Psalms 40:13

40:13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!

O Lord, hurry and help me! ¹ 

Psalms 70:1

Psalm 70 ² 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ³ 

70:1 O God, please be willing to rescue me! ⁴ 

O Lord, hurry and help me! ⁵ 

Job 7:21

7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,

and take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust, ⁶ 

and you will seek me diligently, ⁷ 

but I will be gone.”

[40:13]  ¹ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[70:1]  ² sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.

[70:1]  ³ tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[70:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”

[70:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[7:21]  ⁶ tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”

[7:21]  ⁷ tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).