Analyzing Psalm 22: A Plea to God
Psalm 22: 9-11 - God is with us from the womb and He is the one to help! The lives of the unborn are valuable in His eyes.
”Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; For there is none to help.“
Psalms 22:9-11 NASB1995
The forsaken ones (David and the Son of God) plead with God. He is the one who brought them forth from the womb, who made them trust from their first bonding with their mother. He has been their God from their mother’s wombs. However, trouble is now near and no one is there to help. Their choice is not to abandon God even though they feel abandoned. They call on Him because of His previous grace. Here’s what Enduring Word says about this passage:
But You are He who took Me out of the womb: David understood – both for himself and, prophetically speaking, for the later-to-come Messiah – that in the depth of agony and the sense of abandonment, one could still appeal to God in remembrance of better times.
The Forsaken One did not say, “Since I feel abandoned by God, I will abandon Him.” He remained steadfast through the dark night of the soul, and still made appeal to the God who cared for Him since birth.
“That Child now fighting the great battle of his life, uses the mercy of his nativity as an argument with God. Faith finds weapons everywhere. He who wills to believe shall never lack reasons for believing.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Out of the womb…while on My mother’s breasts…from birth…You have been My God: The Forsaken One argued on good, logical grounds. He reminded God of the care given since His very earliest days. That prior grace might seem to be wasted if the sufferer was not rescued in His present crisis.
Be not far from Me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help: The plea for help is again eloquently and persuasively stated. God seems far away; but trouble is near – and there is none to help, so You must help me, God!
I found the language in these verses to be so compelling. David says that God has been his God since he was in his mother’s womb! I hesitate to go down a current culture bunny trail, but this struck me particularly hard as I was writing this because one of my top intercessory prayer topics, every time I pray, is for the lives of the unborn and for the hearts of those who support abortion to change. I used to be “pro-choice” back in my wilderness days and even made the decision jointly with Steve to not have children because we were “busy” with careers and having too much fun. Boy, have I prayed about that sin and the painful and lingering regret that decisions like that cause.
The battle for life is huge this year, in this major election year. I ask women (and men) who still think abortion is only “reproductive health care” and nobody else’s business to think about this passage in Psalm 22. An unborn child is a unique being and God has found that person before they were even born and knows them! Science is also discovering that the unique life of a pre-born child does indeed start at conception, when their one-of-a-kind DNA is created that defines that person and makes him or her different from the parents and from every other person on Earth (except an identical twin).
Although the mainstream media will tell you that there is no such thing as “late-term” abortion, pro life groups like the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America would disagree with that, noting that about 10-15% of elective abortions in this country are after viability (about 21 weeks or later). Some political leaders have gone so far as to support laws that allow abortion at any time for any reason up to birth. When does that decision become murder, by the way? Would you support aborting the child in the photo above right before they were born or even right after if you were “indecisive” about motherhood, as an infamous former governor of Virginia suggested? If so, perhaps some serious soul-searching is in order. People scream and protest at the deaths of infant animals that are near or just after birth; humans apparently mean very little in comparison these days.
Decisions about abortion because of true health issues of the mother are less than 4%, according to the Guttmacher Institute (I won’t link to them as they are a research arm of Planned Parenthood, but you can find the information). Most of the reasons are due to timing, interference with “plans”, age and resources. Even with the 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision, returning the question of the legality of abortion back to the states (appropriately, per the Constitution), there are still over 2500 abortions a day in this country. Contraception is readily available and very inexpensive or free in some cases, so the need to destroy so many unborn lives is a mystery to me.
There are also many resources available for women struggling with this decision that would help them and honor the life of the child (you won’t find anything about those resources from abortion providers and the media, sadly, and even internet searches are biased). Of course, this tendency to rely on abortion to solve a “problem” is part and parcel of a culture that emphasizes sex, pleasure, self-fulfillment and entitlement over commitment, faith, repentance and humility.
Well, enough of my rant. I shed tears quite often over the inhumanity of humans. When we devalue one subset of human beings, that lays the groundwork for genocide.
Back to our passages for today, I stumbled across this great explanation on Bible Hub, found from a link from Precept Austin, for verses 9-11 by D. Thomas, Doctor of Divinity:
The text is a strong figure intended to express the idea that hope is an inbred sentiment of the soul. The body, it is true, may exist without the eye, but in a very incomplete state. And there are emaciated souls, souls with deadened senses and broken faculties. But hope is yet an instinct keeping the face of the soul ever towards the future. Now, this instinct —
I. IMPLIES THE GOODNESS OF GOD IN THE CONSTITUTION OF OUR NATURE. For it is one of the chief blessings of humanity.
1. It is one of the most powerful impulses to action.
2. It is one of the chief elements of support under trial. Hope buoys us up beneath the load; gives us a steady anchorage amid the fiercest surgings of the storm.
3. It is a source of joy. The joys of memory and the pleasures of the passing hour are not to be compared with the joys of hope.
II. SUGGESTS A FUTURE STATE OF EXISTENCE. It may not prove such existence, but it does much in that direction. For —
1. Analogy supports it. All our senses and appetites have provision made for them — light for the eye, sounds for the ear, etc. And so in our social relations.
2. The Divine goodness leads to belief in it.
III. MEANS THAT PROGRESS IN BLESSEDNESS IS THE LAW OF OUR BEING. Hope points not only to the future, but to good in the future.
IV. SHOWS THE FITNESS OF CHRISTIANITY TO HUMAN NATURE. For —
1. It reveals eternal blessedness; and —
2. Supplies means of its attainment which are both soul pacifying and purifying.
V. INDICATES THE CONGRUITY OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE WITH OUR NATURE. Therefore, if we quench this hope midnight reigns; and sin tends to do this.
(D. Thomas, D. D)
The hope of Divine goodness embedded in our human nature is missing for so many in this world and they are in darkness and sin. Every person has a soul and the great mystery that will someday be answered is when that soul arrives in that person. I personally believe the soul and the appearance of our unique and incredibly complex DNA at conception are simultaneous events. Let’s commit to praying for and helping those souls who cry out in their times of trouble, including the souls who want to be born!
My next devotional examines Psalm 22: 12-13 - The Bulls surround our forsaken ones.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please be with me in times of trouble and remind me of Your grace that has been with me since before I was born. Please guide us to honor life and be with those who are struggling with the decision to abort a child and help them instead to find resources that honor them and their unborn child, and its unique soul and DNA. Help us reach out to the many who are in darkness. In Jesus name. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
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