This Psalm, written by an old man, is specially suitable for an old man. It is numbered seventy-one, and it may suit those who have reached that age; but it is also appropriate to us all in prospect of the days of feebleness that will come to us, sooner or later, if we are spared to grow old.
Psalms 71:1. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
«Stand by me, O Lord, for I only stand as thou upholdest me; and if thou shouldest leave me, after I have trusted in thee, what could I say or do? Therefore, O Jehovah, since I put my trust in thee, ‘let me never be put to confusion.'»
Psalms 71:2. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:
«I am like a poor dove taken in a net, I cannot get away. Stretch out thine hand, O Lord, and tear the net, and so deliver me, and cause me to escape. I cannot do anything for myself, except pray to thee to deliver me.»
Psalms 71:2. Incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
«My prayer is weak; therefore, O Lord, bend thine ear down to my lips, that thou mayest catch my faintest accents; listen to my lispings, O Lord, and save me.»
Psalms 71:3. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
If David wrote this Psalm after the rebellion of his wicked son Absalom, I think there is an instructive illustration here. You remember that, when the troops went out from Mahanaim to fight with Absalom, David commanded the three captains of the host, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, «Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.» They might slay his followers, but he commanded them to spare him. Alas, David's command was ineffectual, for Joab slew Absalom; but God's command was certain to be obeyed, so the psalmist wrote, «Thou hast given commandment to save me,» with the full assurance that he would be saved; and all God's people can say to him, «Thou hast commanded angels and men, ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm;'» and each believer can say to him, «Thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.»
Psalms 71:4-5. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hated of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
Happy is the man who can truthfully say that, «Thou art my trust from my youth.» God does not cast off his old servants, as men often do. Those who give him the best of their days will not find that he will desert them when the feebleness of age creeps over them.
Psalms 71:6. By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.
We do not think, as often as we should, of what we owe to God for his care over us at the time of our birth. Our mothers returned thanks on their own behalf and ours; but, as we look back, we are bound to return thanks too for that kindly care of God in our extremest weakness, when the little candle of life was scarcely lighted, and might have been so easily blown out. Then, as God took care of us in our first infancy, do you not think that he will take care of us when we get into our second childhood? We are never likely to be quite as weak as we were then; but, as the Lord guarded us at that time, will he not guard us in those dark days which are already looming before some of us? Of course he will; wherefore, be of good courage, for he shall strengthen your heart, and your praise shall be continually of him.
Psalms 71:7. I am as a wonder unto many;
A prodigy to some, a monster to others, a marvel, a mystery, a riddle to all, but here is the solution to the problem that puzzles so many:
Psalms 71:7. But thou art my strong refuge.
Even the weak are strong when God is their refuge; the most defenseless are safe when God is their defense. Wonder not at the mysterious life of a Christian, for this truth explains the mystery, «Thou art my strong refuge.»
Psalms 71:8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
What a blessed mouthful, and what a sweet mouthful this is, and what a blessed means of keeping the mouth from saying unkind, slanderous, or murmuring words!
Psalms 71:9-10. Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
When the lion is sick, every cur is bold enough to bark at him. Men were afraid of David when he was strong; but when he grew feeble, they began to howl at him, and gather round him like a pack of hounds around a wounded stag. Worst of all, they uttered this monstrous lie, which was most grievous to David's heart,
Psalms 71:11. Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
If they had possessed even ordinary compassion, they would have said, «Since there is none to deliver him, let us not attack him. If God has forsaken him, he is in misery enough, so let us try to comfort him.» But, instead of doing this, they acted after the fashion of their father, the devil, who has no tenderness, and nothing of a compassionate spirit within him.
Psalms 71:12. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
Notice the still more intense grip of faith in the second clause. The psalmist first says, «O God,» then he says, «O my God.» It is grand pleading when we so grasp God with the personal grip of faith that we cry, «O my God, make haste for my help.»
Psalms 71:13-14. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.
Hoping and praising are among the very best styles of living. Hoping honours God in secret, and praising honours him in public. Oh, for more of these two good things!
Psalms 71:15. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
When David spoke of those who hated him without a cause, he said that they were more than the hairs of his head. He could not count them, but he went as near to doing so as he could; but when he began to speak of God's mercies as displayed in his righteousness and his salvation, he did not draw any comparison, or attempt to number them. This is a calculation in which we are utterly lost; our system of numeration fails us altogether when we come to deal with the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Psalms 71:16. I will go in the strength of the LORD GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
He did not reckon that any other righteousness was worth mentioning; and certainly not his own. The best of men, those who have been the most noted for their good works, have always been the first to feel that they had no works in which they could put any trust One godly man, when he was dying, said to a friend, «I have been trying to separate my good works and my evil works from one another, but I have found the task too great for me; so I have thrown them all overboard, and now I will float to heaven upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.»
Psalms 71:17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
I pray very earnestly for you young people, and I beg you to pray for yourselves, that you may have the great privilege of being able to say, with the psalmist, «O God, thou hast taught me from my youth.» They make good scholars who go to school early, and keep at school long, and have such a blessed Schoolmaster as the psalmist had: «O God, thou hast taught me.» David's mother taught him much that was good, but it was better still for him to have God as his Teacher. Then, after being a scholar, he became a pupil-teacher. He still went on learning, but he also began to teach: «Hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.» All God's scholars ought to be pupil-teachers, ever learning more and more from him, and then teaching to others all that they learn.
Psalms 71:18. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
Old men ought to tell to younger men what God has done for them. There is great weight in the testimony of a godly man of ripe experience. Full of years, he speaks of what he knows, and testifies of what he has seen, and tasted, and handled of the truth of God. We want many a Nestor in the camp of Christ, whose valor in former times, and whose experience in days of battling for the right, may inspire with valor the younger men to whom he speaks.
Psalms 71:19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!
The more we know of God, the less we think of all others. We sink ourselves out of sight, and all other creatures seem to be as nothing in comparison with our God.
Psalms 71:20. Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
This we shall experience in part even in our present lifetime; but we shall much more fully experience it on the resurrection morning, «When Christ his risen saints shall bring From beds of dust, and silent clay, To realms of everlasting day.»
Psalms 71:21. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
Think of poor old David talking like this when he was driven into exile, and many of his former friends had forsaken him: «'Thou shalt increase my greatness.' I shall get good out of this evil; I shall rise by this fall; I shall be a gainer by these losses.»
Psalms 71:22. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God:
«When I have proved thy truth; when my joyful experience has proved that every promise of thine is true to thy servant, then I will praise both thyself and thy truth, O my God.»
Psalms 71:22-23. Unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee;
That is the best kind of praise to God when our very lips are happy in singing, when we do not merely sibilate the sound, but when the meaning wells up from our heart, and our lips are glad to sing it out.
Psalms 71:23-24. And my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt.