would never have assumed our nature, nor borne any of these agonies which we have been contemplating. In them, therefore, we should read our guilt and misery. Was he under the hidings of his Fathers face? We deserve to be banished from the presence of our God to all eternity. Did he suffer inconceivable agonies both of body and soul, under the wrath of Almighty God? We merited the utmost extremity of that wrath for ever and ever. Did he suffer even unto death? We were obnoxious to everlasting death, even that second death in the lake that burneth with file and brimstone, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Draw near then with me, Brethren, to Gethsemane and to Golgotha, and contemplate with me the scenes which were there exhibited. Do you see in the garden that sufferer, whose agonies of soul are so intense, that the blood issues from every pore of his body? And do you behold him on the mount, stretched upon the cross, and hear his heart-rending cry, My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me? Say then with yourselves, Now I behold what my sins have merited; or, rather, what they merit at this hour. There is not a moment of my life, wherein I might not justly be called upon to drink that bitter cup, without the smallest hope for any, the slightest, mitigation of my woe through eternal ages. Dear Brethren, this is the glass in which I wish you to behold your own deserts. I would not have your eyes turned away from it for one instant to the latest hour of your lives. In viewing particular sins, you may perhaps be led to self-complacency, from the thought that they have not been so enormous as what are habitually committed by others: but in viewing your iniquities as expiated by our blessed Lord, you will see that nothing can exceed your vileness: and you will be ready to take the lowest place as the very chief of sinners. The best of you, no less than the most abandoned, have merited, and do yet daily merit, at Gods hand, all that the Saviour of the world endured for you: and I again say, Never look at yourselves in any other glass than this.]
2.
With the liveliest gratitude for sustaining them in your behalf
[Truly he interposed not thus for the angels when they fell: but for you he undertook and executed this stupendous work of redeeming you to God by his own precious blood. This, methinks, should fill you with such wonder and love, that you should never be able to think of any thing else. In this mystery are contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and all other things, how beautiful soever in their place, should be swallowed up by it, even as the most brilliant stars are eclipsed by the sun. Hence, this formed the one great topic of St. Pauls preaching; (which he calls the preaching of the cross;) for he determined to know nothing amongst his people but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And in heaven this forms, amongst all the choir of saints and angels, the one subject of their praise. Even angels, I say, unite with the saints in singing Salvation to God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever. Oh! Brethren, if our minds were more occupied in exploring the height and depth and length and breadth of redeeming love, we should not be so easily turned away after vain unprofitable controversies as too many are at this day [Note: This is an important hint, and may be followed up, according as there be occasion for it at different times or places in the Christian Church.] This subject will elevate and enlarge the soul, and have a transforming efficacy in proportion as we delight to dwell upon it. Let it only be duly and abidingly impressed upon your minds; and it will prove the power of God to the salvation of your souls.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Here Christ evidently throws himself upon the covenant engagements. Isa 43:1-4 ; Psa 89:21-22 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 22:11 Be not far from me; for trouble [is] near; for [there is] none to help.
Ver. 11. Be not far from me, for trouble is near ] And so it is high time for thee to put forth a helping hand. Hominibus profanis mirabilis videtur haec ratio, to profane persons, this seemeth to be a strange reason, saith an interpreter; but it is a very good one, as this prophet knew, who therefore makes it his plea.
For there is none to help
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 22:11-18
11Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
14I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
15My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
Psa 22:11-18 This describes in poetic imagery the suffering of the psalmist. Many of the poetic details and parallelism turned out to be very literal of Jesus’ rejection and crucifixion.
Psa 22:11 Be not far from me This verb (BDB 934, KB 1221, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense, cf. Psa 22:19; Psa 71:12) is used in an interpersonal sense, not a distance sense. The psalmist felt alone (there is none to help, cf. Isa 63:5) to face his enemies (i.e., bulls, lions, dogs, wild oxen). Notice the contrastwhen trouble is near the psalmist wants YHWH near also!
Psa 22:12-13; Psa 22:16-18 His enemies are described.
1. bulls have surrounded him, Psa 22:12
2. lions have attacked him, Psa 22:13 (i.e., opened wide their mouths, which is an idiom for a vicious attack)
3. dogs have surrounded him, Psa 22:16
4. they stare at him
5. they pierced his hands and feet (cf. Joh 20:25; see note below)
6. they/I can count all my bones (i.e., [1] in the OT this may refer to the suffering man being just skin and bones, [2] he is dead, having been devoured by animals and only his bones are left or [3] in the NT this may refer to the detail that the two thieves’ legs were broken to bring about their rapid death on crosses, but Jesus, by this time, had already died)
7. they divided his clothes by casting lots (cf. Mat 27:35; Luk 23:34; Joh 19:24)
Psa 22:14-15 This is highly figurative language. It is hard to pin down the exact allusion but the accumulative effect is a completely discouraged person in light of
1. YHWH’s apparent absence even though the psalmist cries/groans day and night
2. the presence of violent enemies on every side
3. the possibility that the imagery is alluding to symptoms of sickness (cf. Isa 52:14) or even the early process of bodily decay before death (i.e., lit. bones scattered about, BDB 825, KB 962)
A striking, painful, surprising feeling from a faithful covenant follower!
Psa 22:15
NASB, NKJV,
RSV, LXXstrength
NRSV, NJB,
NRSV, REBmouth
TEVthroat
JPSOAvigor
The UBS Text Project gives the MT’s my strength () an A rating (high probability). The NRSV, NJB, REB, and TEV reverse the consonants to produce my palate (, KB 313, cf. Job 12:11; Job 20:13; Psa 119:103; Psa 137:6; Lam 4:4; Eze 3:26).
NASB, NKJV,
NRSVjaws
REBgums
TEVthe roof of my mouth
NJBjaw
JPSOApalate
LXXthroat
This Hebrew word (BDB 544 II, KB 594) occurs only here in the OT. Therefore context, parallelism, and related roots must provide interpreters a possible meaning. But please note that just because we do not know the exact meaning of this word, still the general sense of the verse is obvious.
You lay me in the dust of death The you here must refer to YHWH. YHWH (i.e., the only causality in the universe) allowed the psalmist to approach death (i.e., imperfect verb, cf. Psa 104:29).
This fits into the NT understanding of Jesus’ vicarious, substitutionary death on our behalf as YHWH’s predestined will (cf. Luk 22:22; Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28; 1Pe 1:20).
Jesus was incarnated for several purposes.
1. fully reveal the Father
2. fully reveal His redemptive plan (i.e., the gospel)
3. die in our place, for our sin
4. show us what humans were created to be
It is crucial in interpreting these oblique OT texts to see the full and complete revelation of the NT. The NT is the perfect fulfillment of the OT (cf. Mat 5:17-48). The story is fully understood only in Jesus, the Messiah!
Psa 22:16
NASB, NKJV,
RSVthey have pierced
NRSVshriveled (Akkadian root)
TEVtear at
LXXgouged or dig
NJB, NEBhack off
JPSOA
(cf. Isa 38:13)like lions (they maul, cf. Psa 22:13)
REB (footnote)bound
NET Biblelike a lion they pin
This verse is not quoted directly in the NT Gospels related to Jesus’ crucifixion. Several other verses of this Psalm are. The real question is What does the Hebrew say?
1. The UBS Text Project (p. 198) gives like a lion (, BDB 71) a B rating.
2. The verb dig, bore, or pierce comes from , BDB 468 II (found only here).
3. Bound or tie comes from the Greek translation of Aquila, Symmachus, the Latin translation of Jerome, and two Hebrew MSS (cf. UBS Handbook, p. 221). They assume the root is , BDB 501, KB 497, but there are no OT examples of it.
4. See a good technical note in Gleason Archer’s Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, p. 37.
Usually this idea of being pierced refers to a violent death by sword or spear in battle (several different roots but two prophetically significant).
1. Zec 12:10 BDB 201, KB 230 (cf. Joh 19:37; Rev 1:7)
2. Isa 53:5 BDB 319, KB 320
The ambiguity (i.e., rarity, only here in the OT) of this word allows it to function in an OT sense and a NT sense. This Psalm must have had meaning in its day but obviously points beyond to the vicarious, substitutionary atonement of Christ (i.e., nails pierced His hands and feet). The full meaning of many OT texts comes to light only in Christ (i.e., typology or direct prediction). I think it was Jesus Himself who showed these texts of His suffering and resurrection to the two on the road to Emmaus (cf. Luk 24:13-43) and they told the ones in the upper room. Just then He appeared to them and showed them His hands and feet (cf. Luk 24:36-43).
Psa 22:14-15; Psa 22:17 These verses describe how the suffering/attacked author feels.
1. I am poured out like water
2. all my bones are out of joint (i.e., this was one result of crucifixion)
3. my heart is like wax
4. my strength (or palate) is dried up (this possibly relates to Jesus taking some wine just before His last words, cf. Mat 27:48; Mar 15:36; Joh 19:29)
It is not certain how or if Psa 22:17 a relates to Psa 22:14 b. We are dealing with Hebrew poetic parallelism! Remember this is not prose. This is figurative language. Be careful of pushing details for theological purposes, unless it is done by an inspired NT author!
Psa 22:16 a band of evildoers The word band (BDB 417) means gathering or assembly. A different word (BDB 874) is used of the same concept in Psa 22:22; Psa 22:25. What a contrast between these two assemblies.
1. evil men with evil purposes gather together
2. godly men with witness and worship purposes gather together (cf. Psa 1:5)
Which group do you want to be a part of?
Psa 22:18 In the OT this would refer to the spoils of war being divided among the victors! Notice there is no parallel OT passage. In the NT it refers to the fact that the Roman soldiers who carried out the crucifixion were allowed to divide the condemned person’s possessions among themselves as a payment for the extra duty.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
none to help. Compare Psa 69:20. He was alone in this wondrous work.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 22:11-14
Psa 22:11-14
“Many bulls have compassed me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gape upon me with their mouth,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint:
My heart is like wax; it is melted within me,”
“They gape upon me with their mouth” (Psa 22:13). This expression right in the center of these three verses alerts us to the fact that these animals such as bulls, lions, and dogs (a little later) are not to be understood as literal animals at all. What bull ever gaped upon a human being with his mouth? “The crowd depicted here is thus described as bestial, but it is all too human.
“Bulls of Bashan” (Psa 22:12). “Bulls of Bashan were remarkable for their size, strength, and fierceness; and are introduced here to represent men who were fierce, savage and violent.
“Poured out like water” (Psa 22:14). “It is not known exactly what this means. “Extreme weakness and exhaustion, or utter prostration seem to be indicated.
“All my bones are out of joint” (Psa 22:14). We are surprised that some commentators are unable to explain this. The crucifixion to which condemned men of that day were subjected began on the ground, where the victim was nailed to the cross, which was then lifted and dropped into the hole prepared for it. At the very least this would have unjointed both shoulders and perhaps other joints as well.
“My heart is like wax” (Psa 22:14). This indicates that the victim would die of heart-failure, which, of course, is the very manner in which Jesus died, which alone can account for the fact that he was already dead when the soldiers of Pilate came to break his legs.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 22:11. Since God was the one who brought David into the world, he was the one to whom the prayer for protection should be made.
Psa 22:12. We know that bulls is used figuratively since it was men who were opposing David. Moffatt renders the word by “a brutal horde.” The verse has the force of a prophecy pointing to Christ when on the cross, which the following verses show beyond any doubt.
Psa 22:13. Gape means literally to open the mouth as if in yawning. The verse refers to the time when the “brutal horde” stood round the cross and opened their mouths in mockery at Jesus. They were compared to a lion because of their desire to destroy the victim of their hatred.
Psa 22:14. I represents Christ describing his condition while on the cross. The expressions are figurative, of course, and give a picture of a human being that is fast approaching death. The whole body would be entering a state of dissolution as if the organs were melting and running together like wax.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Be not: Psa 10:1, Psa 13:1-3, Psa 35:22, Psa 38:21, Psa 69:1, Psa 69:2, Psa 69:18, Psa 71:12, Joh 16:32, Heb 5:7
none to help: Heb. not a helper, Psa 72:12, Psa 142:4-6, Deu 32:36, Mat 26:56, Mat 26:72, Mat 26:74
Reciprocal: Psa 22:1 – far Psa 22:19 – But Psa 40:12 – innumerable Psa 88:3 – soul Psa 107:12 – and there Psa 119:150 – draw nigh Mar 14:43 – and with
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 22:11-13. Be not far from me As to affection and succour; for trouble is near At hand, and ready to swallow me up; for there is none to help Thy help therefore will be the more seasonable, because it is most necessary, and thou wilt have the more glory by it, because it will appear that it is thy work alone. Many bulls have compassed me Wicked, violent, and potent enemies, for such are so called, Eze 39:18; Amo 4:1. Strong bulls of Bashan Fat and lusty, as the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious. By these, says Dr. Dodd, are represented the haughty senators, the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the other great men of Judea; who, after having resolved upon his death, Psa 2:2, were so insolent as to make their appearance about his cross, and to insult him with their mockeries. They gaped upon me with their mouths To tear and devour me, as the following metaphor explains it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. Foes and fatigue 22:11-18
This section of the psalm emphasizes the psalmist’s miserable condition.
David’s cry for help 22:11
David cried out to God to be near him with saving help since he was in great danger and there was no one to assist him. He felt very much alone and vulnerable.