Psalm 70:1

Psalm 70:1

A plea for mercy

 

Psalm 40:13-17 reads as follows: -

13 Be pleased to save me, Lord;
    come quickly, Lord, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life
    be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
    be turned back in disgrace.
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
    be appalled at their own shame.
16 But may all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
    “The Lord is great!”

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    you are my God, do not delay.

 

As you can see these words are almost exactly replicated in Psalm 70 and it would be easy to give them a miss or to copy the thoughts that accompanied these words, thirty Psalms ago. However, let’s see if they have something new to say, after all, if the Bible repeats itself, it must be saying something very important.

 

v1        Quite clearly, this Psalm is a cry for help, and it carries more than a hint of urgency! David is obviously in grave danger and the only one who can help him is the Lord his God. I don’t know about you, but I hesitate to tell God to “hurry up!” We tend to think that God has His timetable and who are we to interfere? He will come when He is ready, and we must be patient and wait. However, the scenario changes somewhat when our lives are threatened and there is no time to wait. The situation is grave, the dangers are very near, “Hasten, O God, to save me; come quickly, Lord, to help me.” 

The wonderful truth is that God is not a royal dignitary who occasionally grants an audience to His subjects, at an appointed hour for a pre-ordained number of minutes. God is our Father. God is our protector. God loves us intimately and if we are in terrible danger, He will respond to our urgent cries. He is much closer and more responsive than a 999 call and His support far exceeds that of any emergency worker. What a brilliant thing it is, to know that we are so well covered! Hallelujah!  

 

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