Psalm 70

Psalm 70 Study

Welcome to Tour Today Ministries in our continuing series Tehillim Talks, our studies in the Psalms. And in this episode, we’ll be looking into Psalm 70, a very short psalm, but one I find fascinating. So, let’s get right into it.

Its superscription is to the choir master of David for remembrance. And that phrase for remembrance is found only in one other psalm and that’s Psalm 38. So you may want to go back and hear what I said about it back then and compare Psalm 38 with 70 and see why these two psalms would be called for remembrance.

But as I said, the psalm is very short, only five verses. So, let’s just take a look and read through these five verses without comment.

Psalm 70:1-5

“Make haste, Elohim (אֱלֹהִים), to deliver me. Adonai (יהוה), make haste to help me. Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor, who delight in my hurt. Let them be turned back because of their shame, who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’ May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation, your Yeshua (יְשׁוּעָה), say continually, Elohim is great. As for me, I am poor and needy. Hasten to me, Elohim. You are my help and my deliverer. Oh, Adonai, do not delay.” (Psalm 70:1-5)

The Word “Heach” (הֶאָח) – Aha

Now before we go much deeper into this psalm, that phrase aha, aha. That word aha is found 15 times in the Hebrew Bible, twice right here. And in Hebrew it’s heach (הֶאָח).

And what does it mean? I mean it’s like the word ouch. What does the word ouch mean? It doesn’t have a definition, but it’s something we all understand when we say it or hear it. And in France, they don’t say ouch. They say zoot when they get hurt. So what does heach mean when you hear it in Hebrew? It reminds me of in German they’ll say “ach” for different reasons, but it seems like this word heach expresses some joy. It’s not laughter exactly. So don’t read aha as laughter but like a satisfaction, especially the downfall of an enemy, the misfortune of an enemy, not always but sometimes.

And the heach, you can see it’s spelled hey (הֵ) aleph (א) chet (ח), but the hey aleph (הֵא) by itself is found two times in the Hebrew scriptures and two times also in Aramaic in the book of Daniel and it means Behold. And I have put those scriptures in the footnotes. You can look those up.

So hey (הֵא) by itself means look, behold. So heach may express some joy in beholding something. So in our psalm we see David’s enemies saying heach. Aha. Behold, look, we’ve got him now. We found him. The one we’re pursuing and want to destroy.

Connection to Psalm 40

Now, if these five verses sound familiar to you, then well done because these five verses in almost identical wording are found back in Psalm 40. Now, Psalm 40 is 17 verses long, but these five verses of Psalm 70 are almost identical to the final five verses of Psalm 40.

Now, here are the closing five verses of Psalm 40. Let me just read them aloud, and you’ll notice right away the similarities.

Psalm 40:13-17

“Be pleased, Adonai (יהוה), to deliver me. Adonai, make haste to help me. Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek my life to end it. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor, who delight in my hurt. Let those be appalled because of their shame, who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha.’ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation, your Yeshua (יְשׁוּעָה), say continually, ‘Great is Adonai.’ As for me, I am poor and needy, but my master takes thought of me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, oh my Elohim (אֱלֹהִים).”(Psalm 40:13-17)

You can hear how very similar, almost identical they are. So what’s going on here? Why are the final five verses of Psalm 40, why do they comprise the full five verses, the entire Psalm of Psalm 70? And if they’re so similar, why aren’t they completely identical? There are some differences as we’re going to look at in a moment. What’s going on?

Two Theories

Well, there are two theories here. One theory that a lot of scholars and linguists have come up with is that Psalm 70 was actually written first. It was a standalone five verse psalm that was older than Psalm 40. And then when Psalm 40 was created, was composed, they just took Psalm 70 and used it at the end of Psalm 40 and it comprises the last five verses with a few tweaks.

That might be the case, but I don’t like that theory. I like the traditional ancient theory that the Jewish people, the rabbis and Jewish scholars have held to for centuries. And that theory is this.

Psalm 40 was written first and Psalm 70 was written much later. And in Psalm 40, David is fleeing from King Saul and his army. You know the story. Saul became very very jealous of David and his successes on the battlefield. He was jealous of the popularity David had because of his slaying of Goliath and of his slaying of so many thousands of Philistines. David was the superstar of his generation and King Saul didn’t like it. And King Saul seems to have been suspicious that David would be the next king instead of his own son Jonathan. And so he wanted David out of the way. And he was overcome by a spirit of jealousy. And he was possessed by a spirit that would just overtake him. He became insanely enraged against David. And he would go on these long forays into the wilderness trying to find David and his small band of men who followed David and try to wipe them out. And so Psalm 40 is believed to be written as David’s outpouring of his heart, his frustration, calling out to God, “Help me quickly. I need you. I’m going to get killed here if you don’t come to my rescue.”

But then Psalm 70 is believed to have been written much later after David had become king. But once again, we find David fleeing for his life because his son, his beloved son Absalom (אַבְשָׁלוֹם), was chasing him down to destroy him.

Absalom committed a coup against the king and he usurped David’s throne and he brought incredible misery and shame to the house of David. And then Absalom took his men, his followers, these young rebels, to go out and chase his father and to drive his father out. And it’s believed that David wrote Psalm 70 when he’s fleeing not from King Saul, but here David the king is fleeing from his own son. A complete reversal.

David’s Sin and Its Consequences

And when we look at the circumstances of how this came about, it was all repercussions because of David’s great sin of killing Bathsheba’s (בַּת־שֶׁבַע) husband or having him killed and then committing adultery with Bathsheba.

In fact, when the prophet confronted David, we read about it in 2 Samuel 12:11. He said:

“Thus says Adonai (יהוה), Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun.” (2 Samuel 12:11)

And we know that that is indeed what happened when David fled Jerusalem. He went up on the Mount of Olives and he could look down upon Zion, upon the city of David and he could see his son Absalom on the roof having a fling with David’s own wives. And this prophecy is fulfilled. And again, the prophecy was made because God said, “Because of what you did, the wickedness you did against Bathsheba’s husband and against Bathsheba, there’s going to be problems in your home.”

And so in Psalm 70, David realizes, “I’m the fault. I’m the problem. I am the one who’s the cause of the suffering I am going through right now. I’m the cause of the upheaval in my kingdom right now because of my own sin.”

Comparing Psalm 40 and Psalm 70

So now if we lay these two psalms next to each other so we can compare verse by verse between the two, I think we’ll find things here that support this second theory.

So on the right I have Psalm 40. Now right at first glance you’re going to notice something. We’ll come back to this, but you’ll notice in Psalm 40, David uses the term Adonai (יהוה) twice in the first verse or verse 13 rather, but the first of these five verses, he uses it a third time in verse 16. And then in the last verse, instead of Adonai, he says Elohim (אֱלֹהִים).

But in Psalm 70, he starts with Elohim. And then he says Adonai, but then he goes back to Elohim in verse four. Again, Elohim in verse 5, but ends with Adonai.

So Psalm 40 ends with the name of God Elohim. But Psalm 70 ends with the name Adonai.

Understanding God’s Names: Elohim and Adonai

Now, if you’ve been with these teachings for any amount of time, or if you’re familiar with rabbinic understanding of God’s names, you know that when you see the word Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) used, it’s referring to God in his role of strict justice. Strict justice, everything’s black and white. There’s no wiggle room. When God created the world in Genesis chapter 1, only the name Elohim is used because creating the world, the sun, the moon, the stars, the plants, the trees, the oceans, the sky, he had to operate in very strict justice because scientifically, if things are a little bit out of adjustment, there would be no life on earth. Everything had to be done exactly and precisely with no wiggle room.

But then in the next chapter when we have a detailed description of God making man, how was God referred to? Not as Elohim but as Adonai Elohim (יהוה אֱלֹהִים). Now, Adonai, that’s what we say in place of the Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei (יהוה), God’s unpronounceable transcendent name, which is the name of mercy.

And so when we see Adonai Elohim together, God’s saying, I’m tempering my strict justice with mercy. When you see Adonai, God is expressing his merciful side.

And so you see these two names used in very precise ways in these two psalms.

Verse-by-Verse Analysis

So with that in mind, let’s go through:

Psalm 40 says, “Be pleased, Adonai, to deliver me. Adonai, make haste to help me.” So he’s fleeing from Saul and he’s pleading for God’s mercy. Please help me. Please help me. I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve this persecution I’m under. I’ve done nothing to deserve what I’m going through.

But Psalm 70, he says, “Make haste, Elohim.” He’s saying, “God, I know you’re judging me. I know I deserve it because your prophet told me because of this sin that I’ve done, these issues, these troubles are coming into my house, and that prophecy has been fulfilled. So, Elohim, you are the judge, and I deserve the judgment you’ve given me.”

So he says, “Make haste, Elohim, to deliver me, Adonai. Make haste to help me.” He still appeals to God’s mercy. Even in God’s strict justice, even though David is getting what he deserves and what God told him would happen, he still knows God’s merciful and he calls out to him as Adonai.

The Word “Yachad” (יַחַד) – Altogether

Then the next verse over in Psalm 40, it says, “Let those be put to shame and disappointed. Yachad (יַחַד), altogether, as one.”

Now that word yachad, altogether, is absent in the second verse of Psalm 70 says, “Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life.”

And the rabbis say that when the men in Saul’s army were pursuing David, they were united. They were loyal to their king, to King Saul, the rightful king of Israel. And they saw this upstart David as maybe being a threat to Saul’s throne. And they believed the hype that Saul had fed them about the dangers that David posed to his throne. And so they were united in their persecution and pursuit of David.

But with Absalom, we don’t really know what the young men were united by other than just wildness and rebellion and let’s just go crazy, excuse me, and let’s just go chase down the king and follow Absalom because they were just rebellious youth.

And over here again in Psalm 40, may they be disappointed who seek my life to end it. We don’t know that Absalom actually wanted to end David’s life. I think he just wanted to persecute him and make trouble for him and take pleasure in watching his father’s suffering. So that phrase “to end it” is not found in Psalm 70.

And then in verse 15, Psalm 40:15, let those be appalled or better let them be amazed. Let them be astounded is probably a better translation. Let them be astounded because of their shame. Who say to me, “Aha, aha.”

The rabbis say by this that Saul’s men became astounded at David’s graciousness towards Saul. David had several opportunities to kill Saul. And you can read about these in Samuel. But David didn’t. He was always gracious to Saul and he would shout over to Saul, “Saul, why are you persecuting me? You’re my king. I’m loyal to you.” And the men had to have been astounded at that and maybe appalled at why is Saul persecuting David? Why is he pursuing him? David loves his king.

But when it comes to Absalom in Psalm 70, David doesn’t say, “Let them be astounded or appalled,” but “let them be turned back.” God, just turn them back. Don’t let them continue with this. Don’t let the shame continue. Don’t let my son continue to destroy himself and our home and our kingdom through his foolishness.

The Final Words of Each Psalm

So again, Psalm 40 begins with Adonai. Adonai because David’s pleading for mercy as he flees from Saul.

But in Psalm 70, we see Elohim, Elohim, Elohim. But right at the end, he says, “Oh Adonai, do not delay.”

But in Psalm 40, it says, “Do not delay, oh my Elohim.” Remember, Psalm 40, if we’re understanding this correctly, is David fleeing from Saul. So, he finally ends the psalm with crying out to Elohim. In other words, Elohim, do justice. What Saul is doing to me is not right. Bring your strict justice. Defend me and bring King Saul’s pursuit of me to an end. Do what’s just here.

But at the end of 70, David fleeing from his son, the last word here is, “Oh Adonai, do not delay. Have mercy on me.”

And God did.

Conclusion

So this is the theory I hold to. It’s the ancient traditional theory and the Jewish understanding of the five verses that comprise Psalm 70 and the final five verses of Psalm 40.

But I find it fascinating to think about how David was pursued by the king. The later King David was pursued by his own son. What a reversal of fortunes. And remember everything God does, he does in pairs. So we see fleeing early in David’s life. We see fleeing late in David’s life.

So to take these two accounts, fleeing from Saul and then fleeing from his own son Absalom, it’s I think it makes another story, a complete story and an interesting picture of something God wants to teach us, something deep that he wants to reveal to us.

So there’s some homework for you. Till next time in Psalm 71, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם) and may God bless.

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Teaching Material

All Scripture Passages

Psalm 70; Psalm 38; Psalm 40:13-17; 2 Samuel 12:11; Genesis 1; Genesis 2 (ESV)

Hebrew Text Resources

• Psalm 70 – Hebrew Text (Sefaria)
• Psalm 40 – Hebrew Text (Sefaria)
• Psalm 38 – Hebrew Text (Sefaria)
• 2 Samuel 12 – Hebrew Text (Sefaria)

Hebrew Word Studies

• H430 – Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) – “God, gods, judges”
• H3068 – YHWH/Adonai (יהוה) – “LORD, the self-existent One”
• H3444 – Yeshua (יְשׁוּעָה) – “Salvation, deliverance”
• H1889 – Heach (הֶאָח) – “Aha! (exclamation)”
• H3162 – Yachad (יַחַד) – “Together, altogether, as one”
• H7965 – Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) – “Peace, completeness, welfare”
• H53 – Absalom (אַבְשָׁלוֹם) – “Father of peace”
• H1339 – Bathsheba (בַּת־שֶׁבַע) – “Daughter of an oath”

Additional References

• Torah Today Ministries
• Tehillim (Psalms) Commentary – Sefaria
• David and Saul – Jewish Encyclopedia
• Absalom’s Rebellion – Jewish Virtual Library