Monthly Archives: July 2019

O Lord, do not Delay! Psalm 70.

What The Bible Teaches us about Prayer.

Background to the Psalm:

The psalm is attributed to David and is a ‘Memorial Offering’ which means: ‘to bring to mind’.  It is virtually a retread of Psalm 40:13-17, the major difference being the substitution of God (Elohim) for LORD (Yahweh) in some parts of the psalm.  David may have remodelled this psalm, which may have originally been written when hiding from Saul, when he was fleeing from Absalom.  This theory is given some credence by David’s treatment of verse 13 from Psalm 40 which implies complete destruction of his enemies with the phrase: ‘Be pleased’, yet here in verse 3 illustrates restraint with the words: ‘turn back’ as David does not wish for the destruction of his own son!  Max Anders feels this psalm illustrates: ‘The best prayers are often the shortest prayers, quick distress calls offered to God in the heat of the crisis.  Without time for formality or structure these pleas are desperate cries for God to intervene quickly.’[1]

The Structure of the Psalm:

  • David’s cries to God to save him completely and deliver him quickly (v1).
  • David is concerned the godless should be exposed, disorientated and then defeated and that the godly would be enthused (vs2-4).
  • David has confidence not in himself, but only in God (v5).

Some obviations on the text (all quotations ESV):

The tone of the psalm is established in verse 1 with the phrase: ‘Make haste, O God, to deliver me!  O Lord, make haste to help me!’  There’s little doubt David is praying with urgency because the situation is desperate.  The language David uses here invokes both God’s title ‘Elohim’ (Creator God) and Yahweh (Lord God Almighty – the Covenant name for God). This illustrates David’s total confidence in God as there’s nothing outside God’s influence.  Secondly, he’s the God who made a Covenant with his people.  In other words, he’s the God who keeps his promises, which is important as he has made promises to David at various times in his life and kingship.

Having made this request David couples his prayer with God’s cause.  There are people seeking his life, so he prays their cause will come to nothing.  David’s request is because these people are seeking to inhibit and mock the Lords cause.  As the ‘Lord’s Anointed’ an attack on him is as good as an attack on God!  The last part of verse 3 is reminiscent of those who passed by when Jesus was dying on the cross (Mark 15:29).  That reinforces that this is opposition to God and his plans.  Verse 3-4 illustrate that David feels: ‘the pure worship of God was being affected by this rebellion’[2]  He longs for true joyful worship to be restored, rather than believers developing the kind of mindset Elijah had when fleeing from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:10), as when things are going against the Lord’s people it’s very easy to develop an inaccurate and negative mindset!  Charles Spurgeon remarks in the light of this: ‘The doxology “Let’ the Lord’s name be magnified,” is infinitely more manly and ennobling than the dogs bark of “Aha aha.”’[3]

The psalm concludes with a contrast.  David maybe: ‘poor and needy’ (v5) needing instant intervention,  but he invokes the name ‘Yahweh’ again as he knows God can deliver even in this desperate situation.  Martin Luther summarise the psalm in this way: ‘This prayer is a shield, thunderbolt and defence against every attack of fear, presumption (and) lukewarmness … which are especially dominant today.’[4]

[1]  Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Psalms 1-75 (Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville, 2003) 348.
[2] Eric lane, Psalms 1-89, The Lord Saves (Christian Focus Publications Ltd, Fearn, 2006) 310.
[3] Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Volume 3, Psalms 53-78 (Evangelical Press, Welwyn, 1977) 290.
[4] Martin Luther, First Lectures on the Psalms: 1, Psalms 1-75, Volume 10 in Luther’s Works, edited Hilton C.  Oswald (St. Louis, Concordia, 1974) 391.

The Songs of Ascents: Psalm 125.

Scriptural Thought for the Month
The Lord Surrounds His People

In the first film of the ‘Lord’s of the Rings’ trilogy, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ the scene is brilliantly set.  By using a voiceover and showing us images of the Shire (the place where the early part of the story takes place) Peter Jackson, the director and one of the writers, sums up everything we need to know in one line.  “Time moves slowly in the Shire, if it moves at all.” In this way, he quickly sets a scene of permanence and security which the book takes many pages to do.

In the same way the Psalmist achieves the same atmosphere in the first part of this psalm.  ‘Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides for ever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and for evermore’ (vs1-2).  One can imagine the faithful Pilgrims looking at the mountain Jerusalem was built on and thinking of the LORD’S (‘Yahweh’, God’s Covenant name) promises to his people.  Apparently, the mountains surrounding Jerusalem hid the city.  So the picture is one of protection and security and reminds us of the blessings in the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) which were promised to the Lord’s people if they were faithful.

Yet verse 3 strikes an ominous note.  ‘For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, least the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.’  The Lord may be good to his people, but his people have to be vigilant!  It’s possible this Psalm was written at the time of Nehemiah’s reforms.  He faced opposition from without (Nehemiah 4) but also from within.  Some Israelites were oppressing their fellow countrymen by lending money and charging impossibly high interest so the work of rebuilding the city’s walls was being hindered (Nehemiah 5).  Even when the work was completed and the people had been instructed in God’s law and his covenant, after being away, Nehemiah came back to find that God’s law was being broken and the covenant ignored by some of the people (Nehemiah 13:4-31)!

I can’t remember the number of times people have said to me: “that used to be such a good Bible teaching church 20 years ago!”  So what’s happened?  Did a bunch of heretics suddenly take over its leadership overnight?  Of course not!  If that happened the faithful would notice!  Rather, the teaching of the gospel had been slowly eroded, until one morning the faithful woke up and realise they’re part of a church where the gospel has been lost!  The sad thing is: ‘the righteous’ end up being part of a corrupted church!  So the Psalmist, being a realist, calls on the Lord’s people to be vigilant and guard the truth.  The most chilling words in the New Testament are found in 1 Corinthians 10:1-6.  Here Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the immense blessing that the Israelites experience during the exodus, yet concludes: ‘Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness’ (1 Corinthians 10:5 NIV) as a warning to a proud church!

But the Psalmist takes nothing for granted.  The blessings of the first part at Deuteronomy 28 are followed by a series of curses (vs15-68) warning the people what will happen if they fail to keep their part of the covenant!  So the Psalmist prays for, and doesn’t take for granted, the Lord’s blessing to the faithful.  He prays for protection from those who would try to infiltrate the Lord’s people with bad ideas and he prays for peace (vs4-5).   As God’s people had to then, the church today must guard against false teaching.  Maybe we’ve been privileged with good gospel teaching over the years.  If so, let’s thank the Lord and be humble enough to ask for his continual protection!

Like to hear a sermon on this Psalm? The Lord Surrounds His People!