Psalms · psalm 70 of 150
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Psalm 70 is a very short prayer of David asking God to hurry to deliver and help him. He asks that those who seek his life be put to shame and that all who seek God rejoice. David acknowledges that he is poor and needy and ends by pleading that God, his help and deliverer, not delay.
The title attributes this psalm to David and addresses it to the choirmaster, adding that it is for bringing to remembrance. It has only five verses and nearly repeats the end of Psalm 40, verses 13 to 17. It stands in Book II, just before Psalm 71 and the closing doxology of Psalm 72, and it shows how one prayer could be reused in different settings.
David opens with an urgent cry: be pleased, O God, to deliver me; make haste, O Lord, to help me. There is no preamble or earlier praise, only the most immediate need.
In verses 2 and 3 he asks that those who seek his life be put to shame and confusion, that those who desire his hurt be turned back in dishonor, and that those who say, Aha, Aha, that is, those who mock him, turn back because of their shame.
Verse 4 shifts the focus: let all who seek God rejoice and be glad in him, and let those who love his salvation say continually that God is great. David asks that his case serve so that others rejoice in God.
Finally, in verse 5, David acknowledges that he is poor and needy and asks God to come quickly. He says: you are my help and my deliverer, O Lord, do not delay.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David begs God to hurry to deliver and help him. It is a prayer without decoration: he admits he cannot save himself and needs help right now.
May all who seek God rejoice in him, and may those who love his salvation say always that God is great. Even in urgency, David thinks of a joy that reaches others.
David calls himself poor and needy and confesses that God is his help and deliverer. He asks that God not delay, but in that very prayer he admits that his hope is in the Lord alone.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To hurry to deliver him and to help him. — Psalm 70:1
Answer: That they be put to shame and confusion and turned back in dishonor. — Psalm 70:2
Answer: The cry of those who say, Aha, Aha. — Psalm 70:3
Answer: That they rejoice and be glad in him. — Psalm 70:4
Answer: As poor and needy. — Psalm 70:5
Answer: His help and his deliverer. — Psalm 70:5
Psalm 70 is a prayer for when there is no time or words. It can be prayed in a few seconds and serves as a model of honest prayer: David says what he needs and does not apologize for being poor and needy. In a small group it can help to memorize verse 1 and use it as an emergency prayer on hard days.
Verse 4 teaches something more: even an urgent prayer can look toward others. Asking that God be magnified in my problem turns distress into testimony. Someone waiting for an answer can ask how their story, once God answers, might encourage others to rejoice in him.
Psalm 70 ends with David asking that God not delay. Psalm 71 is the prayer of a person who has trusted God since youth and who asks that he not forsake them in old age.
It nearly repeats verses 13 to 17 of Psalm 40, with small changes, such as calling on God by the name God instead of the Lord in some lines. Probably one prayer was kept separately so it could be used in worship as a brief plea for help.
The Hebrew expression indicates that the psalm was used to remind God, before him, of the need of the people or of the psalmist. The title does not explain more, but it stresses that this short prayer was made to bring a need before God.