Psalms 71
Prayer for Refuge and Deliverance 1–4
Grounded in Lifelong Trust and Dependence 5–8
The Crisis of Old Age and Enemy Mockery 9–13
Vow to Praise and Teach the Next Generation 14–18
Confession of God's Greatness and Final Praise 19–24
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Psalm 71
Verse 1
do I put my trust — Chasah, to take refuge, to flee for shelter. The opening line is the opening of Ps 31:1, ‘In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed’. ‘Confusion’ is bosh, shame; the prayer is that the refuge will not prove empty. Ps 25:2 asks the same: ‘let me not be ashamed’.
Verse 2
Deliver me in thy righteousness — The line is that of Ps 31:1. Natsal, to deliver, is heard again in the enemies’ ‘none to deliver him’ (v.11). ‘Righteousness’ (tsedaqah) runs through the psalm: vv.2, 15, 16, 19 and 24. ‘Incline thine ear’ is asked also in Ps 17:6, and Ps 116:2 gives the answer: ‘he hath inclined his ear unto me’.
Verse 3
strong habitation — Literally a ‘rock of dwelling’ (tsur ma’on), a rock that is also a home. The reader is to ‘continually resort’ to it. ‘Thou hast given commandment to save me’ (tsavah) puts the rescue as an order already given. ‘Rock’ and ‘fortress’ are the pair of Ps 18:2 and Ps 31:3, ‘thou art my rock and my fortress’.
Verse 5
thou art my hope — Tiqvah, hope that waits on the LORD, as in Jer 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is’. ‘Trust’ (mibtach) is what is leaned on. ‘From my youth’ is repeated in v.17, ‘thou hast taught me from my youth’, so the trust of old age (v.9) is that of the whole life.
Verse 6
from the womb — ‘Took me out’ is gazah, to cut away; the word is found only here, though Ps 22:9 says nearly the same thing, ‘thou art he that took me out of the womb’. ‘Holden up’ is samak, to lean on. Isa 46:3–4 joins both ends of a life: ‘borne by me from the belly… even to your old age I am he’.
Verse 7
a wonder unto many — Mopheth, a sign set before others, the word for the ‘wonders in the land of Egypt’ (Ex 7:3). Isaiah uses it of himself and his children, ‘for signs and for wonders in Israel’ (Isa 8:18), and it can be a warning, ‘a sign and… a wonder’ (Deut 28:46). The speaker is looked at by many, and answers ‘thou art my strong refuge’.
Verse 9
Cast me not off in the time of old age — Ziqnah, old age. ‘Cast… off’ is shalak, to throw away. The LORD’s own promise answers it: ‘even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you’ (Isa 46:4). ‘Forsake me not’ (azab) is prayed again in v.18; in v.11 the enemies use the same verb: ‘God hath forsaken him’.
Verse 11
God hath forsaken him — The taunt uses the verb of the prayer in vv.9 and 18, azab. ‘Persecute’ (radaph) and ‘take’ (taphas, to seize) speak of the chase, and ‘none to deliver’ is natsal, the verb of v.2. The same sneer is quoted in Ps 3:2, ‘There is no help for him in God’, and Christ’s cry begins ‘My God, my God’ (Matt 27:46).
Verse 15
the numbers thereof — ‘Shew forth’ is saphar, to count or recount; ‘numbers’ (sephorah, found only here) is of the same root. He will tell what cannot be counted, as in Ps 40:5, ‘they are more than can be numbered’. ‘Righteousness’ and ‘salvation’ (teshuah) are paired as the content of what he tells ‘all the day’.
Verse 16
in the strength of the Lord GOD — ‘Strength’ is gevurah, mighty acts; the same word is ‘thy power’ in v.18. He comes forward in the acts the LORD has done. ‘Make mention’ is zakar, to bring to remembrance. ‘Thine only’ is the righteousness of God alone; Paul speaks of ‘not having mine own righteousness’ (Phil 3:9).
Verse 18
until I have shewed thy strength — ‘Strength’ here is zeroa, the arm, the arm of the LORD; ‘power’ is gevurah. ‘Grayheaded’ is sebah. The aim is to declare it ‘unto this generation’ and ‘to every one that is to come’, as Ps 78:4 says, ‘shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength’, and Ps 145:4.
Verse 20
the depths of the earth — Tehomoth, plural of tehom, the deep of Gen 1:2, ‘the face of the deep’, and of the sea in Ex 15:5, ‘The depths have covered them’. ‘Quicken’ is chayah, to make alive, and ‘bring up’ is alah, as in ‘he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up’ (1 Sam 2:6). ‘Again’ is shuv, said twice.
Verse 22
O thou Holy One of Israel — Qadosh Yisrael, a title found 25 times in Isaiah; in the Psalms it occurs here, in 78:41 and in 89:18. ‘Psaltery’ (nevel) and ‘harp’ (kinnor) are the pair of Ps 33:2 and 92:3. He praises ‘thy truth’ (emeth), the LORD’s faithfulness to what he has promised, and sings (zamar) to him.