Psalms · psalm 71 of 150
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Psalm 71 is the prayer of an aged believer who takes refuge in God, whom he has trusted from his youth and from his mother's womb. He asks not to be cast off or forsaken when his strength fails, while his enemies say God has abandoned him. He promises to proclaim God's might and righteousness to the next generation and ends by singing with harp and lyre to the Holy One of Israel.
This psalm has no title, which is unusual in Book II, where almost every psalm names David or another author. It follows Psalm 70 and borrows several phrases from other psalms, especially 22 and 31. Its most special feature is the viewpoint of age: the one praying has a whole lifetime of experience with God and now fears growing weak. It is one of the few prayers in the Bible spoken from old age.
The psalm opens with a confession of refuge: in you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. He asks God, in his righteousness, to deliver and rescue him, to incline his ear and save him. He asks that God be a rock of refuge to which he can continually come, for God is his rock and his fortress.
Verses 4 to 8 ask for rescue from the hand of the wicked. He recalls that God has been his hope and his trust from his youth. From the womb he has leaned on him, and from his mother's womb God has been his strength. To many he has been a portent, but God is his strong refuge, and his mouth is filled with praise all day.
Verses 9 to 13 hold the center of the lament: do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. His enemies speak against him and take counsel together, saying that God has forsaken him and that they can pursue him because no one will deliver him. He asks God not to be far from him and to hurry to help him, and that his accusers be put to shame.
In verses 14 to 24, the psalmist decides to hope continually and to praise more and more. He will tell of God's righteousness and salvation all day long, though he does not know their number. Since his youth God has taught him, and even to old age and gray hairs he asks not to be forsaken until he proclaims God's might to the next generation. God's righteousness reaches to the high heavens, and the one who has done great things has no equal. Although God has made him see many troubles, he will revive him again and bring him up from the depths of the earth. He will increase his greatness and comfort him again. So the psalmist will praise God with harp and lyre, sing to the Holy One of Israel, and his lips will shout for joy, for those who sought his hurt have been put to shame.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God is the psalmist's hope and trust from his youth. His prayer in old age rests on a whole lifetime of experience with the Lord's faithfulness.
He asks God not to cast him off in the time of old age or forsake him when his strength is gone. It is an honest prayer from someone who knows the frailty of the years.
Even in old age and with gray hair, he asks not to be forsaken until he proclaims God's might to the coming generation. His purpose in old age is not to rest from faith but to pass it on.
The psalmist affirms that God, who made him see many troubles, will revive him again and bring him up from the depths of the earth. His hope does not deny suffering; it trusts that God will restore him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His hope and his trust. — Psalm 71:5
Answer: From the womb, from his mother's womb. — Psalm 71:6
Answer: That God not cast him off or forsake him when his strength is spent. — Psalm 71:9
Answer: That God has forsaken him and that they can pursue him because no one will deliver him. — Psalm 71:11
Answer: Proclaim God's might to the coming generation. — Psalm 71:18
Answer: With the harp and the lyre. — Psalm 71:22
Psalm 71 reminds churches that older members are not a burden but a treasure. Their mission, according to verse 18, is to tell the next generation what God has done. In a Sunday school class you can invite an older brother or sister to share their testimony and ask the young to listen without hurry.
It also speaks to those who grow old and fear weakness. The psalmist does not pretend there is no fear: he brings it to God and recalls that the same God who upheld him from the womb will not leave him now. And to the young it teaches dependence on God from today, because that trust sustains a whole life.
Psalm 71 ends with harp and lyre and with lips that sing to the Holy One of Israel. Psalm 72 is a prayer for the king and his righteous rule, and it closes Book II of the Psalter.
The Bible does not explain it. Some scholars think it forms a unit with Psalm 70 or 72 and so lacks a heading of its own. What is clear is that its content, with so many echoes of Psalms 22 and 31, shows a believer who knows his people's Scriptures well.
The text does not give his name. He presents himself as someone who trusted God from his youth and who is now old, with gray hair. For that reason any older believer can pray it, and many have done so over the centuries.