My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 70 is essentially a repetition of a portion of Psalm 40. There are some differences that may prove to be instructive, and provide opportunity for comment. The following tables will provide my reader an opportunity to quickly compare each verse between the two psalms and consider the differences for themselves.
Variations between the two Psalms will be noted by italicized font. Earlier comments for this first portion may be found at Psalms for Psome – Ps 40.06.
Prior to getting into the Psalm, it may be good to consider that this Psalm begins with “To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.”
This Psalm is stated as related to an offering associated to a past occurrence, a memory, and may refer to Psalm 40, basing this psalms cry to God on the previous Psalm.
This may give the modern believer justification for the repetition of prayers and petitions that are not original from the saint. This thinking is somewhat foreign in my circles, but I have met good and honest believers, those who “merely repeat”, prayers. My judging of this practice is wholly unfair, for what man can judge another man’s motives in his prayers?
Let’s consider the first three verses.
| Psalm 70 | Psalm 40 |
| 1 – Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! | 13 – Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! |
It seems this prayer is motivated by an immediate need, more so than the original request. Hurry up O God.
| Psalm 70 | Psalm 40 |
| 2 – Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life! Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! | 14 – Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! |
The apparent difference between “confusion “and “disappointed” is translational, for the Hebrew word is the same, but the concept of the disappointment not being complete or “altogether” in psalm 70 may imply the Psalmist is looking for an individual, instead of a group of enemies.
| Psalm 70 | Psalm 40 |
| 3 – Let them turn back because of their shame who say, “Aha, Aha!” | 15 – Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” |
The difference in this verse may be seen in Psalm 70, and that the psalmist is praying for them to be “turned back” or to retreat from any advancement on his life. To be appalled is a much more forceful word in that it describes a desolation, or a ravaging.
Psalm 70, for the minor differences, seems to present to God a prayer of an immediate need, or at least a greater concern with a response from God without delay. The psalmist has modified the prayer to God in Psalm 40, presenting his need as more urgent, and somewhat less concerned with the treatment of his enemies. He is more focused on his salvation than the retribution of his enemies.
A question for my readers. How should a believer, one who has trusted in the Messiah and understood His message, consider the retribution of those who seek his harm?
Leave me a message in the comments below.
Your message has been sent
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
Considering the Bible 