Psalms 70 is known to many as the psalms of David’s lamentation. The authorship of this psalms is also attributed to David. In this Psalms we see David making a request for God to come with his divine intervention and answer him urgently.
We understand that the psalmist was being attacked, hence the need to seek God’s help in such an extreme way.
Psalms 70 also portrays very clearly the moments of affliction that human beings face in this world. In the face of afflictions, we are also taken to the time of waiting, where we await the moment of God’s answer in our favor. How many times do we get to the level where we tell God to hurry on our behalf?
Psalms 70 and David’s need
We see in this Psalms, a request made to God, aiming to achieve deliverance, but this request is an intense request in the midst of affliction. David at that moment was in urgent need, for it was a matter of life and death. David was confident that God could work in his favor, but the affliction was so great that he went so far as to ask the Lord to come and hasten to help him.
We can observe in this Psalms that David was surrounded by his enemies. In the moment of greatest affliction of the human being, it is extremely important that we come to trust God and never try to solve something by trusting ourselves. David was at an extreme level of distress, but at no point did he abandon his trust in God.
Psalms 70:1 – Make haste, O God, to deliver me; LORD, make haste to help me.
David asks for the defeat of his enemies
David then seeks the Lord so that his enemies will be defeated and ashamed.
Psalms 70:2 – Let those who seek my soul be ashamed and confused; turn back and be confused those who wish me harm.
David understands that his enemies were looking for his defeat, but that God could provide deliverance. If we look at David’s entire trajectory, we see that his past experiences generated strength to overcome present and future adversities.
We understand that the adversity that the human being goes through today is learning and strengthening to overcome the adversities that are to come.
At the time Psalms 70 was written, there was a great belief that armies marched by the order of the gods. So when an army went out to the battlefield and came back victorious, that victory was attributed to the god that army served.
Psalms 70:3 – Let those who say, Ah! Oh!
We can conclude that David’s enemies in Psalms 70 were not just trying to defeat David, but they wanted to attack God’s honor.
The joy of those who seek the Lord
While the evil and evil man delights in his iniquity towards his neighbor. He who fears the Lord is happy to do that which is good in the sight of God. Live a life of justice and righteousness demonstrating the real characteristic of the just.
Psalms 70:4 – Let all who seek you rejoice and rejoice in you; and let them that love thy salvation say continually: May God be magnified.
He who delights in the things of God demonstrates his new birth and its fruits. The Lord Jesus Christ himself teaches us that it is possible to identify a person by his fruits. Matthew 7:20 – Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.
The recognition of who we truly are
One of the biggest problems of the human being is to truly understand who he really is, and to understand how dependent he is on God.
Psalms 70:5 – But I am afflicted and needy; make haste for me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, don’t hold back.
David recognized that he was a human being, and that he was completely dependent on God’s intervention. David recognized his moment, and David will describe to God how his heart was in affliction at that moment. King David declares himself to God.
You are my help: David understands that nothing he could do would get him out of that situation, but God’s intervention was enough to change his whole story at that moment.
My deliverer: David understood that his enemies and his afflictions were nothing before the power of God, for only God could deliver him As he had already given deliverance in other times.
Psalms 70 teaches us that in times of distress, we must seek God’s help. No matter who your enemy is, just present them to God, for surely God will give you victory over your adversity.
