Psalms 70:1-5: a reflection

1Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, LORD. 2Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 3Let them be turned because of their shame who say, “Aha! Aha!” 4Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, “Let God be exalted!” 5But I am poor and needy. Come to me quickly, God. You are my help and my deliverer. LORD, don’t delay.

This short psalm is a cry of urgency. Hurry, God, to deliver me; come quickly to help me, Lord. There is no long preamble, no careful setting of the scene, just an urgent plea for God to act, and act soon. The psalmist is under pressure from those who seek his ruin and mock his distress, and he does not pretend to be calm. He simply and honestly asks God to come, and to come quickly.

What grounds his plea is not any claim of merit but a frank confession of need: I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God. He comes to God not as one who has it together but as one who has nothing to offer except his emptiness and his trust. And he holds up two hopes: that those who oppose God's people would be turned back, and that those who seek God would rejoice and say, God is great. His need drives him straight to God.

There is freedom in a prayer like this. You do not have to compose an eloquent or impressive prayer to be heard; you can cry out honestly, hurry, God, help me, I am poor and needy. God is not put off by urgency or by an admission of weakness; those are exactly the conditions in which he loves to act. When you are hard-pressed and have nothing to offer but your need, pray this psalm. Come to God poor and needy, and ask him, without delay, to be your help and deliverer.

Lord, I come to you as the psalmist did, poor and needy, with nothing to offer but my need and my trust. Do not be put off by my urgency or my weakness; those are where you love to act. Come quickly to help me. Be my help and my deliverer, and do not delay. I have no one else to run to but you. Amen.