Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, Lord, to help me.
But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
‘The Lord is great!’
But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.
Psalm 70:1,4-5
Have we ever experienced a time when our minds seems numb through stress? A time when we are in deep trouble and need help? A time when the words of prayer don’t seem to come? Well, Psalm 70 could be our answer. Just five short verses that we can read, preferably out loud, forming a prayer for help. There are those who say that all prayers should be spontaneous; that pre-written prayers are not so good. But I wouldn’t agree. Any communication with our Father God, whether spontaneous or not, is good. In James 5:16 we read, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” If we truly believe in what we pray, God will hear and answer.
In these verses we are also encouraged to rejoice in God, to declare, “The Lord is Great”. That in itself is a statement of faith, adding weight to our petitions, because such a declaration is acknowledging God for who He is. And as we speak out these words, the grace of God will fall upon us, wrapping us in His loving kindness. And we then offer Him our thanks, from a position of faith, that what we have prayed for has come to pass.
But what if He doesn’t answer us? The occasion passes and we are still in trouble? There is no answer to our panicked prayers. Why is that? Is God selective in which prayers He answers? Not at all. Sometimes, we pray for help in a situation of our own making, perhaps caused by a wrong decision or a bad choice, and we may have to face the resulting consequences. But we can be assured that whatever is the cause for our prayers for help, God will be with us, helping us through the crisis. To me that is answer enough.
Being a Pilgrim 