Hurry, Lord!
Psalm 70:1-5 NKJV
1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded
Who seek my life;
Let them be turned back and confused
Who desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back because of their shame,
Who say, "Aha, aha!"
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
"Let God be magnified!"
5 But I am poor and needy;
Make haste to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
One thing we can say about David, he was very expressive in his relationship with the Lord. In our short psalm for today, David sounds as if he is in a bind and asking the Lord for help. And help quickly.
We don't say make haste today. Those aren't the words that come to my mind when I am traveling behind a slow-moving vehicle in my left lane. Come on, come on, or please hurry, if I am nice. David isn't being disrespectful, but he is asking the Lord to not delay in coming to his aid.
The thing about David's plea is that people are trying to kill him. David is asking for help because people want to hurt him. He is dealing with serious enemies and needs the Lord's help, and he needed help yesterday.
In typical David fashion, in the middle of this psalm, this prayer for help, David takes a praise break. Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. And let God be magnified. It's as if we interrupt this intense plea for deliverance to praise and bless our God and magnify Him.
Then we return to our regularly scheduled cry for help. I am poor and needy, Lord, but You are my help and deliverer, don't delay. One thing not to miss in David's cry for help is that he never moves away from declaring God's greatness and God as his help and deliverer. There is not a 'why God' in this prayer. The prayer is short, intense, and sincere, but never questioning God's greatness or ability to help.
Application
I appreciate the tone of this psalm. David's relationship with the Lord is not formal, but it is personal. He is not disrespectful of God, but neither is David timid about expressing his heart and his problems. But repeatedly, we see David's dilemma mixed with David's abiding confidence in God. And that is a lesson we can all learn from.
Prayer
Thank You, Father, that You are not just God, but You are my God, and I have a relationship with You. You are greater than anything I am currently facing or will face. I am asking for Your help in a big way!