“Hasten to Help Me”
[Psalm 22:12-21]
When trouble is near and no one is there to help (Psalm 22:11), we may feel that no one understands us.
When we feel this way, we hope that someone who can understand us would be beside us.
This is truly a strange phenomenon. While thinking that no one understands us, on the other hand, we look for someone who might understand us. I believe this is our nature.
It shows how vulnerable and lonely we humans really are.
However, the problem is that in such loneliness, we need to ask ourselves at least once: “Who surrounds me? What kind of people are around me?”
If there is not even one person to call or meet to open our hearts and talk to, we will suffer even greater pain in our affliction.
This is what David, the Psalmist in Psalm 22:12-21, experienced.
He was in a situation where he could only experience greater suffering amid his trouble.
He had nowhere to go to anyone else.
He was forced to turn only to God.
In the midst of extreme pain and trouble, all the people surrounding him were his enemies (v.12).
Therefore, he pleaded with God, who is his strength, to hasten to help him (v.19).
Today, focusing on Psalm 22:19, under the title “Hasten to Help Me,” I want to think about what David’s urgent need for help was and what urgent prayer for help was, applying this to our own lives.
David’s urgent situation can be considered from two perspectives.
First, from an environmental perspective, David was surrounded by his enemies.
Look at Psalm 22:12:
“Many bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.”
The “bulls” and “strong bulls of Bashan” here refer to those who oppose David.
David’s enemies were strong and powerful like bulls and did not hesitate to harm him (Park Yoon Sun).
The “strong bulls of Bashan” are very fat and the largest bulls (WBC).
Bulls and bulls of Bashan are strong, large, and dangerous animals, so David’s enemies surrounded and besieged him like these powerful bulls (v.12).
David also referred to his enemies as “dogs” and “a wicked crowd” (v.16), saying that this wicked crowd “surrounded” him and “pierced” his hands and feet.
Here, “dogs” refers to shameless, unclean, and harmful wicked people (Park Yoon Sun), and after surrounding David, they inflicted suffering on him, just as Jesus was nailed to the cross.
In Psalm 17:9, David was also surrounded by enemies:
“Keep me from the hands of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men.”
This is Satan’s scheme.
Satan’s plan is to surround and besiege God’s people, slowly choking the life out of them.
Luke 19:43 says:
“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you, and hem you in on every side.”
Ultimately, Satan surrounds and traps us.
He builds embankments around us like walls and imprisons us.
Then Satan, after imprisoning us, tries to devour us (Psalm 22:13).
David’s enemies attacked like roaring lions, seeking to devour him.
Therefore, the apostle Peter warns us:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Secondly, David’s urgent situation can be viewed from an internal, personal perspective.
Look at Psalm 22:14-15:
“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”
David, as one who suffered, felt like he was poured out like water, completely drained of strength, with his bones dislocated and useless—he felt like his own bones were broken and useless (WBC).
It is clear that his body had become emaciated and his spirit weakened during his suffering (Park Yoon Sun).
To what extent had his body weakened? David confessed, “I can count all my bones” (v.17).
This means he was so emaciated that his bones were protruding and visible (Park Yoon Sun).
And his enemies did not sympathize with his gaunt appearance; rather, they paid attention to it and made it a spectacle (v.17, Park Yoon Sun).
They divided his clothes among themselves and cast lots for his garment (v.18).
Because of persecution from his enemies, like David, our bodies can become weak and our spirits faint. But this can also happen when we sin against God and do not repent, as seen in Psalm 32:3-4:
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
Ultimately, when viewing David’s situation from these two perspectives—environmental and internal personal—he was surrounded and besieged by his enemies, suffering extreme hardship and pain.
What did David do at this time?
He prayed urgently to God for help.
What was his urgent plea?
First, David begged God to come near to him.
Look at the first half of Psalm 22:19:
“Do not be far from me, O Lord…”
The words of Pastor Matthew Henry resonate deeply:
“The closeness of trouble causes us to come nearer to God. In such a situation, we hope that God will draw near to us.”
In our lives, urgent and difficult situations often force us to choose one of two things:
Either we pray to draw near to God, or we resent God and grow further away from Him.
David, in his desperate and intensely painful situation, chose to draw near to God and prayed to Him.
For one to draw near to God in prayer is also an act of hoping that God will draw near to oneself.
Isn’t it amazing? David, experiencing extreme suffering with enemies as close as bulls and lions ready to devour him, still prayed to draw nearer to God.
David’s faith encourages us to pray even more fervently to God.
Secondly, David urgently prayed to God, who is his strength, to help him quickly.
Look at the second half of Psalm 22:19:
“…Be my strength, hasten to help me.”
Here, the word “strength” comes from the Hebrew word “Eyal,” meaning “the essence of strength” (Park Yoon Sun).
In other words, David’s faith saw God as the source of strength, and he prayed for God to quickly come to his aid.
I am reminded of Psalm 18:1:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.”
David, drained of strength by the persecution of his enemies, sought God, his strength.
And he called out to God for help.
Look at the latter part of Psalm 22:14 and the first part of verse 15:
“My heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.”
In that respect, I think it’s actually good to lose some strength, because when we have no strength, we seek God, our strength, more earnestly.
What was the prayer request David made to God, his strength, for quick help?
In one word, it was salvation.
Look at Psalm 22:20-21 today:
“Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.”
The animals mentioned here—the “ox,” “dog,” and “lion”—symbolize the enemies opposing David and us.
The “ox” represents the ignorant who have great physical strength,
the “dog” is unclean and bites,
and the “lion” is a carnivorous beast that is fierce and cruel.
This is the nature of our enemies (Park Yoon Sun).
David pleaded with God to rescue him from his enemies (vv. 20-21).
When we call on God, who is our strength, in urgent situations, God bestows upon us the grace of salvation (v. 21).
Even if we, like David, are surrounded by enemies, when we cry out to God, He surrounds us with a song of salvation (Psalm 32:7).
In today’s Scripture, Psalm 22:12-21, we find many striking similarities between David’s situation and the image of Jesus on the cross. Jesus, who was in suffering, was surrounded by his enemies who pierced his hands and feet; they merely watched him in his pain, making a spectacle of him. They also divided his outer garment and cast lots for his clothes, didn’t they? (John 19:24).
However, God the Father ignored the loud, desperate prayer of His suffering Son Jesus, who cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and did not quickly help His Son (Matthew 27:46).
God the Father did not save His only begotten Son Jesus from the cross but remained silent as He was nailed and died. Why did the Father God do this?
It was because He wanted to save you and me — to give us eternal life.
God the Father ignored Jesus’ prayer and did not quickly come to His aid.
Therefore, now, whenever we urgently pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus for help, God the Father hears our prayers and graciously delivers us swiftly with salvation. Hallelujah!
With a thankful heart for the grace of salvation from God who hears our prayers and quickly helps us,
Pastor James Kim shares
(Trusting in the God who is with me and my strength)