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Psalm 70 · a question people ask

Psalm 70 is almost the last five verses of Psalm 40. Why is it in the Bible twice?

In the text

The Psalms don't say, and these notes don't guess. What the text does show is this. Each has its own title: "For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David." (Psalm 40:1), and "For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder." (Psalm 70:1). They stand in different parts of the book: Psalm 40 comes before the blessing that closes Psalm 41, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen" (Psalm 41:13), and Psalm 70 comes after it, as Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 do (the chapter on Psalm 53 looks at that pair). The chapter on Psalm 40 sets the two passages side by side in the WEB, and the chapter on Psalm 35 shows the words both share with Psalm 35 (Psalm 35:4, 35:21, 35:26-27). This chapter looks at what Psalm 70 has as a psalm of its own: five verses that open and close by asking God to come quickly (70:1, 70:5).

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me, and heard my cry.”
Psalm 40:1 · World English Bible
“For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder. Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, LORD.”
Psalm 70:1 · World English Bible
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.”
Psalm 41:13 · World English Bible
“For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.”
Psalm 14:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 70

Psalm 70: Come to me quickly

Psalm 70's first and last verses ask God to come quickly with one Hebrew verb, chush (70:1, 70:5): the Psalms have it nine times, and only this psalm twice. In between, one verb, seek, names two groups: those who seek the psalmist's soul, and those who seek God (70:2, 70:4).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions