Brokenness in Psalm 70 Gives Rise to an Urgency of Soul

When a crisis strikes, an urgency of soul comes upon the sufferer. Your focus becomes singular. You’re not easily distracted. A stake is hammered into the ground.

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!” Psalm 70:1

You beseech the God of the universe to be quick to help and deliver you. You’re suffering. You’re in need. Brokenness has descended upon you, and you sense you’re under attack. You need help, and you need it hastily.

However, do not be surprised as if this is something strange happening to you (1 Peter 4:12). Be prepared and ready to respond in prayer.

“When the way seems dark before me, give me grace to walk trustingly…” John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer

Biblical lament reminds us to turn to God first. It is our first order of business. We lay out our complaint before him and turn it into a request. Above it all, our turning, complaining, and requesting are marked by full trust in his goodness and sovereignty.

“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! Let them turn back because of their shame who say, ‘Aha, Aha!’” Psalm 70:2-3

And trust is required because brokenness mocks you. “Aha, Aha,” it taunts you. Brokenness seeks your life. Brokenness delights in your hurt. Brokenness ridicules you and jeers at you. The fall of man shows up and visits you like never before.

And so you turn to God in prayer. Your prayer is that brokenness and those who perpetrate it are shamed and confused. May brokenness be turned back and brought to shame.

“May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’” Psalm 70:4

I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 5:2 which instructs us, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.” Take special note of this clarifying statement: “God is in heaven and you are on earth.” God is indeed great. He is in heaven. We are not.

We, from our temporal place, seek him who is eternal. We rejoice. We find gladness in him. We love his salvation and we exclaim, “God is great!”

“How great is God! how small am I! A mote in the illimitable sky…” Gerhardt Ter Steegen, Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others

How great is God. How small am I. And yet he responds to our complaints, our requests. He is touched by our turning and our trusting. He knows we are poor and in need. He is the one who is able to help us. He is our deliverer.

The very brokenness that we experience gives rise to an urgency in our souls. We acknowledge our poverty and need. We beseech him to turn to us. He alone is our help. Our prayer is that he comes to our aid hastily and without delay.

The brokenness of our world gives rise to an urgency in our souls and a hasty response from our God.