Going South

Psalm 70

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to bring us to the LORD’s remembrance.

1Please, God, rescue me!

Come quickly, LORD, and help me.

2May those who try to destroy me

be humiliated and put to shame.

May those who take delight in my trouble

be turned back in disgrace.

3Let them be horrified by their shame,

for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”

4But may all who search for you

be filled with joy and gladness.

May those who love your salvation

repeatedly shout, “God is great!”

5But I am poor and needy;

please hurry to my aid, O God.

You are my helper and my savior;

O LORD, do not delay!

Elijah had a “mountaintop experience,” literally, on Mount Carmel. He challenged the priests of Baal to a sacrificing duel. If the Lord sent fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, then he was God. But if Baal sent fire, he was God. Well, Baal didn’t show up that day, but God lit up Elijah’s altar like a firecracker (1 Kings 18).

But this showdown only made wicked Queen Jezebel even madder. She determined to hunt down Elijah and kill him. Maybe Elijah was expecting a popular revolt to topple the queen and her idolatrous minions. Instead, he had to run for his life.

He went south, down to the Dead Sea area, then farther to the Sinai Desert. He sat and moped, bemoaning his sorry state.

David must have been in a similar situation when he wrote Psalm 70. He begs God to defeat his enemies once and for all, but while Elijah needed a major tutorial from God, complete with wind, earthquake, fire, and finally a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:9-18), David seems to turn the corner himself in verse 4. Though he’s “poor and needy,” he knows God is great enough to help him.

Make haste, O God, and hear my cries;

Then with the souls who seek thy face,

And those who thy salvation prize,

I’ll magnify thy matchless grace.

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

A Word on Words

The word for salvation in verse 4 is Yeshua, the Hebrew name for Jesus.

Notable Quotable

“It is not forbidden us, in hours of dire distress, to ask for speed on God’s part in his coming to rescue us.”

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON