Psalm 71
A Psalm for the Dusk of Life
This prayer was penned by one who had known God’s sustaining grace through the long walk of faith and in his twilight years knows his ongoing need for God’s daily mercies.
And this song is an invitation for those who are weary, worn down, tired, old, and struggling to hear of God’s ongoing and never failing goodness.
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign LORD,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From my birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendour all day long.9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, ‘God has forsaken him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue him.’
12 Do not be far from me, my God;
come quickly, God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.14 As for me, I shall always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
of your saving acts all day long –
though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and grey,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
you who have done great things.
Who is like you, God?
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honour
and comfort me once more.22 I will praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you –
I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
As we explore this Psalm, there are three elements I’d like us to explore and then make our own.
First, see how the beginning (v1), end (v24), and centre (v13) of this song is a prayer for protection from and reversal of shame.
Here we hear the experience of one who has been accused, slandered, gossiped about, and schemed against. His character and reputation have been assaulted. They seek to shame and dishonour.
The opening prayer is a petition for protection. God is light and in him will no darkness fester. Lies melt away in his radiant righteousness. In our rock of refuge, we are safe. But the prayer is also an appeal for vindication, which God will grant when he raises up his beloved from the mire of shame into renewed and undefiled honour (20-21).
The prayer though is that the shame would not just drop from our shoulders but those who sought his harm would be clothed in disgrace and dishonour (13 & 24). This prayer is one which is answered in Christ. He was the one who bore the shame of the cross (Hebrews 12.1-2) in our place. But because he overcame death, he triumphed over God’s enemies, bringing them to open shame (Colossians 2.15).
And so we put ourselves into God’s hands, because he won’t lead us into shame but peace and joy.
Second, this Psalm is saturated with remembering. He recalls how God has been his assurance since his youth (vv5-6, 17). He looks back on all the good and gracious things God has done for him in his praise.
This is a good practise for us to take on ourselves. I regularly joke that my spiritual gift is hindsight. I don’t feel confident saying what God is doing right now in my circumstances. But when I look back, I see his fingerprints everywhere. In my own life, my youth was not a time when God was honoured in my thoughts, words, or deeds. But I see how his hand was still guiding me. I see his loving providence in how he has sought my good since the day his grace broke in and transformed me. How has God been at work in your life? Where have you seen his goodness and faithfulness?
But notice what the remembering leads to in his prayers. He pleads with God to not abandon him in his old age but continue in the way he has always been with him. He gives two reasons. In vv9-10, it is because he knows his own weakness and dependence on God. And in v18, it is with the desire to be able to pass onto the next generation the stories of God’s grandeur and grace.
And this is the third element of this Psalm I’d like to key in on briefly. The Psalmist commits to praising God for his mighty acts and passing the stories of them on.
In v19, the Psalmist asks who is like God? This is the heart of our praise. We worship the one who has no equal. He is unrivalled and unmatched. No one compares. And he is for us. No foe can stand against us because no enemy can stand against him! So he is worthy of our praise because one enthroned on high has stooped down to deliver us.
These stories of God’s work in one person’s life are stories for all to know of God’s mercy and might. These stories of God’s great acts are to encourage his people.
Let us then join in with this praise and press into God as the rock of our refuge.
Glory be to God the Father, the incomparable and peerless Lord of all the earth.
Glory be to God the Son, whose righteousness reaches to the heavens.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who will never leave nor forsake his people.
Ever three and ever One.