American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Psalm 71
1
In you, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
2
Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear to me, and save me.
3
Be you my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress.
4
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5
For you are my hope, O Lord GOD: you are my trust from my youth.
6
By you have I been held up from the womb: you are he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of you.
7
I am as a wonder to many; but you are my strong refuge.
8
Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day.
9
Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.
10
For my enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
11
Saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
12
O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
13
Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt.
14
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise you more and more.
15
My mouth shall show forth your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
16
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of your righteousness, even of your only.
17
O God, you have taught me from my youth: and till now have I declared your wondrous works.
18
Now also when I am old and gray headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed your strength to this generation, and your power to every one that is to come.
19
Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who have done great things: O God, who is like to you!
20
You, which have showed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21
You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
22
I will also praise you with the psaltery, even your truth, O my God: to you will I sing with the harp, O you Holy One of Israel.
23
My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to you; and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24
My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame, that seek my hurt.
Summary of Psalm 71
Psalm 71 is a deeply personal prayer about lifelong trust in God, vulnerability in old age, opposition from enemies, God's continuing protection, and the responsibility to pass faith from one generation to another. The psalmist repeatedly looks backward at God's faithfulness throughout his life while simultaneously looking forward toward God's continued protection and the opportunity to tell future generations about God's power.
The psalm begins with a declaration of refuge. The speaker has chosen God as his place of safety and asks that he not be put to shame. He describes God as a rock, fortress, and refuge, showing that his confidence is based on the stability of God rather than the stability of his own circumstances.
The psalmist then explains that his relationship with God is not new. God has been his hope since his youth and has supported him from birth. This gives the prayer a strong sense of lifelong faithfulness.
Because God has protected him for so long, the psalmist has become a testimony to other people. His life itself demonstrates what it can mean to depend upon God through changing circumstances.
However, the situation has become more difficult. His enemies believe that God has abandoned him because his strength appears to be declining. They interpret weakness as evidence that divine protection has disappeared.
The psalmist specifically mentions old age and failing strength, making this chapter especially significant as a reflection on aging. He does not pretend that growing older removes vulnerability. Instead, he brings that vulnerability directly to God and asks not to be abandoned when his physical strength becomes weaker.
The psalmist's response is not to become silent. Instead, he promises to continue hoping and praising God more and more. He wants to speak about God's righteousness and salvation throughout his remaining years.
One of the most important themes appears when he asks God to remain with him so that he can tell the next generation about God's power. His faith is not intended to end with his own experience. He wants younger people to hear what God has done and understand that God's faithfulness extends across generations.
The psalm also acknowledges that God has allowed him to experience serious troubles. Yet the psalmist believes that God can restore him, revive him, and bring him from the depths into renewed strength and honor.
The final verses return to praise. The psalmist promises to use musical instruments, sing with joy, and speak continually about God's righteousness because God has redeemed him.
The historical setting of Psalm 71 cannot be identified with certainty. Its themes fit the broader tradition of ancient Israelite personal prayers, particularly the 10th–5th centuries BC, and its emphasis on aging, teaching the next generation, and remembering God's works reflects themes also found throughout Israel's wisdom and worship traditions.
Psalm 71 ultimately presents a powerful picture of faith that develops across an entire lifetime, beginning with the psalmist's declaration that God has been his refuge and hope since his earliest years and continuing into a season when age, declining strength, opposition, and uncertainty make him increasingly aware of his dependence upon God. The psalmist does not describe faith as something that removes every difficulty, because he openly acknowledges that enemies have attacked him, that his strength has weakened, and that God has allowed him to experience severe troubles, yet these experiences do not cause him to abandon the confidence that has been built throughout his life. Instead, the memory of God's past faithfulness becomes the foundation for his present prayer, allowing him to look backward at everything God has already done while continuing to ask for protection in the circumstances that remain unresolved.
The emphasis on old age gives the psalm a particularly meaningful perspective because the psalmist understands that human strength changes with time, while God's strength remains dependable regardless of a person's physical condition. His enemies assume that declining strength means declining protection, but the psalmist refuses to accept that conclusion because he knows from decades of experience that God's faithfulness cannot be measured by the temporary strength of the person who depends upon Him. His prayer therefore becomes an acknowledgment that the need for God does not disappear as people become older; instead, the awareness of dependence can become even deeper when physical abilities begin to change and circumstances become more difficult to control.
Another central theme is the responsibility to pass faith from one generation to another, because the psalmist does not simply ask God to preserve him for his own benefit but specifically asks for the opportunity to tell younger generations about God's power and righteousness. His lifetime of experiences therefore becomes a testimony that can strengthen people who have not yet walked through the same circumstances, demonstrating that faith can become a legacy in which the lessons learned through years of difficulty, protection, failure, recovery, and divine faithfulness are deliberately shared with those who come afterward.
The psalm also contains a realistic understanding of suffering because the speaker acknowledges that God has allowed him to experience severe troubles, yet he believes that God can revive him and bring him again from the depths. This expectation transforms the meaning of hardship because suffering is not interpreted as proof that God has abandoned him, but as a difficult chapter within a much larger story of divine faithfulness. The psalmist therefore continues to hope even when his circumstances do not yet provide an obvious reason for confidence.
The final movement toward music, rejoicing, and continual testimony brings the chapter to its natural conclusion, because a lifetime that has been sustained by God should ultimately become a lifetime that speaks about God. Psalm 71 therefore teaches that genuine faith can remain strong through youth and old age, through physical strength and weakness, through public respect and rejection, and through seasons of confidence and fear, because the foundation of faith is not the changing condition of the individual but the unchanging character of God. The psalm closes with the conviction that God's righteousness deserves to be spoken about continually, God's faithfulness deserves to be remembered across generations, and God's redemption provides sufficient reason for the soul to continue rejoicing even after a lifetime marked by both hardship and deliverance.
The psalm begins with a declaration of refuge. The speaker has chosen God as his place of safety and asks that he not be put to shame. He describes God as a rock, fortress, and refuge, showing that his confidence is based on the stability of God rather than the stability of his own circumstances.
The psalmist then explains that his relationship with God is not new. God has been his hope since his youth and has supported him from birth. This gives the prayer a strong sense of lifelong faithfulness.
Because God has protected him for so long, the psalmist has become a testimony to other people. His life itself demonstrates what it can mean to depend upon God through changing circumstances.
However, the situation has become more difficult. His enemies believe that God has abandoned him because his strength appears to be declining. They interpret weakness as evidence that divine protection has disappeared.
The psalmist specifically mentions old age and failing strength, making this chapter especially significant as a reflection on aging. He does not pretend that growing older removes vulnerability. Instead, he brings that vulnerability directly to God and asks not to be abandoned when his physical strength becomes weaker.
The psalmist's response is not to become silent. Instead, he promises to continue hoping and praising God more and more. He wants to speak about God's righteousness and salvation throughout his remaining years.
One of the most important themes appears when he asks God to remain with him so that he can tell the next generation about God's power. His faith is not intended to end with his own experience. He wants younger people to hear what God has done and understand that God's faithfulness extends across generations.
The psalm also acknowledges that God has allowed him to experience serious troubles. Yet the psalmist believes that God can restore him, revive him, and bring him from the depths into renewed strength and honor.
The final verses return to praise. The psalmist promises to use musical instruments, sing with joy, and speak continually about God's righteousness because God has redeemed him.
The historical setting of Psalm 71 cannot be identified with certainty. Its themes fit the broader tradition of ancient Israelite personal prayers, particularly the 10th–5th centuries BC, and its emphasis on aging, teaching the next generation, and remembering God's works reflects themes also found throughout Israel's wisdom and worship traditions.
Psalm 71 ultimately presents a powerful picture of faith that develops across an entire lifetime, beginning with the psalmist's declaration that God has been his refuge and hope since his earliest years and continuing into a season when age, declining strength, opposition, and uncertainty make him increasingly aware of his dependence upon God. The psalmist does not describe faith as something that removes every difficulty, because he openly acknowledges that enemies have attacked him, that his strength has weakened, and that God has allowed him to experience severe troubles, yet these experiences do not cause him to abandon the confidence that has been built throughout his life. Instead, the memory of God's past faithfulness becomes the foundation for his present prayer, allowing him to look backward at everything God has already done while continuing to ask for protection in the circumstances that remain unresolved.
The emphasis on old age gives the psalm a particularly meaningful perspective because the psalmist understands that human strength changes with time, while God's strength remains dependable regardless of a person's physical condition. His enemies assume that declining strength means declining protection, but the psalmist refuses to accept that conclusion because he knows from decades of experience that God's faithfulness cannot be measured by the temporary strength of the person who depends upon Him. His prayer therefore becomes an acknowledgment that the need for God does not disappear as people become older; instead, the awareness of dependence can become even deeper when physical abilities begin to change and circumstances become more difficult to control.
Another central theme is the responsibility to pass faith from one generation to another, because the psalmist does not simply ask God to preserve him for his own benefit but specifically asks for the opportunity to tell younger generations about God's power and righteousness. His lifetime of experiences therefore becomes a testimony that can strengthen people who have not yet walked through the same circumstances, demonstrating that faith can become a legacy in which the lessons learned through years of difficulty, protection, failure, recovery, and divine faithfulness are deliberately shared with those who come afterward.
The psalm also contains a realistic understanding of suffering because the speaker acknowledges that God has allowed him to experience severe troubles, yet he believes that God can revive him and bring him again from the depths. This expectation transforms the meaning of hardship because suffering is not interpreted as proof that God has abandoned him, but as a difficult chapter within a much larger story of divine faithfulness. The psalmist therefore continues to hope even when his circumstances do not yet provide an obvious reason for confidence.
The final movement toward music, rejoicing, and continual testimony brings the chapter to its natural conclusion, because a lifetime that has been sustained by God should ultimately become a lifetime that speaks about God. Psalm 71 therefore teaches that genuine faith can remain strong through youth and old age, through physical strength and weakness, through public respect and rejection, and through seasons of confidence and fear, because the foundation of faith is not the changing condition of the individual but the unchanging character of God. The psalm closes with the conviction that God's righteousness deserves to be spoken about continually, God's faithfulness deserves to be remembered across generations, and God's redemption provides sufficient reason for the soul to continue rejoicing even after a lifetime marked by both hardship and deliverance.