70 To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.
70:1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”
4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
Section Overview
This short psalm is an individual lament, an urgent prayer for rescue from gloating enemies, as the repeated request for “haste” (vv. 1, 5) makes clear. The whole psalm is very close to Psalm 40:14–17 (with slight variations in wording).
The title specifies the psalm as being “for the memorial offering,” as with Psalm 38 (cf. Section Overview and Outline there).
The psalm flows from an urgent cry for God’s help (70:1) to a specific request for the shame of those who threaten (vv. 2–3); then, after a request that the faithful would rejoice in the downfall of the threateners (v. 4), it returns to the urgent cry for help (v. 5), forming an envelope by repeating words from verse 1 (“hasten . . . help”).
Section Outline
I. Make Haste, O God! (70:1)
II. Deliver Me from Those Who Seek My Life! (70:2–3)
III. May Those Who Seek You Rejoice at My Deliverance (70:4)
IV. Hasten to Me, O God! (70:5)
Response
The psalm enables a worshiping fellowship to support with its prayers those of its number who face serious threats to their well-being. Each person in the singing congregation can identify himself with the faithful in Israel (i.e., those who seek God and love his salvation), and the whole company of the faithful prays that it might rejoice in God when it sees the rescue of the person who is in trouble. The entire body practices its solidarity with the individual member, and the psalm assumes that vindication will be public—the community will see the dangerous people exposed and will rejoice in the well-being of the endangered person.
As mentioned in the comments, to say that the person in trouble is poor and needy is to acknowledge his social powerlessness. Certainly the deliverance will be striking evidence to the faithful that God keeps his promises. But it also invites the faithful to side with, and stand up for, their fellow members of the people—and it can also lead those with power to reassess their use of that power and to turn to advocacy for the faithful.
The request for God to “make haste,” like that for him to “act” (119:126) or not to “hide” himself (27:9), and so on, is language that appeals directly to the imagination and affections. That is, to bring in a discussion of metaphysics (God is always present and active, and he rules all things according to his perfect plan and timing) would serve helpfully to prevent the faithful from drawing wrong conclusions from the vivid language—but such disclaimers ought not be used to blunt the effect of the biblical terminology. In cases of danger, people do feel fear; the psalm allows them to put those fears into words and to address them to God in trust.Psalm 70
Psalm 71