"O Lord, make haste to help me"

[Psalm 40:11-17]

In 1975, the devout Christian poet Kim Hyun-seung, who passed away at the age of 63, leaving behind a beautiful autumn leaf, wrote a poem titled "Autumn Prayer." I would like to share the last part of this poem:
"In autumn, let me be alone.
My soul, passing through the turbulent sea and the valley of lilies,
reaches a dry branch like a crow on the tree."
Regarding this part of the poem, Pastor Lee Jae-cheol said: "Only those who, in the moment when their life falls like a leaf, realize their complete solitude, can establish a proper relationship with the absolute God" (Internet).

Although autumn has passed and winter has come, personally, as I read the poet’s lines and Pastor Lee Jae-cheol’s reflections on them, I find myself agreeing with the idea that we must reaffirm, as the poet does, that we (too) are beings thoroughly disconnected from the world. Therefore, we must bow before the absolute God, alone, and pray.

Today, when we look at Psalm 40:11-17 in the Bible, we see the psalmist David, before the absolute God, humbling himself and pleading as an individual. In his petition, especially in the second half of verse 13, we read the words: "O Lord, make haste to help me." Under this title, I would like to reflect on three situations where David cried out to God, "O Lord, make haste to help me" and receive the grace He provides.

First, David prayed "O Lord, make haste to help me" in a situation of desperation.

Look at Psalm 40:12: "For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me."
Here, the phrase "my heart fails me" tells us that David was in a state of complete despair. Why was David in such despair? The first reason was the "innumerable evils" surrounding him, and the second reason was the countless iniquities he had committed. David, surrounded by many wicked people, came to realize his many sins in the midst of distress and suffering. He confessed that his sins were "more than the hairs of my head" (v.12). It's interesting. Through numerous calamities, David realized the magnitude of his own sins before God. In the midst of these countless disasters, he prayed, "O Lord, do not withhold Your mercy from me; let Your love and Your truth continually preserve me" (v.11).

Even in the midst of unrelenting calamities, David, having realized his countless sins, cried out to God, "O Lord, do not withhold Your mercy from me." He knew he had no merit to deserve salvation, so he looked to God's mercy and truth. He relied on God's unchanging virtue toward His saints—His faithfulness (Park Yun-seon).

We need to experience a profound sense of despair. The reason for this is that in the midst of despair, we are blessed to realize our innumerable sins and, further, to fully recognize that we have no merits of our own. At that moment, we are compelled to rely solely on the merit of Jesus' cross. Therefore, when we reach the point of despair where our heart is nearly lost, we must cry out to God, saying, "O Lord, hurry to help me": "O Lord, grant me Your grace and save me, O Lord, hurry to help me" (v. 13). In the midst of this, our despair will be transformed into hope in our hearts. What kind of hope is this? It is the hope of salvation.

Second, David prayed, "O Lord, hurry to help me," in a situation where he was on the brink of harm.

Look at Psalm 40:14:
"Let all those who seek to destroy my soul be ashamed and brought to dishonor; let those who desire my hurt be turned back and confounded."
In this world, there are people who wish for our success, but there are also those who secretly desire our downfall. In today's passage, we see that there were people who rejoiced in David's hurt. These people were those who sought to destroy his soul. They surrounded David with countless calamities (v. 12) and attempted to bring him to "shame and disaster" (v. 14). They were the ones who mocked him, saying "Ha, ha!" (v. 15). At that time, David prayed to God, asking that those who sought to harm him be put to shame and disgrace, and that they would "be turned back and reproached" (v. 14). David prayed that those who mocked him would be "astonished at their own shame" (v. 15).

An interesting contrast is that while David's enemies sought his soul to destroy it (v. 14), David sought the Lord. And David prayed to God that those who sought the Lord would "rejoice and be glad in You" (v. 16). David, when his enemies sought to destroy his soul, turned to the Lord, and he prayed that those who sought the Lord would rejoice and be glad in Him.

Think about it. In a situation like David's, what reason would he have to rejoice and be glad? If "innumerable calamities" surround us and through them, we come to realize just how many sins we have, what joy and happiness could there be in such a situation? When those who seek to destroy our soul are around us, mocking us and attempting to bring us to shame and ruin, what could give us joy and gladness in that situation?
Only the Lord! The Lord is our joy in the day of affliction and our source of happiness. But why is it that the Lord alone can be our joy and happiness in times of affliction? Because only He is our Savior, and He gives us the joy and happiness of salvation.

Therefore, David refers to those who seek the Lord as "those who love the salvation of the Lord" (v. 16). The phrase "the Lord is great" means that our God will save His saints through future generations (Park Yun-seon). In the midst of countless calamities and afflictions that seek to destroy our soul, the Lord, who is our joy and gladness, loves those who love His salvation. And those who seek Him will be saved. David, then, cried out to this God of salvation, saying, "O Lord, hurry to help me" (v. 13).

We must seek the Lord when we suffer at the hands of those who wish to harm us. We must long for and love His salvation. When we do so, the God of salvation, who seeks us, will give us the joy and delight of salvation.

Lastly, thirdly, David prayed to God saying, "O Lord, hasten to help me" in a time of poverty and need.

Let us look at Psalm 40:17:
"I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay."
David was suffering because of "innumerable calamities" (v. 12), his own sins (v. 12), those who sought to destroy his soul (v. 14), and those who rejoiced in his suffering (v. 14). He was also in a state of poverty. In that moment, David thought of the Lord and believed that the Lord would remember him. This faith and assurance were based on his knowledge of who God is and the experiences of that knowledge in his life. In other words, David knew that God was his "help" and "deliverer," and he had experienced this God in his past life. Having experienced God's help and deliverance countless times in his faith journey, David, while writing Psalm 40, trusted that the same God would help and deliver him again. So, he prayed, "O my God, do not delay" (v. 17), and "O Lord, hasten to help me" (v. 13).

When we are in suffering and poverty, we must deeply meditate on who our God is. Our God is "my help" and "my deliverer" (v. 17). As we meditate on this, we should recall our past experiences of God, remembering His grace in helping and delivering us. Even in suffering and poverty, we must believe and be assured that our God will help and deliver us. In those moments, we should earnestly pray, "O my God, do not delay" and "Hasten to help me, O Lord."

In times of despair, we must fall before the absolute God, praying as individuals. At that moment, our God will turn our despair into the hope of salvation. Also, when we find ourselves at the edge of harm, like David, we must seek God and taste the joy and delight of salvation. When we are in suffering and poverty, we must cry out to God and experience His help and deliverance. The blessings we receive in times of despair, harm, suffering, and poverty — the hope of salvation, the joy of salvation, and the assurance of salvation — are what we pray for in our prayer lives.

After asking God for help for our beloved brothers and sisters who are in despair, pain, suffering, and poverty,

Pastor James Kim
(Looking to God who gives the hope, joy, and assurance of salvation)