11 Be not far from me, for [k]trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open wide their mouth at me,
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 within [l]me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me [m]in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
[n]A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
[o]They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.19 But You, O Lord, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my [p]soul from the sword,
My only life from the [q]power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
David was obviously in a very low place when he wrote this. The description may be a bit exaggerated, even though it fits exactly what Jesus went through, but David’s anguish was real. Multiple times in his life, people had turned on him, and sought his very life. From the king whose battles he loyally fought, to his very son, and all the enemies that surrounded Israel during his reign, David did not have to look far for trouble.
Yet in the middle of all this, there is one that David can cry out to. As David says “Lord, be not far off”, the fact was that God was always with him. There were times when no one could help David, except God, and so he rightly calls God his “help”, He who is an “ever present help in time of need…”
Whatever distress we face, whenever we feel alone, through all the anguish this world can muster, God is never far off. He experienced exactly what David described, He knows our pain, and He alone can deliver “our only life” from the power of the enemy. Put your trust in the only God who has wept our tears, and endured our pain, who knows our weakness, and who loves us more than life itself.