Psalm 70

{1}Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

{4} 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.

{5} But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying."

There are a couple places in this Psalm where the translator’s choices aren’t that clear. I think they are idiomatic expressions in the Hebrew expressed in the idiom of King James, which is not always meaningful to the modern ear. The NASB is probably right in verse 4, “Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!’” The word “let” as used here is more imperative than passive. If you believe God is great, get out there and say so, not merely repeating it as a mantra, but finding ways to express it from the heart.

The other curios expression is “Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.” The Hebrew for “aha” is ach, an interjection like “oh!” Nearly all translations follow the KJV, and the sense seems to be that those who are saying “gotcha” should be turned back and shamed. I.e. they are shaming me, let them be shamed.

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