The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"make haste," Hebrew chushah (חוּשָׁה), hurry, come quickly. The psalm opens with pure urgency, and dares to ask God to hurry. There is no long preamble, no careful build-up; twice in one breath he cries it, and the psalm will end the same way, "make no tarrying" (v5). That urgency is itself a form of faith, for a man only begs God to hurry because he believes God can help and no one else can.

"to deliver me," lehatzileni (לְהַצִּילֵנִי), to snatch me away. The verb pictures a rescue by seizing, pulling a man bodily out of danger. When the water is at your neck you do not compose elegant sentences; you ask to be snatched out.

"to help me," le'ezrati (לְעֶזְרָתִי). The second half of the doubled cry. He asks for nothing elaborate, only help, and asks for it at speed; Scripture is not embarrassed by such a prayer but records it as the honest cry of a soul in real, pressing danger.

"O LORD," YHWH. In his haste he still uses the covenant name. Even the shortest, most desperate prayer is addressed to the God who has bound Himself to His people by name.

"to bring to remembrance," lehazkir (לְהַזְכִּיר), a memorial, a reminder. Notice the psalm's title. It is a memorial prayer, meant to be remembered and prayed again, which tells us these short, urgent cries are not lesser prayers to be ashamed of but prayers worth keeping and repeating.

Explanation

Notice that this prayer dares to ask God to hurry. "Make haste... make haste... make no tarrying" (v5), the psalm is bracketed at both ends by the cry for speed. Now, we might think it improper to tell the Almighty to hurry, as if He needed our prompting or could be rushed. But Scripture is not embarrassed by this prayer; it records it as the honest cry of a soul in real, pressing danger. There is a kind of praying that is calm and unhurried, and there is a kind that is desperate and urgent, and God welcomes both. When the water is at your neck, you do not compose elegant sentences; you cry, "Make haste!" And that urgency is itself a form of faith, for a man only begs God to hurry because he truly believes God can and will help, and that no one else can. The very impatience of the prayer is a confession that God is his only hope. Notice, too, the psalm's title, "to bring to remembrance", it is a memorial prayer, meant to be remembered and prayed again. That is a mercy, for it tells us these short, urgent cries are not lesser prayers to be ashamed of, but prayers worth keeping and repeating. When your own trouble presses and you have no words but "Lord, hurry, help me," you are praying a prayer God Himself preserved in His book. He is not offended by your urgency; He invites it.

Gospel Focus

"Make haste, O God, to deliver me", the God to whom we cry for speedy help has drawn near in Jesus Christ, "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). The urgency of this prayer is welcomed by the Saviour who never turned away a desperate cry: the leper who said "if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," the blind men who "cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David" (Matthew 20:30), the sinking Peter who cried, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30), and immediately Jesus "stretched forth his hand, and caught him." Christ is the God who comes quickly to the drowning. And He bids us pray with just such boldness and persistence, "men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1), assuring us that God shall "avenge his own elect... speedily" (Luke 18:7-8). So when trouble is pressing and you can only gasp, "Lord, make haste, help me," pray it freely; it is the cry of faith, and it reaches the ear of a Saviour who is a very present help, near at hand, and swift to save all who call upon Him.

Word Study

"seek thee," Hebrew mevaqshekha (מְבַקְשֶׁיךָ). In the middle of his own crisis David lifts a prayer for others, and describes them by what they are after. Suffering tends to curve us inward until we can think of nothing but our own pain; faith keeps a window open.

"rejoice and be glad," yasisu veyismechu (יָשִׂישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ). Two verbs of joy, and they answer the mockers of verses 2-3 who said "Aha, aha" over his trouble. Two crowds, two cries: one sneering at a man's downfall, the other glad in God.

"love thy salvation," ohavei yeshu'atekha (אֹהֲבֵי יְשׁוּעָתֶךָ). Not merely those who want to be rescued, but those who love God's rescuing itself. David's own deliverance is bound up, in his mind, with the joy of all such people.

"say continually," yomru tamid (יֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד). Against the enemies' jeering he sets a speech that never stops. Where their mockery is momentary, this is to be said "continually," in every season and not only in rescue.

"let God be magnified," yigdal Elohim (יִגְדַּל אֱלֹהִים). Here is his highest wish, and it is not his own rescue but God's honour: that God be made great, seen to be great. The truest prayer in trouble asks not only "help me" but "be magnified."

Explanation

Set verse 4 against the verses just before it, and you will see two very different mouths and two very different desires. In verses 2-3, David's enemies are described by what they say: they mock, "Aha, aha," gloating over his trouble. Then in verse 4 he describes what he longs for God's people to say: "Let God be magnified." Two crowds, two cries, one sneering at a man's downfall, the other exalting God. And here is the striking thing: David is in the middle of a desperate emergency, crying "make haste," and yet even here his heart turns outward and upward. He does not pray only "rescue me"; he prays that "all those that seek thee" would "rejoice and be glad," and that lovers of God's salvation would go on "continually" magnifying God. His own deliverance is bound up, in his mind, with the joy of all God's people and the greatness of God's name. This is the mark of a heart that has not been shrunk small by its troubles. Suffering tends to curve us inward, until we can think of nothing but our own pain; but faith keeps a window open, so that even in crisis a man can still care that God's people rejoice and that God be magnified. And notice the aim of it all, that God would be "magnified", made great, seen to be great. Even his rescue, David wants, finally, for God's glory: let my deliverance be one more reason that God is magnified. The truest prayer in trouble asks not only "help me" but "be magnified."

Gospel Focus

"Let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified", those who love God's salvation are, in the fullest sense, those who love Jesus, for His very name means "the LORD saves," and to love His salvation is to love Him. The longing that "God be magnified" is the deepest desire of the redeemed heart and the purpose of the whole gospel, that "Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death" (Philippians 1:20). Those who have tasted the salvation of God in Christ cannot keep it to themselves; like David, they "say continually, Let God be magnified," joining the endless praise of the redeemed. And even our troubles serve this end, for God delivers us "that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:15). So let this be the shape of your prayers in trouble: not merely "help me," but "be magnified"; ask God to rescue you, and ask that your rescue would make Him great in the eyes of all who love His salvation. For the God who saves us in Jesus is worthy to be magnified continually, in our need and in our deliverance alike.

Word Study

"poor," Hebrew ani (עָנִי), afflicted, lowly. David closes as he began, in urgency, but now he names the ground of his appeal: "But I am poor and needy." He does not say, "I have served You faithfully," or "I deserve Your help"; he pleads not his worthiness but his emptiness.

"needy," evyon (אֶבְיוֹן), destitute, in want. The second word doubles the first and leaves him nothing to offer. This is one of the great secrets of prayer: our need is not an obstacle to God's help but the very ground of our appeal, for the poor and needy are exactly the kind of people God delights to help.

"help," ezri (עֶזְרִי). The same word he cried out in verse 1, now turned into a title. What he begged God to do he here confesses God to be: "thou art my help."

"deliverer," mefalti (מְפַלְטִי). On what does he finally rest? Not on himself at all. The poor and needy man has nothing in his own hand, so he puts everything in God's.

"make no tarrying," al-te'achar (אַל־תְּאַחַר), do not delay. The psalm ends where it started, asking for speed. His poverty is not something he apologizes for; it is his claim, and it makes him bold to ask God to come without delay.

Explanation

Weigh the word "But" that opens this final verse, and what David chooses to say about himself. After praying for his enemies' defeat and God's people's joy, he turns to his own condition with a contrast, "But I am poor and needy." Notice what he offers God as the reason to hurry to his aid. He does not say, "But I have served You faithfully," or "But I deserve Your help," or "But I am important." He says, "I am poor and needy", ani and evyon, afflicted and destitute. He pleads not his worthiness but his emptiness. And this is one of the great secrets of prayer: our need is not an obstacle to God's help but the very ground of our appeal. We do not qualify for God's aid by being strong, deserving, or impressive; we qualify by being poor and needy, for that is exactly the kind of person God delights to help. The rich and self-sufficient He sends "empty away" (Luke 1:53), but the poor and needy He fills. So David's poverty is not something he apologizes for; it is his claim, the reason he can boldly say "make haste unto me." And on what does he finally rest? Not on himself at all, but on God: "thou art my help and my deliverer." The poor and needy man has nothing in his own hand, so he puts everything in God's. That is the humble, empty-handed faith that always finds a full-handed God.

Gospel Focus

"But I am poor and needy... thou art my help and my deliverer", this is the very posture in which the gospel of Jesus Christ receives us, for Christ came precisely for the poor and needy. He announced His mission, "he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor" (Luke 4:18), and He pronounced blessing on emptiness, "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20), and "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3). The whole way of salvation is closed to the self-sufficient and open to the needy, for "they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" (Matthew 9:12). No one is saved by bringing God his worthiness; all are saved by bringing Him their need and receiving Christ, our "help" and "deliverer." He is the friend of publicans and sinners, the One who receives the empty-handed and fills them. So do not wait until you feel worthy to come to God; come as David came, poor and needy, and rest your whole weight on the Lord Jesus, your help and your deliverer. He does not despise the destitute; He came for them, and He will make no tarrying to save all who cry to Him out of their need.