Deeper Commentary
Psa 71:1
In You, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never
let me be disappointed-
Typical of men of his time, David seems to fear shame [s.w.
"disappointed"] more than death itself. Defeat meant shame, and he
desperately begged not to be shamed. Perhaps it was the function of his
failure with Bathsheba to help him redefine the motives for his trust in
God. This Psalm repeats language from Ps. 22,31,35,40- which were
all in the context of his sin with Bathsheba. It seems that this Psalm 71
is his plea for help as he continues to face the consequences of that sin
even in his old age.
A case can be made that the whole of book 3 of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) was written / edited in Babylon. The Psalms of Korah (83-87) seem to reflect the longing of the righteous remnant in Babylon for the temple services. And it is just possible that the entire Psalter was re-edited there in Babylon, under inspiration- for so many Psalms have elements of appropriacy to the exiles in Babylon and the restoration. The LXX titles of Psalm 56 [“Concerning the people that were removed from the Sanctuary”] and 71 [“Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first that were taken captive”] speak for themselves. Likewise the LXX attributes Psalms 146-148 to Haggai and Zechariah. David's experience of grace and appeal for salvation by grace was therefore intended to be programmatic for the exiles in Babylon.
Psa 71:2
Deliver me in Your righteousness and rescue me. Turn Your ear to me
and save me-
David appealed to God's righteousness for deliverance from
the consequence of his sins (Ps. 71:2). This was appropriate, seeing that
David had been saved from death by God's imputation of His righteousness
to David (Ps. 32:1-4), by grace through faith; seeing David's sins left
him with no righteousness of his own. And it was on this basis that David
believed he would continue to be saved / delivered / rescued (s.w. Ps.
51:14 in the Bathsheba context). But Solomon failed to learn from his
mother and father's experience of grace, teaching instead that personal
righteousness is what saves (Prov. 10:2; 11:4,6).
Psa 71:3
Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go-
David had often used this image in the wilderness Psalms. But he asks
that God will continue to be his refuge, now that in later life he faced
another crisis. This is the force of "always", throughout his life.
Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress-
David envisages a Divine command being issued in the court of Heaven,
and then this being operationalized on earth (presumably by the Angels).
Verses 1-3 are the same as in Ps. 31 so we can assume this is a
psalm of David. I suggest the initial reference is to God's dramatic
deliverance of David from Saul in the wilderness of Maon at the cliff and
mountain. "Refuge is 'maon', so the allusion is clear. God was David's
"rock" (sela') and "fortress" (matsud). David had stayed
in a "rock" (sela') in Maon (1 Sam. 23:25). Saul had David
trapped there, but messengers came telling Saul that the Philistines had
invaded, and so he left chasing David when he almost had caught him. David
then goes and lives in the "fortress / stronghold" (matsud) of
Engedi (1 Sam. 23:29): "Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was
told, he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When
Saul heard that, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon. Saul
went on one side of the mountain and David and his men on the other, and
David hurried to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men
surrounded David and his men to take them. But a messenger came to Saul
saying, Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!
So Saul returned from pursuing David and went against the Philistines.
Therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth. David went from there
and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi". But Ps. 71 is David in older
age, recalling this deliverance, asking God to again give a command to
save him; and asking God to be the rock where he could "always" go, just
as he had in earlier life. This could hint at David not being as strong in
faith in his older age; he seems to fear God may somehow not come through
for him.
Psa 71:4
Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the
unrighteous and cruel man-
This may have originated in his thoughts about Saul, but the context
is now of salvation from Absalom and Ahithophel, and as noted on :1, it
becomes the intended appeal of the exiles for deliverance from Babylon,
then Haman, and indeed from all their captors. "The hand of the wicked /
unrighteous" is the term used for the Babylonians in Ez. 7:21,
"cruel and evil people" (GNB). The LXX title of the Psalm claims it was
the thoughts of those who first arrived in exile in Babylon. Quite
possibly it is therefore a psalm of Daniel or another exile close to him.
Psa 71:5
For You are my hope, Lord Yahweh; my confidence from my youth-
As noted on :3, David is asking that God will continue to be his
refuge as he was when on the run from Saul, now that in later life he
faced another crisis. This is the force of "always" in :3, throughout his
life. We note that the Hebrew idea of "hope" is not 'a hope for the best',
but rather an absolute confidence; hence "hope" and "confidence" are here
paralleled. The "hope of Israel" is the utter certain confidence of
Israel. The same idea is implicit in the Greek word elpis.
Psa 71:6
I have relied on You from the womb. You are He who took me out of my
mother’s womb-
"Relied" is the word for "upheld". David feels that God has
'upheld' him from babyhood until old age. And he wants God to continue.
The desire for God to still uphold him again looks back to his feelings
after the sin with Bathsheba, when David asks God to "uphold me [s.w.]
with Your spirit" (Ps. 51:12). Ps. 71 shows David wanting the same things
as he did after the sin with Bathsheba, and we could possibly conclude
that he had not really learnt his lessons. Here, in old age, he presents
as insecure and uncertain about God's grace continuing to him.
David here likens God to a midwife, who gently eased and took him
from his mother's womb. This usage of female imagery about God was unusual
for the time, indeed quite a paradigm breaker, and reflects David's
relatively high view of women- compared at least to contemporary
attitudes. If David was the youngest of many sons, his mother may well
have had difficulties in his birth, and so his very survival was perhaps
seen by him as a reflection of grace.
I will always praise You-
The force of "always" in :3 is as here; David will praise God on his
harp as he did in the wilderness years in exile from Saul, right to the
end of his days.
Psa 71:7
I am a marvel to many, but You are my strong refuge-
"Marvel" is the usual word for "miracle". David may mean that "many"
considered his survival to be miraculous, but he attributes that to God as
being his "strong refuge". But the word can occasionally mean a man of
sign or symbol to others (s.w. Ez. 12:6,11). In this case, David would be
again aware (as he often is) that his life and experience of Divine grace
was representative of that of all God's true people.
But "marvel" is the word used in Dt. 28:46, where the punishment of Israel for its sins is spoken of as “a sign and a wonder / marvel". David in this case would be saying that he knows he is seen by "many" as suffering for his sins, punished by God- but despite bearing the consequences for his sins, he asks God to be his strong refuge as he endured the consequences. Which really is how we all are in enduring the results of our mortality.
David [we can assume Davidic authorship from the quotations from Psalm 31 and many other Psalms] began this prayer by asking "Be to me a rock of refuge" (:3). This is so often the path of prayer in the psalms- they begin with a request, and then as the prayer proceeds, the conclusion is reached that what was asked for, has in fact been granted.
Psa 71:8
My mouth shall be filled with Your praise, with Your honour all the
day-
Despite fears for his immediate future (:9), David's vision is of
himself in the Kingdom, eternally praising God for His saving grace. This
is the perspective we must have before us. He began the psalm
asking for his own honour to be preserved (:1). Now he comes to think of
God's honour and how He will eternally praise it. Again, this is the path
of prayer; beginning with our own personal concerns; but coming to be more
God centered as we proceed.
Psa 71:9
Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength
fails-
David frequently expresses his aloneness, and the comfort He therefore finds
in God. But this had to grow over time. His fears were those of the exiles
(see on :1). Is. 46:4 seems almost to be in answer to David’s fear,
and is addressed to the exiles: “Even
to old age I am he, and even to grey hairs will I carry you: I have made,
and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver”. Possibly he
feared being cast off / forsaken by God just as old people tend to be by
society and family. There is the illusion amongst younger people that at
some point in later life, and certainly in older life, they will be able
to put their feet up and enjoy life, being cared for by their family. But
actually life is full of trials and out of left field tests from God. They
don't stop. But "cast me not away" ["reject"] is the language of
Ps. 51:11 "Don't cast me away from Your presence". Being cast away from
God is the language of condemnation (Dt. 29:28; Jer. 7:15). They were his
fears after his sin with Bathsheba. And it seems now in older age, he is
haunted by the same fear. Likewise "my strength fails" is now he felt
after the sin with Bathsheba: "My strength fails because of my iniquity"
(Ps. 31:10). This is all another indication that his 'repentance'
regarding the sin was not total; for his later psalms frequently chafe at
the consequences which God had given him, and he often asks God to change
them. And now he has the same fears of ruptured relationship with God, the
fear of condemnation as he drew closer to death and then, next waking
moment, the judgment. But that of course was a good sign- to fear being
cast away by God shows he currently felt "with" God, and the one thing he
wanted was eternal relationship with God. Not having that was the one
thing he feared more than death itself. See on :12.
Psa 71:10
For my enemies talk about me, they who watch for my soul conspire together- "Conspire" is s.w. "counsel", the word used of Ahithophel, David's counsellor who was Bathsheba's grandfather, who later betrayed him and turned against him (2 Sam. 15:12; 16:23). Perhaps David is commenting upon Ahithophel's counsel to Absalom which was designed to destroy him. See on Ps. 32:8. Old age was always coped with through family caring for the elderly person. But God had promised that as a result of his sin, David would face bitter grief from his own family. Now he was old, he realized this meant he would be left without carers. It's possible that "they who watch for my soul" refers to those who should care / watch out for him in his old age- his sons. But instead, they conspired to kill him and take power from him. David feared the powerlessness of old age; not for him the death surrounded by loving children and grandchildren. Rather did they persecute him to the end. His throne was hardly secure even at the time of his death. His old age brought so many other problems, as his sons and others tried to grab the throne even before he had died.
Psa 71:11
saying, God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him- The Hebrew for "pursue" is found on the lips of Ahithophel at the time of Absalom's rebellion: "I will pursue after David" (2 Sam. 17:1). It was at this time that David felt God had forsaken him (Ps. 22:1). But He had not, ultimately. So we have here an example of false guilt being placed upon a man even of David's faith and spirituality. We must take guilt for sins we have done. This is the true guilt. But the world is full of those who place false guilt upon others, and we can too easily absorb it. And yet I suppose it is impossible, at least by any intellectual process, to precisely divide false guilt from true guilt. We can take comfort that the Lord Jesus was our guilt offering, for all our guilt, of whatever kind. We note that they pursued David because they thought God had forsaken him and would not therefore judge them.
Psa 71:12
God, don’t be far from me. My God, hurry to help me-
The plea for God not to "be far from me" is common
(Ps. 22:11,19; 35:22; 38:21; 71:12). The emphasis perhaps is to be placed
upon David not wanting God to be far from him, seeing that he
felt others were 'far' from him (s.w. Ps. 88:8,18). He accepted his social
and psychological isolation from others, but he didn't want God to be
likewise far off from him. In the context of the exiles, God was willing
to not be 'far off' from the exiles if they repented (Is. 46:13).
As discussed on :9, David now in older age seems to be thinking back to his sin with Bathsheba and fearing the consequences, and condemnation. For he asks for God not to be far from him, just as he asked at that time: "Don't forsake me... My God, be not far from me" (Ps. 38:21). GNB "Don't stay so far away, O God" certainly implies that at this point, he felt a distance from God. And he blames God rather than himself. It's easy to assume that retirement, old age, or at least some point in our future will be easier for us than now, that crises will not happen. But that wasn't the case for David, neither is it for any spiritual person. Indeed, it can be that the intensity of our preparation is intensified as we draw to the end of our race.
Psa 71:13
Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed-
LXX "Let those that plot against my soul be ashamed and
utterly fail". The plotting was clearly by Ahithophel and Absalom.
David's desire was heard in that the sword and the forest devoured or
consumed Absalom and his forces (2 Sam. 18:8). But when the prayer was
answered, David wept bitterly for the loss of Absalom. We are thereby
warned to be careful what we pray for, lest we receive it- which in some
form we will.
Let them be
covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me-
Saul sought or 'wanted' to take David's life. So many of the Psalms
contain imprecations against those who were seeking David's soul- not just
his physical life, but seeking to destroy his very being (e.g. Ps. 35:4;
40:14; 54:1; 63:9; 70:2; 71:13). These imprecations expose the evil of
Saul, and asks God to condemn him. Some of those Psalms appear to have
been written by David in the Saul days, and then rewritten at the time of
Absalom's rebellion- another man who sought David's soul, and yet whom
David loved.
Psa 71:14
But I will always hope, and will add to all of
Your praise-
The tone of the Psalm begins to change from this point. This so often
happens in the Psalms; David begins by praying desperately for help, and
then within the same Psalm, becomes calmer, and ends up rejoicing. Perhaps
there was some dramatic Divine revelation to him during the prayer. But
rather I suggest that this is simply true to our spiritual experience in
prayer; we too within the course of prayer become calmer, seeing God's
hand, aware that He does know precisely all our situation, better than we
do; and shall finally bring us to the great salvation of His eternal
Kingdom. And thus we conclude the prayer in joy and peace before Him.
"I will always hope" doesn't mean he would hope for the best;
rather he speaks of the certainty of his expectation of final salvation.
This is the Kingdom perspective we must always hold.
Psa 71:15
My mouth will tell others about Your
righteousness and Your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full
measure-
David had vowed the same at the time of his forgiveness for the sin
with Bathsheba. Now he promises it again, if God delivers him from the
consequence of that sin. We note that he vows to tell others that which he
admits he cannot fully fathom. Full intellectual grasp of the message of
grace is not possible nor required to be able to share it with others.
The Hebrew words for "tell" and "measure" are the same. The idea
is that he cannot re-tell all the things of God's salvation; they are too
many. Even if he spends all day telling or [Heb.] counting up all God's
salvations, he cannot get to the number of it. The same word is used for
"tell" when God promises that Abraham's seed cannot be told for multitude,
they cannot be numbered (Gen. 15:5; 16:10). Abraham's singular seed [the
Lord Jesus] would be told or multiplied more than man can count; not just
in becoming many, but in the Hebraic sense of becoming so great, beyond
human counting. He often gets to this point of admitting that his mind is tripping,
faced with eternity, with all the countless number of thoughts that God
has had regarding it. And every believer surely has this sense: "Many,
Yahweh my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your
thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to You. If I
would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered" (Ps.
40:5); "How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake
up, I am still with You" (Ps. 139:17,18). God's love, the eternal nature
of His salvation, is indeed something we should talk of and praise, but
going through it aspect by aspect, realizing that it is the final outcome
of an infinite amount of Divine thinking... trips the mind. We feel our
inevitable inadequacy, as gratitude and praise melt our hearts.
Psa 71:16
I will declare the mighty acts of the Lord
Yahweh. I will make mention of Your righteousness, even of Yours alone-
David appealed to God's righteousness for deliverance from
the consequence of his sins (Ps. 71:2). This was appropriate, seeing that
David had been saved from death by God's imputation of His righteousness
to David (Ps. 32:1-4), by grace through faith; seeing David's sins left
him with no righteousness of his own. And it was on this basis that David
believed he would continue to be saved / delivered / rescued (s.w. Ps.
51:14 in the Bathsheba context). This salvation by grace of a condemned
sinner was and is "the might acts of Yahweh", as dramatic as what He did
at the Red Sea or in any visible miracle.
Psa 71:17
God, You have taught me from my youth. Up until
now I have declared Your wondrous works-
As noted on :3, David could look back and perceive the continuous
action of God in his life, and despite his sin with Bathsheba, he rightly
perceived that he had made a continuous positive response to His hand.
From his youth, David had asked to be taught God's way (Ps.
119:7,12,26,64,66,68,73,108,124,135), and at the end of his life David
recognized that indeed God had "taught me from my youth" (s.w. Ps. 71:17).
In secular life, teaching is something experienced in youth, and then life
is spent practicing what was learned. But in spiritual life, David
perceived that the God who had taught him from his youth was continuing to
teach him (Ps. 71:17). This is part of the "newness of life" experienced
in Christ, the ever fresh spring water that we drink.
Psa 71:18
Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared Your strength to the next generation, Your might to everyone who is to come-
The phrase "I am old and gray-haired" is a quote from David's mentor Samuel: "I am old and grey-headed and my sons are with you, and I have been your leader from my youth to this day" (1 Sam. 12:2). And Samuel goes on to protest his utter integrity all his life, and his skepticism about the next king. It's hard to think that David didn't have the same feelings in mind- when he should have realized that he had sinned and was living out the consequences for them which he had agreed with God in return for God sparing his life. Whether or not that is the case, we see the power of mentorship- David, now in old age, uses the very words he had heard as a young man from the old man Samuel.
This seems to mean that David is writing this when he is old. I discussed on :11 how David was picking up and absorbing the attitude of his critics that God had forsaken him- when God hadn't. He wishes to stay alive so that he might spread the knowledge of God's grace to the next generation (:15,16). His entire purpose of living was in order to evangelize God's grace; and that should be why we wish to stay alive. God's might and strength, as discussed on :16, are revealed in His gracious forgiveness and salvation of condemned sinners.
One would have thought that after the
Bathsheba incident, David would have kept his mouth shut so far as telling
other people how to live was concerned. But instead, we find an increasing
emphasis in the Psalms (chronologically) upon David's desire to teach
others of God's ways- particularly the surrounding Gentile peoples, before
whom David had been disgraced over Bathsheba, not to mention from his two
faced allegiance to Achish (1 Sam. 27:8-12). There is real stress upon
this evangelistic fervour of David (Ps. 4:3; 18:49; 22:25,31; 35:18;
40:9,10; 57:9; 62:8; 66:5,16; 95:1,8; 96:5-8,10; 100:1-4; 105:1,2; 119:27;
145:5,6,12). Indeed, Ps.71:18 records the "old and greyheaded" David
pleading with God not to die until he had taught "thy strength unto this
generation". As with Paul years later, the only reason he wanted to stay
alive was in order to witness the Gospel of grace to others.
David therefore coped with his deep inner traumas by looking out of
himself to those around him, eagerly desiring to share with them the
pureness of God's grace. He didn't do this as some kind of self-help
psychiatry; it came naturally from a realization of his own sinfulness and
God's mercy, and the wonderful willingness of God to extend this
to men.
Psa 71:19
Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens; You have
done great things. God, who is like You?-
As discussed on :16, the "great things" performed by God were His
forgiveness and salvation of a condemned sinner like David. He did this by
His righteousness, by imputing it to sinners; and David was the parade
example of this (Ps. 32:1-4). This is described in Ps. 71:19 as God doing
"great things", the phrase used of the great things worked in visible
miracles in Egypt (Ps. 106:21) and at creation (Ps. 136:7). But the
forgiveness of people like David is no less a great miracle. Such great
things are done because of His mercy / grace (Ps. 136:4).
Psa 71:20
You, who have shown us many and bitter
troubles, You will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths
of the earth-
The confusion between "me" and "us" is intentional, because as noted
on :1, these personal experiences of David are being reapplied to the
exiles, and ultimately to the entire community of God's people. We too can
therefore personalize the Psalms as we read them. "Troubles" is the word
used of Jacob's time of trouble (Gen. 35:3; Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1). David's
experience of trouble was representative of how the exiles and all God's
people could ultimately follow the path of Jacob to deliverance out of
exile and from his strong enemies. But in Ps. 71:20 David sees his
deliverance from the day of trouble as ultimately being in the
resurrection of the body, being 'brought up again from the depths of the
earth'. We note David doesn't speak of coming down from heaven, but of
resurrection out of the earth and only then, at that point, being allowed
to live [eternally]. "Many bitter troubles" is literally 'evil
troubles', and the same three Hebrew words are used of how "many [s.w.]
evils [s.w. "bitter"] and troubles [s.w.]" would befall Israel if they
broke covenant (Dt. 31:17,21). Hence the change of pronoun to "us".
Perhaps David's idea is that the God who would resurrect and save an
Israel who had broken His covenant... would "let me live". If God
were so gracious to Israel His people, surely He would be to David too.
And we can rejoice in that same logic. That seems one reason why we have
so much information in the Bible about Israel, their sinfulness and God's
amazing grace towards them. It is all to encourage me personally... that
this gracious God surely has room for me too.
"You will let me live" is another harking back to his experience of grace after he had sinned with Bathsheba. The God who had let him live then, rather than exacting the death penalty, could be trusted to save him from eternal death at the last day. This is how we have to face death and the prospect of judgment to come; to think back on the experiences of grace and deliverance we had throughout our lives.
Psa 71:21
increase my honour, and comfort me again-
This is in the context of the clear statement of faith in the
resurrection of the body in :20. David was perhaps concluding that Nathan
was right after all about the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba. He
would not be honoured nor comforted in this life as he wished, but only at
the last day. And yet we again sense his concern at his dishonour,
resulting from his sins regarding Bathsheba. All his life, he couldn't
live it down. His standing in the eyes of others assumed far too high an
importance for him. But the context of this persuasion that God will
"increase my honour" is the resurrection at the last day (:20). In
this case, we again see a kingdom perspective emerging as he continues in
the path of prayer. He begins the prayer worried about his honour (:1),
but now comes to see that what matters more is having honour in God's
future kingdom.
Psa 71:22
I will praise You with the harp for Your
faithfulness, my God. I sing praise to You with the lyre, Holy One of
Israel-
The context of :20,21 appears to speak of David's position after the
resurrection he looked forward to. He imagines himself continuing to
praise God on the harp as he had done in this life. Whether that shall
literally happen is a question and interest only for literalists. But the
idea is established- that the essence of how we have served God in this
life is how we shall eternally serve Him. Hence the Lord Jesus can invite
us to live "the eternal life" right now; in that we can live the kind of
life we shall eternally live in God's Kingdom.
As noted on :1, this Psalm was the thoughts of those who first went into captivity in Babylon [according to the LXX]. The Psalmist wants to take a harp and praise God. Whereas the psalmist of Ps. 137 says that he felt unable to sing Yahweh's songs. This Ps. 71 is the response of faith.
Psa 71:23
My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which You have redeemed, sings praises to You!-
The redemption from Babylon [see on :1] is the great theme of second Isaiah. This psalmist appears to have accepted that good news in faith.
The context is of the resurrection from the dead (:20,21), when David
shall finally be "redeemed". It seems he had looked in vain for redemption
from the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, and concludes that his
house / kingdom / family in this life "is not so with God" (2 Sam. 23:5).
And so he focuses himself here upon his final redemption in the last day
at the resurrection (:20). In that day "with my whole being I will
sing because you have saved me" (GNB); and we shall all feel and do the
same.
Psa 71:24
My tongue will also talk about Your righteousness all day long,
for they are disappointed and they are confounded who want to harm me-
David speaks of how he "meditates day and
night" on God's law (Ps. 1:2), and also of how he meditates upon "God" at
night (Ps. 63:6) and in the day (Ps. 71:24). But as noted on :20-23, David
here speaks of how he shall do this in God's Kingdom. He was living the
Kingdom life now; as the Lord Jesus would put it in John's Gospel, he "had
eternal life".
Those "who want to harm me" are those of :13, where David asks that they "who want to harm me" will be confounded. Now he says that they "are" confounded". This again is the path of prayer- he begins asking for things which by the end of the prayer, he feels he has received. And is at peace about them. During prayer we too can calm down and conclude, as David does here, with a Kingdom perspective and with calm faith that what we have asked for, we have received.
It has to be said that we are somewhat disappointed that David concludes his prayer with a contrast between his own prospect of eternal life, and the shame of his enemies at the last day: "when they shall be ashamed and confounded that seek my hurt" (LXX). He repeatedly asks for his enemies to be ashamed, and we bear in mind that shame is associated with condemnation (Ps. 35:4,26; 40:14; Ps. 70:2 etc.). And so again we see a man imperfect at his end, just as were so many- Lot, Gideon, Jacob, Samson all had visible, recorded elements of spiritual weakness at their ends. We shall die imperfect. "We shall be changed" at the resurrection, not only our structure, but also morally.
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