This is the shortest psalm so far, five verses, and it reuses the closing lines of a much longer psalm David had already written. Whatever the specific occasion, the one thing added here is urgency — a plea repeated at both ends of the poem that God act now, not eventually.
A study in Psalm 70 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 6 min read
Make Haste, O God, To Deliver Me
“Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.”
Psalm 70:1
These lines close David’s much longer psalm of thanksgiving that begins “I waited patiently for the LORD” (Psalm 40). Whatever prompted this shorter version, David reaches for words he had already written, urgent enough to be worth saying twice.
“Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.”
Psalm 70:2-3
“Aha, aha” captures something the more formal language around it does not — the actual mocking sound of an enemy gloating, quoted almost like a piece of dialogue caught in the middle of a scene.
Let Such As Love Thy Salvation Say Continually
“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.”
Psalm 70:4
“Continually” is the operative word here — not a single outburst of praise once the crisis passes, but an ongoing habit David wants to see established in everyone who genuinely loves God’s salvation, regardless of their own present circumstances.
O LORD, Make No Tarrying
“But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.”
Psalm 70:5
The psalm ends exactly where it began, urgency unresolved — no report of rescue, no shift to praise for something already accomplished. “Poor and needy” is simply the honest description David is still working from at the final line, the same as the first.
