☦ Some Psalms of crying out for help, being delivered, thanksgiving for help.

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Psalm 17 A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Psalms: Crying Out for Rescue
(Psalms 69, 40, 80)
(Psalms 120-134)


The classic symbol of rescue in Christian art is the Good Shepherd rescuing a sheep, very common in the catacombs. "Statue of the Good Shepherd" (third century), 39" high, marble, from the Catacomb of Domitilla, now in Museo Pio Cristino, Vatican.Many of the psalms are laments that come out of times of great distress and trouble. They are unashamed cries for help, for salvation, for rescue.

These desperate laments may be great Hebrew poetry, but they are not pretty. They speak of times that you and I have faced when all seems lost except for God's intervention. And so at our extremity, we reach out to God and plead for rescue. They have a way of touching the human spirit, of helping us to pray when we are nearly beyond praying.

But most of the laments in our Psalter are not pure laments. Most end on an upswing of hope and praise. Some contain a combination of psalm types, mixing and matching various genre to fit what the poet singer needed to say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, as you begin to study each of these three psalms of rescue, first read it out loud. Listen to the words, savor them, let them speak to you. After you have done this, then begin to read them carefully to discern specifically what is being said.

Going Down for the Third Time (69:1-4)~
Whatever the situation, the psalmist is in deep trouble and in that it is easy for us to identify with him. In the first four verses the psalmist describes how he is feeling using the most graphic images:

"1Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
3I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
looking for my God.
4Those who hate me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal." (69:1-4)

David's images are vivid. Water which is over his head, overwhelming him. He describes the mire which settles in the bottom of a cistern or perhaps the sinking, grasping mud of a swamp that seems to have no bottom.

One of the refreshing things I see in the Psalms is the writers' ability to just pour out their hearts to God, with all the raw emotions, anger, fear that seem to bubble to the surface. They don't try to "compose themselves" before speaking to God. They tell it like it is, as you might unload on a good friend whom you trust implicitly and who you don't feel will judge you negatively. The Psalms are meant to be an exemplar for us, a guide to prayer. What they teach is that we should be real and honest in our prayers.

David's Appeal to God's Mercy (69:13-18)~
David cannot appeal to his own righteousness in this case.4 Rather he appeals to God's love and mercy as he pleads for deliverance:

"13But I pray to you, O LORD,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.
14Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.
15Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
17Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
18Come near and rescue me;
redeem me because of my foes." (69:13-18)

O My God, Do Not Delay (40:17)~
This psalm concludes with faith coupled with humility.

"Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay." (40:17)

Sometimes we become bold in ourselves. David is careful to remember his true state, "poor and needy," while at the same time calling with confidence on God in His true state -- "My Help and my Deliverer!" David concludes with a petition that many of us have felt. Yes, we have waited patiently -- waited and waited (verse 1), but our desire is to get this over with now! "O my God, do not delay!" (verse 17d).

Psalm 40 is a wonderfully human psalm, the desperate cry of one who is in deep trouble. But what inspires us is not its humanness, but its faith and its hope in the midst of this trouble and the psalmist's sincere surrender to the God whose thoughts are focused on him, the God who holds the plan for his life. And so he responds:

"Here I am, I have come....
I desire to do your will, O my God." (40 -8)