But thou, Jehovah, be not far [from me]; O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Here the Sufferer of Psalm 22 stops describing His tormentors. He turns His face back to God and asks Him not to stay far away, but to come quickly. Two questions follow. Why does One whose strength is dried up call God His strength? And did this prayer ever get an answer?
He has already asked this twice. The third time shows where the real suffering lay.
Twice already in the psalm the holy Sufferer has asked God not to be far off from Him in His sufferings (v. 1 and v. 11). Now, for the third time, He turns from His persecutors and His sufferings and looks beyond men to God... So it becomes plain why the psalm sets the opposition of men before us. It is not mainly to show the terrible evil of men, which in other psalms calls for judgment. It is to show that even in the suffering men caused, the Lord was without help from God.
The psalm has already traced a long agony. Here He names one sorrow worse than all of it.
Then One who felt no numbness describes the whole long agony. He was awake and sensitive to every part of it. Yet from it all He turns to the One on whom He had been cast from the womb, and pleads against the one sorrow far beyond all others: "Be not far from Me!" — "But You, do not be far from Me, O Lord! Oh, my Strength! hurry to help Me!"
The ESV reads "O you my help" here. Older translations read "O my strength." That title is startling: His own strength was already gone.
He was crucified in weakness — for us. Our iniquities dissolved the strength of Jesus. Those iniquities drew to themselves the stroke of righteous judgment, and the weight of that blow fell on Him who bore them in His own pure body on the tree. He has spoken from "the dust of death," with the faint cry of one whose strength was dried up like a piece of broken pottery.
That weakness was chosen, not forced. He refused to use power to save Himself from that place. So the appeal looks past men to the one question that matters.
After all that man has done or can do — and this is no small thing — the question of questions is still: Where is God? To this, therefore, He returns, pleading that God, His strength, shall appear on His behalf. Power He refused for Himself to save Him from this place; "by might can none prevail" when in it. But once the victory is won, power at last comes fully to the Victor's side, as it must.
The psalm opened with a cry that got no reply. This verse begins with one small word that turns everything. Writers tie that turn to the work He completed.
In verse 19, though, the pivotal word "But" comes from His lips: "But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O my strength, hasten to help Me!" God could not answer Him in verses 1-6. He was bearing sin then, and He could not be spared that suffering. Verses 19-21 are quite different. Once His work of atonement was complete, God delivered Him "out of death," and so from the sword of the enemy... Weeping has endured through the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Two verses later the same speaker says God has heard Him. The change from asking to receiving has a reason.
The One Who earlier said, "O My God, I cry... but You do not hear" (v. 2) now tells Him, "You have heard Me." With strong crying and tears, with prayers and pleading, He had called on God while He suffered on the cross as the sin-bearer. Then the moment came when He knew His work of propitiation for sins was finished. He knew too that God, who was able to save Him out of death, had heard Him because of His piety (Heb. 5:7).
- Not far — He makes the same appeal three times in one psalm. Men and their attacks are real, but the sorrow He returns to is God's distance.
- Not strong — His own strength was dried up. Our sins dissolved it, and He went to the cross in weakness for us.
- Not forced — He would not call on power to lift Himself out of that place. Only after the victory does power come fully to His side.
- Not silent — the "But" marks the turn. While He bore sin no answer could come; once atonement was complete, God delivered Him out of death.
- Not refused — the same Voice goes on to say, "You have heard Me." God heard Him for His piety and brought Him out of death.
Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog;
The cross has reached its lowest point. The Sufferer turns from the crowd around Him to God alone, with a threefold plea for rescue. Older translations render the second line "my darling" where the ESV has "my precious life." The Hebrew word behind it opens up much of the verse.
The prayer turns from what men are doing back to God Himself.
Once more, then, in this psalm, the appeal is made: "But You, Jehovah, be not far from Me!" After all that man has done or can do, and without making light of this... still Where is God? is the question of questions. To this, therefore, He returns, pleading that God, His strength, shall appear on His behalf. Power He refused for Himself to save Him from this place; "by might can none prevail" when in it... "Rescue my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog." This is the deliverance in full, for it involves all else, though it is the outward enemies that are in view. "My soul," as we see from its use elsewhere (Num. 23:10), is the Hebrew equivalent of "myself," and "my only one" answers to it in the parallel — though some would give it as "my solitary one."
The Hebrew word behind "my darling" is yachid. One dictionary traces it to a title given to Christ.
Christ is also spoken of as God's "only begotten Son." John 1:14, 18; John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9. The word is μονογενής, and is equivalent to the Hebrew word yachid, which means "only one," and so "darling." Ps. 22:20; Ps. 35:17; etc. It is a term of endearment.
The word does not only mark affection. It also marks something standing on its own.
Wherever the Hebrew word YACHID appears and the Septuagint Greek translates it MONOGENES, it sets an object before the mind in a single or solitary way. It may be an only son or daughter, or a son marked out by affection and honour in a human household... or an object placed in a unique position of loneliness, of aloneness, of being by one's self.
Who is "my only one"? One writer lays out the options and refuses to force a choice.
Verse 20 has a remarkable expression: "my darling, or my only one [margin], from the power of the dog." I am not sure of the true meaning of these words. We may refer them to the Sufferer Himself. On the other hand, the words may be applied to the Church, bound up in the dying thoughts of Jesus, who gave Himself for her. That is simple and very precious. And it does not seem unreasonable... to give the word a particular application to Israel and Jerusalem below — the nation for which He died.
Each animal in the psalm names a kind of enemy.
In verse 12, bulls, that is, violent men, who do their own will; in verse 16, dogs, that is, shameless ones. In verse 21, the lion's mouth, that is, Satan's power over death.
The three requests come in an order, and the order matters.
A threefold deliverance is sought; first from the sword of judgment, then from the power of man, and lastly from the power of Satan — the lion's mouth. Still, He must bear the judgment before deliverance can come. First the word of the Lord through the prophet must be fulfilled: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 13:7).
Within a line, the voice that was asking begins reporting.
We are left to ponder this. The same Voice that said to God, "Save me from the lion's mouth," adds afterwards, "You have heard me from the horns of the wild oxen." Earlier He said, "O My God, I cry... but You do not hear" (v. 2). Now He declares to Him, "You have heard Me."... Then the moment came when He knew that His work of propitiation for sins was finished. He knew that God, who was able to save Him out of death, had heard Him because of His piety (Heb. 5:7).
- Alone — the word here, yachid, means "only one." It covers an only son held in special affection, and also someone set in complete aloneness. Both senses fit the cross.
- Asking — He refuses to rescue Himself by power. He turns from what men are doing to Him and puts the whole case into God's hands: "be not far from me."
- Enemies — the sword, the dog, the lion. Commentators read these as judgment, shameless men, and Satan's power over death.
- Order — deliverance comes only after the judgment. The sword must fall on the Shepherd first. Then the rescue can come.
- Answered — the voice that cried "you do not hear" later says "you have heard me." The asking becomes receiving.
Save me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me.
This verse breaks in half. One moment Christ pleads for rescue from the mouth of the lion. The next, He speaks of an answer already received. Commentators call this half-verse the hinge of the whole psalm: agony turns into praise here.
Each animal named in the psalm stands for a power pressing in on the Sufferer. The last one is the deadliest.
In Psalms 20, 21, we see human enemies, and judgment, but in Psalm 22 divine wrath and perfect grace. In verse 12, bulls, that is, violent men, who do their own will; in verse 16, dogs, that is shameless ones. In verse 21, the lion's mouth, that is, Satan's power over death.
Older translations call the wild oxen "unicorns." One reference work explains the picture:
Its great strength and wildness are its main marks. Unlike the tame ox, no one can put it to work on a farm… The Lord asked to be saved from the lion's mouth, for Jehovah had heard Him from the horns of the wild oxen (Ps. 22:21). His relentless enemies are compared to these animals.
Partway through the verse the Speaker stops asking. He starts reporting.
The intensity of prayer gives way to the fervency of praise. The Lord pleads with Jehovah: "O My strength, hurry to help Me. Deliver My soul from the sword; My precious life (My only one) from the power of the dog; save Me from the lion's mouth" (vv. 19-21). Then in the middle of verse 21, the Speaker changes His tone. Up to this point in the Psalm, His theme has been prayer without an answer. Now the answer has come; the reply is received.
The ESV reads "You have rescued me." Older versions read "You have heard Me." A plea would more naturally end with "answer me," so some question the grammar. One writer defends the past tense:
The force of the verse lies in the unexpected turn. After "and from the horns of the r'eem" (wild oxen or buffaloes), the natural thought would have been "answer me." But there can be no doubt about the only right sense. Nearly all writers, if not all, give it as "you have answered," or heard, "me." You cannot get a future meaning out of it without twisting the words of Scripture.
Commentators differ over where the weight of the line falls:
Some would divide this Psalm in the middle of verse 21, as though the stress fell on "you have heard me," rather than on "from the horns of the unicorns."
Earlier in the psalm God does not answer Him. One writer explains what has changed by verse 21.
God could not answer Him in verses 1-6. He was bearing sin then, and God could not spare Him that suffering. Verses 19-21 are completely different. Once His work of atonement was finished, God delivered Him "out of death," and so from the sword of the enemy. Never again would "the power of the dog" have any effect on Him. Nor would "the lion's mouth," nor "the horns of the wild oxen." So verse 21 ends, "You have answered Me." This is in His resurrection from among the dead.
Commentators also read the horns as more than a picture of enemies. One sees the altar behind them:
In the closing part of verse 21 ("You have heard me from the horns of the unicorns"), we see Him brought to the crisis of extreme suffering. He is on the very horns of the altar, like the sacrifice bound and laid on it. And we have His deliverance from there: "You have heard me."
After the answer, the psalm stops speaking of His own sorrow.
The answer of deliverance seems to start from the middle of verse 21. Notice that this part deals only with the blessing of others. It is a perfect contrast to the first part of the psalm, where He speaks of His own sorrows. Each new sphere in the ever-widening circle of blessing begins with an address to Him who is the deliverer. The brethren (v. 22)… then the great congregation, the meek, those who seek Him (vv. 25, 26)… finally, all the ends of the earth are included in the blessing of Jehovah's Kingdom (vv. 27, 28).
One writer ties the horns to power, and the answer to resurrection:
The horns of the wild oxen stand for power. The power of God answered Him, raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory. So we see Him at once as the risen One, making a great declaration: "I will declare Your name unto My brethren."
- Cry — three pleas close the dark half of the psalm: the sword, the dog's power, the mouth of the lion. That mouth stands for Satan's power over death.
- Turn — mid-verse the tone breaks. Prayer becomes praise, and the verb moves to the past: the answer has come.
- Ground — the silence of the opening verses ends only when atonement is finished. The answer is His resurrection, not an escape from the suffering.
- Altar — the horns picture the sacrifice bound and laid on. So the answer comes from the very place of death.
- Reach — from that answered cry the psalm turns outward. The blessing widens from "My brethren" to the ends of the earth.