Joe 1:19-20 | TNotes | STEP | 1:19 Lord , help us! (literally to you, Lord , I cry ): Joel responded to the plague with an earnest prayer. The people’s only recourse was to turn to the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and appeal to his goodness; he alone could reverse their desperate situation.

cGen 3:17-18►

eRom 8:20-21►

fPs 42:1►

gIsa 1:3►

‏ Joel 1:19-20

1:19 ^a Lord, help us! (literally to you, Lord, I cry): Joel responded to the plague with an earnest prayer. The people’s only recourse was to turn to the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and appeal to his goodness; he alone could reverse their desperate situation.
1:20 ^b All creation suffers because of human sin (Gen 3:17-18 ^c; 9:2 ^d; Rom 8:20-21 ^e)—even the wild animals cry out to God. The Hebrew word translated “cry out” is the same word used in Ps 42:1 ^f of the deer that “longs” for streams of water. The beasts, urgently requiring their food and drink, set an example of how the people of Judah and Jerusalem should seek their Lord (cp. Isa 1:3 ^g).