Verse 1
"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance."
The heading of the psalm. "To bring to remembrance" — a psalm meant to recall and awaken mercy before the LORD, a prayer spoken out of a time of trouble.
Verse 2
"Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD."
An urgent opening cry, with no preface: David turns straight to the point, asking God to deliver him and hurry to his aid. There is boldness in this directness: he turns his weakness at once into prayer.
Verse 3
"Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul; let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt."
David asks that those who pursue his life be shamed and turned back. "That desire my hurt" — those who wish him evil; he asks that their plan against him fail and return upon them.
Verse 4
"Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, that say, Aha, aha."
Those who mock him and cry "Aha, aha" — a cry of scorn and malicious glee — will be turned back as the reward of their shame. The mockery they uttered will return upon their own heads.
Verse 5
"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."
In contrast to the enemies, David sets those who seek God: all who seek Him will rejoice and be glad in Him, and those who love His salvation will say continually, "Let God be magnified." Their joy flows from God Himself, an unceasing praise — the heart of the psalm and the song's name.
Verse 6
"But I am poor and needy; make haste unto me, O God; thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying."
David closes the circle, returning to his opening cry: "poor and needy," weak and in want, he places himself in God's hands, "my help and my deliverer." "Make no tarrying" echoes the "make haste" of the opening, and stresses the urgency once more — yet it is not a cry of despair, but of confidence that God will indeed hasten.
And so the psalm opens and closes with the same cry — "make haste" and "make no tarrying" — and in between rises the voice of joy of those who seek God — the movement of the soul in the Book of Psalms: from the urgent cry to confidence and joy.