January 12
Reading: Psalm 71
1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.
Psalm 71, though not attributed to David, is very likely a psalm of King David in his old age. It bears all the marks of David’s prayers for rescue.
Verse 1 begins the psalm with a statement of faith and a plea for rescue. The psalm never stops on these two fronts. We see in this psalm that David’s enemies remain, though they may not be the same enemies. But we also see that the Lord remains his rock and his refuge.
It is no fun to be old. There are the aches and pains, weakness and physical maladies. The mind struggles to keep sharp. Often great hope and promise has turned to regret. There are people we miss and some friends we have lost. And it seems like those who do not like us loom far larger than those who do. It is a lie, of course. It is better to have one friend among enemies than to have no one at all. With David, God is his friend.
In verse 5 and following, a significant theme runs through this psalm. David is looking back on his life and seeing how the Lord has sustained him. His enemies say that “God has forsaken him.” (vs. 11) But David knows that they are wrong. He will not quit crying out to God who hears him. He will not quit praising God who saves him.
In verses 20-21 David looks forward. You might wonder what is there to look forward to for an old man. David is looking forward to new life. He knows that God is going to “bring him up from the depths of the earth.” David is looking forward to the resurrection from the dead and life everlasting.
How has God been faithful to you over the years? What does this mean for your future?