HELP! Save me, O Lord!
Habakkuk 1
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
The prophets, the psalmists, the righteous men and righteous women of God cry out with our whole heart: Save me, O Lord!
קָרָא
qara’
Cry out!
Cry out in prayer to the Lord your God.
Psalm 119
Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
Qoph [KOPH]
145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
I cried out with my whole heart. I cried out , “save me.” (Same Hebrew word: quara’) with a primitive root meaning: to encounter, whether accidentally or in a hostile manner.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
The KJV states: Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. This, the same context as David’s song of deliverance in 2 Samuel 22.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented H6923 me… They prevented H6923 me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. – 2 Sam. 22:6,19
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O Lord, according to your justice give me life.
150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
151 But you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are true.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have founded them forever.
The prayer is the Psalmist’s personal plea to the Living God, in whom we trust. And one more thing of the Lord, who IS near, nearer than our evil enemies who draw near to us:
It is the Lord we ask to be our Savior.
“Save me,” in Psalm 199:146 is the action of one who can save: a Savior.
יָשַׁע – yasha`
The place of those near is subtly different than the nearness of relationship, especially our relationship with God our Savior.
Jesus IS Lord. Draw near to Him.
