Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
8/17 Reading Portions: 1 Samuel 9; Romans 7; Jeremiah 46; Psalm 22
Psalm 22:11
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
NONE
This “psalm of the cross” is truly amazing! Penned by David approximately a thousand years before the Lord Jesus was crucified, and its details prophetically describing Christ’s crucifixion, one could spend a lifetime studying the depths of each verse and not fathom the bottom nor scale its heights. The forsakenness of the Lord Jesus while hanging upon the tree (Psa 22:1), when set against the truth that His trust in Father God from the beginning of His conscious thoughts as a human being (Psa 22:10), helps us to apprehend the desolation of Christ’s suffering God’s infinite and eternal wrath (while it still staggers our minds and we cannot fully comprehend it). Although Jesus was alone, with none to help, He still trusted in God (Be not far from me). He suffered God’s holy and infinite anger for sins He did not commit, and death was at the door (for trouble is near), yet He committed His soul and spirit to the hand of the heavenly Father (Luke 23:46). Moreover, since there was none to help, we can be assured that the debt He paid for your sins and mine was a solitary work accomplished by Christ alone. No other work, by no other human being, can help His work, add to His sacrifice, or take away from His atoning grace. Christ’s suffering upon the cross is sufficient for salvation because it was accomplished in God’s beloved Son with none to help. And that’s not all! While David may not have been fully aware he was penning messianic prophecy, his own soul suffered so that this psalm was in many ways applicable to his own life. Thus, it is applicable for our lives as well. At times we may feel alone, desolate, or forsaken; that trouble is near, and that there is none to help. Because we are in Christ, saved by God’s grace, we must still trust our heavenly Father. We must seek His nearness even if we don’t seem to hear His voice; even if His Word doesn’t leap from the page of our Bibles; even in the midst of our lowest despair. And like our Lord Jesus, who triumphed through His sufferings, and rose from the grave victoriously afterward, we too will rise from ours. And one day, ultimately, we will rise eternally and gloriously to be with Him. Hallelujah! What a sufficient Savior!
