Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
The closing five verses of the psalm stand together as a unit that is repeated in Psalm 70 with slight revisions. Within the psalm they form a later section that speaks from the psalmist's own circumstances, distinct from the earlier verses about Christ's work among the Gentiles. This urgent plea comes directly after the description of being surrounded by countless troubles and innumerable evils, held fast by iniquities so that he cannot look up, with sins more than the hairs of his head and his heart failing him. It is an urgent prayer asking the Lord to be pleased to deliver the speaker and to make haste to help him, expressing a deep sense of need in distress.
The psalm speaks to every soul and is especially prophetic of Christ, who stood on behalf of humanity, so its plea for deliverance applies to believers. It is a prophetic picture of Christ's inner experience as He faced severe struggles with the enemy, revealing how He felt in suffering and temptation and how He can help those who are tempted. Cited together with Hebrews 10, the psalm shows that God's law was in Christ's heart when He presented Himself as a sacrifice, proving that Christ did not abolish the law through His death.
The verse is the prayer of a penitent sinner under conviction and confession, overwhelmed by guilt. That conviction is wrought by the Spirit through seeing that God gave His only-begotten Son to die for sinners, filling the soul with self-loathing sorrow for sin as it asks God for deliverance and quick help. It shows that God is able and willing to save, and belongs among psalms that move from a deep sense of need toward triumph and confidence in God. As part of the Psalms as inspired expressions of prayer and praise, it teaches people to commune with God and can be made their own in personal and family devotion.
The closing five verses of the psalm stand together as a unit that is repeated in Psalm 70 with slight revisions. Within the psalm they form a later section that speaks from the psalmist's own circumstances, distinct from the earlier verses about Christ's work among the Gentiles. This urgent plea comes directly after the description of being surrounded by countless troubles and innumerable evils, held fast by iniquities so that he cannot look up, with sins more than the hairs of his head and his heart failing him. It is an urgent prayer asking the Lord to be pleased to deliver the speaker and to make haste to help him, expressing a deep sense of need in distress.
The psalm speaks to every soul and is especially prophetic of Christ, who stood on behalf of humanity, so its plea for deliverance applies to believers. It is a prophetic picture of Christ's inner experience as He faced severe struggles with the enemy, revealing how He felt in suffering and temptation and how He can help those who are tempted. Cited together with Hebrews 10, the psalm shows that God's law was in Christ's heart when He presented Himself as a sacrifice, proving that Christ did not abolish the law through His death.
The verse is the prayer of a penitent sinner under conviction and confession, overwhelmed by guilt. That conviction is wrought by the Spirit through seeing that God gave His only-begotten Son to die for sinners, filling the soul with self-loathing sorrow for sin as it asks God for deliverance and quick help. It shows that God is able and willing to save, and belongs among psalms that move from a deep sense of need toward triumph and confidence in God. As part of the Psalms as inspired expressions of prayer and praise, it teaches people to commune with God and can be made their own in personal and family devotion.