Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Help! Quickly!

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
(Psalm 70:1)
Years ago I went on retreat with a group of Presbyterian men to a Trappist house in Conyers, GA, the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. The times of prayer we experienced there often began with this verse: “O God, come to my assistance; O LORD, make haste to help me.” Prayer and worship is the work of God and, therefore, requires His assistance. So that is what the monks asked for as they launched into the work.

This afternoon I was reminding God about the truck my son-in-law needs for his carpentry business. He wants a Ford F-150, and my wife and I have been believing God to supply him with a real honey of a truck — late model, low mileage, nice paint job in a color Matt likes, reliable, good on gas, air conditioner that blows cold, and a sweet sound system. His present vehicle is an old Jeep Cherokee that has more than seen its day. I could tell you what it needs, but it would be faster to tell you what it doesn’t need, which is next to nothing. Sometimes my daughter has to drive it, and that really motivates me, as a father, to keep this request before the Lord.

Anyway, as I was praying, this verse came to mind: “Make haste to help, O Lord.” Because sometimes we don’t just need help — we need it FAST! So I found myself saying, “Lord, bring that truck QUICKLY!”

David found himself in scrapes, more than once, when He needed God to act and to act quickly, because adversity was quickly closing in on him. As he lines out his request in this psalm, he is at same time declaring his trust and the glory of God. Recognizing how helpless he is without God, he ends his prayer
But I am poor and needy;
Make haste to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay. (v. 5)
The Message Bible puts it this way (although I think it could probably use a few more exclamation points:
But I've lost it. I'm wasted.
God — quickly, quickly!
Quick to my side, quick to my rescue!
GOD, don't lose a minute.
Some things can’t wait, and its okay to remind the Lord about it, even very emphatically. But never fear, and remember that He is also the Lord over time.

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