Psalm 70
There are times in our lives when particular trials we might be experiencing produce what certainly feels like emergencies, when we feel that if help doesn't come quickly, it might be too late. That's the way the psalmist felt here. He expresses his urgency repetitively. At the beginning he says, "Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord." Then, at the end of his prayer, he says again, "Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay!"
The time in view here isn't a time for deep and careful meditation. Instead it's plainly a time to scream out, "HELP, LORD!" It's here among the other psalms to encourage us in desperate situations to cry out to God – to cry out and not hold back.
The psalm was probably written after an actual experience of urgency was over. Its words are probably reminiscent of an occasion in which David had been running just ahead of an enemy. He couldn't stop, sit down, or consider all that his Lord had previously done for him. He didn't have time to remember how gracious, how powerful, how loving God was to Him previously, how He loved Israel and would always save her and her king. in the present circumstance he couldn't stop at all or he'd be overtaken. He was forced, as it were between steps and between breaths, as he was running for his life, to cry out, "HELP!"
There are times like that for us, too. We too need to know that our God is ALWAYS listening, that He's ALWAYS caring, that He HEARS our every thought and cry. We too need to know that we can be informal and straight-to-the-point with the God Who knows us anyway – He knows how desperate we are.
We can cry out to Him to turn our enemies back and make them ashamed of dealing unjustly with us. We can yell, "HELP!" when they, in fact, are gloating over us, seeming to have us in their grasp - when they're saying, "Aha! Aha!" ("We've got him now!")
We can – and we ought - to cry out to Him to save those who trust in Him, those who love Him and rejoice in Him as their God. In desperate situations such as David experienced we want His love and deliverance to be seen by all – we want Him to be "magnified." Oh may our very first cry, then, in every situation, be to the God Who truly hears us!
Oh, how often we cry to the Lord, "HELP!"
It's so nice to read here, Alan, that He's always caring for us and listening for our call.
Isn't it just plain amazing! Oh may He glorify His love when He does this!
I've been through some days when I've just simply said "Help me!" and I know He was right there to do just that.