SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 – LORD, DO NOT DELAY
READ: Ps. 70:1–5: … Make haste, O God, to deliver me! … Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You … Let God be magnified …
Again we read of a distressing situation in David’s life. He calls upon the LORD to help him before it is too late. He is confronted by adversaries who not only mock him (with “Aha, aha!”), but who also seek his life. How often this occurred! David, the man after God’s own heart, was so often the target of reproach, oppression, and persecution. Yet precisely at such moments he shows his dependence upon God and his trust in Him.
Thus we see him and his men weeping when their town of Ziklag had been plundered and burned and when the families of David and his men had been taken captive. But immediately afterward we read that he strengthened himself in the LORD, who then enabled him to recover everything (1 Sam. 30).
This does not mean that David was not deeply troubled in the midst of the crisis. We hear the urgency of his distress in the repeated appeals of “Make haste” in verses 1 and 5 and in the earnest petition: “O LORD, do not delay” (v.5).
Bringing our distress before God and pleading for deliverance is also the way that we must follow when our situation becomes critical. Yet the remarkable thing is that, while David pours out his distress, he simultaneously has reason to rejoice in the Lord. Verse 4 says: “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You … Let God be magnified!”
Paul points the Philippians to that same way of bringing their troubles to the Lord. Phil. 4:4–7 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always … Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The prayer that God may quickly bring judgment upon His enemies and deliverance to His people also remains a continuing concern for the New Testament church as she looks forward to the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead.
We hear this, on the one hand, in the prayer of the souls under the altar (Rev. 6:10), and, on the other hand, in the answer of the Lord Jesus to the prayer of the church as His bride: “Surely I am coming quickly. Amen”.
How do you apply this psalm to your own life?
Sing: Ps. 70:1,2