The 911 Psalm Series

Introduction: The Emergency Call

There’s a profound difference between a scheduled meeting and an emergency phone call, isn't there? A meeting is on the calendar. We can prepare for it. But an emergency call shatters the schedule. It interrupts everything. Your heart pounds, your mind races, and everything narrows to that one critical moment.

Life is full of these unscheduled emergencies. It’s not always a dramatic accident. Sometimes it’s a sudden wave of panic that washes over you in traffic. It’s an email with bad news that lands in your inbox. It’s a moment of sharp, unexpected temptation. It’s a sudden, gut-wrenching fear for your children’s safety. In those moments, there is no time for long, eloquent, beautifully structured prayers. You need help, and you need it now.

So, what is the believer's first response? What is our spiritual 911?

The Bible, in its perfect wisdom, gives us a prayer for exactly these moments. Psalm 70 is the 911 call of the prayer book. It is short, urgent, and stripped of all formality. It is so essential that it was extracted from the end of Psalm 40 to stand on its own as a go-to prayer for acute distress. This psalm gives us a powerful, three-part model for what to do in a crisis: an honest upward cry for help, a surprising outward look toward others, and a solid inward trust in God’s character.

I. The Upward Cry: An Honest Plea for Help (vv. 1, 5)

The prayer begins with raw, unfiltered urgency. It teaches us that in a crisis, the first step is to be brutally honest with God about our need.

A. Permission to be Urgent

The psalm opens and closes with the same desperate plea: "Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me... make haste unto me... make no tarrying." There is no pretense, no hesitation. This is the cry of someone who knows they are in over their head.

Why do we sometimes hesitate to be this urgent with God? Perhaps we feel like we are bothering Him, as if the God who holds the universe together is too busy for our panic. Or perhaps we feel it’s not “spiritual” to be so frantic. But this psalm, and all of scripture, gives us divine permission to be urgent. When Peter was sinking beneath the waves, he didn't compose a sonnet; he cried, "Lord, save me!" God is not a bureaucrat who requires you to fill out a form in triplicate. He is a Father who is tuned to the desperate cry of His child. Your urgency does not offend Him; it honors His role as your ever-present Rescuer.

B. An Honest Assessment

In verse 5, the psalmist diagnoses his own condition: "But I am poor and needy." This is the foundation of all effective prayer. It’s not just about money; it's a statement of complete spiritual bankruptcy. It means, "In this moment, I am at the absolute end of my own resources. I have no more strength, no more wisdom, no more clever plans." A crisis strips away our pride and our illusion of control. And in that honest place of acknowledging our need, we are perfectly positioned to receive God's all-sufficient help.

II. The Outward Look: A Prayer for God’s People (v. 4)

Here, in the middle of this desperate, personal prayer, the psalm takes a turn that is as shocking as it is healing. The psalmist takes his eyes off his own crisis and puts them onto the wider community of faith.

A. The Holy Interruption of Praise

In the very center of his "911 call," he prays this: "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified." This is absolutely remarkable. While his own world is spinning out of control, he prays for the joy of others. While his own heart is crying "Help me!" his spirit is praying "Let them be glad!"

Anxiety is a spiral inward. It makes our world shrink down to the size of our problem. But this prayer is a powerful pattern-interrupt. It breaks the spiral. By choosing to pray for the joy and worship of God's people, the psalmist is lifting his eyes above his own circumstances. He is reminding himself that his crisis is not the only story being written in the world. God is still working, people are still being saved, and worship is still His due.

When you are in a moment of panic, try this holy interruption. Pray for your brother or sister in Christ who is also struggling. Pray for the joy of our church. This outward focus is a God-given lifeline to pull you out of the deep.

B. Fueling the Chorus of Praise