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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comTreasury of David - Psalms 70:1 - 70:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.
Psa 70:1
This is the second Psalm which is a repetition of another, the former being Psa 53:1-6, which was a rehearsal of Psa 14:1-7. The present differs from Psa 40:13-17 at the outset, for that begins with, “Be pleased,” and this, in our version, more urgently with, “Make haste;” or, as in the Hebrew, with an abrupt and broken cry, “O God, to deliver me; O Lord, to help me hasten.” It is not forbidden us, in hours of dire distress, to ask for speed on God's part in his coming to rescue us. The only other difference between this and Psa 40:13, is the putting of Elohim in the beginning of the verse for Jehovah, but why this is done, we know not; perhaps, the guesses of the critics are correct, but perhaps they are not. As we have the words of this Psalm twice in the letter, let them be doubly with us in spirit. It is most meet that we should day by day cry to God for deliverance and help; our frailty and our many dangers render this a perpetual necessity.
Psa 70:2
Here the words, “together,” and, “to destroy it,” which occur in Psalm 40 are omitted: a man in haste uses no more words than are actually necessary. His enemies desired to put his faith to shame, and he eagerly entreats that they may be disappointed, and themselves covered with confusion. It shall certainly be so; if not sooner, yet at that dread day When the wicked shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt. “Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt;” turned back and driven back are merely the variations of the translators, When men labour to turn others back from the right road, it is God's retaliation to drive them back from the point they are aiming at.
Psa 70:3
“Let them be turned back.” This is a milder term than that used in Psalm 40, where he cries, “let them be desolate.” Had growing years matured and mellowed the Psalmist's spirit? To be “turned back,” however, may come to the same thing as to be “desolate;” disappointed malice is the nearest akin to desolation that can well be conceived. “For a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.” They thought to shame the godly, but it was their shame, and shall be their shame for ever. How fond men are of taunts, and if they are meaningless “Ahas,” more like animal cries than human words, it matters nothing, so long as they are a vent for scorn and sting the victim. Rest assured, the enemies of Christ and his people shall have wages for their work; they shall be paid in their own coin; they loved scoffing, and they shall be filled with it - yea, they shall become a proverb and a by-word for ever.
Psa 70:4
Anger against enemies must not make us forget our friends, for it is better to preserve a single citizen of Zion, than to kill a thousand enemies. “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” All true worshippers, though as yet in the humble ranks of seekers, shall have cause for joy. Even though the seeking commence in darkness, it shall bring light with it. “And let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified” Those who have tasted divine grace, and are therefore, wedded to it, are a somewhat more advanced race, and these shall not only feel joy, but shall with holy constancy and perseverance tell abroad their joy, and call upon men to glorify God. The doxology, “Let the Lord's name be magnified,” is infinitely more manly and ennobling than the dog's bark of “Aha, aha.”
Psa 70:5
“But I am poor and needy.” Just the same plea as in Psa 69:29, it seems to be a favourite argument with tried saints; evidently our poverty is our wealth, even as our weakness is our strength. May we learn well this riddle. “Make haste unto me, O God.” This is written instead of “yet the Lord thinketh upon me,” in Psalm 40: and there is a reason for the change, since the key note of the Psalm frequently dictates its close. Psalm 40 sings of God's thoughts, and, therefore, ends therewith; but the peculiar note of Psa 70:1-5 is “Make haste,” and, therefore, so it concludes. “Thou art my help and my deliverer.” My help in trouble, my deliverer out of it. “O Lord, make no tarrying.” Here is the name of “Jehovah” instead of “my God.” We are warranted in using all the various names of God, for each has its own beauty and majesty, and we must reverence each by its holy use as well as by abstaining from taking it in vain. I have presumed to close this recapitulatory exposition with an original hymn, suggested by the watchword of this Psalm, “Make Haste.”
Make haste, O God, my soul to bless!
My help and my deliv'rer thou;
Make haste, for I'm in deep distress,
My case is urgent: help me now.
Make haste, O God! make haste to save!
For time is short, and death is nigh;
Make haste ere yet I'm in my grave,
And with the lost for ever lie.
Make haste; for I am poor and low;
And Satan mocks my prayers and tears;
O God, in mercy be not slow,
But snatch me from my horrid fears.
Make haste, O God, and hear my cries;
Then with the souls who seek thy face,
And those who thy salvation prize,
I'll magnify thy matchless grace.