Psalms 70:1

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. Isa 43:26, 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. Or, rather, to put himself and others in remembrance of former afflictions, that we may never be secure, but always in expectation of troubles, and of former devotions, that when the clouds return after the rain we may have recourse to the same means which we have formerly found effectual for fetching in comfort and relief. We may in prayer use the words we have often used before: our Saviour in his agony prayed thrice, saying the same words; so David here uses the words he had used before, yet not without some alterations, to show that he did not design to tie himself or others to them as a form. God looks at the heart, not at the words.

I. David here prays that God would make haste to relieve and succour him (Psa 70:1, Psa 70:5): I am poor and needy, in want and distress, and much at a loss within myself. Poverty and necessity are very good pleas in prayer to a God of infinite mercy, who despises not the sighing of a contrite heart, who has pronounced a blessing upon the poor in spirit, and who fills the hungry with good things. He prays, 1. That God would appear for him to deliver him from his troubles in due time. 2. That in the mean time he would come in to his aid, to help him under his troubles, that he might not sink and faint. 3. That he would do this quickly: Make haste (Psa 70:1), and again (Psa 70:5), Make haste, make no tarrying. Sometimes God seems to delay helping his own people, that he may excite such earnest desires as these. He that believes does not make haste, so as to anticipate or outrun the divine counsels, so as to force a way of escape or to take any unlawful methods of relief; but he may make haste by going forth to meet God in humble prayer that he would hasten the desired succour. "Make haste unto me, for the longing desire of my soul is towards thee; I shall perish if I be not speedily helped. I have no other to expect relief from: Thou art my help and my delivered. Thou hast engaged to be so to all that seek thee; I depend upon thee to be so to me; I have often found thee so; and thou art sufficient, all-sufficient, to be so; therefore make haste to me."

II. He prays that God would fill the faces of his enemies with shame, Psa 70:2, Psa 70:3. Observe, 1. How he describes them; they sought after his soul - his life, to destroy that - his mind, to disturb that, to draw him from God to sin and to despair. They desired his hurt, his ruin; when any calamity befel him or threatened him they said, "Aha, aha! so would we have it; we shall gain our point now, and see him ruined." Thus spiteful, thus insolent, were they. 2. What his prayer is against them: "Let them be ashamed; let them be brought to repentance, so filled with shame as that they may seek thy name (Psa 83:16); let them see their fault and folly in fighting against those whom thou dost protect, and be ashamed of their envy, Isa 26:11. However, let their designs against me be frustrated and their measures broken; let them be turned back from their malicious pursuits, and then they will be ashamed and confounded, and, like the enemies of the Jews, much cast down in their own eyes," Gen 6:16.

III. He prays that God would fill the hearts of his friends with joy (Psa 70:4), that all those who seek God and love his salvation, who desire it, delight in it, and depend upon it, may have continual matter for joy and praise and hearts for both; and then he doubts not but that he should put in for a share of the blessing he prays for; and so may we if we answer the character. 1. Let us make the service of God our great business and the favour of God our great delight and pleasure, for that is seeking him and loving his salvation. Let the pursuit of a happiness in God be our great care and the enjoyment of it our great satisfaction. A heart to love the salvation of the Lord, and to prefer it before any secular advantages whatsoever, so as cheerfully to quit all rather than hazard our salvation, is a good evidence of our interest in it and title to it. 2. Let us then be assured that, if it be not our own fault, the joy of the Lord shall fill our minds and the high praises of the Lord shall fill our mouths. Those that seek God, if they seek him early and seek him diligently, shall rejoice and be glad in him, for their seeking him is an evidence of his good-will to them and an earnest of their finding him, Psa 105:3. There is pleasure and joy even in seeking God, for it is one of the fundamental principles of religion that God is the rewarder of all those that diligently seek him. Those that love God's salvation shall say with pleasure, with constant pleasure (for praising God, if we make it our continual work, will be our continual feast), Let God be magnified, as he will be, to eternity, in the salvation of his people. All who wish well to the comfort of the saints, and to the glory of God, cannot but say a hearty amen to this prayer, that those who love God's salvation may say continually, Let God be magnified.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Psa 70:1 « To the chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David, to bring to remembrance. » [Make haste], O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.

A Psalm of David] Made, likely, or rather made use of from Psa 40:14-15, &c., when Sheba, the son of Bichri, was up in rebellion after Absalom’s death, 2Sa 20:1, &c. See Psa 69:1, title.

To briny to remembrance] Worthy to be remembered, and followed as a pattern of prayer. Some make this psalm an appendix to the former, as Psa 43:1-5., is to Psa 42:1-11. Others make it a part of the next psalm; which is, therefore, say they, without a title.

Ver. 1. Make haste, O God, to deliver me] As a father runs without legs when his child is hazarded.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_70:1-5

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

A pattern suppliant

It is the fervent prayer that is effectual, and effectual prayer that availeth much. Importunity prevails where indifference fails. This prayer not only expresses fervour, but likewise expectation; faiths vision was strong, and confidence was unwaveringly vigorous; so that no sooner had the request gone up from Davids soul to the Court of Heaven, than he expected to see the Lord hasting to his assistance. We have here a pattern suppliant--

I. Oppressed with need (Psa_70:5). Prayer is the utterance of want; the cry of distress; the pleading of contrite dependence and weakness; more acceptable to God than the vaunting Pharisees boast, I thank Thee that I am not as other men. The Christian is pre-eminently a man of prayer. It is the atmosphere in which his soul breathes, moves, and keeps its being.

II. Earnestly seeking help (Psa_70:1-3).

1. Help, in deliverance for himself.

2. Help, in confusion and overthrow of his enemies. The more vivid the realization of need, the more fervent the entreaty for help. God, a refuge in time of trouble, and fervent prayer the swift feet to bring us into it.

III. Mindfulness of others (Psa_70:4). A beautiful petition from a beautiful spirit. Though in deep distress himself, yet!m remembers others, and seeks for them gladness of heart and usefulness of life. Selfishness is very narrow in its supplications. Piety is magnificently catholic and comprehensive in its appeals. (J. O. Keen, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This Ps. is simply a repetition of Psa_40:13-17, with a few variations. 'Lord' (Jehovah) is changed, into 'God' (Elohim) except in Psa_70:1; On the other hand, 'Elohim' is changed into 'Jehovah' in Psa_70:5. By a change of one letter in the Hebrew 'turned back' is substituted for 'desolate' in Psa_70:3, and 'make haste unto me' appears instead of 'thinketh upon me' in Psa_70:5. The five vv. composing the Ps. constitute a cry to God for help and deliverance.

Title: see on Psalms 38.

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

INTRODUCTION

Superscription.—“To the chief musician, a psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.” “To the chief musician.” (See introduction to Psalms 57). “To bring to remembrance.” Barnes: “The Hebrew term used—לְהַזְכִּיר, lehazkir—means limply for bringing to remembrance, or for reminding. The meaning is, that it is a record for the purpose of reminding; that is, of keeping up the remembrance of something which had occurred in his own experience, and which might be useful to himself or to others; the record of some valuable lessons which had been learned from what he had experienced in the trials referred to.” Some are of opinion that the expression indicates that the Psalm was used to remind the Psalmist and others of the wants and circumstances to which it was applied. Others that, inasmuch as God seemed to have forgotten them, the Psalm was intended to bring the Psalmist and people to His remembrance.

The Psalm is almost exactly similar to Psa_40:13-17 of Psalms 40. It seems as though it had been taken from that Psalm and slightly altered to adapt it to some new occasion. “We do not know what the occasion in either case was, but it would seem that in this instance the Psalmist found, in the closing verses of the 40th Psalm, language which very nearly expressed what he felt on some particular occasion, and which might, by a slight change, be applied to the use for which it was then desired.”

Hengstenberg regards this and the following Psalm as forming “one pair, the 70th being like an introduction to the 71st.”

PRAYER IN PERSECUTION

We regard this Psalm as the prayer of a good man suffering from persecution. Consider—

I. The circumstances and condition of the suppliant. Of these he sets before us three main features—

1. Persecution (Psa_70:2-3). Here are three forms of persecution.

(1) Active and deadly hostility. “Them that seek after my soul.” There were those who were seeking to destroy the life of the Psalmist. So implacable was their enmity that nothing less than his destruction could satisfy them.

(2) Delight in injury. “Them that desire my hurt.” When loss or trouble, affliction or calamity, came upon the Psalmist, there were those who were glad because of it. If they did not smite him themselves, they rejoiced when others did so. If they did not do him evil, they heartily wished it him.

(3) Scoffing. “Them that say, Aha, aha!” This is the language of reproach and scorn. It also expresses exultation over another, and gratification at the calamities or troubles that befall him. “The damage of the godly is the delight of the wicked; and an enemy to the godly is he that laughs and scorns at the misery of the godly.” Christians have to meet with persecution in our own day. The forms of persecution change, but the persecuting spirit remains unchanged from the time of the Psalmist even until now. “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

2. Affliction. “I am poor and needy.” Conant: “I am afflicted and needy.” It is the cry of one who was in distress or suffering, and felt himself destitute of all help and resource except in God.

3. Need. This is consequent upon the persecution and affliction. The peril arising from his persecutions he needed deliverance from. The stress and strain of his affliction were so severe that he needed help to enable him to endure them. “Poverty and necessity are very good pleas in prayer to a God of infinite mercy, who despises not the sighing of a contrite heart, who has pronounced a blessing upon the poor in spirit, and who fills the hungry with good things.”

II. The prayer of the suppliant.

1. The Being to whom it is addressed. “O God, … Jehovah, … my help and my deliverer.” The Psalmist directs his prayer to the Almighty and self-existent One, who is swift to hear and strong to save those who call upon Him. He mentions his personal interest in this great Being. “My help and my deliverer.” This confidence was based upon,

(1) The promises of God to His people,

(2) The former experiences of the Psalmist. Again and again he had found God to be “a very present help in trouble.”

2. The objects which it seeks to attain. The Psalmist seeks

(1) His own deliverance. “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.” Conant: “O God—to my rescue, O Jehovah—to my help, make haste.” That which he seeks for himself all men require. Ultimate deliverance from all trials and afflictions, and “grace to help in time of need,” are blessings which each and all men should seek for themselves.

(2) The discomfiture of his enemies. “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!” These expressions are of frequent occurrence in the Psalms. They are used to set forth the frustration and failure of the hopes and projects of the wicked. The number and variety of expressions—“ashamed, … confounded, … turned backward, … put to confusion”—are intended to give intensity and force to the idea. It is not only lawful but commendable to pray that the designs and hopes of wicked men might be frustrated.

(3) The prosperity of the godly. “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.” The blessedness of the true seeker after God is to find Him, and in finding Him to realize fulness of joy. The blessedness of the lover of the salvation of God is to enjoy it, and enjoying it to give God glory. David prays for the frustration of the hopes of the wicked, and for the fruition of the hopes of the good.

3. The urgency with which it is presented. “Make haste to help me, O Lord, … make haste unto me, O God; … O Lord, make no tarrying.” The Psalmist was so deeply conscious of his own affliction and peril and helplessness, and of his entire dependence upon the help of God, that he prays with almost passionate urgency for the immediate interposition of God on his behalf. He would constrain God to appear for him at once. “He who cannot wait for the help of God, will never gain it; but he must pray for it and may urge his circumstances in prayer.” Urgency of need will be followed by urgency of entreaty, and urgency of entreaty by speedy help. “Though death, or danger of it, were never so near, God can come quickly and prevent it; and prayer is a swift messenger, which in the twinkling of an eye can go and return with an answer from heaven.”

URGENCY IN PRAYER

(Psa_70:1; Psa_70:5.)

“Make haste to help me, O Lord.… Make haste unto me, O God;.… O Lord, make no tarrying.”

The urgency of the Psalmist implies—

I. A deep sense of present and immediate need. This was awakened in him by—

1. The extremity of the danger to which he was exposed. His foes were many and were eagerly seeking to destroy his life. His afflictions were severe. He felt that if he were not speedily relieved he must perish.

2. The limitation of the resources at his command. Personally he was not able to cope with his enemies, or to bear up under his distresses. He felt that any help which he could expect from man would prove insufficient for his great and pressing requirements.

3. The conviction that adequate help could be found only in God. The Psalmist evidently felt that the help of God was the one thing that he required for his support and salvation. If that help were speedily given, all would be well with him; but if it were withheld, the issue world be his utter overthrow or his destruction—hence the urgency of his prayer.

II. Apparent delay in answering his prayer. There is never any real delay in answering prayer; but at times God seems to us to disregard our cries to Him. We cry with David, “How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord! for ever?” &c. (Psa_13:1-4). Or, with Habakkuk, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear?”

1. During what seems delay to us God may be answering our prayer. He does not always answer our prayers by granting our requests. During the apparent delay we are kept from sinking, our enemies do not completely triumph over us, we are graciously sustained. In such cases the divine answer to our prayers is not deliverance from trouble, but support in trouble; not the removal of the thorn from the flesh, but, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Co_12:7-9).

2. The seeming delay may be productive of richest blessing.

(1.) It may teach us the most important lessons. How eminently fitted to teach us the true nature of prayer! Its grand aim is not to induce God to do our will, but to lead us to cheerfully acquiesce in His will; not the gratification of our desires, but the perfection of our being.

(2.) It may develop the noblest attributes of character. It may intensify our desires. “Sometimes God seems to delay helping His own people, that He may excite such earnest desires as these” which are expressed in this psalm. Delay may promote patience; may teach and train us to wait calmly and resolutely upon God. “Prayer,” says Dr. Reynolds, “however importunate, constant, and fervent, must have its hours of rest, and of the waiting for answer and fulfilment. Like Elijah, we must look from the height of Carmel over the great sea for the little cloud which shall arise and cover the sky, in answer to our prayer. We must open our every faculty to receive the Holy Ghost; we must wait with earnest though patient expectation; we must listen for the gentle knocking of the mighty Stranger at the door of our heart; we must wait amid the discords of the world and the swoop of the storm through the wilderness, and when the strong wind rends the mountains, and the earthquake and the fire follow in wild succession—for the still small voice—we must ‘rest in the Lord, and still wait patiently for Him.’ ” Moreover, delay may develop trust, may train us to confide in God in times of imminent peril and deep distress. The seeming delay may in many ways be far better for us than a manifest and immediate answer to our prayers. Huntington: “One of our hardest lessons is to find out the wisdom of our hindrances; how we are to be put forward and upward by being put back and put down; encouraged by being rebuked; prospered by being baffled.… It needs wakeful watchers, spiritual eyesight, to read that riddle of life, how defeat helps progress; how a compulsory standing still speeds us on; how humiliation exalts;” and how what seems to us the continued silence of God may be the wise and gracious answer to our prayers.

III. Strong faith in the entreatableness of God. It is abundantly clear that the Psalmist did not regard God as imprisoned and bound by the laws and order of the universe which He created. Nor did he regard Him as a Being who cannot be moved by any urgency of supplication. A great faith in God as the hearer and answerer of prayer throbs in these impassioned cries for His speedy help. The instinct which finds utterrance in such cries points to the reality of prayer—to the fact that it has a real place and function in the universe of God.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psalms 70

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance

Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

Make haste to help me, O Lord.

2     Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul:

Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion,

That desire my hurt.

3     Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame

That say, Aha, aha.

4     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.

5     But I am poor and needy;

Make haste unto me, O God:

Thou art my help and my deliverer;

O Lord, make no tarrying.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Its Contents and Title.—For its relation to Psa_40:13 sq., vide the explanations there given. It is evident that we have here a fragment of that Psalm, for the reason that the imperative upon which the לcum infin. depends, is lacking and must be supplied; and there is no example to justify us in attaching it to the imperative which closes the verse. The change in the name of God points to a later and intentional separation. Instead of Jehovah, which is used throughout Psalms 40. we have here not only at the beginning but especially striking is the substitution of Elohim in Psa_70:4 b., whilst here in the closing line Jehovah is used instead of the nominative Adonai, the latter in connection with an easier reading, which has been considered in connection with Psalms 40. The slight changes in Psa_70:3 point in the same direction, to which we may add that in Psa_70:2יַחַד as well as לִסְפּותָהּ are missing, whilst in Psa_70:4 b. a וְ is added, and at the close of Psa_70:4יְשׁוֹעָתֶךָ is used for תְשׁוּעָתֶךָ, and at the beginning of Psa_70:5 c. עֶזְרִי for עֶזְרָתִי, the forms in Psalms 40 being fuller.

The contents, which are entirely complete in themselves, admit the Psalm to be a prayer of a persecuted man, and the title contains a statement of its purpose, which fully accords with that of Psalms 38 which states that it is for a special liturgical use (comp. Introduction, § 6, No. 8), as well as general use, which is indicated by its being referred to the musical director. The place of this Psalm in the Second Book after Psalms 69 was occasioned by the relationship between Psa_70:5 and Psa_69:29, as well as by the changing use of the Divine name. The Psalm might be regarded as Davidic on account of its dependence on Psalms 40 But the changes that have been made are of such a character that it is more than doubtful to refer them to David. The same may be said of the supposition of those who regard Jeremiah as the author of Psalms 40. that he made these alterations (Hitzig). Redding observ. phil. crit. de psalmis bis editis, p. 61, gives a collection of ancient opinions. The ingenious attempt to regard this Psalm as an introduction to Psalms 71; and thus get a pair of Psalms of the advanced age of David (Hengstenberg), lacks sufficient confirmation.1

Footnotes:

[1][Yet there are many good reasos to be adduced in favor of this view. These are well stated by Hegstenberg and Wordsworth, e.g., (1) The fact that Psalms 71 has no title in a book where all the Psalms have titles except 1, 2, 10, 32, 43; 1 and 2 being introductory to the Psalter, and 10 and 43 certainly belonging to the preceding Psalms , , 32 in close relation to its predecessor. (2) Te fact that Psalms 70 is taken from Psalms 40, ad Psalms 71 likewise is made up of a “collection of setences from various other Psalms (22, 25, 31, 35, 38, 40),” ad “being formed out of other Psalms, it serves the purpose of showig that David at the close of his life, ‘gathered up and set his seal to’ the sayings which he had uttered in the former Psalms” (Wordsworth). (3) The fact that corresponding thoughts ad petitions run throughout both Psalms, comp. Psa_70:1; Psa_70:5; Psa_71:12; Psa_70:2; Psa_71:13; Psa_71:24; Psa_70:4; Psa_71:6; Psa_71:8; Psa_71:14-16; Psa_71:24, ad especially is 71:24 the believing confidence in the fulfilment of the petition begun in Psa_70:1-2.—C. A. B.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psalm 70

THE Fortieth Psalm, as we have seen, consists of a thanksgiving for deliverances experienced already, Psa 40:1-13, and of a prayer for fresh occasion of thanksgiving, Psa 40:14-17. The latter portion is here repeated by itself, as a kind of appendix to the sixty-ninth and preface o the seventy-first, with both which it has several points of contrast and resemblance. The mutual relation of the two editions is the same as that between the fourteenth and the fifty-third. The supposition of an erroneous copy or an accidental repetition is forbidden by the fact that both are left on record, and by the appearance of an uniform design in the variations. In this case, as in that of the fifty-third Psalm, no comments will be made upon those expressions which are common to both forms and have therefore been explained already.

1. To the Chief Musician. By David. To remind, i.e. to remind God of the Psalmist's necessities. The same inscription is prefixed to Psalms 38. The phrase by David represents him as the author, not of the fortieth Psalm merely, but of this abridgment. See above, on Psa 53:1, and compare.

2. (Psa 70:1). 0 God, to deliver me, 0 Lord, to help me, hasten! The first word of Psa 40:3, be pleased, is omitted here in Psa 70:1, for the purpose, as some suppose, of making the commencement more abrupt, and thereby marking the whole composition as a fragment. Another variation, which interpreters have laboured to account for as significant, is the sustitution of Elohim in the first clause for Jehovah, the only Divine name which appears in the fortieth psalm at all. It is quite as probable, to say the least, that the names were interchanged as God and Lord are often by ourselves, without special reason or design.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psalms 70

THIS psalm is all but identical with the last verses of Psa_40:13-17. Some unimportant alterations have been made, principally in the Divine names; but the principle on which they have been made is not obvious. It is scarcely correct to say, with Delitzsch, that the psalm "has been transformed, so as to become Elohistic" for though it twice replaces the name of Jehovah with that of God (Psa_70:1, Psa_70:4), it makes the converse change in Psa_70:5, last clause, by reading Jehovah instead of "God," as in Psalms 40.

Other changes are of little moment. The principal are in Psa_70:3 and Psa_70:5. In the former the vehement wish that the psalmists mockers may be paralysed with shame is softened down into a desire that they may be turned back. The two verbs are similar in sound, and the substitution may have been accidental, a slip of memory or a defect in hearing, or it may have been an artistic variation of the original. In Psa_70:5 a prayer that God will hasten to the psalmists help takes the place of an expression of confidence that "Jehovah purposes [good]" to him, and again there is similarity of sound in the two words. This change is like the subtle alteration which a painter might make on his picture by taking out one spot of high light. The gleam of confidence is changed to a call of need, and the tone of the whole psalm is thereby made more plaintive.

Hupfeld holds that this psalm is the original, and Psalms 40 a composite; but most commentators agree in regarding this as a fragment of that psalm. The cut has not been very cleanly made; for the necessary verb "be pleased" has been left behind, and the symmetry of Psa_70:1 is destroyed for want of it. The awkward incompleteness of this beginning witnesses that the psalm is a fragment.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

Ps 70 This psalm, nearly identical to 40:13-17, contains an urgency (70:1, 5) that fits with the surrounding psalms (cp. 69:17; 71:12).

70:title asking God to remember him: The meaning of this phrase is unknown (also found in 38:title).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

of David, to make mention This is an expression of prayer, as (above 20:8): “but we pray (נזכיר) in the name of the Lord our God.” Similarly, in (I) Chronicles (16:4): “to invoke (להזכיר) and to give thanks to the Lord.” In Midrash Psalms (70:1) I saw: This is comparable to a king who became wroth with his flock, and demolished the sheepcote and took out the flock and the shepherd. Sometime later, he restored the flock and rebuilt the sheepcote, but he did not mention the shepherd. Said the shepherd, “Behold, the flock is restored and the sheepcote is rebuilt, but I am not mentioned.” Similarly, in the preceding chapter it says: “When God saves Zion, etc., and those who love His name dwell therein.” Behold the sheepcote is built and the flock is brought into it, but I am not mentioned. Therefore it says: “Of David, to make mention. O God, to save me.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Which might put him in remembrance of his deliverance.

He teacheth us to be earnest in prayer, though God seem to stay: for at his time he will hear us.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

PSALM LXX

The psalmist prays for speedy deliverance, 1;

prays against those who sought his life, 2, 3;

and for the blessedness of those who sought God, 4;

urges his speedy deliverance, 5.

NOTES ON PSALM LXX

The title in the Hebrew is, To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. There seems little sense in this title. It seems to intimate that the Psalm was written as a memorial that David had been in sore affliction, and that God had delivered him. So the Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic. It is almost word for word the same with the five last verses of Ps 40:14-17, to the notes on which the reader is referred.

Verse 1. Make haste to help me] I am in extreme distress, and the most imminent danger. Haste to help me, or I am lost.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

1. Make haste] The words, as the italics indicate, are not in the Hebrew; and as the text stands, we must either supply make haste from the next line, or render according to the Heb. idiom found in Isa_38:20, God is ready to deliver me. But probably the first word of the verse as it stands in Psa_40:13 should be restored, Be pleased. This word would be a link of connexion with Psa_69:13, in a time when thou pleasest. make haste to help me] Cp. Psa_22:19; Psa_38:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Make haste - These words are supplied by our translators. The first word in Psa 40:13, rendered “be pleased,” is here omitted in the original. The psalm in the Hebrew begins abruptly - “O God, to deliver me,” - leaving the impression that this is a fragment - a fragment commencing without even the care necessary to make the grammatical construction complete.

O God - Hebrew, אלהים 'Elohiym. In the corresponding place in Psa 40:13 the word is “Yahweh.” Why the change was made is unknown. The remainder of the verse is the same as in Ps. 40.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To the Chief Musician, A Psalm of David. So far the title corresponds with Psalm 40, of which this is a copy with variations. David appears to have written the full length Psalm, and also to have made this excerpt from it, and altered it to suit the occasion. It is a fit pendant to Psalm 69, and a suitable preface to Psalm 71. To bring to remembrance. This is the poor man's memorial. David personally pleads with God that he may not be forgotten, but David's Lord may be heard here also. Even if the Lord seems to forget us, we must not forget him. This memorial Psalm acts as a connecting link between the two Psalms of supplicatory expostulation, and makes up with them a precious triad of song.

(The Reader is referred for full Exposition and Notes to Ps 40:13-17, in "Treasury of David, "Vol. 2, pp 267-268.)

Ver. 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. The only other difference between this and verse 13 of Psalm 40, is the putting of Elohim in the beginning of the verse for Jehovah, but why this is done we know not; perhaps, the guesses of the critics are correct, but perhaps they are not. As we have the words of this Psalm twice in the letter, let them be doubly with us in spirit. It is most meet that we should day by day cry to God for deliverance and help; our frailty and our many dangers render this a perpetual necessity.

Whole Psalm. Francke would apply the present Psalm to the state of the Christian church after the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and would put the words in the mouths of the faithful of that time. On the same ground of transferring the language adapted to Christ in Psalm 40 to the faithful in this Psalm, we need not hesitate to take them on our lips, as the language of the church in every age. I cannot but reassert my conviction of the intentional arrangement of the Psalms in the order in which we now have them, made in all probability, partially at least, at the time they were handed over to public use. It is surely a daring conjecture made by Walford, that the repetition of this Psalm arose from some mistake of the persons by whom the Psalms were collected and arranged, after the return from the captivity in Babylon. W. Wilson.

Ver. 1.

I. Occasion of his prayer.

1. Affliction.

2. Helplessness. II. Subject of his prayer. Deliverance, help. III. Importunity of his prayer. The time of deliverance may be an answer to prayer, as well as deliverance itself.

Ver. 1.

I. Times when such urgent prayer is allowable,

praiseworthy, or faulty.

II. Reasons for expecting a speedy reply.

III. Consolations if delay should occur.

Psalms 70:2*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A.M. 2981. — B.C. 1023.

This Psalm is copied almost word for word from the 40th, from Psa 40:13 to the end; and, perhaps, it is for this reason entitled, A Psalm to bring to remembrance. For it may sometimes be of use to pray over again the prayers which we have formerly made to God on like occasions. David here prays that God would send help to him, shame to his enemies, and joy to his friends. The reader will find in the notes on Psalms 40 th all that is necessary for the elucidation of this Psalm.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. O God—For “O Jehovah,” Psa_40:13.

Make haste—The “Be pleased,” (Psa_40:13,) left out.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This psalm is a detached fragment of Ps 40, separated off, probably, for liturgical purposes. Except in the last clause, the name "Elohim" is substituted for "Jehovah." A few omissions are made, and one alteration which affects the sense.

Make haste, O God, to deliver me. In Psa_40:13 we find, Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;" and this would seem to be the right way of supplying the ellipse here. Make haste to help me, O Lord.

HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-5. "Help!

This is the cry of many. By sea and land, in times of peril, this call is made. That gun "booming loud" is the signal of a ship in distress. That flag held up from the boat is a silent appeal. That cry, rising loud and shrill, above the turmoil of storm, tells of "some strong swimmer in his agony," who still hopes for succour. And as brother cries to brother, so the soul cries to God. There are cases when we can help ourselves. There are other cases where friends and brethren can help us. For this we should thank God and take courage. The more the Spirit of Christ prevails, the more there will be both of self-help and mutual help. But there are other cases when God alone can help. Let us turn to him. There is every reason to hope that we shall not seek him in vain. He has power. (2Ch_25:8) He has the disposition. (Isa_41:10 Isa_44:2) He has pledged his word. (Hos_13:9) Well, therefore, might the psalmist say, "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help"! (Psa_146:5) This psalm is entitled, "To put God in remembrance;" and it is rich in light and comfort to all who make their prayer to God for help. Mark

I THE CRY. "Help!" It is the sign of weakness and of fear. God seems to delay. The peril increases, and therefore the cry becomes more urgent. Soon it will be too late. "Make haste!" Who is there who has not felt the pain of need, and the greater pain of anxiety and fear. The more grievous our straits, the more earnest should be our prayers.

II THE RESPONSE. The chief pleas are three, and God"s answer always meets our necessities.

1. The malice of foes. Men are to be found who actually take pleasure in pain, and especially when the pain falls upon those they hate. The more of trouble, the greater their joy. This is the very spirit of hell. Such as persist in this kind of life must perish. God will disappoint the malice of the wicked by his deliverance of the good.

2. The benefit of Gods people. The good delight in good. Happy themselves in God, they would have all others share in the same happiness. Especially have they sympathy with all of like spirit with themselves. (1Co_12:26) Hence when the godly conquer their troubles by bearing them patiently, or are rescued as by the hand of God, their hearts are refreshed. What is done to others is as if done to themselves.

3. Personal necessity. God looks to individuals. None are so "poor" that he will despise them. None are so "needy" that he cannot satisfy their wants. He delighteth in mercy. Each one of us may put himself in the place of the psalmist, and cry, as he did, with lively hope, I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God!" When we thus trust in God, hope rises to assurance. We feel as if what we asked was given, as if what we sought was done. "Thou art my Help and my Deliverer." But still, so long as we are in distress, and God has not yet perfected that which concerneth us, we urge the prayer, "Make no tarrying. W.F.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-5. This psalm is substantially a repetition of the last five verses of Ps 40 (which see). It was most likely detached and altered for a special occasion. S.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This psalm is copied almost word for word from the eleventh psalm, and perhaps is for that reason entitled, A psalm to bring remembrance. For it may sometimes be of use to pray over again the prayers we have formerly made to God on like occasions. David here prays, that God would send help to him, shame to his enemies, and joy to his friends. To the chief musician, a psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

We see at once at the very beginning, in the omission of the רצה (Psa 40:14), that what we have here before us is a fragment of Ps 40, and perhaps a fragment that only accidentally came to have an independent existence. The להצּילני, which was under the government of רצה, now belongs to הוּשׁה, and the construction is without example elsewhere. In Psa 70:3 (= Psa 40:15) יחד and לספּותהּ are given up entirely; the original is more full-toned and soaring. Instead of ישׁמּוּ, torpescant, Psa 70:4 has ישׁוּבוּ, recedant (as in Ps 6:11, cf. Psa 9:18), which is all the more flat for coming after יסגו אחור. In Psa 70:4, after ויאמרים the לי, which cannot here (cf. on the contrary, Psa 35:21) be dispensed with, is wanting.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Psalm 70

This Psalm is “to bring to remembrance.” It is the repetition of the last five verses of the Fortieth Psalm. The cross is again made known and the attitude of men towards that cross, those who reject Him and those that love His salvation.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Prayer for Help against the Enemies.

To the chief musician, as a prayer to be used in public worship, a psalm of David, to bring to remembrance, the hymn being intended for that part of the service when the meat-offering was added to the sacrifice; for its sweet smell was to rise to the nostrils of Jehovah together with the prayers of the faithful and plead for a gracious hearing. Cf Psa 40:13-17.

v. 1. Make haste, O God, to deliver me, from the sufferings and persecutions to which believers are subject; make haste to help me, O Lord!

v. 2. Let them be ashamed and confounded, by being disappointed in their intention of harming the believer, that seek after my soul; let them be turned backward, baffled, their plans frustrated, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt, taking pleasure in doing evil.

v. 3. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, as a punishment of their iniquity to their disgrace, that say, Aha, aha! in sneering derision.

v. 4. Let all those that seek Thee, with truly believing hearts, rejoice and be glad in Thee, finding the true joy of faith in their confidence in Jehovah; and let such as love Thy salvation, with a proper appreciation of the blessings of redemption, say continually, Let God be magnified, exalted in hymns of thanksgiving.

v. 5. But I am poor and needy, with the trouble which is the lot of all believers; make haste unto me, O God, for such is the proper importunate character of prayer. Thou art my Help and my Deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying! It seems that the Messiah’s prayer in Psalms 40 is here adapted to all believers, in order to teach them to place all their trust in life and death in the Lord alone, in the salvation gained through the work of the Redeemer, for in Him we have deliverance in all circumstances of life.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Contrasted Consequences.

To the chief musician: [a psalm] of David to bring to remembrance.

The seventieth psalm; as has been said, is but (with slight modifications) the last five verses of the fortieth psalm, the burnt-offering psalm; here put by themselves as an appendix to the trespass-offering. Is not this repetition explanatory of what is in the title: "to bring to remembrance"? Assuredly David’s heart was not so poor in praise as to be in any need of repeating himself after this manner, except "remembrance" could be in this manner better secured. And assuredly it is not a "fragment accidentally detached," as Cheyne views it, and, of course, accidentally inserted! It is a wonder that such blunders, as this would indicate them to be, should after all give the critics so much labor.

The numerical structure shows that it is as perfectly in place, as the title shows the one who placed it here to have known what he was doing. It is so completely in place that it can be transferred here from the place it fills in the fortieth, with its numbers and their indications all unchanged; and so I have transferred it. Its following the trespass-offering here, as there the burnt-offering, argues something else than chance in such an arrangement. Leave it out of this place, and the two psalms following it are displaced also, and it would be difficult to adjust them satisfactorily to their altered relations.

The psalm is for a remembrance; and therefore the repetition is of much more importance than the differences, which are but slight. The Cross is so central in human history, its consequences are so all-embracing and enduring, that such a reminder as this, appended to each form in which it comes before us, is in no wise strange or to be wondered at. And the strangeness of the manner only calls attention to it the more. Even the apparent clumsiness, as men would account it, -the first word omitted, as if the leaf had been hastily torn out, -to one who believes in inspiration, fixes the eye upon it. The unbeliever scoffs, as he did at the Cross itself; faith inquires, and not only finds answer, but learns to recognize God in what seems most human, -God that was in Christ, most gracious, where in humblest form.

The psalm is so simple as scarcely to need an exposition; and in this also it is suited to its work. It only needs to be put in connection with the psalm it follows. The Lord is then realized to be the Speaker, as is quite clear in the fortieth psalm. The contrary lot of those who are His enemies, and those who love His salvation, is then apparent.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)

For the chief musician

"This is for the director of music to use in worship"

A psalm of David

Possible meanings are 1) David wrote the psalm or 2) the psalm is about David or 3) the psalm is in the style of David's psalms.

to bring to remembrance

"this psalm was written to cause people to remember"

those who

"the people who"

take my life

This idiom means "kill me." (See: Idiom)

be ashamed and humiliated

This can be stated in active form. AT: "may God put them to shame and bring disgrace upon them" (See: Active or Passive)

let them be turned back and brought to dishonor

This can be stated in active form. AT: "may God turn them around and make them ashamed for what they have done" (See: Active or Passive)

turned back

To be stopped or thwarted is spoken of as being turned back from their attack. AT: "stopped" (See: Metaphor)

those who say, "Aha, aha."

This is an expression of mocking laughter. You may replace "Aha, aha" with whatever laughing sounds like in your language. AT: "those who mock and laugh at me"

translationWords

psalm

David

save

God

Yahweh

shame

turn

dishonor

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.