Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord! (Psalm 70:1)

There is a belief among some commentators that this psalm is connected to another of David’s compositions, Psalm 40. The latter is believed to have been written when David was young and fleeing from Saul. This psalm is thought to have been written later in his life when he was fleeing from Absalom. If the circumstances were similar, then the sentiments expressed here would be familiar to David as well. Perhaps that is why the dedication of the psalm says, “To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance” as if to say, “Remember how You delivered me from Saul; Please deliver me again.”

I feel it is important to mention that, in the Hebrew mindset, remembering is not just calling something to mind. Of course, it includes recollection but, because Hebrew is more about action than abstracts, remembering means someone is motivated to take action. For example, after spending weeks drifting on the waters that had flooded the earth, the Bible says that, “God remembered Noah. … And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Genesis 8:1). Are we to believe that the Creator of the Universe had become temporarily distracted and then remembered these people on the ark? Of course not because, as it clearly states, He began to take action.

So then, not only does David request that God will call him to mind; he was asking God to move on his behalf, hence the petition, “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!” In that same vein of thought, when the criminal who was crucified along side of Yeshua said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42), he was requesting that Yeshua would act on His behalf. And, according to what we read, that man’s petition was received and granted. And so it is, we want God to remember us in our time of need because, when He remembers, He acts — He moves on our behalf to deliver us from our circumstances. And as for us, if we think back and remember — He has always been there to help us. As He has helped us in the past, He will help us again today.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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