Psalm 70 - Make haste O God, to deliver me

AELW 10:391

Psalm 70:1
"Make haste, O God to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord"

"Therefore this psalm, whose opening words we recite so often day and night, is to be commended to all priests, so that they will not mumble it so coldly and perfunctorily, but help the church of God with this prayer with all their heart. For if the church were helped, we, too, would be saved, since it is our mother hen and we are its chicks. It is not without reason that the Holy Spirit decreed the opening words of this psalm as the beginning in every canonical hour. Therefore remember to say: “O God (since there is no one else to help the church except Thee, our God), be pleased to deliver me (that is, do Thou help me, so that tyrants, heretics, and those easily offended may not oppress me. And when I shall have been helped by Thee and first have salvation for myself, I can easily come to the assistance of others with Thy help), therefore hasten to help me.” Truly, we are not without tyrants and persecutors today who oppress the poor and do not judge the causes of widows and orphans. Since none but the rich and the powerful can afford the ceremony and din of the court, the poor man who is drawn to court will have spent more than he ever had before justice would be done to him. Against them we must pray that those whom they persecute be patient. Furthermore, there is no lack of heretics and many scoffers, full of inconstancy and trifles."