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.
Aging comes with increased wisdom, but it is always packaged with body fragility and reduced physical strength. 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 psalmist talks about his time in the womb. God is there and ensures a successful birth! Interestingly, this is a time of utter vulnerability. But because of God’s generosity, all is well – even without the petitions of the psalmist!
Infancy and old age are similar. They are both times of vulnerability. But the aged is, sadly, aware of his own state, and fear is always present. The psalmist can call on the name of the God of his infancy.
The Sovereign LORD has been David’s hope and confidence since his youth. The saint can reflect on his own life and see the presence of an invisible God through it all.
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, and 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 has become an example to many. Through it all, the LORD stays the same. Ever faithful. A present help in moments of trouble.
“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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