Psalm 71 Commentary
The timing of this psalm is probably around David’s later years. He is advanced in years and not exactly enjoying the same youthful vigor, vitality, and sharpness. Wisdom is always part of the package but not confidence and the trust of the world around you. The days when women sing your victories are long gone.
You cannot have a better prayer than this!
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. Verse 9.
The Sovereign LORD has been David’s hope and confidence since his youth. The saint can reflect on his life and see the presence of an invisible God through it all. For David, God’s providence had been present from before his birth. The LORD was the power behind the birth process.
The LORD provided for him at birth when he was utterly empty of both strength and intellect. Let the same LORD now protect him when nearly the same conditions exist. The saint can draw strength from the fact that the LORD provided for them from the moment of birth – a time when they could not even say a single word or even understand the dangers of the world around them.
The Christian walk is riddled with several battles. We have seen David grow; a lad into a man; a man into an old man. One thing has remained constant: his prayers for deliverance. The enemy hasn’t given up. He has shown up in various formats: foreign armies; his own commander-in-chief in King Saul; his close associates in Doeg; his close friends; his own lust as when he committed adultery with Bathsheba.
The saint can learn one thing: the enemy stays around. There is more to learn from a man whose life had become an example to many. Through it all, the LORD stays the same. Ever faithful. A present help in moments of trouble. And peaceful moments are a constant reminder that the LORD is present.
“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”
Let it be every saint’s ambition to declare the marvelous works of the LORD to the next generation. Let every man sit down and narrate his own Christian walk to his children. Let the next generation see for themselves the marvelous works of the LORD as they prepare for their own.
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