Make Haste O God!

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord! Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek my life; let them be turned back and confused who desire my hurt. Let them be turned back because of their shame, who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’ Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified!’ But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay.” Psalms 70:1-5 (NKJV)

Make haste! Hurry! Be Quick! Do Not Delay!

Sadly, we live in a society nowadays that likes to have things done in a hurry. We don’t want to wait. We don’t like to wait!

Here are some of the people, on any given day, that we might say “Hurry!” to – –

• 

• your kids, trying to get them out the door to school
• your spouse, taking their time getting ready for a dinner date
• the person you just interviewed with, waiting for their answer to the job you would like to have
• the cashier at the grocery store, checking someone out ahead of you at a very slow pace
• the barista serving up your cup of coffee, while you are on your run to work
• the doctor as you await a phone call with test results
• the mailman delivering a check to you, that was suppose to be in today’s mail
• the boss to give you that long awaited for promotion
• your fiance as you await the magical, “will you….!”

We are a people who are in a constant hurry. We want everyone around us to “Make haste!”

What about saying “Hurry!” to God? Have you ever in your prayers, as you are presenting a request to Him, implied or stated directly that you would like God to hurry with the answer? “Please God, don’t delay. Be quick. Are you listening to me? I need that answer today!”

Reminds me of the Psalmist David, and what he said in Psalms 70. This was undoubtedly one of many psalms written when David was being harassed by King Saul. King Saul was jealous of David and sought after his very life. David obviously made a quick request of God to help him, perhaps to rescue him from this one who wanted to kill him. And David, in that moment, would have loved a quick answer back from God. “Make haste, O God!” David says. Not once. Not twice. But three times! “Make haste to help me, O Lord!”

What was up with the urgency? David says, “I am poor and needy.” Whatever David was facing in this exact moment, he realized more than anything that he needed God’s help. He couldn’t face whatever it was alone. He knew that King Saul was after him; knew that evil surrounded him. And he knew that God would be his helper and deliverer. And so, he prayed. He cried out for God to “Make haste!”

It is a really good thing to call upon God for help and deliverance. We can all cry out to Him in all kinds of situations. There is no situation, no set of circumstances, no battle, no concern, no worry that is too big for God to help us with and to deliver us from. Yet, being a people that always seems to be in a hurry, waiting for God’s answer is usually not something that we want to do nor something that we like to do.

Have you ever pondered the delays of God? Often times it does seem that God is delaying His answers to us. We wait and He seems silent. We wonder if He even heard our prayer. We question the delay. We might even get mad at God because He doesn’t “make haste” and hurry it up for us. When was the last time you experienced one of those delays from God?

I have to tell you something that you might not want to hear. God is never in a hurry! Never!! He will never work on our “make haste, hurry, don’t delay” schedule. He will always work on His own schedule, in His perfect timing, and according to His holy will. And, truth be told, that is a really hard lesson to learn for those of us who are always rushing – always in a hurry – always want that answer NOW.

God is never in a hurry, but once He starts working, watch out! His work is amazing! He patiently accomplishes His perfect work, often times behind the scenes where we don’t see it. But when we don’t see it, we automatically think He is not there, He is not listening and He is not working. We could, just maybe, could be wrong about God in that regard.

If, right now, it seems to you that God is

• silent instead of listening,
• resting instead of moving,
• tarrying instead of working,
• delaying instead of acting,
• helping others instead of helping you…

…then know that there are some things that you can do. You cannot make God move any faster than He wants to. You do not have the ability to “Hurry” him up in the process of answering. But after you cried out for His help, and while you wait for His answer, there are a few things that you can do.

(1) You can SEEK Him. Look at the first part of verse 4 of Psalms 70. It says, “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You…” Seek Him in the reading of His Word. Seek Him as you learn more about who God is. Seek Him as you continue to pray to God. Seek Him as you search for His will in the answer to your prayer request. Seek His help as you wait for the answer. Seek after His joy and gladness. Just Seek Him!

(2) You can WAIT for Him. Present your request, your need, your concerns to God. And then, wait. Wait for His timetable to accomplish an answer. Wait for Him to do whatever work behind the scenes that He needs to do to bring about your answer. Wait and don’t give up. Yield not to the temptation to take matters into your own hands, and create a complete disaster because you could not wait. Wait with patience. Even when waiting is hard, wait with patience. In the end, you will be glad that you waited for His perfect answer.

(3) You can LOVE Him. Look at the last part of verse 4. It says, “… And let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified.” Please, don’t get angry at God because you think He is not there for you, not listening to you, not willing to help you. That is the farthest thing from the truth. God IS there! Right now, God is there for you. Right now, God is there with you! He dearly loves you and wants to help you. He wants you to accept His love that He has for you. Perhaps, in the midst of waiting for Him to answer your cry for help, its a good time to reflect on His love for you.

Oh, dear blog reader, might I encourage you to “make haste” and seek God, wait for Him, and love Him. You might just be glad you did. You might just rejoice in His answer. You might just say out loud when the answer to your prayer is delivered, “Let God be magnified!”

I encourage you to try it and see what happens.

Hurry now, and don’t delay. God is listening for your voice! He will hear it!