Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 71: A life of praise

Psalm 71[1]
¹     In you, O Lord, 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, a strong fortress, 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.
⁵    For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶    Upon you I have leaned from my birth;      it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
      My praise is continually of you.
⁷    I have been like a portent to many,
      but you are my strong refuge.
⁸    My mouth is filled with your praise,      and with your glory all day long.
⁹    Do not cast me off in the time of old age;      do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
¹⁰  For my enemies speak concerning me,      and those who watch for my life consult together.
¹¹ They say, ‘Pursue and seize that person      whom God has forsaken, for there is no one to deliver.’
¹²  O God, do not be far from me;
       O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³  Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;      let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace.
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 day long,
      though their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶  I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,      I will praise 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 grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me,
       until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.
      Your power ¹⁹ and your righteousness, O God,
      reach 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 honour,  and comfort me once 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 rescued.
²⁴ All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
      for those who tried to do me harm      have been put to shame, and disgraced.

There is a pattern in this psalm which is unusual. Three times the psalmist makes a plea or a complaint and then three times states with unconfined praise God’s utter faithfulness. In this the penultimate poem of the second book of the psalms, it is as if the prayer book itself takes a step back to review a faithful life. And, like a stick of rock, this psalm has a word all the way through it wherever you break it: it is trust.


From the psalmist’s very birth: ‘it was you who took me from my mother’s womb’ (vs 6); to the experience of old age: ‘even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me’ (vs18); the poet is full of praise to God.   


Going deeper, we come to a familiar realities. Here, again as in other psalms, there is a sense that despite God’s care and love, the psalmist suffers at the hands of numerous people and is in need of rescue. There are the ‘unjust and cruel’ (vs 4) and yet at the same time God has been trustworthy since the psalmist’s youth (vs5) – and so with a full voice, God is to be ‘continually praised’ (vs6). This faithful life, this praising life, nonetheless draws attention (like a ‘portent’ vs7) and enemies keep watch as if to take the life in his or her old age (vs10). These nameless enemies, it seems, are more fleet of foot and will pursue and seize this person whom they think God has forsaken (vs11). 

Why do they see this life in that way? Do they think this person has lost dignity or status? Perhaps they are very poor. Perhaps they are alone or isolated. Perhaps they come across as lacking protection of family or people with clout in the community.

 So, again, this faithful person cries aloud for God to move swiftly to help (vs12). And in verse 14 we have the crux of the matter. Despite all outward signs to the contrary, it is the profound inner sense of hope (vs14) which continually sustains the psalmist. The word hope here is a similar word used often in Hebrew to designate a stance of waiting on God. Hope-filled waiting is quite the opposite of vague optimism – it is something altogether rooted in prior experience as well as a sense of an open future, a horizon, a vista which sees God’s reign extending far beyond all that is present. The motivation to look at the world in this way is fuelled by the discipline of praise. ‘But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more,’ proclaims verse 14.

From here on in, the psalmist repeats how this praise will live out beyond the circumstance. He or she will tell of God’s righteous deeds ‘all day long’ (vs15). This, it turns out, has been a discipline since the psalmists youth (vs17). And it is a discipline which leads the psalmist to boldly say they will teach about God’s righteousness and power (which reaches to the heavens) for the rest of their lives so that the next generation hears of it too. The praise will be sung as well as said (vs22) and will lead to shouts of joy (vs23) and a constancy of speech from dawn to dusk (vs24) so that all the enemies will eventually be put to shame.

This is courage. This is boldness. This is a life of faithfulness well lived and full of praise. And all because, no matter what the circumstances, this faithful person trusts God to be the refuge, the fortress, the centre of life, the one in whom reality is to be found. What a person of faith this is. I would love to spend some time with them!   

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[1] New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.