Christianity

Psalms 70Make Haste to Help Me

Summary

Psalm 70 is a short urgent prayer for quick help, nearly identical to Psalm 40:13 to 17. The psalmist asks God to hurry to save him and to turn back in shame those who seek his life and mock him with Aha, aha. He asks that all who seek God rejoice and say continually, Let God be magnified. It ends with the cry I am poor and needy, make no tarrying. It is headed A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

Key verse

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

Psalms 70:5

Themes

Urgent Prayer
Poverty of Spirit
Shame of Enemies
Joy of Seekers

MAKE HASTE, O GOD, TO DELIVER ME; MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME, O LORD.

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

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

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

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

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
Psalm 40: I Waited Patiently
Psalm 40:13 to 17 contains the same prayer as the close of a longer psalm of thanksgiving and lament.
Judaism
Tehillim 70 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
As with Psalm 53, this version uses Elohim in several places where Psalm 40 has the divine name, a feature of Book Two of the Psalms.

Questions about Psalms 70

How is Psalm 70 used in Christian prayer?

Its first verse in Latin, Deus in adjutorium meum intende, O God, come to my assistance, opens the hours of the daily office in Western tradition, a practice praised by John Cassian.

Why is Psalm 70 almost the same as part of Psalm 40?

The Psalter preserves some prayers in more than one setting. Psalm 70 seems to have circulated as a standalone prayer for urgent help.