Limitless Word
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
Psalms 40:13 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me. Hurry to help me, Yahweh.
  • BSB Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; hurry, O LORD, to help me.
  • NKJV Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!
  • NASB ¶Be pleased, Lord, to rescue me; Hurry, Lord, to help me.
  • NLT Please, Lord, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David pleads with the Lord to be pleased to deliver him and to hurry to his help. Overwhelmed, he cries urgently for rescue.

Overview

The petition is direct and dependent, asking God both to will and to act swiftly. It mirrors the language repeated at the end of Psalm 70. Such urgent appeals model honest, importunate prayer in distress.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • Ps 70:1–5MAKE HASTE, O GOD, TO DELIVER ME; MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME, O LORD.
  • Ps 38:22Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
  • Ps 25:17–18The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.
  • Matt 26:36–44Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
  • Ps 22:19But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
  • Ps 71:12O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 40:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 40:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.