Bible Commentaries

Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.

As the next psalm is without a title, it is probable that the two together form a pair with one title. As Psalms 70:1-5 reproduces, with variations, the close of Psalms 40:1-17, so Psalms 61:1-8, in its beginning, is taken from Psalms 31:1-24; Psalms 69:1-36; Psalms 70:1-5; Psalms 71:1-24 form a connected trilogy: the theme is the suffering Righteous One. 'Elohiym (God) is twice substituted for Yahweh (LORD) in Psalms 70:1-4, and for 'Adonay ("Lord" in small type) in Psalms 70:5, and Yahweh for 'Elohiym in Psalms 70:5.

On the title, To bring to remembrance, cf. note on title, Psalms 38:1-22. A psalm designed to put God in remembrance of the Righteous Sufferer and His people. Hence, this psalm contains just the complaining and supplicatory part of Psalms 40:1-17, and omits the thanksgiving and praising portion of it. When God seems to forget us, we must not forget to 'put Him in remembrance,' (Isaiah 43:26; Isaiah 62:6, margin.) Psalms 40:1-17 contained in combination thanks and supplications. For the benefit of those who had not as yet received assurance of God's favour, David gives the second part of Psalms 40:1-17, in an independent form, as a prayer. That it is a fragment is indicated by its consisting of five verses-the number implying incompleteness. The names of God similarly occur just five times. In Psalms 70:1; Psalms 70:5 there is an ascending climax from 'Elohiym to Yahweh - a consolatory thought to the godly in affliction, that He who hath infinite Godhead is peculiarly the covenant-keeping LORD ( Yahweh ) of His people.