Title. “To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David.” So far the title corresponds with Psalm 40, of which this psalm 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 the second psalm which is a repetition of another, the former being psalm 53, which was the rehearsal of psalm 14. 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 be day cry to God for deliverance and help.
C. H. Spurgeon
Verse 1. “Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.” The cry of help is never far away from the heart and lips of the believer in Christ, but neither is it far away from the ear of the only One who can be our true Helper; the history of God's people in all generations bears this out. Hansard Knollys was one of those persecuted saints of God who had fled to America during the persecutions of the 17th century, but who later returned to this country in the cause of the gospel. Although with nothing by way of earthly possessions, he placed himself and his family on that promise of God, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” and set forth from his lodgings to find some means of sustenance for them. He had only gone a few paces when he was met by a Christian woman who informed him that a home and means of support had been provided for him by some believers who wished him to minister God's gospel to their souls. The conclusion of Knollys and his family was of the most simple, yet, of the most profound kind: “Let us rely upon Him whilst we live,” they declared, “and trust Him in all straits.”
Verse 3. “Let them be turned back, for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.” The enemies of David delighted in his troubles, and this “Aha, aha” seems to have summed up their delight. All the people of God will know the same spirit against them to one degree or another, but, as James Frame reminds us, only in Christ Himself are the words of malice most realised; - “O miracle of mercy!” he says, “He who deserved the hallelujahs of an intelligent universe, and the special hosannahs of all the children of men, had first to anticipate, and then to endure from the mouths of the very rebels whom He came to bless and to save, the malicious tauntings of 'Aha, aha.'”
Verse 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.” All men are “lovers” as well as “seekers”, and what they love determines what they seek. Some love money more than God's salvation; some love business and bustle more than God's salvation and have sought it out. They love it for its own sake; they love it for the sake of Him who procured it by His obedience unto death; they love it for the sake of that Holy Spirit who moved them to seek it and accept it in the first place; and they love it for the sake of their own souls, for, without it, they would be the most miserable wretches and outcasts in the universe.
From James Frame
Verse 5. “But I am poor and needy …” This is the same plea as in the preceding psalm, at verse 29. It seems to be a favourite argument with tried saints. Evidently, our poverty is our wealth, even as our weakness is our strength. May we learn well this riddle.
C.H. S.
Whole Psalm. From the “First Petition,” learn – 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 … “O Lord, make haste to deliver me ….” From the “Second Petition,” learn – The more that the enemies of God's people promise themselves certainty in the destruction of the saints, when God disappoints them they are all the more confounded and ashamed …. “Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul.” From the “Third Petition,” learn – Whatsoever be our own hard condition at any time, nevertheless, we should seek the welfare and prosperity of the rest of God's children …. “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee”. From the “Fourth Petition,” learn – Although we be not in that condition that we would wish all the Godly were in, yet, let us lay out our own condition before our gracious God … “But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God … make no tarrying.”
David Dickson
This Page Title – Gleanings in the Psalms (Psalm 70) The Wicket Gate Magazine "A Continuing Witness". Internet Edition number 114 – placed on line May 2015 Wicket Gate contact address – Mr Cliff Westcombe cw@wicketgate.co.uk If you wish to be notified when each new edition goes on line please send an e-mail to the above address Magazine web address – www.wicketgate.co.uk |