NOTES for Psa 70

¹Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.

²Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

³Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

⁴Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

⁵But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.

The Lord is our only hope, and if we renounce it, no one can intercede for us. The desire to be rid of one’s enemies is entirely natural, yet we see that the person asking for intercession does not insist that he deserves support because of his own merits. On the contrary, he calls himself poor and needy. We have no reason to understand these words about poverty as referring to the petitioner’s social position, and not merely because David was a king. After all, during Saul’s persecution David endured much and knew need. But when we stand before God, we have nothing to present to Him; everything we might call our merits appears vanishingly small beside Him. Indeed, everything we possess has been received from the Creator.

But once we become aware of our poverty, we are opened to God and become capable of receiving His countless gifts. Then we become truly rich.

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For

¹Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.

²Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

³Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

⁴Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

⁵But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.

Whoever trusts in the Lord is certain of His support and does not doubt that in any situation he will find a Protector in Him... Read more

Whoever trusts in the Lord is certain of His support and does not doubt that in any situation he will find a Protector in Him. The psalmist hopes to remain united with Him in the future as well and asks the Lord not to abandon him in old age. Such a desire is understandable, but here we may ask a question, not so much of the psalmist as of ourselves: the Lord remains faithful to His promises, but are we always faithful to Him? Do we have the right to claim that we will not turn away in old age from the paths to which He has called us? And if not, do we have the moral right to demand His constant protection?

It seems that we should not fall into excessive apprehensiveness; it is akin to excessive self-confidence, for extremes meet. Aware of our weaknesses and falls, we should not abandon hope in God. He sees our weaknesses better than we do, and He is the only One who can keep us from falling. That is why the question of a “moral right” does not arise: not only may we turn to Him for support, we must do so if we want to remain faithful to Him.

NOTES for Psa 70

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Readings for 16 March 2019

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