Psalm 70
5 verses · KJVPsalms book hub →
Key verse
Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.
The chapter
Chapter summary
An urgent fragment, nearly identical to the close of Psalm 40: 'Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Jehovah.' Let them be put to shame that seek after my soul; let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; let such as love thy salvation say continually, 'Let God be magnified.' 'But I am poor and needy; make haste unto me, O God… O Jehovah, tarry not.' The church made its opening words a daily prayer.
Context
Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others · Psalms overview
Where the chapter sits
Psalms 70 falls in Book II: Davidic + Korahite (chapters 42–72). Sons of Korah cluster (42–49); Davidic continuation (51–65, 68–70); Ps 51 as penitential anchor (David + Bathsheba). Doxology at 72:18–20: ''the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.''
Before it: Book I: Davidic core, chapters 1–41. After it: Book III: Asaph and covenant crisis, chapters 73–89.
The whole shape of Psalms→The world behind this chapter
Psalms 70The history
The phrase in the title, to bring to remembrance, points at the memorial portion of the grain offering: a priest took a handful of the flour and oil with all the frankincense and burned it on the altar, and the rest fed the priests. The smoke was the reminder. This psalm is that handful in words, a spoken memorial offering.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
It is also the closing section of Psalm 40, lifted out and made to stand alone, with the plain word God where the longer psalm used the covenant name. Ancient songbooks did this routinely, and it tells us something about how Israel worshipped: a piece of a long song was cut down for a service that needed something short.
Aha, aha is a jeer, the noise a crowd makes when someone they dislike goes down. The psalm asks that the jeerers be turned back for a reward of their own shame, which is the same coin returned.
Make haste opens the psalm and closes it. The urgency is not decoration; it is the form. Five verses, no history lesson, no vow ceremony, just speed.
What it meant to them
This is what a person prays when there is time for nothing else. Israel kept it in the book precisely because not every crisis leaves room for Psalm 68.
And even at this length it makes room for other people: let all those that seek thee rejoice. The shortest prayer in the section still is not only about the man praying it.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms
A. Verses 1 to 5
1. (v. 1)
a.Make haste, O God, to deliver me: Make haste and hurry are both in verse 1, one asking God to deliver and one asking the LORD to help. This psalm repeats Psalm 40:13 to 17 almost word for word, set to stand alone. Haste is all it says.
Psalms 70:1, 3 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Psalms 70:1
“And so for keeping up continual recollection of God this devotional formula is to be ever set before you. "O God, make speed to save me. O Lord, make haste to help me."This verse has not unreasonably been picked out from the whole of Scripture for this purpose. It embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and it can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition and all assaults.”
John Cassian· written before 435· CONFERENCE 10:10patristic
Psalms 70:1
“Make haste, O God, to deliver me,.... The phrase, "make haste", is supplied from the following clause in Psa 40:13; it is, "be pleased, O Lord", or "Jehovah". The Targum renders it, "to deliver us"; very wrongly; make haste to help me, O Lord; See Gill on Psa 22:19.”
Psalms 70:1
“This is the second Psalm which is a repetition of another, the former being Psalm 53, which was a rehearsal of Psalm 14. The present differs from the Fortieth Psalm 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.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular (Reformed) Baptist / Five-point Calvinist / 1689 LBCF / 19th-c. evangelical
2. (vv. 2-3)
a.Verse 2 asks that those who seek his life be ashamed and confounded, repelled and humiliated. Verse 3 has the enemies retreat in shame, and it quotes their taunt, Aha, aha. Gill reads it as their own shame coming back.
Psalms 70:2, 2 voices
Psalms 70:2
“Let them be ashamed and confounded,.... In Psa 40:14 it is added, "together"; See Gill on Psa 40:14; that seek after my soul; or "life"; in Psa 40:14 it is added, "to destroy it"; for that was the end of their seeking after it; let them be turned backward, &c. See Gill on Psa 40:14.”
Psalms 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.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular (Reformed) Baptist / Five-point Calvinist / 1689 LBCF / 19th-c. evangelical
Psalms 70:3, 1 voice
Psalms 70:3
“Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,.... In Psa 40:15 it is, "let them be desolate"; which seems to respect their land and houses, here their persons; See Gill on Psa 40:15; that say; in Psa 40:15 it is added, "to me"; not to his people, but himself, aha, aha: rejoicing at his calamity and distress. The Targum is, "we are glad, we are glad;'' See Gill on Psa 40:15, and compare with this Eze 25:3.”
3. (vv. 4-5)
a.Let God be magnified: Verse 4 turns from the enemies to those who seek God, who rejoice and say, Let God be magnified. Verse 5 comes back to the man himself, poor and needy, asking God to hurry and the LORD not to delay. Barnes marks how short it is, haste at both ends.
Psalms 70:4, 3 voices
Psalms 70:4
“Let all those that seek thee,.... The Targum is, "that seek doctrine (or instruction) from thee.'' rejoice and be glad in thee; the Targum paraphrases it, "rejoice and be glad in thy word.'' and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified; the Targum is, "let the glory of the Lord be increased;'' and in Psa 40:16, instead of "God", it is "the Lord", or "Jehovah": See Gill on Psa 40:16.”
Psalms 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.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular (Reformed) Baptist / Five-point Calvinist / 1689 LBCF / 19th-c. evangelical
Psalms 70:4
“O L ORD , make no tarrying. The title tells us that this psalm was designed to bring to remembrance; that is, to put God in remembrance of his mercy and promises (for so we are said to do when we pray to him and plead with him. 26 , Put me in remembrance )--not that the Eternal Mind needs a remembrancer, but this honour he is pleased to put upon the prayer of faith.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 70:5, 2 voices
Psalms 70:5
“But I am poor and needy,.... In Psa 40:17 it follows, yet "the Lord thinketh on me"; instead of which it is here; see Gill on Psa 40:17; make haste unto me, O God; which repeats for sense the same petition as in Psa 71:1; thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying; in Psa 40:17 it is, "O my God".”
Psalms 70:5
“But I am poor and needy. Just the same plea as in the preceding Psalm, Ps 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.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)Particular (Reformed) Baptist / Five-point Calvinist / 1689 LBCF / 19th-c. evangelical
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Psalms 70. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 10:10; John Gill and Matthew Henry.
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