(By Dave, 10-15 min)
Scripture
Psalm 22:12-21
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they piercemy hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
Metaphors that matter
I often gloss over the metaphors of hardships that appear in the Psalms. It seems each is just another poetic way of expressing the same suffering. The first stanza of the Psalm today is an example, but glossing over it would be a mistake.
In the opening verses David is surrounded by strong bulls of Bashan and roaring lions. The latter he tells us tear at their prey and now open their mouths against him. The former come from a land renowned for the strength and vigor of their cattle. No single man could fight such creatures suggesting the enemies to which David likens them are so formidable he is utterly terrorized and feels powerless to stop them. I started to think about the feelings I would have if surrounded by raging, powerful bulls and roaring lions and remembered a research paper from many years ago.
The scared rats
In graduate school I investigated neurons that are associated with Parkinson’s disease, a movement dysfunction that usually affects the elderly. Because this class of neurons is also involved in emotions and behavior, I would read the behavioral literature about them. I remember one disturbing manuscript that captures the essence of the hopeless terror David describes. Perhaps it’s why I don’t think the study would be permitted today.
The investigators placed rats in a stressful situation and studied the behavior-related neurons I mentioned above. The animals were placed in wire-bottomed cages through which an electrical current could be passed. Periodically an audible beep would sound and sometime later a bolt of electrical current was delivered. The current was high enough to be painful, but not damage tissue. The interval between beep and current was supposed to be the stressful time of interest and for a while it was. Each beep was followed by behaviors of worried anticipation. However, over time the experimental animals stopped responding altogether to the beep and simply sat trembling from the moment they were placed in the cage until they were removed.
If those rats could talk, they might depict the feelings David describes next in the first stanza. The very joy of their life had been poured out like water and their bones and joints seemed useless as they trembled in fear. Their hearts had melted like wax under the fear of the next shock and the saliva of their mouths had dried up.
These poor rats help us put a concrete face on the suffering David is describing. But the king’s next well-chosen words reveal more than even this about his mindset. Imagine three or four cats sat outside of the terrified rat’s cage reaching their paws through the bars to claw at the helpless creature. What might the rats say then? Maybe something like this: “Dogs (or cats) surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”
The reference to people staring and dividing clothes harkens back to the use of lions in describing those causing his condition. Lions, like our pretend cats, are predators who want to eat you to sustain their own life. Likewise, those afflicting David are consuming his life to in some way sustain their own, gloating over and pillaging his remains.
The research paper reminded me it is unwise to gloss over the description of suffering David provides because his words carry a deep meaning if one pauses to think about them. In brief, he is terrified, hopeless and trapped, and his suffering is feeding his tormentors.
Bill
Even so, the more barbarous times of the Old Testament are not the reality of the developed world. Or are they? When I was in middle school, there was a gang of male thugs unchecked by the faculty. Occasionally there would be a reprimand, but if you found yourself somewhere unseen by the staff, things could get very rough. I had my own scraps, but none as serious as that experienced by Bill.
Bill was just a regular kid, but he was a timid sort. You wouldn’t know this just chatting with him, but when the thugs came calling Bill had no fight in him. He just took their torment hoping it would end soon. Like the Lions of David’s metaphor, the thugs fed on the suffering they could induce in this timid soul. He was food in a cage.
So, the torment was relentless. It would happen in the hallways. When the teacher turned away from the students during class, or when he was walking to get on the bus. It would then happen on the bus while the driver was distracted with the road. Whether Bill was in or going to and from school there was no escape.
I remember sitting behind him one day in social studies class and seeing him tremble. His eyes stared down at the desk before him and he never lifted his head. He was just like the rats in the cage. I saw firsthand what David is describing. Bill was surrounded by people who wanted to tear him down and derive their pleasure from his suffering. His life was draining out of him.
When Bill’s parents pulled him from the school the thugs celebrated. It was an enormous accomplishment to have tormented someone into leaving. To completely crush another soul. I think it’s important for us not to gloss over David’s metaphor because the kinds of enemies he describes are with us still and they are not just found in middle school. Today they invade the safe space of home so that people like Bill are always on the electrified cage facing the same hopelessness David describes.
Social media and cancel culture
In 2023 the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on social media and mental health. Outlined were sobering statistics on adolescents and young adults from multiple large-scale studies. With three or more hours of social media exposure per day, depression and anxiety increased markedly.
More relevant to today’s Psalm, some cited studies investigated the source of social media-linked mental health disorders. One found the prevalence of cyber bullying for adolescents in their study was 23%. The abstract contains a sentence that sounds very much like David’s hopeless heart: “Responses to cyber bullying are most often passive, with a pervasive lack of awareness or confidence that anything can be done.” Those being bullied just take it like Bill did and become depressed as a result.
It’s not just kids. Anyone can become a victim of a mob seeking to disrupt their life. Recently, I watched a journalist interviewed who published a story that cost him most of his friends and his job. He discussed his feelings of isolation and the depression as many withdrew from interacting with him. He was attacked bitterly on social media and quite suddenly his livelihood was removed. Both the journalist and the kids on social media could relate to David’s poignant and prescient description of our times: “a pack of villains encircles me”.
Relief
Given the relevance of David’s suffering metaphor to our present time, it seems his solution (v. 19-21) deserves our attention all the more: “But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen”.
Unfortunately, the NIV doesn’t fully capture his solution from the original Hebrew words that form the last line of verse 21. The word for word translation of that line reads: “Save me from the lion’s mouth; and from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me (‘ă·nî·ṯā·nî)”. David expresses not just a plea for salvation but by using ‘ă·nî·ṯā·nî a bold statement that he was answered.
It is as if God plucked the impaled David from the horns of his adversary and saved him. When it seemed he was doomed, at his lowest point, David’s loving God answered him. And that’s what his solution is all about. The gang of thugs, the electrical grid, the trolling sadist online, or the mob trying to ruin someone’s life cannot ultimately capture the believer, for their life is in the hands of God alone.
The solution at work
I’ll finish today with one more story from my middle school days. There was another skinny, quiet boy targeted as fiercely as Bill was by the thugs in the hallways of my school. I don’t remember much about him, not even his name because we were not in the same classes. But I saw the dogs often descend on him in the hallway. He carried a Bible, and they ripped it from his hands before tripping or pushing him to the floor. They would tear the pages from his copy of the Scripture, pull at the necktie he always wore, and mock his faith with particular acrimony. No matter what they did, he returned the next day tie in place and Bible in hand.
This other victim never left the school and never seemed to change. When I saw him in the hall, he did not look distressed despite their incessant torment. Occasionally I saw him slammed into the lockers by a heavy shoulder, but he would just continue walking. The thugs could not control him. They could not put him on their horns because God held him in his hand. My memory is it only took a couple of months for them to move on from him. What point was there when he just didn’t suffer enough to give them pleasure. God was so strong within him all their sadistic efforts failed.
Not surprisingly, the journalist being interviewed leaned heavily on his faith during his dark time. Eventually, he started his own journalistic endeavors that are now more successful than any of his previous work.
Some might say that belief in God is just a crutch to help us understand a meaningless world and that the Psalms are antiquated. Maybe so, but I wonder then why this simple song/chant written by David thousands of years ago is so perfectly accurate for a time he could never envision. Maybe belief in God is a crutch, or maybe God is real and that’s why faith can pluck us from the horns or mouths of those who live on our suffering.
Concluding remarks
If we are introspective and honest, it seems David’s message has two sides. The first is the obvious one of hope that no matter the villains we face, be they internal or external, faith in God will thwart their dominance over us. The second is less obvious. Every time we feel somehow pleased when injustice or temper causes us to dress down another person, are we contributing to that person’s suffering and enjoying it? Are we sometimes lions and bulls? Oh my, I think I prefer the obvious side of David’s message. Still, as I review memories from my past I wonder.
I hope this take on an old Psalm was meaningful for you today. If you are struggling with villains internal or external, remember that for the faithful God will always answer. He surely did for David thousands of years ago, for a skinny Christian kid with a necktie over 50 years ago, for a Christian journalist a couple of years ago, and he will for you today.
Blessings to you all in your faith journey,
Dave
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