Psalm 70: Dialing 911

On many mornings I enjoy having a somewhat extended (for me, anyway) time of reading the Bible. A cup of coffee, solitude, and the Scripture is a great way to start my day. But, sometimes life intrudes, cutting short or eliminating this favorite habit. Whether it’s my own lack of discipline to get up early or some emergency requiring my attention, sometimes there isn’t opportunity for that quiet time of reading, prayer, and meditation.

Or maybe in the course of the day I am suddenly faced with a serious crisis needing immediate action in which there is no time to prepare, only to react. Whether it’s the former situation or the latter, sometimes all I’m able to do is send up a flare: “God, help!”

The warrior-king David had his share of times like that, too. I know he did because he wrote about them in Psalm 70. In five short verses, his prayer begins and ends with a plea: Lord, please hurry and help me! David provides reasons why he needs a 911 immediate response from God: there are enemies trying to kill him, people trying to hurt him, and some who are rejoicing in his troubles, seeking to humiliate him.

In David’s snapshot prayer, he asks that his tormentors be turned back and dishonored, and he prays that those who seek God would rejoice with gladness, and that God would be glorified by his people. His emergency request ends with a humble confession that he needs God’s deliverance, and he needs it now.

Commentators note that Psalm 40:13-17 constitutes an almost word-for-word repetition of Psalm 70, and that Psalm 71 is also very closely related to Psalm 70. Both Psalm 40 and Psalm 71 are longer than the brief cry for help that composes the short, emergency telegram of Psalm 70.

It’s a comforting lesson. In those crisis situations, when all there’s time for is “God, help!”, it’s enough: He hears and answers.

Classic Prayers of Scripture

[The list has been expanded to include prayer testimonies]

Click here to view the most current Classic Prayers of Scripture document.

The most beautiful, powerful prayers are those we find in Scripture, those which are inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself. They contain language and theology that we should imitate in our own prayer lives.

Some are so intimate between persons of the Godhead, such as John 17 (containing the prayer of God the Son to God the Father), that they amount to inter-Trinitarian conversation which we cannot emulate in our own prayer lives, yet do they make for rich meditation.

Some of the classic prayers, such as the cry of dereliction (“My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46), are so unique in redemptive history that we can not imitate them in our own prayer lives. There are other prayers in which the individual expresses the sense of abandonment (such as Psalm 88) that are more appropriate for you and I.

Some of the prayers noted here preserve none of the original language; merely the fact of the prayer is noted in the midst of the circumstance. Nehemiah’s prayer (Nehemiah 2:4), which comes when king Artaxerxes puts him on the spot, is a classic example of launching a “God, help me!” prayer when there is not time for anything more.

In any case, I am offering this forum in an attempt to improve my own prayer life by considering and meditating on the prayers we see in Scripture. I invite you to share your own favorite prayers found in the Bible. Provide the reference, and a few lines about what makes the prayer so meaningful to you. You can do that with comments, or you can email them to me. I’ll add your selections to the mix. I’ll act as an editor; I trust you won’t be offended by that. You are also welcome to add your thoughts to prayers someone else (including me) has already referenced.

By the way, I'll leave a link to this post somewhere on the top of my blog, entitled “Classic Prayers of Scripture,” so it will always be easy to locate.

While the purpose of this post is primarily for folks at BFC, anyone who reads this blog can participate. The ground rules are that the prayers must be from one of the sixty-six canonical books of the Bible. Great prayers of history and prayers from the Apocrypha will not be included.

I've included just enough to get started, and will add several of my own favorites each week, as well as any that you send to me.

Click here to view the current Classic Prayers of Scripture document.