BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 71 — A Lifelong Plea for Refuge
An aged psalmist pleads with God for deliverance from enemies, recounts a lifetime of divine faithfulness from birth onward, and resolves to declare God's righteousness to the next generation.
Scripture
1In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge: Let me never be put to shame.
2Deliver me in thy righteousness, and rescue me: Bow down thine ear unto me, and save me.
3Be thou to me a rock of habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me; For thou art my rock and my fortress.
4Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah: Thou art my trust from my youth.
6By thee have I been holden up from the womb; Thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee.
7I am as a wonder unto many; But thou art my strong refuge.
8My mouth shall be filled with thy praise, And with thy honor all the day.
9Cast me not off in the time of old age; Forsake me not when my strength faileth.
10For mine enemies speak concerning me; And they that watch for my soul take counsel together,
11Saying, God hath forsaken him: Pursue and take him; For there is none to deliver.
12O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me.
13Let them be put to shame and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt.
14But I will hope continually, And will praise thee yet more and more.
15My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness, And of thy salvation all the day; For I know not the numbers thereof.
16I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Jehovah: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
17O God, thou hast taught me from my youth; And hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
18Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, Until I have declared thy strength unto the next generation, Thy might to every one that is to come.
19Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high; Thou who hast done great things, O God, who is like unto thee?
20Thou, who hast showed us many and sore troubles, Wilt quicken us again, And wilt bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
21Increase thou my greatness, And turn again and comfort me.
22I will also praise thee with the psaltery, Even thy truth, O my God: Unto thee will I sing praises with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
23My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises unto thee; And my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
24My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long; For they are put to shame, for they are confounded, that seek my hurt.
What this passage means
The psalm opens with a foundational confession: the speaker takes refuge in 'Jehovah' (H3068) and asks never to be put to shame. The appeal to God's 'righteousness' (Hebrew צְדָקָה, H6666) frames deliverance not as a personal favor but as a matter of God's own character—He acts righteously on behalf of those who trust Him. The request to be rescued and delivered combines two Hebrew verbs, נָצַל (H5337) and פָּלַט (H6403), both denoting being snatched out of danger, with the image of God inclining His ear (H5186) to listen closely.
Verses 5–8 move from immediate crisis to lifelong testimony. The psalmist traces trust back to the womb (compare Psalms 22:9–10), declaring that God's sustaining care has made him 'a wonder unto many.' This retrospective grounding explains why he can face present hostility: his praise (verse 8) flows from a history of divine faithfulness, not from present relief. The verbs for 'praise' and 'honor' tie worship to public declaration throughout the day.
The final movement (verses 14–24) pivots from petition to resolution: continual hope, public testimony of God's 'righteousness' and 'salvation,' and intergenerational transmission of God's mighty acts (compare Psalms 40:5; Psalms 139:15–16). The closing promise to praise with the psaltery and harp identifies God as 'the Holy One of Israel'—a title linking the psalm to the wider covenant tradition. The chapter ends with the tongue speaking of God's righteousness 'all the day long' as the enemies are put to shame.
Context
Psalms 71 is an individual lament that spans an entire lifetime. The psalm shifts between urgent plea (verses 1–4, 9–13) and confident testimony (verses 5–8, 14–24), with the speaker framing his present danger against a lifelong pattern of divine care from the womb onward. Enemies in verses 10–11 declare 'God hath forsaken him,' which the psalmist answers by appealing to God's covenant faithfulness and pleading that he not be cast off in old age.
The chapter has no formal superscription identifying authorship or occasion, but the chapter note provided only indicates that Psalms 71 was backfilled among Psalms chapters outside the P0/P1 priority set; the provided material does not assign authorship or historical setting. The psalm's vocabulary of refuge, rock, and fortress overlaps heavily with Psalms 31 (see Psalms 31:1, 31:3), and the closing 'Holy One of Israel' language links it to the wider Isafran tradition reflected in passages such as Isaiah 46:4.
Key words in the original
- H2620 חָסָה (ḥāsâ): 'to take refuge.' The verb in verse 1 expresses active, confident trust—fleeing to God as shelter. It is the same root used throughout the Psalms for reliance on God's protection.
- H6666 צְדָקָה (ṣĕdāqâ): 'righteousness.' The psalmist grounds his plea for deliverance in God's righteousness (verse 2), meaning God's covenant faithfulness and saving justice—not the petitioner's own merit.
- H6697 צוּר (ṣûr): 'rock.' In verse 3 the psalmist asks God to be 'a rock of habitation,' a compressed image combining shelter (refuge) and stability (rock), echoed again in 'my rock and my fortress.'
Related verses
- Psalms 22:9 Both Psalms 22:9 and Psalms 71:6 trace trust in God back to the period of infancy, portraying divine care as preceding the speaker's own memory.
- Jeremiah 1:5 Jeremiah 1:5 extends the motif of pre-birth divine knowledge and appointment, paralleling the psalmist's claim in verse 6 that God 'took me out of my mother's bowels' and set him apart.
- Isaiah 46:4 Isaiah 46:4 directly parallels the petition of verse 9: God carries His people even to old age and hoar hairs, supporting the psalmist's plea not to be forsaken when strength fails.
Common questions
Who wrote Psalms 71?
The provided material does not assign authorship. The psalm has no superscription naming a writer, and the chapter note only states the chapter was backfilled; readers and scholars differ on whether it is David's, an anonymous elder's, or a later composition.
Why does the psalmist ask not to be cast off in old age (verse 9)?
Verses 9–13 reveal that enemies are actively claiming 'God hath forsaken him,' and the psalmist counters this accusation by appealing to God's covenant faithfulness across his whole lifespan (compare Isaiah 46:4).
What does 'the Holy One of Israel' (verse 22) signify?
The title 'the Holy One of Israel' identifies God as the covenantally set-apart deity of Israel. Its appearance here links the psalmist's personal praise to the broader tradition of God's saving acts for His people.