Psalms 70
Big idea: Five verses, and four of them are about speed. Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me. Come to me quickly, God. Yahweh, don't delay. It is Psalm 40:13–17 lifted out and given its own heading, and the effect of the extraction is to remove every reason for confidence — no pit, no rock, no new song. What remains is the emergency, and the psalm is in the Psalter because sometimes that is all a person has time to pray.
Psalm 70 is a prayer with no time to explain itself. Psalm 71 is an old man with plenty of time and the same fear.
70:1–5 — Yahweh, don't delay
Five verses, almost identical to Psalm 40:13–17, and its title calls it a reminder. What the duplication shows is an ancient hymnbook doing what hymnbooks do — the same words set apart for a different use. Read on its own it is the shortest emergency prayer in the Psalter: it starts with 'hurry' and ends with 'don't delay', and everything in between is bracketed by impatience.
1 For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder. Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, Yahweh. 2 Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 3 Let them be turned because of their shame who say, “Aha! Aha!” 4 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, “Let God be exalted!” 5 But I am poor and needy. Come to me quickly, God. You are my help and my deliverer. Yahweh, don’t delay.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).