As a result of… unwanted changes in my life, I have become a great fan of what I call the “Quickly Psalms.” These are those psalms–mostly David’s—in which he not only makes his requests of God, but adds a “rush order” to them. In other words, “Lord, I’m making this request (and I know I need to wait on You), but I really don’t have a lot of leisure time to wait on Your answer. If You don’t come through pretty quickly, then You don’t have to bother with answering at all, because I will be toast!”
Just listen to the sheer urgency of these ancient cries for help, from the psalm:
But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me….
Turn your ear to me,
Come quickly to my rescue….
Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior….
Be pleased, O Lord, to save me;
O Lord, come quickly to help me….
Do not hide your face from your servants;
Answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
Come near and rescue me….
Hasten, O God, to save me;
O Lord, come quickly to help me….
Yet I am poor and needy;
Come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay….
Be not far from me, O God;
Come quickly, O my God, to help me….
May your mercy come quickly to meet us,
For we are in desperate need….
Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly….
O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you….
Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
You gotta love it. David is saying, “Oh, won’t you hurry, Lord? Yes, I honor You for Your grave, Your provision, Your compassion, and Your deliverance. But is there any way You could maybe grease the skids a bit? Maybe send help by FedEx
Priority overnight instead of by mule train?”
I like that. I like the fact that the Bible acknowledges that we will find ourselves in emergencies and times of deep distress or intense fear when we need immediate help or an emergency injection of hope directly into a main artery of our soul.
(Joni Eareckson Tada, “A Place of Healing”)