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Psalm 40:17
But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.
15Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
16Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”
17But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.
Notice
“Don’t delay” ends a prayer that names the Lord as help and deliverer while leaving the speaker’s need unresolved.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What need would you name after the words “May the Lord think about me”?
Write on thisWhat would you want to tell God about the wait behind “Don’t delay”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Hebrews 13:6So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”Both name the Lord as helper; the psalm asks for urgent help, while Hebrews voices courage in the face of human threats.
Psalm 70:5But I am poor and needy. Come to me quickly, God. You are my help and my deliverer. LORD, don’t delay.Both prayers name the speaker as poor and needy, call God help and deliverer, and plead with him not to delay.
Isaiah 41:17The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.The poor and needy seek God’s attention in the psalm; Isaiah records God’s promise to answer the poor and needy seeking water.
Psalm 34:6This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.Both describe a poor person turning to the Lord; Psalm 34 recounts the hearing and rescue that Psalm 40 seeks.
1 Peter 5:7casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.The psalm asks for the Lord’s attention to personal need; Peter urges entrusting worries to God because he cares.
Psalm 54:4Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.Both identify God as the speaker’s help, expressing dependence on him for deliverance or the sustaining of life.
Psalm 86:1A Prayer by David. Hear, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.Both speakers describe themselves as poor and needy and appeal to the Lord for his attention.
Isaiah 50:7–9For the Lord GOD will help me. Therefore I have not been confounded. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I won’t be disappointed.Both speakers identify the Lord as their help; the psalm pleads for haste, while Isaiah expresses resolve grounded in that help.
1 Peter 2:23When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.Both texts express dependence on God amid distress; Peter adds the specific account of suffering without retaliation.
James 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who …Both speak of the poor in relation to God: one asks for his attention, the other describes his choice.
Revelation 22:20He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!Both end with an urgent appeal to the Lord: the psalm asks him not to delay, and Revelation asks Jesus to come.
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.Poverty is named in both texts: the psalmist asks for help, while Paul describes Christ becoming poor for others.
Where this verse fits
Waiting. anxiety or panic. job loss or money fear.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Urgency has a place in prayer. Here, someone who calls God “my help and my deliverer” still asks him to act without delay.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 40:17. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 40 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).