Psalms 70

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1Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.2Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.3Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.4Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.5But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.

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Notes for this chapter

Historical Background

Psalm 70 is one of the shortest psalms in the entire collection, yet it carries within its five verses an intensity of feeling that speaks across centuries. It is almost identical to the concluding verses of Psalm 40 (verses 13 through 17), and this repetition was not accidental. Ancient Hebrew worship drew upon existing sacred poetry and adapted it for specific liturgical occasions, and the superscription “to bring to remembrance” suggests this psalm was set apart for use in memorial offerings, moments when the worshiper came before God with urgent need and nothing in hand but trust. Attributed to David, it likely emerged from one of the many seasons of crisis that marked his life, whether the persecution of Saul, the rebellion of Absalom, or some other pressing danger. The brevity itself is part of the message. When the soul is desperate, it does not compose elaborate arguments. It cries out.

The opening verse sets the tone with an urgency that is almost startling in its boldness. “Make haste, O God, to deliver me.” There is no preamble, no extended praise, no lengthy confession. The psalmist plunges immediately into the need. Matthew Henry observed that this is not irreverence but faith, for only a soul that genuinely believes God hears and cares would dare to press so urgently upon Him.

The repeated cry for haste runs through the entire psalm like a pulse, appearing at the beginning and returning in the final verse. Barnes noted that the Hebrew word translated “make haste” carries the sense of rushing to someone's side, the image of a helper who moves quickly because the danger is real. There is something deeply human and profoundly honest in this kind of prayer, and the fact that God preserved it in Scripture speaks to how much He welcomes such transparency from His children.

Core Teaching

Verses two and three turn to the enemies, and here the psalmist asks not for personal revenge but for divine justice. Those who seek his soul, who desire his hurt, who taunt with the contemptuous cry of “Aha, aha,” are handed over to God's judgment rather than to human retaliation. The phrase “turned backward” carries the sense of their schemes being reversed upon themselves, their own plans becoming their shame. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown pointed out that this is a consistent pattern in the Psalms, where the wicked are not destroyed by the psalmist's hand but by the weight of their own wickedness when God allows it to fall back upon them.

The “Aha, aha” of the mockers echoes the cruelty of those who gloated at Israel's suffering, and it appears again at the crucifixion scene in the Gospels, connecting this psalm to the passion of Christ in ways that are not incidental. Jesus, who quoted from Psalm 22 from the cross, lived out the experience of every verse in psalms like this one.

Commentary Insights

Verse four stands as a quiet but luminous contrast to the surrounding darkness. While enemies are confounded and the psalmist is in distress, those who seek God are invited to rejoice and be glad. The phrase “let God be magnified” is not the magnification of a distant sovereign but the lifting up of a God who is personally involved in salvation. Adam Clarke noted that the word for “magnified” here speaks of God being seen as great precisely in the act of delivering the humble.

This is the theology at the heart of the Adventist understanding of the great controversy. God's character is vindicated not through raw power but through the demonstration of His love for the lowly and suffering. When God stoops to help the poor and needy, His greatness is not diminished but revealed. Ellen White captured this beautifully in “Steps to Christ” when she wrote that God is drawn to the contrite heart as the musician is drawn to the instrument that is ready to be played.

Reflection & Application

The final verse brings everything to its point of rest in an act of pure surrender. “I am poor and needy.” There is no pretense here, no spiritual performance. The psalmist has nothing to offer except his own acknowledged weakness, and upon that weakness he builds his entire case before God.

“Thou art my help and my deliverer” is a declaration of faith that does not wait for circumstances to change before affirming God's character. The repeated “make no tarrying” at the close mirrors the opening cry, creating a psalm that is essentially one sustained breath of urgent, trusting prayer. For the Adventist believer living in an age of waiting, watching for the return of Christ, this psalm speaks with particular tenderness. We too are poor and needy, living in a world that mocks and presses upon us, and our prayer joins with David's and ultimately with Christ's own cry: come quickly, Lord. Make no tarrying.

Go deeper — references Classic commentaries on this chapter

Matthew Henry's Commentary Matthew Henry (1662–1714) Adam Clarke's Commentary Adam Clarke (1760–1832) Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871) Barnes' Notes on the Bible Albert Barnes (1798–1870) EGW Writings Ellen G. White Blue Letter Bible Study tools and lexicon

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