The Turn
But You, O LORD, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Psalm 22:19
Help – Psalm 22 is famous because Jesus recited its pregnant opening from the cross. Of course, He did not have to remind His audience that the rest of the psalm is a tale of vindication for the afflicted one. They knew those words. In the middle of this psalm, we encounter a turn, a change in relationship. When the psalm moves from complaint and danger to victory and vindication, the vocabulary changes from El (God) to YHWH (translated “Lord,” but really God’s personal name). This change is crucial. If we want God’s help, He must be more than the Big Boss in the sky. He must be my personal Lord and Master. Help is a function of the depth of relationship.
The NIV actually does a better job of capturing this word and the second part of this verse. “O my strength, come quickly to help me.” God is a good deal more than just a helper. He is the dynamic power behind my very life. Without Him, I am hopelessly lost. I have no abilities at all. This is essentially what John implies with the verse, “In Him was life,” and what Jesus says with the words, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” David does not plead for the God-genie to show up and fix the problem. David pleads for life itself, always held in the hand of God. David acknowledges that God only is the power and the glory.
The Hebrew word is ‘eyaluth. It is a feminine abstract noun. Do you find that curious – and interesting? Do you think of God’s strength in feminine terms? What kind of strength would that be? Does it have a gender flavor – like the quiet, resolute strength of a mother caring for her children, like the reliable commitment of a mother to a child, like the humble power of a wife who adores her husband? Do you recall the particular relationship invested in women when God made them in His image as ‘ezer (translated “helpmate,” but actually far more than we usually imagine)? David could have chosen another word. He could have used a word for military prowess, for creative energy or for force of will. But he didn’t, and I am very glad he didn’t. To know that David, the man and the king, appeals to God as the final word of strength, and to know that this word is expressed as a feminine noun, readjusts my perspective. It challenges my view that the only power worth having is the kind that forces others to comply. It makes me realize that the strength of life is far closer to the touch of a woman’s hand and the joy of a woman’s heart than I have believed. Is it any wonder that Isaiah uses imagery of a nursing mother when he describes God or that the Hebrew word for compassion is also the word for womb?
We have a lot to learn about God’s strength, don’t we?
