Psalms 70: The prayer leaves the urgency in place

Psalm 70 has almost no spare motion. It begins by asking God to hurry and ends by asking him not to delay. Between those appeals, two kinds of seekers are placed side by side. One group seeks the speaker's life and enjoys his distress with an audible "Aha." The other seeks God, loves his salvation, and is asked to rejoice and say continually that God is magnified. The contrast reaches speech as well as intention. Gloating over another person's collapse stands opposite praise directed toward God. The speaker can ask gladness for others without disguising his own poverty and need. He can also call God helper and deliverer without pretending that help has already arrived. The psalm's confidence is therefore not calm distance from danger. It is the urgent persistence of a needy person who knows where the appeal must go.