Psalm 70 is short, but it is not shallow. It is one of the purest cries of urgency in the Psalter. There is almost no preface, no ornament, and no delay. The soul asks for help at once.
That brevity is part of its wisdom. There are moments when the spiritual life does not need a long explanation. It needs a true cry. The Church’s repeated use of this Psalm in daily prayer shows that urgent dependence on God is not spiritual immaturity. It is spiritual honesty.
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 70 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 69 |
| Accepted author | Davidic by superscription. |
| Period in David’s life | No precise event is named. The superscription marks it for remembrance, but does not establish its original occasion or use. |
| Christ prophecy status | Not a narrow predictive oracle, but deeply Christological and ecclesial in reception. The sinless Christ shares our human condition; His Body confesses its need for His mercy. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | The Agpeya and selected Holy Fifty Days and annual Matins readings preserve this Psalm or excerpts from it. See the service-specific references below. |
| Numbering issue | The displayed text is Brenton LXX Psalm 69. Brenton numbers its superscription separately as 69:1. The Agpeya prints 69 (70); the selected lectionary excerpts print Psalm 70 references. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 70 is closely related to the closing plea of Psalm 40:13-17 (LXX Ps 39:14-18). The two share a compact appeal for help, though the resemblance does not establish which form came first. Psalm 70 stands as a prayer of its own. It is not trying to tell the whole story. It is the distilled cry that remains when the heart is pressed.
Its brevity makes it easy to return to, almost like a repeated arrow prayer. One can pray it quickly, often, and truthfully.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
No named place drives this Psalm. Its urgency can belong to a dangerous situation as well as to the inward struggle with fear or temptation.
The Characters 👥
The poor and needy suppliant. This is the voice at the center of the Psalm. In the Church’s hearing it can be David, Christ in His humility, and every believer who truly knows his need.
The enemies. They seek the soul, desire evil, and taunt with “Aha, aha.”
Those who seek God. They are the true counterpart to the enemies. They rejoice, not in another’s downfall, but in God’s salvation.
God. He is helper, deliverer, and the One whose timely nearness is everything.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 70:1 (LXX Ps 69:2) and the superscription (LXX Ps 69:1), the urgent cry for help
69:1 For the end, by David for a remembrance, that the Lord may save me. 69:2 Draw nigh, O God, to my help.
The Psalm wastes no time. It does not begin with long recollection. It goes straight to need. That teaches something important. Not every authentic prayer needs to be extended. There are moments when compact truth is the right form of prayer.
The superscription says “for a remembrance,” but does not tell us exactly how the prayer was first used. For us, the title invites a return to this cry whenever need is fresh. The soul can remember its need for God, and the Church can remember that salvation is always gift, never possession.
In his Letter to Marcellinus, Athanasius describes the Psalter as giving words fitted to the soul’s needs. His general insight helps us here: when no polished speech is left, the first cry of this Psalm is already a prayer.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “compact truth is the right form of prayer”; “salvation is always gift, never possession.”
- Emphasize: the prayer’s simplicity, urgency, and repeatability.
- Avoid: treating short prayer as spiritually inferior to long prayer. The Psalm itself proves otherwise.
Psalm 70:2-3 (LXX Ps 69:3-4), shame on taunting evil and joy for seekers of God
69:3 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek my soul: let them be turned backward and put to shame, that wish me evil. 69:4 Let them that say to me, Aha, aha, be turned back and put to shame immediately.
The enemy in this Psalm is not only violent. He is mocking. “Aha, aha” is the sneer of contempt. It is the small but vicious sound of triumph over another person’s weakness. Scripture takes that kind of speech seriously because mockery is not light. It is a form of hatred that enjoys another person’s distress.
The prayer that such people be turned back is not a request for petty revenge. It is a request that evil lose its momentum. The soul asks God to stop the advance of those who delight in destruction. Asking God for help can also mean seeking safety and support from other people; the Psalm gives no reason to remain in harm’s way.
Spiritually, the Psalm exposes a temptation found even in religious people: the satisfaction of seeing another person fail. Whenever the heart says “aha” over someone else’s humiliation, it has already stepped onto dark ground.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “mockery is a form of hatred that enjoys another person’s distress”; “the soul asks God to stop the advance of evil.”
- Emphasize: the moral seriousness of contemptuous speech.
- Avoid: making the enemy abstract only. The Psalm should also examine the speaker’s own heart.
Psalm 70:4-5 (LXX Ps 69:5-6), the rejoicing of seekers and the poor man’s confession
69:5 Let all that seek thee exult and be glad in thee: and let those that love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. 69:6 But I am poor and needy; O God, help me: thou art my helper and deliverer, O Lord, delay not.
The Psalm turns from the enemies to the seekers of God. That turn is essential. The prayer is not consumed with opposition. It is ordered toward praise. Those who love God’s salvation are not invited to magnify themselves, their discipline, or their endurance. They say continually, “Let God be magnified.”
Then the shared praise gives way to one voice in need. The confession “I am poor and needy” does not cancel the joy of those who seek God. The suppliant belongs among them.
Augustine of Hippo, a Christian witness from the wider Church, sees here a spiritual truth without asking us to ignore material need: even the forgiven and obedient still need God’s help. He writes, “There have been forgiven me my sins, now I have begun to follow the commandments of God: still, however, I am needy and poor.”1 Augustine even draws Lazarus into view as the aided poor one, showing that blessedness begins where self-sufficiency ends.
This is one of the most important correctives to proud religion. The mature Christian is not the one who has outgrown dependence. He is the one who confesses it more truthfully. “thou art my helper and deliverer” is not beginner language. It is final language.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “blessedness begins where self-sufficiency ends”; “this is not beginner language, but final language.”
- Emphasize: poverty of spirit as truth, not performance.
- Avoid: shrinking “poor and needy” to material poverty alone, or turning it into a vague metaphor with no call to humility.
Christological and Prophetic Reading
Psalm 70 is not presented here as a narrow predictive oracle. Its Christological depth lies elsewhere. The Church hears in it the voice of the humble and afflicted righteous one, and therefore hears it fittingly in Christ’s voluntary poverty and in the prayer of His Body.
Christ is the One who perfectly says, “Let God be magnified.” Having taken the form of a servant, He entered the human condition without sin. Augustine hears the Psalm in the voice of Christ as Head and Body. The Head is sinless; His members confess their own sins and need for mercy. The Church can pray this short Psalm in union with Him without attributing her sins to Him.
The Psalm also fits the ascetical life. The believer learns not to hide need or imagine that he must manage it without God. He can say it plainly, and receive help with gratitude.
The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪
The Book of Agpeya prints this prayer as Psalm 69 (70) in the First Hour, Sixth Hour, Veil Prayer, and Midnight First Watch. Its five prayer movements correspond in content to Brenton 69:2-6, not to Brenton’s separately numbered superscription. The Agpeya gives two petitions at the opening and ends with Alleluia; it is not a word-for-word printing of Brenton. Morning, midday, the Veil, and the night watch each offer an occasion to return to this cry of dependence.
Retained CopticChurch.net readings for the fourth Friday of the Holy Fifty Days distinguish Vespers and Matins. Vespers prints Psalm 70:1-2 with Mark 8:10-15: the Psalm excerpt begins with the brief plea for help and ends with those who desire the speaker’s hurt, corresponding to Brenton 69:2-3. Matins prints Psalm 70:1 and 5 with Mark 4:26-29: it begins with the same brief plea and ends with the confession of need and the appeal to the helper and deliverer not to delay, corresponding to Brenton 69:2 and 69:6. Neither opening includes the additional deliverance petition found in the full Bible verse used by the related cycle source.
Retained Liturgy readings for Monday of the second and fifth weeks of the Holy Fifty Days, and the sampled Tout 21 and Tout 23 Matins readings, also print Psalm 70:5. In these examples it is the poor-and-needy confession and the appeal to the helper and deliverer, ending with the request that the Lord not delay. Its Brenton counterpart is 69:6, not 69:5, where the seekers rejoice and magnify God. In the Paschal season, the confession is a fitting reminder that Resurrection joy does not make dependence obsolete.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
This Psalm does not point to a single narrative icon, but as a devotional resonance it fits icons of Christ the compassionate Deliverer and monastic or ascetical teaching settings. Its spiritual image is not spectacle, but the lifted hand of a needy soul.
It also resonates with the iconographic ethos of watchfulness. The one who prays at midnight, at dawn, and through the hours does not present himself as strong. He presents himself as dependent.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
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Learn the short prayer of honesty. There are moments when one true line before God is better than many decorative sentences.
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Watch your hidden “aha.” The taunting spirit can live in subtle sarcasm, private satisfaction, and quiet superiority.
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Make room for praise in your need. The Psalm lets the urgent plea and the magnifying of God stand together. You do not have to pretend that danger is small in order to pray.
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Confess need without shame. “I am poor and needy” is not failure language. It is reality-based prayer.
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Use the Psalm often. Its Agpeya placements invite us to keep this cry close at hand, not stored away for rare emergencies.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 6 minutes on verses 1-2; 8 minutes on verses 3-4; 10 minutes on verses 5-6; 8 minutes on Agpeya and Holy Fifty Days use.
- Where to linger: the superscription “for a remembrance” and the closing confession of poverty and need.
- Where to compress: extended source-critical discussion of the Psalm’s dependence on Psalm 40 unless the group specifically wants compositional history.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “I am poor and needy.”
- Pastoral warning: do not shame people for praying short prayers in distress. The Church herself gives them this Psalm for exactly that purpose.
Glossary
- Agpeya: The Coptic book of canonical hours used through the day and night.
- Veil Prayer: An extended Coptic prayer office often associated with monastic or fuller liturgical use.
- Midnight First Watch: The first part of the Coptic Midnight Prayer, marked by watchfulness and repentance.
- Poverty of spirit: The truthful recognition of one’s need for God.
- Holy Fifty Days: The Paschal season from Resurrection to Pentecost.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX). The title uses NKJV/Masoretic numbering first, Psalm 70, with the LXX number in parentheses. Brenton numbers the superscription as 69:1; the verse numbers in the Lesson guides and Teacher’s Notes follow the displayed Brenton text.
The Agpeya references come from Fr. Jacob B. Nadian’s Book of Agpeya. The lectionary examples come from retained dated readings. In the lectionary reference index, version 1.3.5, those dated entries were classified as public or local references; the related cycle views are not independent witnesses. Several cycle rows were removed in favor of date-resolved entries, not because the readings were absent. The second-week Monday cycle record names the Psalm even though its index group omits it. An indexed group is not an entire rite, and a cycle source’s full Bible verse does not by itself establish the exact service excerpt.
Sources
Primary sources
- Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 69.
- St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms, general discussion of the Psalter’s fitting words for prayer and later counsel on Psalms 69 and 70 under pursuit. The translator of the English text used here is unidentified.
- St. Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms, Latin/LXX Psalm 69, sections 3 and 7-8, New Advent heading Psalm 70. T. Scratton translated the applicable Oxford volume; A. Cleveland Coxe condensed and annotated the work for the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, with Philip Schaff as general editor. Kevin Knight revised the modernized New Advent text, whose wording differs from the older NPNF text.
Coptic Orthodox / liturgical sources
Fr. Jacob B. Nadian, Book of Agpeya, First Hour, PDF pages 39-40; Sixth Hour, page 89; Veil Prayer, pages 190-191; Midnight First Watch, pages 233-234.
CopticChurch.net, retained Holy Fifty Days readings: Monday of the second week, 27 April 2020; Friday of the fourth week, 12 May 2023; and Monday of the fifth week, 15 May 2023.
CopticChurch.net, retained Matins examples for Tout 21, 1 October 2022, and Tout 23, 3 October 2022.
Footnotes
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St. Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms, Latin/LXX Psalm 69, section 7 (New Advent heading Psalm 70), modernized New Advent text. ↩