1 <To the chief music-maker. Of David. To keep in memory.> Let your salvation come quickly, O God; come quickly to my help, O Lord.
Be pleased, O Lord, to take me out of danger; O Lord, come quickly and give me help. Let those who go after my soul for its destruction have shame and trouble together; let them be turned back and made foolish who take pleasure in my trouble. Let those who say to me, Aha, aha! be surprised because of their shame. Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May the Lord be great. Though I am poor and in need, the Lord has me in mind; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O my God.
<A Psalm. Of David. To keep in memory.> O Lord, be not bitter with me in your wrath; let not your hand be on me in the heat of your passion.
Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David: And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only: And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace. And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel. Then Absalom said, Now send for Hushai the Archite, and let us give ear to what he has to say. And when Hushai came, Absalom said to him, This is what Ahithophel has said: are we to do as he says? if not, what is your suggestion? And Hushai said to Absalom, Ahithophel's idea is not a good one at this time. Hushai said further, You have knowledge of your father and his men, that they are men of war, and that their feelings are bitter, like those of a bear in the field whose young ones have been taken from her: and your father is a man of war, and will not take his night's rest with the people; But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side. Then even the strongest, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will become like water; for all Israel is conscious that your father is a man of war, and those who are with him are strong and without fear. But my suggestion is that all Israel, from Dan as far as Beer-sheba, comes together to you, a great army like the sands of the sea in number; and that you yourself go out among them. Then we will come on him in some place, wherever he may be, falling on him as the dew comes on the earth: and of him and all the men who are with him not one will get away with his life. And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there. Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, Hushai's suggestion is better than that of Ahithophel. For it was the purpose of the Lord to make the wise designs of Ahithophel without effect, so that the Lord might send evil on Absalom. Then Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, This is the suggestion made by Ahithophel to Absalom and the responsible men of Israel, and this is what I said to them. So now send the news quickly to David, and say, Do not take your night's rest by the way across the river to the waste land, but be certain to go over; or the king and all the people with him will come to destruction. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting by En-rogel; and a servant-girl went from time to time and gave them news and they went with the news to King David, for it was not wise for them to let themselves be seen coming into the town. But a boy saw them, and gave word of it to Absalom: so the two of them went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim who had a water-hole in his garden, and they went down into it. And a woman put a cover over the hole, and put crushed grain on top of it, and no one had any knowledge of it. And Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said to them, They have gone from here to the stream. And after searching for them, and seeing nothing of them, they went back to Jerusalem. Then after the servants had gone away, they came up out of the water-hole and went to give King David the news; and they said, Get up and go quickly over the water, for such and such are Ahithophel's designs against you.
Come near to my soul, for its salvation: be my saviour, because of those who are against me.
O God, be not far from me; O my God, come quickly to my help.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Psalms 70
Commentary on Psalms 70 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 70
To the chief Musician, cf15I A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. This psalm, according to Kimchi, was composed by David when he fled from Saul, or from Absalom; so Theodoret; but if at either of those times, it is most likely to be the latter, since the following psalm, it is certain, was penned when he was an old man, Psalm 69:9; the word translated "to bring to remembrance" is thought, by Aben Ezra, to be the first word of some pleasant song; see Psalm 38:1. The Targum paraphrases it, to remember the use of the frankincense; alluding to Leviticus 2:2; Jarchi says it signifies prayer, and refers to Psalm 20:7, as instances of the use of the word in such a sense; and so this psalm is composed by the psalmist in a petitionary way, to put the Lord in remembrance of his afflictions, and of his promises of help and deliverance, which he prays for; see Psalm 132:1; and that he would avenge him on his enemies, and show respect to his friends; or it was written to refresh his own memory with his present state, and to put him in mind from whence he might expect help and salvation. The title of the psalm in the Arabic version is, and so in the Vulgate Latin, following the Septuagint,
"a remembrance that the Lord had saved him:'
and in the Syriac version,
"a psalm of David as to the letter, when he sent Joab to take Shemuah (Sheba), who rebelled; also a supplication of the righteous, and even of Christ himself.'
And seeing this follows upon the preceding, and may be reckoned an appendix to it, and there are some things in it which manifestly refer to the latter part of that, and the whole is detached from the fortieth psalm, with which it agrees, a few words only excepted, which manifestly belongs to the Messiah; it is right to understand this of him; Psalm 40:13.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me,.... The phrase, "make haste", is supplied from the following clause in Psalm 40:13; it is, "be pleased, O Lord", or "Jehovah". The Targum renders it, "to deliver us"; very wrongly;
make haste to help me, O Lord; See Gill on Psalm 22:19.
Let them be ashamed and confounded,.... In Psalm 40:14 it is added, "together"; See Gill on Psalm 40:14;
that seek after my soul; or "life"; in Psalm 40:14 it is added, "to destroy it"; for that was the end of their seeking after it;
let them be turned backward, &c. See Gill on Psalm 40:14.
Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,.... In Psalm 40:15 it is, "let them be desolate"; which seems to respect their land and houses, here their persons; See Gill on Psalm 40:15;
that say; in Psalm 40:15 it is added, "to me"; not to his people, but himself,
aha, aha: rejoicing at his calamity and distress. The Targum is,
"we are glad, we are glad;'
See Gill on Psalm 40:15, and compare with this Ezekiel 25:3.
Let all those that seek thee,.... The Targum is,
"that seek doctrine (or instruction) from thee.'
rejoice and be glad in thee; the Targum paraphrases it,
"rejoice and be glad in thy word.'
and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified; the Targum is,
"let the glory of the Lord be increased;'
and in Psalm 40:16, instead of "God", it is "the Lord", or "Jehovah": See Gill on Psalm 40:16.
But I am poor and needy,.... In Psalm 40:17 it follows, yet "the Lord thinketh on me"; instead of which it is here; see Gill on Psalm 40:17;
make haste unto me, O God; which repeats for sense the same petition as in Psalm 71:1;
thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying; in Psalm 40:17 it is, "O my God".