My God, Why?
Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Psalm 22:11 · Berean Standard Bible
The psalmist pleads with God not to stay distant because trouble is closing in fast and he has no one else to turn to.
The danger is immediate and pressing. He's not asking for perfection; he's asking God not to be absent when he needs help most. The isolation is part of the terror—no allies, no escape, nowhere to go but God.
The psalmist, in urgent prayer.
This captures the essential loneliness of suffering: the only help that matters is God's, and His apparent absence feels like the final abandonment.
The psalmist pleads with God not to withdraw further, recognizing that trouble surrounds him and he lacks any earthly help.
The prayer *Be not far from me* (אַל־תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי, al-tirchaq mimeni) echoes the opening lament (verse 1) but now transformed into explicit petition rather than protest. The recognition that *trouble is near* (צָרָה קָרוֹבָה, tzarah karova) and there is *no one to help* (וְאֵין עוֹזֵר, v'ein ozer) frames the crisis as comprehensive—external enemies surround and internal resources are exhausted. This combination of imminent danger and absolute isolation creates what medieval theologians termed *desolatio*—a state wherein all natural supports fail.
The psalmist, transitioning from historical reflection to urgent petition grounded in present extremity.
This cry for divine presence, occurring at the nadir of apparent abandonment, establishes that the prayer for God's return to proximity is not presumptuous but the sole rational response to human helplessness—it recognizes that human solidarity cannot substitute for divine intervention.
9Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast.
10From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
Read all of Psalm 22 — Begins with a cry Jesus echoes on the cross. The anguish is real — but so is the turn toward praise that comes at the end.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad